"This area reeks of alcohol." Matsuri commented, pinching her nose. The odor was strong enough to be noticed even a considerable distance away from the liquor shops and taverns. "Nothing less to be expected from the liveliest area of the district."
"Ooooiiiiiiii!" Someone shouted from one of the open taverns across the street, followed by a whistle. "Pretty, little shinigami!"
"I think that's for you." Suzaku whispered, locking his eyes on a man, appearing to be in his middle-age, wearing a straw hat and pink flowered ladies kimono, draped across his shoulders and over his shinigami uniform. Seeing that Matsuri's tag-along had already noticed him, he whistled once again.
"Druken catcalls! What a great start to the day." Matsuri grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest, doing her best to ignore the man calling out to her. "Let's just go. I am better off not paying attention to those!"
'Playing hard eh..?' The drunkard held his chin, pondering on how to change the mood of the upset girl and win her over. "You there! The capable, refined, intelligent and beautiful shinigami lady!"
"Are you talking to me?" The blonde's eyes sparkled and she immediately started to walk in the drunkard's direction, causing her partner to pull a blank face in disbelief.
'I wasn't wrong when I said she's bipolar.' Keeping his thoughts to himself, Suzaku quietly followed his partner, making sure to prevent things from going south. Putting up with Matsuri's temperament wasn't an easy walk in the park and the male wasn't sure of what she would do if he let her out of his sight.
"Such a striking young lady!" The gallant drunkard continued to praise Matsuri, before emptying one more cup of sake. Now that they were closer to him, they finally paid attention to his appearance.
The man had gray eyes, thin beard and long, wavy brown hair tied in a long ponytail, with long bangs framing the left side of his face. "I saw you and I just had to talk to you."
"Excuse me, but aren't you a shinigami yourself?" Matsuri questioned with a stern look on her face, confusing her partner even more than before.
"I won't deny that." The kimono-clad shinigami shook his head, which was already getting clouded from all the alcohol.
"Shouldn't you be working then?"
It was then Suzaku figured out that Matsuri intended to scold the shinigami for neglecting his duties and put him back in his place rather than responding to his advances. Though he still wasn't going to leave her side. There was a chance she would start throwing hands at some point if the drunkard continued with his tomfoolery.
"I am just taking a short rest. A little breather if you ask me." The man replied casually.
"But you are already wasted! Aren't you going to be in trouble if your superiors found out?"
"Who's going to know?"
"Well me for starters!" Matsuri shouted, her anger was quickly overcoming her level-headedness. Her voice was enough to make the drunkard almost back away in his chair.
"Okay….you win! I promise I will stop, only if.." He held out his hand,showing his empty cup. "Just let me have one more drink. Grab that bottle and pour me a cup, will you?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" The blonde shinigami shouted at the sight of the number of bottles he had emptied until now. Four empty bottles stood like trophies while one had tumbled down, with half of its contents falling on the tavern floor. There were three more bottles by his side waiting as reinforcements, yet to be opened.
"No way!" The man shook his head too fast, almost causing himself slight dizziness. "If you don't pour me a drink, I am going to have thirty more!"
"Guess you should pour him a drink, unless you volunteer to carry his drunken corpse back to his division." Suzaku's suggestion was met with a quick backfist on his face. He rubbed his nose while his partner, having punched him, contemplated her life choices regarding the situation at hand.
"All right, fine! Just one cup." Rolling her eyes, Matsuri reluctantly stepped forward and picked up one of the bottles.
"Oh boy! A drink poured by the hand of a beautiful young lady!" The shinigami seemed very excited by the idea of Matsuri pouring him a drink. As she was about to fill the cup, she stopped midway sensing something in the air.
"Hollows!" Suzaku muttered, already using Shunpo in the direction from where they sensed them. Matsuri followed him soon after, leaving the drunken shinigami to his devices.
"Of all the confounded…" The man mumbled, his mouth open, his arm extended and his cup remained empty. "What about my drink?"
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"There they are!" Matsuri shouted, identifying three masked creatures that were surrounding a woman and her two children. Suzaku, being the faster of the two, jumped right in between to block the claws of one of the Hollows with his zanpakuto.
Using this chance, his partner rushed in and attempted to cut the hollow's body into two by its torso. Unfortunately for her, its hide was stronger than she was used to. She quickly switched her strategy, kicking the hollow away as it sustained a small cut from Matsuri's sword. The other two hollows jumped in to attack but the shinigami were faster than them, grabbing the family of three and using shunpo to get them to safety.
"Run as fast as you can." Suzaku instructed and they did so without thinking twice. The male turned to the hollows with a frown. He exchanged a look with Matsuri, both nodding at one another before jumping in.
The two hollows raced towards the shinigami, while the injured one stayed behind. Matsuri swung her sword at the nearest hollow, the latter dodging it before grabbing the sword with its huge hand, making way for the other hollow to attack her.
"Hado #4: Byakurai!" A concentrated lightning bolt ran through the shoulder of the attacking hollow, making it stagger backwards as Suzaku ran towards the other hollow which held Matsuri's sword. The latter letting go of her weapon went for the hollow who was struck with her partner's kido attack.
They had switched their opponents with their instantaneous movements.
"Hado #11: Tsuzuri Raiden!" Grabbing Matsuri;s sword, Suzaku generated an electric current through the blade, the hollow crying in pain and eventually let go of the sword. He tossed the sword back to Matsuri. The latter jumped to grab her sword midair and with a descending vertical slash, she sent the hollow she was facing to nothingness.
The previously injured hollow snuck up on Suzaku when his attention was diverted with ending another hollow with his kido, and punched him hard from the side before the latter could react and sent him crashing onto his blond partner.
Both barely got time to recover when the hollow was upon them again, ready to stab them using the blade-like protrusions in its arm.
"Bakudo #8: Seki!" Suzaku was able to generate a small round shield in the nick of time which repelled the hollow's attack and sent it staggering backwards. This gave Matsuri enough time to jump in and thrust her sword into the hollow's skull.
"Well, well. What an unexpected surprise! Eheheh!"
Suzaku visibly scowled, recognizing the nasty, hoarse voice of the hollow, the reason behind his nightmares. Other than the strange vision-like dreams he had sometimes, nightmares revolving around this hollow, who apparently called itself Mad Eater, resulted in many sleepless nights for the black-haired shinigami.
"Oh great! This guy too!?" Matsuri asked in disbelief. As if to make her day worse, a dozen more hollows jumped out from the visible crack in the space. All angry and ready to feast on whatever they could their hands on.
"Think you can get out and call for backup?" Matsuri questioned. Out of the two of them, Suzaku was the faster one, fast enough to contact and get back here with reinforcements.
"There is no way I am leaving you behind." Suzaku grit his teeth, shaking his head. His partner's suggestion right now seemed way too absurd. Sure they were outnumbered thirteen to two, not to mention Mad Eater was far much stronger than average hollows.
Its ability of speech and reiatsu were proof of that.
Before any of the two could talk or formulate any new plan of action or even before any of the hollows took a step forward, a figure jumped in between the two shinigami and the horde of hollows. He was the same drunkard from before, but judging from the landing, Matsuri swore he was back to being sober.
How, was another unsolved mystery.
"My my, everyone is being so cold today.." The drunkard grumbled with an upset expression, adjusting the pink kimono that almost covered his face during his landing. "You interrupted me when things were about to get good and now I am mad…"
"Kill the two. Just leave the brat for me!" Mad Eater commanded, the hollows wasting no time in jumping into action.
"Hado #1: Sho!" The force generated from the drunkard's kido spell was enough to shatter the nearest wall as well as dissolving four incoming hollows into nothingness. He then noticed the blonde shinigami made quick work of the two hollows trying to gang up on her.
He noticed that having a stronger and intelligent hollow command them, give them orders, the hollows were performing quite efficiently. In no time, the hollows had somehow diverted him and the girl away from the other rookie shinigami. The very shinigami who seemed to be the target of the intelligent hollow.
'That is the boy Jushiro talked about..' The drunkard shinigami narrowed his eyes. As if to make sure Mad Eater wasn't interrupted, more hollows started appearing from the visible cracks in the air. 'He has yet to reach the level required to take down that one..'
_________________________________________________________________________
Mad Eater focused on Suzaku, quickly jumping in front of him and tried to grab him, only for Suzaku to retaliate at the last second. A visible cut was formed on the green hollow's right forearm. He then jumped on his arm and tried to drive his zanpakuto through the hollow's mask. Unfortunately the mask proved to be too thick for his blade to penetrate. "You are still too weak, kid!"
"Hado #..." Suzaku pointed his finger to the dark blue hilt of his sword, but as he was about to use Sho, Mad Eater's red fur surrounding its mask stretched and wrapped both Suzaku and his sword, pulling the shinigami away from his weapon. "Son of a bitch!"
"I watched you earlier. Using your reiryoku to increase the speed and power of your sword attacks." Mad Eater's furs tightened their grip on the black-haired shinigami after tossing his sword away. "Strong souls are delicious and considering the potential and uniqueness of your soul, I would have loved to make a banquet out of you."
"But I don't feel like wasting this opportunity either." Amidst its speech, Mad Eater failed to notice that Suzaku was already chanting. The hollow only took note when it felt the shinigami's tight grip on its fur.
"Hado #11: Tsuzuri Raiden!" The electric current flew throughout the fur, spreading through both the shinigami and the hollow, damaging both of them. Mad Eater had to let go of Suzaku, the latter despite his injuries, wasted no time in grabbing his right hand with his left. Red energy started gathering in his open palm.
"Hado #30: Shakaho!" He shouted, unleashing the large sphere of crimson flames towards the hollow. The sphere was far larger than any he had made before today and the explosion caused by the impact with Mad Eater, was proportional to the size. A large cloud of smoke was raised as a result.
"Did you get him?" Matsuri appeared beside her partner, grabbing him and jumped back some steps out of caution.
Suzaku's powers had increased during this face off, she had no doubt about that. The increased power of his kido spell was a proof of that. But she knew Mad Eater was far stronger and also stubborn. Way too stubborn to just kick the bucket from that.
"I don't want to get my hopes up on that." Suzaku winced, giving his opinion, glaring at the smoke cloud. A thick strand of red fur suddenly emerged from within the smoke cloud and struck him right in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and sent him flying against a nearby house.
"Suza-!" Matsuri tried to call out but she was cut off when another hair tendril stretched and wrapped itself around her, lifting her up. "That one was strong. But not strong enough."
"Guess you will need an incentive to become my meal now that you are being stubborn." Mad Eater gave an evilish grin, tightening his tendrils around Matsuri while looking down on the fallen Suzaku.
"Hey! Hey! What's the big idea?"
What Mad Eater felt at the very next moment was the feeling of being crushed. Being crushed like an insignificant bug by a very strong and sharp presence. The reiatsu was too strong for it. The hollow right now felt less like a predator and more like a prey. Subconsciously, as if submitting to the stronger reiatsu, it let go of Matsuri who quickly rushed to her partner, helping him stand up on his feet.
Mad Eater turned to face the source of this immense reiatsu and was faced with the drunk shinigami who wielded a taichi on his left hand and a wakizashi on his right. Behind the incoming shinigami, all the hollows Mad Eater had sent in his direction were slowly getting dissolved into nothingness.
'No! I am not dying today!' Feeling that its death would be inevitable if it stays here any longer than necessary, Mad Eater wasted no time in ripping the empty space where a pitch black portal hole appeared and it jumped into it.
"The bastard's gone ... .again.." Suzaku mumbled, still leaning on Matsuri for support before glancing at the drunk shinigami who did not seem anymore drunk.
He also took note that Mad Eater had a pattern. It never took on opponents who were far much stronger than itself. It happened last time when Kaien and Miyako were with the two of them. And it happened again now. This time, this person's reiatsu was much more compared to Kaien and Miyako's combined.
There was no doubt in his mind now.
This person was a…..
"Are you alright?" The shinigami raced towards the two. Although his question was directed more towards Matsuri than Suzaku. The latter was obviously more beat up compared to his partner but the older shinigami did not seem to mind it. "Damn. All of this sobered me up."
"Isn't that a good thing?" The blonde shinigami questioned.
"No! Now I have to start drinking all over again!" He answered with a smile that reminded Suzaku of Ganju's goofier grins.
"I think we should let him have his fun. He saved our lives." Suzaku answered with a relieved sigh.
"Hey! What happened here?" A worried Kaien appeared out of nowhere with shunpo. He took in the sight of the destruction in the area, a beaten up Suzaku leaning on Matsuri and lastly the kimono clad shinigami whom the Shiba clan member recognized almost immediately. "Captain Kyoraku, you were here too?"
"Captain Kyoraku!?" The shocked rookies asked in unison.
"That's right." Kaien pointed towards one of the most important and influent men of the Gotei 13. "Captain of Squad 8, Shunsui Kyoraku."
"Found me out. I guess I'd better save my indulgences for another day then." Kyoraku sighed as he fixed his straw hat before turning his back on the shinigamis from squad 13. "See you people."
"Wait! I didn't get a chance to apologize!" Matsuri shouted but Kyoraku had already disappeared using shunpo.
"Apologize? Were you rude towards Captain Kyoraku?" The confused vice-captain asked before shaking his head. "Or better yet, tell me everything that happened here? Natsumi would definitely love an explanation about why her brother returned home all beaten and bruised.."
"Just great…" Suzaku let out a breath, getting reminded of how fussy his sister could get if he showed up injured in front of her. He will not be able to avoid it either way. Maybe telling Kaien all about it might get him safety and support against his sister when they face her in the Shiba manor.
A fool's thoughts.
He ended up retelling their situation while Kaien patched him up with the best of his medical knowledge. He would still be required to be properly looked at, something that they would do once they head back to the Shiba house.
Suzaku narrated about how they met Kyoraku, then the hollow attack with Mad Eater appearing once again and still being after him for some unknown reason. The vice-captain heard everything with a strained look on his face before finally erupting into laughter after Suzaku finished his explanation.
"Hey! Good for you Matsuri!" Kaien congratulated the female shinigami, earning a chuckle from Suzaku. "When ya got it, ya got it girl."
"What are you talking about?" The shocked Matsuri asked. She wasn't expecting that at all. "That was just Captain Kyoraku's booze talking!"
"I never thought Captain Kyoraku would be your type of guy. Guess you are into the older ones?" Suzaku added just to make fun of his partner even more. That did earn him an elbow to his ribs. "Oww!"
"He's single ya know…" Kaien added with a playful whistle.
"I…uh…I don't really have a type. It's just…" The blond girl found herself stuck in between difficult decisions of whether to drop Suzaku on the ground, declare what she wanted to declare or just keep her mouth shut. "If there is someone that we are meant to like, we just end up liking them. And who I like is…"
"We don't hear a flat out "no" anywhere.." Suzaku shared a glance with the vice-captain who just nodded in agreement. "Guess he's not entirely off your list huh.."
"What?! No, I…hey!" Having been interrupted like that, Matsuri decided not to speak anymore. She should have just slammed Suzaku on the ground and left him to his misery.
"Just so you know…" Kaien said, clearing his throat to get the attention of his squad members. "Captain Kyoraku heard everything you were saying.."
Both the rookies' eyes widened as they turned to see that the aforementioned captain was still here, with the most happy and silly grin on his face.
"My, my Matsuri-chan. I am really moved." Kyoraku chuckled without realizing what was going on. The blond shinigami's eyes started to glow red and slowly she walked towards the formerly drunk captain, having left her partner in their vice-captain's hands.
An evil smile was on her face, representing the bloodlust that laid within.
'Oh no! She looks just like Lisa-chan!" Kyoraku noticed the bloodlust radiating from the girl and knew he had already stepped on a landmine. The only way out of this was a strategic retreat. He followed his own advice, and started running away.
"COME BACK HERE!"