"Kira, (L/N)," Shuuhei began. "I'll take on this guy. You two take care of Hinamori and Rangiku-san."

We turned to him, a blank look on our faces.

"...Is that okay? Leaving you to take care of him?" you questioned warily, raising an eyebrow.

"W-Who said anything about leaving me to take care of him?! Hide them with kido after you've administered emergency treatment then back me up! ...Especially Rangiku-san. She's going to be in trouble if you don't hurry up."

"Look, there's not really much I can do medical wise... I mean, I can do a little bit of kido-based healing, but..."

"You can stay. Better than being useless over there." You bore a hole into the back of his head. He didn't seem to notice your glaring, and continued, "I'm counting on you, former 4th Division."

You stared in confusion.

"Do you know how long ago that was?" Kira sighed, smiling a little.

Wait, what? Kira and 'smiling' in the same sentence? Impossible!

"...Let's go."

"Yes, let's."

You stood and stupidly watched as Shuuhei and Kira worked to grab Rangiku. Kira immediately began healing her, and you felt anger coursing through you at the sight of her.

I can't believe I didn't help... I'm sorry, Ran-ran! I'll make it up to you!

Appaci shouted at Allon to move, which obviously made no difference.

"Bakudo No.73. Touzanshou."

A barrier was erected around the three, and you grimaced ever so slightly as you turned back to Allon. A chain from Shuuhei's weapon was wrapped around his neck, like a dog on a lead. He glanced at you for a split second. You knew what that meant. You had to make the next move.

I don't know anything about this thing, guys... any advice?

Okay... I think?

Your eyes darted from side to side as you thought up a strategy. You sighed reluctantly, resting your sword on the chain holding Allon. You didn't even bother trying to explain your plan to Shuuhei, no time.

"Hado No.11! Tsuzuriraiden!"

He seemed to catch on as the chain was surrounded by lightning. He pulled it down.

"Did it do anything?" you puffed, suddenly noticing a cut down your abdomen.

When did this happen?

The monster lay on the floor, obviously affected by the lightning.

I did it! Great, I guess kido is his weakness!

You jumped backwards as Shuuhei leaped above the monster, ready to strike the finishing blow. You suddenly froze, everything a complete blur. Next thing you knew, it was standing up as if nothing happened. Shuuhei pulled back just in time.

"...Damn monster...!" you cursed, trying to shake that horrifying feeling that creature brought. You watched as it broke the chains, swerving your gaze towards Shuuhei.

"...You broke that easily enough," he commented. "That means you could have done it any time, huh?"

You gasped as it grabbed him, too fast for either of you to react. It let out a huge roar.

"Wha...?!"

You sprung into action, holding your sword out in front of you and aiming for the back of its head.

He hasn't reacted yet... I can do this!

To your complete and utter disgust, you realised it had eyes at the back of it's head. Literally. The eye fired a cero, which you blocked.

"(L/N)-san!"

Shuuhei couldn't say whatever it was he wanted to, as Allon slammed him against a wall.

"Shuuhei!"

You trembled slightly when you saw he was bleeding practically all over, breathing heavily.

"GUAH... AGHHHHH!"

Allon squeezed him tightly, then threw him away. It turned to Kira, who was still healing Rangiku and Momo. The creature began to form a cero, and you stabbed it right through the chest, stumbling backwards as blood spurted out.

It hurts... my abdomen hurts, my chest hurts, my hands hurt... heck, my brain hurts. This thing... this monster is bringing out all my fear, all my pain... I hate it. Not only do I hate the creature, I hate that I'm affected.

It brought it's hand up to the hole in it's chest, then started shouting and roaring. You stumbled back further yet as you noticed it growing. It was soon even bigger than it had started out. You then stood up straight as you realised it was heading towards you. You dodged quickly, your confidence returning now that you weren't just standing by and watching.

"Missed me, you creepy piece of shit! Hah! All you can think about is killing people. How pathetic. Shimo no Tora... Tsuyakeshi-en!"

Ice flowed from your blade in a manner akin to water, and bursted forward, like a dam with a broken wall. You watched intently- quite terrified, actually- but, to your surprise, the ice had split the damn thing in half. The ice flowed back into your blade, and you almost dropped it in horror. You then frowned to see that Allon was still moving.

Yes, you heard right- Allon was still moving. While literally cut in half.

"Oi, could you stop that already? You're creepy, my hands are shaking," you huffed. As expected, it paid no mind, roaring loudly. You cursed in frustration.

"You're so... stupid. I feel like I'm doing you a favour by killing you."

The ice flowed around the creature once again, wrapping around over and over until there was almost nothing remaining.

"Kira, strengthen your barrier," you panted, looking up to the three Arrancar who were now all pointing their swords towards you. In a quick panic, you swung your sword again, but that didn't stop you yourself from being struck. You fell to your knees, covered with blood. The sword had not even a speck of red on it. It was beautiful, but unnatural.

You slumped onto the ground and glanced to your Captain, immediately worried for him. Despite his obvious power, maturity, experience, and rank, you still thought of him as small, cute, and someone that needed to be looked after. You could see your white-haired Captain was starting to become tired.

Please be okay, Taichou. I promise I'll help soon.

You couldn't keep that promise, though, because everything went black.

~