53 Byakuya (2/2)

The sun drowned in the horizon, elongating the two shadows. A slight breeze flew by as it broke of a leaf from a nearby tree. With the leaf ever so inching the ground, Byakuya tightened his grip on his sword. Time seemed to slow as he could hear his own heartbeat. He had never won against Itsuki even when he was holding back so he didn't have much expectations of winning, he just wanted to know the true strength of the one he had called his rival.

The leaf had just touched the ground when Itsuki disappeared from his vision. His instincts screamed at him; warning bells rang out within him. Barely moving his sword to a defensive position, a tremendous force made impact on his sword. Being pushed a few steps back, his instincts started screaming again, but this time from another direction. Moving his sword into a different position he blocked the sword.

A few clashes later, Byakuya saw a chance and thrusted his sword forward. However, it wasn't what he expected, Itsuki's swords was centimetres from his throat resulting in his lost.

Another few months went by with there being no change to Itsuki's schedule. Apart from Hisana joining them as a spectator during his spars with Byakuya, there were no changes.

Today, Rangiku had called for Itsuki and the gang to get back together. They were having a reunion of some sort and Rangiku had invited them to attend the academy.

Rangiku was standing alone outside the gates of the academy but she was attracting quite the attention. She was, by no doubt, a beautiful lady and caught everyone's attention wherever she went, however, her lieutenant armband deterred them. Suddenly, a commotion was heard, and she looked in that direction.

A familiar face was there with an unfamiliar smile. Aizen was walking towards the academy, dressed in a captain's attire with Gin following behind, who was now a Lieutenant. She was about to call out to him but was stopped by a hand. Turning around, she saw Itsuki look at her as he shook his head.

Getting his message, she put her hand down and started walking into the academy. As everyone's attention was on Aizen, no one saw the two entering.

”It's been a long time, yet it feels short”

Itsuki nodded at Rangiku's words as they walked side by side.

”Where are the others?”

Itsuki questioned

”They couldn't make it”

Itsuki felt suspicious but let it go.

Turning into a corner, Rangiku realised that they were in a relatively deserted training area. No student could be seen near this area and various sword marks could be seen sporadically lying about.

Leaning on the familiar tree stump, the two reminisced about their training days. Rangiku leaned on Itsuki's shoulder as if it was natural while her eyes were gently closed. The two enjoyed this rare piece of quiet.

Suddenly, a rustle was heard behind them as a girl walked out. She looked awfully similar to Hisana but was just a younger version of her. She seemed to be a new student and remembering the timeline of the show, Rukia should have been in her first year of the academy, having just joined.

She seemed to be in her own thoughts due to not noticing the two people already there. What brought her out of these thoughts was a cry of a beautiful white eagle that landed in front of her.

Caught by surprise, she tripped and fell on her back as Seikyo jumped onto her knees. She was frozen as she didn't dare move in case it earned the ire of the bird.

Seikyo was curiously looking at the girl in front of her. She looks the same but has a different smell. A bird and girl continued to look at each other until a Jigokucho interrupted them. They both looked towards it as it flew towards the tree stump.

It was only now that she noticed the two people in the area. She couldn't see one of them and only saw a head full of blonde while the other had gotten up. What came into view was a white robe with the number two on the back.

This shocked Rukia as only one type of person could where something like that. Then remembering the bird that was on her knees, she turned to look at it, only to see it jump from her and onto the person's shoulder.

The said person turned their head and glance back towards her. Coldness, pure coldness was present in those eyes when he looked back. Rukia was frozen when she met those eyes and found it hard to breathe.

By the time she collected her thoughts, the two people had already left.

Itsuki had been called for an emergency. They had lost contact with the students that went to the real world for training. Him being the closest, he received the order first. Upon entering the Senkaimon, he made his way towards the training area.

Arriving at the location, what entered his view was a fairly modern area. The year was currently 1952 and it was only six years after the second world war. Japan was slowly recovering from the war and one could tell with the atmosphere.

In a certain location though, the atmosphere was very different. Countless hollows were killing students left and right with one major one in the middle.

**************************************************

Author's note

Guuuuys, bad news, ive fallen ill.

Life gave me hayfever and asthma, then decided it wasnt enough and presented me a cold

So, i'm going to take this chance to rewatch bleach and concentrate on my other book.

I'll hopefully be back by Monday, finger's crossed

Lastly, I will need to sort out a timetable for this so I can get you guys a more stable release rate.