'Fu-Fuck!', A curse echoed in my head as my breath hitched in my throat, the pain in my abdomen sharp and burning.
My vision blurred for a moment before I had to force myself to stay focused and awaken, looking down at the blade stabbed through my abdomen before turning my gaze towards the hand that wielded it.
"And here I thought Kira would be enough, but it seems you're a bit more than he expected," The silver-haired man spoke with a fox-line grin spread wide across his face as he twisted his blade, a soft chuckle escaping his lips as I winced at the flash of pain.
"D-Didn't think that a captain…would be the type to attack an enemy from behind," I gritted out, feeling the warmth of my blood trickling out from the wound and Gin's grin widened as his eyes barely opened.
"Oh, don't get the wrong idea. I'm just doing my job. You just made things a little too interesting for me to sit back and watch so I thought I said hello," With a gut-wrenching burst of pain, I hissed as he pulled his Shinso from my abdomen and stumbled forward, barely catching myself with my cane.
My free hand pressed against the wound on my stomach, gritting my teeth as I glared at him while searching my mind for a way out.
I just needed time, just a moment to push through the pain and figure out an escape plan, but unfortunately Gin wasn't the type to give openings so easily.
"Ah, don't fall on me yet. We were just getting started," Gin spoke with an amused grin as his blade casually rested on his shoulder while he tilted his head.
"Ya know, I've been trying to figure something out. Just what exactly are you tryin' to do here with the Gotei 13? You're not a captain-class fighter from what I've seen and you're just a simple human that surprisingly knows how to use Kido, but that's also the only thing you got goin' for ya. Yet, you fight like you've got something to prove against everyone you face."
"You…talk too much," I exhaled as I stood up, pulling on the Reiryoku of the necklace while also trying to balance my energy despite the wound in my chest.
"Bakudo #21:Sekienton!", It felt painful to cast a spell as I had to remove a hand from my wound to do so, but as the familiar red smoke obscured me from view, I spun around while stumbling away from the fight.
I needed to escape.
"Smart move…But~ You'll need more than smoke to escape me," Gin's voice spoke from the smoke before I spun around right as I heard the sound of the air being sliced apart.
"Bakudo #24: Mawari Tate(Circular Shield)!", The air in front of me flickered as I channelled the Reimyaku of the ground before a circular disk of spiritual energy formed in front of me.
However, I didn't get much chance to marvel as Shinso was barely blocked by the rapidly rotating shield, which shattered from just the first strike while Gin looked amused as I aimed at him with a finger.
"Hado #4:Byakurai!", The air hissed as a bolt of azure lightning sliced through the air and towards him, but I was not surprised to see him sidestep it effortlessly.
"Ooh~ Not bad. Almost got me with that one," Despite his words, his grin never wavered as he twirled Shinso in his hand and I frowned before raising my cane and slamming the butt of it onto the ground.
"Hado #23:Senbaku(Flash Burst)!", The underside of my cane glowed before an explosion of bright light flashed all around me, with me being unaffected by the flash of light as I stared at it.
However,I quickly raised my cane and aimed at Gin when I saw him squinting slightly, seeing it as an opportunity to finish the fight.
"Hado #24: Matsuri(Festival)!", The air around me sparked before a dozen fireballs shot towards the Shinigami, who smirked as he held his sword with a thrust stance.
"Shoot to Kill, Shinso," The blade was nearly invisible to my eyes as I moved to the side, but it was too late and I hissed as a searing pain to my shoulder flung me backwards.
Rolling with the impact while feeling the combination of my stomach and shoulder wounds flaring, I staggered to my feet, my vision flickering and blurring.
"Ooh~ The breathing is getting shallow there. You're really pushing yourself, huh?", Gin's voice was barely audible and I shook my head to gather myself while taking a raspy breath.
'O-Okay. I know I've…only used you for small injuries…but I really need you…to work your magic…' I thought as I pulled on the Reiryoku and immediately, the corrosive aura of a Hollow rippled from my form.
However, I felt nothing but relief as the pain around my body began to bleed away, Gin raising an eyebrow as my wounds hissed and the sounds of bones snapping back into place came from my body.
'The organs that were hit are still injured…but this at least…Hah, I can move now,' I thought with a frown as I began to pull on the Reimyaku of the Seireitei, the reishi of the air and my own Reiryoku.
"So, have you had enough of hitting me around? Or, should I show you something…special?", His smile twitched as the flicker of surprise vanished from his eyes and was replaced by his usual carefree gaze.
"Oh? You got a surprise for me? Well, now I gotta see it."
"Hado #31: Shakkaho!", The air rippled as the scarlet orb formed at the end of my cane before rocketing through the air, but Gin was quick as his Shinso extended right through the orb and towards me.
"Hado #33: Sokatsui!", Ignoring the pain of his blade slicing through my left arm while shooting out a controlled burst of blue flames at the Shinigami, I pulled on the Hollow Reiryoku once more and healed my wound shut.
"Shoot to Kill," Without even saying the name of his Zanpakuto, Shinso gleamed as it sliced a horizontal line along the top of the flames and I quickly knelt down right as a few strands of hair were cut off.
"Sorching abyss, let devouring embers dance and erase in the wind. Reduced to naught by the judgement of fire. Let oblivion burn. Hado #54: Haien(Abolishing Flames)!", With a flare of my Reiryoku, the air around me warped and twisted upon itself from the heat as a violet blast of energy shot from my right hand and flew towards Gin.
This time, the Shinigami looked just ever so slightly less amused as he turned and let the attack fly by, a hiss escaping my lips as Shinso had already pierced the air and through my chest this time.
Blood bubbled from my lips before I could stop him and I gagged while falling to my knees, my breathing raspy and uneven as a cold sensation began to creep from my fingers.
"Here I thought you only knew Kido spells of level 40 or below, but I see you have gained much more knowledge from the Kido Corps' archives then we theorized. You're good, I'll give you that. Very good for a human, that is…but still not enough."
"Still breathing…", I gritted out before stifling my pained cry as Gin pulled Shinso back, nearly falling forward had I not caught myself with my cane and spitting out another mouthful of blood when my movement aggravated the wound.
"And there goes your healing. Oof~ What to do now?", Gin asked with a chuckle as he slowly lowered his blade with the tip pointed at me and I glared at the sly snake that smirked at me.
Before he could react, though, I felt a shift in the air, a familiar Reiatsu roaring fiercely and a bloody smile spread across my face as Ichigo's aura filled the air.
"Looks like our time's up. A shame, too. I was starting to have fun here," Staring at Gin, the Shinigami sheathed his blade as his playful attitude faltered for the first time before his usual sly grin appeared on his face once again.
"Try not to bleed out before your friends get here, yeah?", With just those words, he vanished from my sight, leaving me to fall onto my side as I tried my best to not breathe too hard and force even more blood.
'C-Come on. You…you can't die yet…You still…h-have a lot to do…', I could feel the warmth of my blood seeping through my robes and the world around me began to spin, each breath taking more effort than the last as darkness crept at the edge of my vision.
Not yet. Stay awake.
The sounds of footsteps sounded dull to my ears and my mind raced as I thought that Kira or another Shinigami was about to get to me, but my eyes widened slightly as two familiar blurry figures knelt next to me.
"Hold on, Kanonji," Uryu's familiar voice sent a pang of relief through my body as I let myself relax.
"Can you heal him?"
"His injuries are very severe so it's going to take a while," I heard Orihime say and Uryu let out a soft sigh at her words. The next moment, a groan escaped my lips as I felt Uryu lifting my head before dumping a liquid of something into my mouth.
"This is just a quick medicine that will slow down your heart and your blood flow by extension. This will help us move you to a new location," He explained and I didn't keep them waiting as I swallowed it.
The next moment, my eyes widened as I felt my breathing growing slower and my fatigue grew too much before I began to fade away.
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"…waking up," The voice sounded distant as I opened my bleary eyes, wincing at the coarse dirt I was lying on before a pair of hands helped me up.
"Let yourself wake up first, Kanonji," Uryu spoke and I gave a slow nod while fully opening my eyes, blinking a few times to get used to the light before looking at them to see Orihime looking relieved while Uryu smiled.
Looking out at the few rays that were shining through the only window of the building, I frowned as I saw the slight rays of sunlight fading over the other buildings before turning back to them.
"How long?"
"Almost a full day. We tried to get Kurosaki, but Ganjo must have gotten him out because he was not there when we tried to find him," I was surprised to hear that before shaking my head as I remembered my wounds, which were probably also the reason why I was knocked out for that long.
"Right. What of you two? Have you gotten some rest?"
"Orihime did, but I didn't do much so I wasn't tired," Uryu answered and while I wanted to tell him to rest, I nodded as I stood up before blinking as I looked around.
"Uh, where is my trusty cane?"
"Right over there," Orihime pointed to the side and I was relieved to see my cane resting on a wooden box, walking over and picking it up before blinking as I looked down at my body.
'…Forget fully healing me. Where the hell did all this Reiryoku come from?', I thought in shock as I lifted my necklace, staring directly at the great amount of Hollow Reiryoku flowing inside of it despite the fact that it was completely empty just a few hours ago.
This was not just the amount of Reiryoku that was inside of it when we first entered. No, this...
'This feels like a combination of both the Reiryoku from that Gillian and the Reiryoku from that failed Arrancar I took out. Holy shit, Lady Luck just keeps on loving her favourite child, doesn't she?'
"Oh, right! We managed to get you to this building safely and I healed you, which was also why I needed to take a quick nap."
"…Can I make you an honorary student of Don Kanonji?", I asked and Orihime looked ecstatic before nodding happily.
"Really?!"
"You have shown skill beyond the average exorcist. It would be my honour to have you as my student."
"T-Then it would be my honour to be your student," Orihime spoke with an excited nod, shaking Uryu from side to side who just looked exasperated as I smirked.
And just like that, another powerful student is mine.
"Now that we are done speaking of needless and unnecessary things, may I ask what possessed you to believe you could take on a captain and win?"
"Wasn't exactly trying to fight him to be honest. He attacked me from behind and didn't seem to want to let me go."
"Then why did he?"
"Ichigo's Reiatsu must have interested him more than wanting to kill me off. Then again, his departure did save my life so I am thankful for that."
"Saving your life is a fitting sentence. You're lucky I sensed your faint Reiatsuor you would be a dead hero instead of a living one."
"And there's the insults. Good to see our lives being in mortal danger has not changed you.," I spoke with a smile and Uryu rolled his eyes before I sat down on the crate with a frown.
"How much more time do we have until the execution?"
"It's the evening of the second day and we have about a day and a half before Rukia is executed."
'Ichigo should be busy with Bankai training then, but that also means I have only one day to get the Hogyoku. Fuck! And Gin just showed me where I was in terms of power against him,' I thought as I leaned back against the wall and let out a sigh.
Gin was not trying to kill as he was only using his Shikai and yet, the guy didn't even struggle to keep me occupied with a happy smile.
Compared to Aizen with the Hogyoku or Ichigo at the end of his Dangaitraining as well as some of the more heavier hitters like the captains, I was shown just where I was in terms of power and I do not like what I saw.
'I need more training. Having all of these Kido spells aren't going to do me any good if I can't figure out which one works best. Actually, having all of these Kido spells is just going to make me stress about which one would be better so I first need to master what I had at the beginning before focusing on what more I can learn.'
"Uh, are you thinking about something, Mr. Kanonji?", Orihime's voice knocked me from my thoughts and I looked at her before smiling and shaking my head.
"Just a little something. In the meantime, we need to get out of here. The Shinigami probably have our location and are most likely trying to surround us."
"I do not feel anyone near us," Uryu spoke and I scoffed as I stood up while picking my cane up as well.
"I said the same thing before I got a sword through the chest. Don't think that they don't have technology to hide them from sensory abilities."
"Very well. What is our plan of action?", He asked and I grunted as I swung my cane from side to side.
"Well, can you get rid of fatigue?", I asked while looking at Orihime, already knowing the answer as she smiled and nodded.
"Good. Uryu is most likely a bit sleep-deprived so I want you to restore his stamina. Then, you need to rest for a bit to catch your breath before we continue on our job."
"And after that?", Uryu asked even as Orihime's barrier appeared above him and I smiled as I gripped my cane and spoke.
"After that, we raise hell. …Also, where is my Reishukaku?"
A/N: And we end off the chapter with Uryu, Orihime and the Don together and on their way to raise havoc.
Next chapter: The Mad Scientist vs The Mad Don and An Archer vs The Blind Swordsman
Also, I have realized how little I've been using the Don's original abilities and have only been using Kido so I'm going to start mix-matching stuff.
I have a final build in mind for his moveset made after a certain character, but for now, we'll keep it with the combination.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next chapter,
Ba-Bye~!