8 Where did you get that sword?

Chapter eight.

It was already past midnight, the sun now long gone meant that most people were sleeping at their houses by now. Most streets were completely empty, which meant that anything that happened there would probably go unnoticed for someone who didn't know what he was looking for.

Surrounded by trees from both sides, one of those empty streets was the scenario for quite an unusual scene. That scene was nothing less than two men armed with swords cornering a bleeding girl, a weird sight indeed.

''We are here to capture you...'' Renji Abarai spoke to a girl kneeling at the ground, blood spilling from her cheek as she struggled to get up. ''… And kill the guy who took your powers.''

Rukia's stoic face didn't reveal a thing to her persecutors, it was obvious that she didn't intend to say a single word about the person who possessed her powers.

''Don't try to protect him, after all you do realize it, don't you?'' The red haired shinigami prepared his stance, moving his arm that held his zanpakuto towards his backside, preparing to take a strike at the wounded girl. ''You didn't dodge my last two attacks, I allowed you to dodge them.''

''…If not, this next strike will kill you.'' Taking a step back at those words, Rukia attempted to make some distance between that man and herself, but for each step managed to take, Renji mirrored her movements with one a step forward.

Her continuous silence finally managed to make Renji lose what little patience he had remaining, and in a fit of rage he attempted to slice her with his zanpakuto. Despite the fact that Rukia didn't have any of her powers, she managed to dodge the attack with a perfectly timed jump.

The problem for her was that now she was in midair, which meant that she wouldn't be able to dodge Renji's next strike. Thus it happened, his sword managing to graze her arm, making her fall and roll with a pained cry.

''Well, now…'' Walking towards her, Renji smirked at the girl kneeling in front of him. He raised his sword, preparing himself for the final strike, and then it happened…

''Huh?'' From the corner of his eye, the red haired soul reaper was able to see a blue light reflecting itself from the edge of his own sword.

Due to the decades of training he had overcome, the soul reaper was barely able to dodge at the last possible second, the arrow making a slight cut on his cheek.

Rukia, Byakuya and Renji turned their gazes down the street, where a shadowed figure was slowly making his way towards them.

''Two men with weapons attacking an unarmed girl…'' The newcomer started, closing the distance between them with firm steps. ''… Not a very pleasant thing to see.''

''…I don't really like that sort of thing.'' Now coming to a stop within a few meters from the soul reapers, both of them were able to see just who was in front of them. Said person was a black haired boy with glasses, carrying with him what appeared to be a plastic bag from a grocery store.

''… Ishida.'' Rukia muttered, meeting the gaze of the man who had interrupted the fight between her and Renji.

''You can see us.'' Renji noted with his glare on full display, that little piece of information alone meant that the stranger in front of them wasn't a normal human. ''Who the hell are you?''

''Hmph... Just a classmate.'' Ishida replied while fixing his glasses; despite the fact that he was outnumbered the quincy wasn't hesitating even in the slightest.

''Classmate?'' The red haired soul reaper questioned. His behavior made it clear that he wasn't amused by the vague answer, but he was interrupted before being able to unleash his anger against the stranger.

''One that hates soul reapers, that is.'' The quincy added, smiling at the angered expression of the more emotional of the two enemies.

That last comment from Ishida finally managed to get a reaction out of the soul reaper who had been quiet this whole time, but it wasn't in the form of words. With a swift movement, Byakuya was now facing the quincy too.

''Ishida, what are you doing here?'' Rukia questioned, now finally standing up right next to her classmate. ''You're not going to be able to beat them by yourself.''

''This is just a coincidence.'' Ishida assured her, though anyone with a functional brain could tell that wasn't the case. It was at that moment that Ishida smiled, knowing that he had stalled more than enough time already. ''Besides…''

''He's not alone.'' Before Rukia could react, she felt a hand on her shoulder, the girl was able to recognize that voice without even looking back. Kuromiya completed his, reaching the area with that familiar pale green light surrounding his feet.

''When did he…?'' Renji's voice revealed his surprise, after all he hadn't been able to follow the movements of the newcomer. If the lieutenant wasn't so distracted by the sudden arrival, he might have been able to notice something.

''You…'' Talking for the first time since he had arrived, squad's six captain addressed the boy that had just arrived. However, his eyes weren't looking at him, but at the asauchi he was holding in his hands. ''Where did you get that sword?''

'This is bad.' Rukia realized, looking with equal shock at the thing that her friend was holding.

[Hidden quest completed: Meet Byakuya Kuchiki.

Reward: 350 I.P]

[Hidden quest completed: Meet Renji Abarai.

Reward: 250 I.P]

''Wouldn't you like to know that, pretty boy?'' Kuromiya answered with a smile, waving his sword in front of his face without care. ''I bet you're just dying to know.''

Kuromiya ignored the new notification from the system, he knew fully well that even a single opening would cost him dearly against his current opponents.

''You little piece of shit…'' Renji muttered under his breath, it was disrespectful enough the fact that a human was wielding an asauchi, but the fact that said human dared to talk back to his captain was inconceivable. ''You better be careful with your words; you don't have an idea with whom you're dealing with.''

''Is that right? Though for some reason I don't think you are talking about yourself…'' Kuromiya noted, shifting his gaze towards the silent captain. ''So, who are you supposed to be?''

''…'' The silent captain didn't bother to even give a response to him, but rather opted for talking to his little sister. ''Who's this boy?''

''Nii-sama, don't!'' Rukia pleaded, she knew very well that her brother asking about her classmate meant that the boy had actually managed to annoy him.

''Nii-sama?'' Ishida raised his eyebrow at that, but didn't comment on it.

[Special quest obtained:

Defeat Renji Abarai and steal his girl away from him, effectively cucking him.

Reward: 1000 I.P]

[Special quest obtained:

It's either now or never, buddy. Beat the shit out of… Let's be a bit more realistic, make a single cut on Byakuya's pretty boy face.

Reward: 1500 I.P]

Again, he ignored the notifications while keeping an eye on Byakuya, he was the dangerous one here after all.

'Both of them have their limiters on, which means that I should be able to catch Renji by surprise…' Kuromiya had an idea, but it would require Ishida's help in order to get the best results out of it.

''Which one of you will be fighting me first? I'm open for taking you both at once.'' The teenager kept throwing taunts with the intention of angering the read haired soul reaper, after all he was the most hot headed out of the both of them.

''… Keep talking all you want, since you won't be able to do it ever again once I'm done with you.'' No more words where said after that last declaration, since Renji decided to charge at him with his sword already drawn.

The lieutenant performed a diagonal slice with his sword, attempting to cut him in two with this one single blow, but unfortunately for him things didn't go quite as planned.

'… He feels so slow.' Kuromiya realized, making a quick step out of the way with his skilled use of Bringer Light. 'Is it because he's restricted? Or because he hasn't released his sword yet?'

The black haired boy smirked, the level of confidence he had against this particular opponent was fairly high, if it was in raw speed alone, he wouldn't lose.

Once again, the angered soul reaper made an attempt to decapitate him with a second strike, aiming right at his neck. This time however, Kuromiya didn't dodge, but rather decided to parry the hit by holding his sword vertically.

He didn't stop there either, after all due to the fact that he was enraged Renji had overextended, leaving one of his knees completely vulnerable for him to attack. Kuromiya didn't hesitate when he saw his chance, kicking the lieutenant right at his knee, forcing him to kneel down on the ground.

''Gahh.'' Renji gasped in pain, and before he could even attempt to get up, the read haired boy was hit directly on his nose with the hilt of Kuromiya's asauchi. The force behind that attack was considerable enough to send him back a few feet.

Due to the fact that they had been brawling all around the street, Kuromiya and Renji had ended up switching sides, the red haired lieutenant now being almost next to Rukia and Ishida, while Kuromiya was just a few meters away from the captain of squad six.

It did speak volumes of Renji that despite being trashed around by the boy, he was able to land one his own feet after that last hit.

''Is that all you can do? It looks like I shouldn't have come here after all, Rukia might have been able to handle you on her own.'' He teased the man once again, in a last attempt to push the man's buttons.

''That's it, you're dead!'' Renji screamed, unable to contain his fury any longer.

The red haired soul reaper grabbed his sword with both hands, one of them grabbing it by its hilt while the other was resting on top of its edge.

''Now, howl, Zab- AGH!'' Renji felt a sudden sharp pain on his ankle, making him lose balance and fall to the ground. From his perspective, the only thing that he managed to see before that was a single glow of blue light.

''Nice job, Ishida.'' Kuromiya complimented, smirking at his classmate who had seemingly understood his plan without the need to exchange any words.

The lieutenant watched their interaction with a lost look, unable to comprehend just when the both of them had agreed to execute some sort of plan.

''W-when did you…'' Renji tried to say, but he wasn't allowed to finish the sentence when he received yet another attack, this one being the finishing blow. Kuromiya had used Bringer Light once again, moving in a burst of speed right towards his injured opponent.

''Good night.'' Renji looked down towards the lower half of his body, where his enemy was burying the handle of his sword deep into his stomach, making him cough a pool of flood on top of him.

''D… Damn it.'' He didn't get to utter another word, falling to the ground with his conscience long gone.

''I don't remember ever saying this was a one on one fight.'' The fifteen-year-old teenager talked, even though he knew fully well that his opponent couldn't hear him anymore.

''…'' Rukia looked with an opened mouth how two humans had overwhelmed a lieutenant, even if he was restricted it was something she couldn't fathom. Even though Renji hadn't noticed, each time that Kuromiya taunted him, he shifted ever so slightly to the right.

It could've been nothing more than a fighting habit at first, but after their fourth clash it had become apparent that the black haired boy was deliberately forcing the soul reaper to an angle in which he would have his back wide open for Ishida to attack him.

''Huh, you sure are a cold one, aren't you?'' The voice of Kuromiya gained the attention of everyone, and it was clear just to who he was referring to. ''I'm sure you noticed what we were planning to do, yet you didn't help your comrade?''

''A fool who allows himself to be bothered by his enemy's taunts is not deserving of my help, comrade or not.'' The head of the Kuchiki clan answered, not being bothered even in the slightest by the defeat of his subordinate.

''I wouldn't expect anything else from a soul reaper.'' Ishida joined in the conversation, his bow drawn out and aiming straight at the shinigami's head. ''It would be in your best interest to leave, If not…''

''If not, what?'' Byakuya's voice had a dangerous edge in it, and for the first time since the battle had started, he moved towards them. ''If the two of you are counting on that spiritual pressure approaching, then you'll be disappointed.''

'Another spiritual pressure approaching?' Rukia wondered, a lump in her throat forming to the idea of her three classmates battling against someone like her brother.

''I guess the cat is out of the bag, huh?'' Kuromiya asked the quincy with a slight smile, though it had significantly less confidence than when he was fighting Renji.

''It's not like it matters if he knows about him, soon it'll be three on one.'' Ishida answered too, it was clear that neither of them had intentions of having a fair fight against the last remaining soul reaper.

''You seem to think that I'll be pressured once that person arrives.'' Byakuya noted, his emotionless face making it almost impossible to read his thoughts. ''Since none of you show even the slightest signal of having soul reaper powers, then that last person coming must be the one who stole Rukia's powers.''

Not even after finishing those words, a sudden spiritual pressure made itself known, making both Kuromiya and Ishida smirk.

''You sure took your sweet time, Kurosaki.'' Kuromiya said, looking back at the orange haired soul reaper. ''I almost was thinking you wouldn't even come at all.''

''Fat chance.'' Ichigo replied, drawing his sword without wasting time. ''Though I'll refrain from asking just what's going on here until after we beat this dude.''

''… So you're the human who took Rukia's powers.'' The head of the Kuchiki's said, his eyes briefly exploring Ichigo's appearance. ''I see, now it makes sense.''

'He must be talking about Kaien.' Kuromiya realized, his opponent had probably noticed the fact that they both looked very much alike.

''Makes sense? What do you-'' Before he had the chance to ask that question, Ishida decided to open fire against their enemy, firing an arrow right in between his eyes.

Even though the arrow was traveling at incredible speeds towards their enemy, the captain disappeared from the place at the last possible second, making all of them unaware of his whereabouts.

''…!!'' Kuromiya felt the edge of a blade grazing his face, and as unbelievable as it was he found himself looking at the blade of the captain of the sixth division, said blade was now merely a few centimeters from impaling him through his eyes.

His whole body went in auto pilot, jumping in the opposite direction from which the blade was approaching him. That wasn't enough though, since even before Ichigo and Ishida could react in order to help him out, Byakuya was already going for a second attack, this time appearing right behind his back with a perfect flash step.

'I can't dodge that.' Due to the fact that he had too much momentum built up towards that direction, Kuromiya realized he wouldn't be able to stop himself on time, which meant…

Realizing it would be futile to dodge, he decided instead that his next best choice would be to tank the blow, and return it with one of his own. Thus, not even a fraction of a second after coming to that decision, he was pierced right through his stomach.

He coughed up blood, losing the grip around his sword and allowing it to fall to the floor.

''Kuromiya!'' / ''Akihiko!'' / ''Kuromiya!!'' The scream from the three of his classmate filled his ears, but he paid no mind to it, he was not out of the fight just yet.

''You are not getting away now, pretty boy.'' With his bare hands, he grabbed the edge of Byakuya's sword, tightening his grip around it. ''Now, Ichigo, Ishida!''

Despite the shocked state of his classmates, both of them reacted almost instantly after his call, knowing fully well that this would be their best shot.

Ichigo was the first time to reach the captain, swinging his massive sword at him with all of his strength. This forced the Kuchiki to release his grip over his very own zanpakuto, allowing him to dodge the slash without sustaining any damage.

''It's not over yet.'' Ishida's voice came just from behind Byakuya's current position, aiming his spiritual bow right at his head, firing three arrows in quick succession towards him.

What followed wasn't something that neither of them was expecting, since not only did their opponent manage to evade that last attack with a flash step, but he did so while unleashing a strike at each of them in no time.

''Hadō #4 Byakurai.'' Pointing with his finger at Ishida, the captain unleashed a white bolt of lightning which pierced Ishida right through his shoulder, taking him out of commission in a single shot.

It didn't stop there though because without pause an after image of Byakuya appeared right behind Ichigo's back moving and slashing from behind him. The captain of the sixth division unleashed a strike right through the 'chain link' and 'soul sleep', in two consecutive attacks.

The fact that the substitute soul reaper's massive zanpakuto broke in half only managed to further confirm that the fight was over for him.

Ichigo fell to the ground like a puppet who had its strings cut off, not able to perform even the slightest movement.

Before the substitute soul reaper was able to hit the ground, Byakuya was already in front of Kuromiya, twisting his sword inside his stomach.

''…'' Vomiting blood, Kuromiya was unable to keep standing on his own feet.

''That's why I told you, it doesn't matter if it's three of you or not, the difference between our strength is worlds apart.'' The soul reaper stated, not even bothering to look back at the three of them.

Each one of them dropped to the ground one after the other, which meant that the three attacks had been performed with no more than a few milliseconds in between each other.

''… Ichigo, Akihiko, Ishida!'' Rukia screamed, it all happened so quick that she hadn't been able to react until it was already over. Not even bothering to look at her brother, she started running towards her three classmates, with the hopes of even one of them being alive.

Before she managed to reach them, someone smashed her against a light pole, that one being no other than Renji, who had just been able to wake up after his defeat.

''Don't, Rukia.'' The red haired soul reaper told her, though he didn't have much strength left in order to stop her, since he was all beaten up too. ''Touch even a finger on them and you will only make things worse for you, they are already dead.''

''Who's dead, you dumbass?'' Despite the fact that he was bleeding out, Ichigo managed to get a hold onto Byakuya's shinigami robe. ''Don't go deciding those things for me.''

''Yeah, w-what the hell…'' Next to him, the barely conscious Kuromiya agreed with him. ''Just when Rukia starts warming up to me and calls me by name, I am supposed to die?''

The fact that both of them were still struggling in their current states only managed to make the girl feel even worse, now longer able to fight back the tears from flooding her eyes.

''Y-you filthy human…'' Feeling someone kick his hand away from the stoic captain, Ichigo looked up only to find himself at a loss of words.

''What are you doing, Rukia?'' Ichigo struggled to even let those few words out, feeling his strength leaving him. The one who had kicked his hand was no other than Rukia herself, much to Ichigo's surprise.

''How dare a filthy human seize Nii-sama's leg.'' Rukia raised her voice, forcing herself to keep a straight face while he uttered those disgusting words. ''Let us go, nii-sama.''

Kuromiya already knew what was coming, truth be told even before he had decided to fight the two soul reapers, deep in his heart he already knew that this would have been how it ended, and now he was forced to listen to it.

''Please, take me to Soul Society.'' Facing her brother, she urged for them to leave. ''I shall humbly atone for my crimes.''

''…'' Byakuya didn't offer any sort of response, allowing her to talk without interruption.

''Wait, dammit! What the hell are you saying!?'' Ichigo tried to force himself up, but a sudden weight on his back forced him to remain down, the source of this new weight being Renji stepping on him with his unharmed leg.

''Just lie there and quietly die.'' The red haired man told the boy, even though he hadn't met him before, it was obvious to him that this was the human who was responsible for taking Rukia's powers.

''I doubt we need to trouble ourselves with them, if we leave them, they will eventually die.'' Rukia reasoned with her brother, unable to even look at her classmates again. ''Let us go, nii-sama.''

''Wait, Rukia! What kind of…!''

''Shut up, Kurosaki.'' Kuromiya interrupted him, making Ichigo look at him as if he had gone crazy. ''You're just m-making it worse.''

''You can't be serious, Kuromiya! We can't let them just take her!'' Ichigo screamed at his classmate, unable to believe what both Rukia and him where saying.

'It's not like I don't want to.' Kuromiya thought, he wasn't able to lift even a finger right now, the blood loss had been too much for him to handle. Still, Ichigo's words did manage to get a reaction out of him, since he tried squirming around to move a little.

''You two don't dare to move!'' Rukia's scream stopped their last attempts to fight back, giving one last look back at them with tears falling from her eyes. ''If any of you even tries to come after me, I will never forgive you!''

''… Very well.'' After what felt like an eternity, the stoic captain finally decided to speak. ''I shall not finish either of them off.''

''With my two attacks, I have shattered two of his soul's fatal areas, he will die within an hour.'' Byakuya explained while looking at Ichigo, and shifted his gaze towards the other wounded teenager. ''I impaled him right through the stomach, and twisted my blade inside it, he's dead as well.''

It had been hard to tell just when it had started raining, but at some point during that depressing night, rain had started falling all over them.

''Even if both of them do manage to survive, one of them will be powerless.'' He explained, not even bothering to give a last look to both of his victims. ''Renji.''

''Yes, sir.'' Renji answered immediately, knowing exactly what he had to do. Walking past Ichigo's miserable form, Renji took his sword out and slashed the air with it. ''Unlock!''

Materializing itself out of nowhere, a portal appeared in front of them in the form of a few Japanese styled doors.

''…'' Both of the helpless students couldn't do more than to watch the three of them leave, leaving them behind to bleed out in the rain. Thus, in even less than a minute they were left alone.

''… K-kurosaki.'' Kuromiya called, hoping that Ichigo still remained conscious. ''You still alive?''

It was quiet for a few seconds, the rain cleaning the pool of blood below both of the defeated teenagers.

''… I'm still here.'' Ichigo replied after a while, but he sounded so defeated it almost didn't feel like Ichigo at all.

''We are getting her back, right?'' Kuromiya questioned, his vision getting fuzzier by each word he muttered.

''… You're damn right we are.'' The substitute soul reaper assured him, and that was the last thing that Kuromiya managed to hear before fainting, his world going completely black after that.

. . .

End of chapter eight.