Meeting a Vice Captain

'This reiatsu....the Shinigami girl?...Hollow attack'

Halting in his steps, Kenshin raised his head to the sky and sighed before he disappeared like a ghost, leaving not traces of himself behind.

*******

*ARGHHH!*

North Rukongai..District 67.

Pools of blood flowed, like rivers, with destruction that spanned tens of miles into the distance. In the outskirts of the 67th district of North Rukongai, a menacing figure stood proudly, overlooking the defeated foes under earth it's feet without emotion.

An overly tall humanoid figire garbed in a spiky black robe with a white mask having serrated teeth and a long nose stood in glory. As it swept it's gaze around, it couldn't help but notice the last standing Shinigami, a young girl with ponytail dark brown hair, holding onto a blade.

She was bleeding from the side of her head, and her vision was blurred, however she fought to regain clarity, as she glared at the menacing figure before her.

"Momo!?"

Behind her, a silver haired boy cried out, as he watched advance bravely towards the outrageously strong enemy, that even multiple shinigami had lost their lives to.

"Leave now, Shiro-chan..I'll buy some time for you..."

Her voice conveyed her desperation and grief, however her sword never wavered, even in the face of a possible death.

"I will not leave you behind, Momo.!" The young boy roared and fought back the tears in his eyes.

"You need to go Shiro-chan. The hopes of everyone in the village, and Grandma rests on your shoulders. I can't let you let them down by losing your life here, so go!"

Her voice, commanding yet gentle, as she turned around and flashed him a pained smile.

'Thie is all I can do for now. Forgive me, shiro Chan. Stay alive..'

She thought to herself, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Watching her intently, the monstrous figure began advancing towards her, with each step causing tremors deep within the earth.

<<<Hado N° 12: Fushibi>>>

Gathering all the reiryoku in her body she fired out a kido spell, hoping to buy time for him.

A massive flaming net materialized, blasted towards the beast and engulfed it, as a painful wail resounded, followed by an explosion.

Taking in deep breaths to calm herself, she was about to retreat, when the monstrosity suddenly walked out of the flames, unharmed in anyway.

*BOOM!*

Shattering the earth below, it's body moved like ghost, appeared before the young girl, clenched it's massive fist and smashed down, with enough force to shatter a small hill.

"Momo!!!"

Gathering all the courage in his body, the young boy rushed towards the young girl, screaming his heart out. But as she closed turned around and saw him running towards her, her heart bled and she felt pain, but nothing could be done.

When the massive fist was an inch above her head, a figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere like a ghost, before grabbing her and rolling out of the way, as the huge fist crashed into the ground and formed a massive hole in it.

"Are you alright?.."

Waiting for the death that never came, she opened her eyes only to see a familiar handsome face smiling towards her. Rather than in death, she found herself in his embrace and his violet eyes peered into hers.

"I-its you?.."

She spoke, before lowering her head and shedding a tear.

"Momo!!"

Toshiro run towards them and embraced her, as he calmed his wildly beating heart and restrained the tears that threatened to fall.

Smiling at the interaction, the newcomer turned around, his smile vanishing in a moment, as he gazed upon the monstrosity.

"You stay here. I'll handle this.."

He unwrapped his blade as fastened it back to his waist, he spoke and walked towards the beast, his face suddenly emotionless.

Gazing at the newcomer, the Hollow was intelligent enough to notice the difference between him and the girl it nearly trampled. The difference in their presence and reiatsu was like comparing Heaven to Earth.

Unlike her, his reiatsu was tempered to a staggering degree, exceeding extreme limits in both quality and quantity. The most important part was the otherworldly feel it had to it, as if it seemed to fade in and out of the plane.

Holding his sheathed blade at his waist, Kenshin slowly got into a stance, crouching low, like a dragon ready to soar into the Heavens. His muscles became taut, like bowstrings ready to erupt, as he gently closed his eyes.

Watching him intently, Toshiro's eyes seemed to shine with expectation, while Momo felt relieved.

Seemingly sensing the overwhelming battle intent from the opponent, the Hollow roared and opened its mouth.

A massive energy orb slowly began to concentrate before it's mouth, and when it grew to the size of a basketball, it suddenly blasted forth, unleashing a massive energy beam that seemed to vaporise the earth.

Taking a deep breath, Kenshin flicked the sword guard of his sword with his thumb, before he grabbed onto the handle with his right hand and zoomed out, the earth below his feet shattering in response.

Gathering momentum from his velocity, he simply pierced forth with his blade, as his reiryoku frayed dimensions folding, and shattering space minutely around his blade.

Then and there, a phenomenon that had never been witnessed before occured.

The massive energy beam instantly divided into two, as if space itself responding, and making way for the God of dimensions, while the sound of shattering mirrors reverberated.

Having lost its potency the beams of energy slowly dissipated into motes of light. Completely eradicating the attack, Kenshin slammed his foot into the ground, and leapt into the air.

Leaning forward, he sheathed his blade, and exploded with a sword slash, accompanied by an invisible blade of folding dimensions and mirror shards that exploded right into the Hollow's mask.

Facing no resistance whatsoever, the blade and the invisible slashes swept right through, as he landed on the ground in a crouched position, amidst a blood rain.

As the Hollow's body slowly dissipated, he arose and sheathed his blade, before he turned around bright his palms together and closed his eyes, offering a simple prayer for the now freed soul that would not be able to crossover to the Soul Society.

"Thank you.."

"How did you do that?!"

Upon walking to the two youngsters, both of them coudjnt help but speak out their feelings at once. Ignoring Toshiro's question, he smiled and nodded towards Momo.

"I'll see you later.."

Nodding towards them, he was about to leave, when he sensed a foreign reiatsu. Making no hasty moves, however, he gently placed his hand behind the sword guard and halted.

"Who are you?.."

Suddenly, a melodious voice resounded, as a figure revealed itself. A voluptuous woman with short orange hair that reached her neck, wearing a pink scarf.

She was dressed in the normal black Shinigami robes that did nothing to hide the faint twin peaks on her chest that looked like they wanted to break free of their chains.

With one hand on her sword, her eyes glared towards Kenshin who merely turned his head to the side.

Normally, as the Vice Captain of the 10th Division, being one of the highest ranking Shinigami, she would not have cared for a rogue swordsman, however this particular man had strength that seemed to defy all odds, not to talk of the speed that even surpassed hers.

Rangiku POV°°°°°°°°°°°

Rushing towards the Northern District to pick up Toshiro whom she believed was an absolute talent as well as Momo, the Vice Captain of the 10th Division employed Shunpo, moving like a shadow.

Upon reaching the agreed meeting points she was surprised when she noticed both of them had left.

"Where did those two rascals go?"

Thinking for a moment she decided to continue her search until she stopped in her tracks, sensing a foreign and dangerous reiatsu in the area.

'A Menos? It seems to be one tier ahead. Could it be a Gillian?....'

In simple terms, Hollows had evolutionary traits which could be manifested by feasting on other Hollows. Feeding on over hundred plus Hollows allows one Hollow to evolve, becoming far superior in terms of intelligence and strength. This amalgamation of Hollows was known as, Menos Grande.

When Menos Grade level Hollow feed on other Menos level Hollows, another evolution is sparked where the Hollow becomes far more intelligent and stronger, becoming a Gillian.

From a Gillian, a Hollow can evolve to become an Adjuchas, a rather qualitative change in terms if strength and intelligence. In this state a Hollow is powerful enough to challenge even Captains with their overpowering abilities.

From an Adjuchas, the once in a millenium seen transformation can be achieved, where a Hollow evolves to become a Vasto Lorde, a bonafide powerhouse, strong enough to take on Captains and fight them on fair ground. This is the final and strongest form of Hollows which are known to manifest once in a millenium.

As she rushed to the battlefield, Rangiku was shocked to see many Shinigami slain by the confirmed Gillian Hollow. Perching upon a tree, and making strategies to take it down, her pupils contracted when she suddenly noticed Momo bravely advancing towards the Hollow.

Seeing Momo's attack fail, Rangiku readied herself to use Shunpo when she noticed the massive fist of the Hollow smashing towards Momo's fragile body.

Readying her reiryoku, she was about to move when a shadow like figure beat her to it, moving at a speed that even she, a Vice Captain could hope to move at.

At first she thought it was a Captain, however, she frowned, witnessing his strange appearance. Her heart shook the moment she saw him slash through a cero with his blade, something she had never seen even Captains do before, and then defeat that Gillian level Hollow with a single simple sword slash.

Moving towards them, she could finally sense his reiatsu, an otherworldly presence that far surpassed even Captain level, precisely about twice an ordinary Captain.

********

"Who are you?"

As she spoke, her hand trailed to her sword, in case of a possible altercation between them.

"Me? I'm a simple unimportant wanderer. I'm sure a simple high ranking Shinigami such as yourself might have important duties, so please allow this lowly one to excuse himself.."

Turning around with both hands raised as a sign of surrender, Kenshin spoke with the friendliest smile he could muster.

Kenshin POV°°°°°°°

Rushing towards the massive evil reiatsu, he couldn't help but sense another familiar reiatsu hidden nearby and reasy to erupt.

As he descended towards Momo to rescue her from the Hollow's attack, he noticed a familiar figure hidden within an expanse of trees.

After finishing off the Hollow, he waved towards the two youngsters, sensing the reiatsu rapidly gain on their position.

'I need to leave quickly. She was there that day..wasn't she? If she notices me, I'll have no choice but to...'

Having such thoughts, his hand tightly clenched on his sword.

"Who are you?"

As the figure revealed itself, he flicked the guard on his sword and was ready to attack. However the moment she spoke, he sheathed the blade quickly raised his arms and turned around.

"She doesn't remember..." He muttered to himself as a relieved smile materialized on his face.

*********

"How do you know that I am a high ranking Shinigami?"

Rangiku asked with furrowed brows, as Kenshin's body tensed.

"Well, the massive reiatsu is a good give away. Also, none of the shinigamis I've met is as beautiful as yourself.."

Placing all his cards on the table, he watched the frown on her face turn to a smile, before he sighed in her heart.

It would be a pain to stain his relationship with Momo and Toshiro and to knock out a vice Captain to escape. If she ratted him out after, his stay in the Soul Society would be anything but peaceful.

Toshiro reeled in disgust at his comment, while Momo blushed and lowered her head.

"Anyway, my name is Rangiku Matsumoto, Vice Captain of the 10th Division. I want to extend a formal invitation to you to join the Shinigami corps. We could use someone like you.."

She smiled and handed him a token, which he reluctantly accepted.

"Great!! Now you can teach me that move you used to kill that Hollow!"

Toshiro smiled and clenched his fist.

"Thank you, but I'll think about it.."

Placing the token in his robe, Kenshin nodded and turned around.

"The assessment for new recruits to the Shinigami Academy begin a week from now. I can tell you have a good heart, Mr. swordsman. The tides are changing. You might not believe it but the Soul Society needs someone like you.."

She turned serious for a moment, before she suddenly smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Anyway, we're leaving. Hope to see you again, Mr.Swordsman.."

Grabbing Momo and Toshiro, she disappeared with them, leaving Kenshin standing alone with the token in hand.

A/N: Review, Comment, Donate. Peace