Cuttin' it Close [Yuki/closed]

To most, Karakura Town Japan was a rather typical place, people got on the subway to Tokyo to go into town to do their jobs. But to Raph, and many others like him, it was atypical; ghosts showed up, monsters showed up to eat the ghosts and samurai showed up to kill the monsters. And all of that was usually just in one afternoon! He couldn’t remember what had drawn him to the place specifically, just that as he’d landed in Japan, he felt this odd pulling sensation as if someone was dragging him by his shirt. It had looked pretty nondescript, on the surface, and so he’d gotten a place here.

Now, given what he knew, he wasn’t entirely sure if he would’ve stayed or if he would’ve hopped on the first subway and went screaming back to the hotel. As it was, though, he had an apartment in the town and had to stay. It was actually a pretty nice day off, this time. The sun was shining, the flowers were in full bloom and there were tons of people out because of that. Every five seconds he was hearing someone else’s plans for the rest of the weekend, whether they would go to Osaka, or maybe head to Nagasaki, one man planned on taking his family to Kyoto. The summer was practically swimming with the plans of the uninitiated. He felt bad for them as much as he envied them. Their inability to see ghosts was both a blessing and a curse.

He pulled out the bottle of ibuprofen quickly swallowing two pills to quell the growing headache that he already had building. It was way too early in the day for this kinda shit, and the looks from people as he deposited the bottle of painkillers back into his bag was REALLY annoying. Even one or two police gave him funny looks, and he just sneered at them. They gave him dirty looks, but continued on their way as he sat down. That was when he felt an odd rush, like that of booming wind rushing through a channel and he looked up. It was a masked monster, a hollow, standing nearly ten feet and with large hands, it reached down at him.

Not missing a beat, and not wanting to get grabbed, Raphael leapt from his seat, as the creature smashed through it, splintering it. He took a step back and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction, the creature managing to catch up and keep pace with him. He leapt sideways, down an alley, as it came crashing down and through a parked car, caving in the roof. Raph kept running as it turned towards him and he only barely managed to pull himself over a wall before it came crashing through, sending him flying. It loomed over him as he prepared what he was sure would be his last words.

“Someone please help! This isn’t how I wanna die!”

A deep breath was drawn inwards by the Shinigami dutifully keeping watch over Karakura Town, having perched atop a light post. Earth felt more home to her sometimes. She could let loose here. No worries about upsetting some noble family, no need to sit and mingle with people, and no responsibilities. Well, one responsibility. Maybe two if one counted the Quincy, but who had interacted with any of them lately? No, here she was free.

It was sunny out today, but up here she caught the wind. With eyes closed she focused entirely upon her greater senses. Not that she was expecting any action during the daytime, but low and behold there it was: the smell of a Hollow. To her it smelled of decay.

Out already? Someone is impatient. Or perhaps there is some other reason? Could there be more? Let's see here.

Her nose twitched, a few drags of air pulled through her nostrils. She turned towards the north. With eyes opening she took off, leaping swiftly from rooftop to rooftop. One hand settled upon her sheathed weapon, fingers gripping firmly. She loved a good hunt.

The sound of wood shattering prompted her right ear to twitch. Her direction shifted, and before long she spotted it. A Hollow, right out in the daytime, already chasing some poor soul.

Wait. He's not dead. And yet he sees it. Interesting.

As she gave chase she searched for a good place to fight it. Unfortunately at this time of day there was no good setting nearby. A prolonged fight would risk dragging in more Humans. The little wolf's excitement vanished.

What a shame. Quickly then.

By the time she reached the alleyway the Hollow was already preparing to strike down its prey. A tinge of jealousy shot through her. If only she'd had such a chance. Not to hunt a Human, of course. No, that was wrong.

Too focused upon its prey was the Hollow, not having noticed the reaper's descent from above. With a flash of steel the large hand was removed, crashing against the ground behind the Human. Landing gracefully Yuki turned, cleaving her weapon in an upwards arch to sever the other hand which of course had already been moving in towards her.

Its quick too! What a fight that might have been! A chase!

Her blade was twisted, edge pointed towards the monster. A guttural roar was cut short as it started to back away. One vertical flash of steel interrupted this movement. In the next second a single perfect cut cracked open along the Hollow's mask, splitting it into two. A dark, almost black red splattered outwards from the creature's wound. By the time she sheathed her weapon the Hollow's corpse had already started to dematerialize.

Probably would have been more entertaining had I not had the element of surprise. Well then. On to the other thing.

Yuki turned to face the Human, sniffing in his direction, mostly to capture his scent. He could undoubtedly see her. There wasn't any reason to hide away at this point. But she did wish to collect a little more information. So she approached the man and extended a hand, offering to help him to his feet.

"You appear to be okay. I am sure that you have many questions, however I must request that you answer mine first."

Raphael hadn’t even expected it, could feel the pounding of his head against his skull and, were he not terrified from this monstrosity about to kill him, he would’ve taken some ibuprofen. As it stood though, he was about to be killed by a monster and his soul devoured, all to power itself for a minute or two at most. Yet there was an odd…almost acceptance, though it was more just the understanding that he was fucked. That was when it happened. There was something like a whoosh, more whispers that pushed his headache further and then there was the slashing and the creature seemed to explode.

Before he’d fully registered what had happened there was a Shinigami in front of him, sheathing her blade and looking rather disappointed. Did… Had… What the fuck had she wanted from that goddamn thing, a huge climatic fight?! Were they all so crazy, or was she just a special one?? Raphael couldn’t believe the look, and vibe, that she was giving off… Yet, after a few seconds he realized that not only was she extending a hand, to try to help him up, but that she was trying to talk to him, explaining that she had questions for him that needed answered.

He cursed himself, inwardly, hoping that he could’ve avoided something like this. Normally he would’ve pretended that he couldn’t see ghosts and was just freaked out by the fact that something, obviously, had been chasing him. Unfortunately, this time he was quite sure that the Shinigami had seen him seeing the masked monster. There was no way to weasel out of this one, he would need to simply provide her the information that he requested, but no more than that. Acquiescing, to an extent, was most often the best practice. He took her hand and got to his feet.

“Alright. You saved me and all, only fair that I answer your questions first. But before that, my name is Raph.” And after his name he gave something of a salute, by putting a hand over his chest and bowing forward, ever so slightly.

With a careful tug she assisted the man to his feet before taking a couple steps back. Her red orb focused upon the Human stood before her, taking in every detail. From what she could tell he was pretty normal looking. Normal height. Normal face. Normal body. Normal clothes. She couldn't spot anything on him that looked as though it might identify him as part of some fringe group.

And yet he could see it. He can see me. That Hollow attacked him during the day, and not in some tucked away spot either. He isn't a Shinigami. What is he?

Oh. Right. Names. First name basis. Yes, that was probably okay. It was only polite, after all. And so Yuki lowered herself slightly, returning the bow.

"You may call me Yuki" she stated briefly, starting her questioning once she'd straightened up. "First. Where do you live? Second. What are you? Third. What organization do you belong to. Fourth. Why was that creature after you? Fifth, do you know what that creature was? And finally, do you have any. . .abilities?"

Fair questions to start with. Helpful, too. The last one felt a little awkward to ask. Humans didn't have any abilities. But she had to be sure.

In any case she turned slightly, briefly glancing around, ears focused on picking up noises nearby. After all, she didn't know if other Hollows might come. Or if this might have been some elaborate ambush.

I need to report this regardless.

It was a fairly gentle tug with a firm grip, and Raphael found himself quickly on his feet. The Shinigami took a few steps back and seemed to examine him for a few moments, sanguine eyes studying him closely. There was little to find, though, as she would quickly see. Raphael was one of the most ordinary people that someone could ever meet, which, in a way, was quite sad. But as she looked, watching him, he studied her as well, she seemed less unassuming, as if she was supposed to stand out, somewhat. Then again, given how many Shinigami there must’ve been, a way to single yourself out from the usual rank and file was probably a good thing.

She explained that her name, or at least what he could call her, was Yuki and then, upon the revelation of her name, she immediately launched into her questions. Raph’s eyes went wide for a few seconds as she asked, and he couldn’t help but blink once or twice. These all seemed like A. very odd questions and B. like questions that seemed like common sense. But, once she’d asked them all, he finally deigned to answer her, as if to indulge her.

“Well, first of all, I live here in Karakura Town, have for nearly the last year. I guess, secondly, I’m a human. But…what organization do I belong to? Uhhh…” He scratched his head, realizing he had to think on how to answer that. “I mean…I guess I work at Hashimoto Logistics, in the server room, if that’s what you mean. If not, then I honestly don’t know how to answer ya. Fourth, uhm, I have no idea…? Why would a masked monster be after any human?” Yet at the final two questions he realized that he had the benefit of the doubt and could easily come to his own terms. “Fifth, not really? I’ve seen ‘em around but what the hell they are? Dunno. But your final question, I can cook pretty well and I’m a wiz with gadgets and technology!” He smiled, despite how badly his head was pounding. Sure he’d completely and utterly lied to her, but how was she to know? She couldn’t hear his thoughts.

Her left hand settled upon the tsuba of her zanpakuto, the other casually against her hip. She continued to study the unusually boring Human. Mostly she was searching for any signs that he might be attempting to deceive her. Not that she knew him well enough to know, but sometimes people gave very obvious tells.

With each question answered she tapped her finger against the hilt of her weapon. Karakura Town. She should have asked him to be more specific, but it mattered little. She could probably track him down again in the future. He was a Human, obviously, but she had to be certain. Hashimoto Logistics? She'd never heard of it. No clue as to why the Hollow was chasing him. He didn't even know what it was, but he'd seen them before. And finally, well, he was just a boring Human. A Human who could see spirits.

Not completely boring. Certainly unusual though. Perhaps he gives off a different scent to them?

"Alright. Raph. Have you ever been attacked by those creatures before?"

She turned slightly, briefly glancing around. Still no signs of others. Perhaps it really was just the one? A fluke, maybe? In any case, the sooner she finished her questioning the sooner she could leave. Preferably without having to answer too many questions.

Raphael watched her carefully as she laid a hand on the hilt of her weapon. She seemed annoyed, or was it bored? Probably bored. Honestly made him wonder if she really wanted to be either here…or if she’d rather be out hunting more of the hollows. He could feel it, almost like a sickness… They were out there, though who they were stalking was a good question. It seemed strange to Raphael. She should’ve known, but Raphael couldn’t help shake his head. More whispers bounced around in his head, and he couldn’t help but feel a little ill.

His answers, unfortunately, only seemed to agitate her more. Or…was it that they just bored her more? Her perspective was entirely Shinigami and so nothing that he said would make any sense to her, especially Hashimoto Logistics. As he finished speaking, he watched her, wanting to figure out what she, specifically, thought about the situation, not that she would voice that.

“Yes. Quite a number of times. Hell, just a few weeks ago one destroyed the server room where I worked in; ran for my life from the damn thing. Thankfully, I managed to hide from it, but the building was wrecked and…my boss unfortunately lost his life.” He blinked, while watching her. “They smell… Not even smell bad, they smell almost like hatred and anger. Though I guess feeling is more of the appropriate word than smell, it’s almost like you can smell it off of them.” He shuddered as he stood. “They never come alone…do they? There’s…another out there…somewhere…” A roar sounded from the end of the alleyway, a deafening shriek. “Ah shit…here we go again…”

Wait.

"What?"

He'd already been attacked before. And yet here he was, still wandering around. Alive. Her eye narrowed slightly. Was he really telling her the entire truth?

What is going on?

She paused. He could smell them? Perhaps they were a little alike. Somehow. She really didn't get any of this.

"I smell something el-"

Yes. She did smell something else. Only not just in general, but right now. Then came the roar. Turning to face the end of the alleyway Yuki drew her zanpakuto, holding it up defensively.

"Depends on its level of intelligence. If you can find yourself a hiding spot then you might wish to do so now."

This time she wouldn't have the drop on it. And, hopefully, it would be intelligent! Then she could actually have herself a real fight! The only problem was the Human. She couldn't go all out with him around. Losing control was too easy.

Least it'll drag the fight on.

He blinked looking at her as she asked “what”; he was a little confused as to why she was confused. It made sense to want to avoid dying, didn’t it? He didn’t want to be sent over to the “other side” before it was his time. Still the headache was getting bad now… MUCH worse than normal and he heard something strange. A whisper of hunger and to devour, maddening voices echoing in his mind all at once, and Raphael placed a hand on his forehead, trying to keep them out. That was when she said she finally smelled it too, or perhaps she was feeling it? Then she told him to find somewhere to hide. Raphael dashed past and quickly leapt behind a large collection of pallets, wedging himself in between some that sere surrounded on all other sides by random assortments of trash.

Yuki would have another minute or two before she saw it, an enormous lion like creature, fur practically standing up and waving like fire as it walked. There was a low guttural growl as it entered and suddenly a very deep voice echoed down the alley towards the empty lot: “Cicerooo… Where are you? We are HUNGRY Cicerooo… Why do you run…? I can smell you…” The creature slowly plodded into the alleyway, looking left and right and sniffing before it suddenly looked up and spotted Yuki, blade drawn. It stiffened, growling. “Shiiiniiigamiii… You are not who I hunt… Where is Cicero…?”

Yet it didn’t seem ready to give her time to answer. As she stood there, blade drawn, the creature must’ve taken it as an offense. As it bristled and growled, there was a sound like metal drawers opening and suddenly gouts of fire shot out of the creature’s legs and it dashed at her, smoke and exhaust filling the alleyway, with it’s mouth opened. Raph was watching, careful not to peak out too far. The thing was going to bite her, if she wasn’t careful!

A familiar warmth spread throughout her body. This Hollow spoke. It spoke! It actually speaks! Finally! A real battle!

It was good that the Human hid. She wouldn't have to worry so much about holding back. Her tail flickered excitedly behind her, the stoic facade broken up by a wicked grin. She didn't know who this Cicero was. Perhaps it was the last Hollow she slew? Or perhaps this Human had another name? Did Hollows name their own prey?

"You aren't the only one hunting tonight!" called out the Shinigami, pushing into a charge as her foe approached! It was time to test our her foe's strength! "Gimme everything you got!"

When the distance finally closed between them Yuki cleaved her blade in a downwards arch, aiming straight for the center of the creature's head! She really hoped that it'd live through the attack, but she wasn't going to make it easy! After all if it couldn't survive then it really wasn't as worthy as it appeared.

As the hollow charged, Raphael watched Yuki advance and bring her blade down in an arc to cleave through the hollow’s head. Then, the hollow did something that Raph would have pondered about, had he not seen it. The creature twisted itself so that Yuki was about to cleave into its leg and suddenly a what would seem like a blade of lightning appeared from a small area just above the join of it’s leg. There was a clashing sound and the creature would pass Yuki, before coming to a stop not far from her.

“…you…are good…shinigami… But Cicero will be MINE!! I ALONE have the ability to transform him into what he should be, into the monster that none of you can foresee!” Above the creature small red spheres formed surrounded by an aura of blue electricity, before suddenly firing right at her. Raphael watched closely. This thing was a monster, even by the standards that Raph defined monster. Yet…there was something else in the area. Something that seemed dangerous in a different way.

Suddenly several beams of light came flying into the area, crashing through the first hollow’s blasts and a creature that seemed like an egg, or closed shell, with a halo over its head descended into the area. The beams slammed into the building around Yuki, but didn’t actually hit her. Yet…were they hunting together and one was annoyed at the other or was one hunting the other?

“Puck…you naughty creature. You get distracted by one measly Shinigami and lose our prey… It seems as though this one might be a little difficult for you alone…” There was a haughty, feminine laugh from the floating creature as the shell opened revealing a large face, wings coming from within the creature and a large orb at its base that had been concealed by the shell. “I shall assist you in both fighting her AND hunting for our poor, dear friend… After all, he must be freed from that shell that he is stuck in…” Raph shuddered behind the pallets. Did…did they mean him? Why did they want to eat him?? It made no sense… The whispers from these two were more maddening than a normal person’s, it felt like thousands of voices all trapped within one, too silent to speak yet loud enough to hear. His ears were ringing as he hid. He just…needed to stay hidden, but the headache was beginning to build.

It's quick!

Her initial cleave missed its target. She would have taken a leg had it not been for a sudden blade of electricity. Was that the neat trick of this Hollow? That it could draw its own weapons? How many could it hold? Where could it draw from?

She turned to face her foe, zanpakuto brought to the ready before her. Again it spoke of this Cicero, however she had no time to respond. Already it was charging up an attack! Once more she took off, charging her foe with the hopes that she could reach it before it finished firing off its attack. Maybe it wouldn't be able to draw those blades?

Just as she was about to reach the attack, to cleave her weapon into it, to test her might against her foe's, something else intervened. Brilliant beams of light shattered the red energy, prompting Yuki to slide to a stop. She turned, facing the new combatant.

"Puck?"

To be completely honest she'd never asked a Hollow what its name was. Hell she didn't even know that they had such a thing, or friends for that matter. But here they were, two intelligent Hollows speaking candidly to one another. In fact they were hunting together!

Hunting the Human. What is so special about him? Suppose I'll need to ask him later. I just hope he keeps out of this.

The wolf's tail whipped around behind her. Fingers tightened their grip upon her zanpakuto. This was the battle she'd been waiting for! A battle with two intelligent, pack hunting Hollows! Fangs were flashed as her wicked grin spread across her lips.

"Let's do this!" she roared, charging the four-legged Hollow once more! By the time she reached it her weapon was already swinging, this time a horizontal cleave towards its face. However at the last moment she leapt forth, aiming to pass above the creature, blade flicking down to deliver a cut along its back!

Raph didn’t know quite what to think; he’d encountered hollow before, but never intelligent ones that spoke to, and coordinated with, one another. This was as frightening an aspect as it was a fascinating one. He wondered if the Shinigami would be able to fight against them, and if so, how easily or difficult would it be? Regardless, she seemed raring to go and spoiling for a fight. The two hollows seemed to be more than happy to indulge her for, as she charged straight at them, there was an odd roar from both that forced Raphael’s hands to his ears. He hated the sound of their screams. Hell opening onto Earth would probably be better…

As she raced forward, the hollow in the shell seemed to rise up a bit, as if out of her reach, and Raphael could feel more energy gathering where it floated, while the feline crouched down. The moment that she leapt over it, the hollow suddenly raised itself up, and while yes it would take a cut with this stratagem, it seemed to have been one they’d done plenty of times, the teamwork being as flawless as it was. With her blade slicing its back, she would then be springboarded into the air, and there was a second of hesitation as a blood red light seemed to overtake everything. Raphael looked up and the floating hollow was preparing some kind of energy assault… The sound, like metal against metal against a chalkboard on a metal dish, was starting to hurt his head more and more…

He certainly hoped that she killed these things fast. Raphael knew that whenever a lot of energy appeared at one time, hollows tended to flock to it… He might’ve lied to her, but he didn’t want her to get hurt and, if she wasn’t careful, then there was going to be blood tonight…

Good! I can cut it! What a bloody good time this will be!

Red filled her vision, however it wasn't her blood lust. Another attack was being prepared. Her tail swept outwards as hard as it could, pushing against the air in order to assist in twisting her body around to face the attack. They really were clever, weren't they?

"Come on!" she dared her foe, feet ready to push off again as soon as she hit the ground. When she finally did touch down she sprung forwards, charging at the feline's back. If the attack was actually fired off she planned on slamming her blade into it. A direct challenge to the flying Hollow's power!

The feline hollow suddenly began to glow with electricity, its eyes began glowing blue, the boosters on its back lighting with fire. Then, watching her, the back of its joints suddenly lit with electricity, transforming and coalescing into a pair of blades behind both legs. The blood that poured out of its back only seemed to enrage it and as some of it trickled down its face, the feline smiled and took a step towards her. “YOU WILL NOT STOP US SHINIGAMI!! CICERO WILL BE OURS!!!!” And leapt upwards, before suddenly launching the spears of lightning right at the girl.

Then here was a moment or two where nothing happened, a few seconds where energy simply built, then the energy went inside of the flying creature. Energy rushed through the shell, causing the creature to turn purple, and the halo above its head began to spin quicker and quicker. It smiled at her and then suddenly energy, the beams of light stained red, launched at the ground, the buildings, the Shinigami, everything around it. They started slowly at first and then began to get faster and faster and faster, a rain of light and death descending down upon the Yuki, beams crashing through anything and burning everything.

While Raphael continued hiding from the two creatures, the beams had begun cutting through his hiding place, setting it on fire. He gripped his head, as the sounds of fighting got worse and worse. He just wanted all of this to end, the fighting to lull, the creatures to be killed or purified or whatever and the Shinigami to go away… She’d have more questions after this, no doubt, but he wasn’t sure that he’d have the strength to answer them with his headache the way it was.

More electricity crackled to life, covering her grounded foe. Another pair of blades. She continued towards the beast, even as it leapt upwards. Of course she hadn't expected the jagged protrusions of lightning to actually fire off towards her.

With her feet pressing hard against the pavement Yuki stumbled forth, body twisted to avoid one of the lances, blade lashing out towards the other in an attempt to deflect it into a wall. She continued forward, only avoiding falling completely thanks to the diligence of her tail as it stretched out behind her.

Shit!

Thankfully the flying Hollow didn't immediately fire off its attack. She would have undoubtedly been open for it. And when it did begin to unleash forth its beams of red Yuki quickly bolted towards the side of the alleyway. Unfortunately she wasn't yet able to leap around at great distances like certain other Shinigami.

Damnit! It's gonna hit the Human! Gotta grab its attention!

Or just let it die.

"Hey! Why don't ya try aiming?!"

As she reached the wall Yuki planted her foot firmly against it, pushing off to lift herself upwards. The other followed suit. Soon she was hopping up from one side of the constricted alley to the other, making her way swiftly towards the egg-like Hollow. All the while her tail shifted for balance, zanpakuto swiping towards the beams which neared her.

Unfortunately there were too many attacks, and there was very little room for her to navigate during her climb. The first beam grazed her right leg, a hole left behind in her pants while flesh sizzled with pain. Only a couple leaps away and another one made it past her defense, carving a neat line across the left side of her torso. A nearer miss.

A sharp growl escaped from the wolf, sword plunged into the wall as she barely stopped herself from dropping down. It was very painful, but her adrenaline was surging. Just as a third was about to hit her she continued her ascent, leaping to the opposite wall, only to then immediately leap off and up towards the rave-like creature!

"Die!" screamed the wolf, zanpakuto cleaving outwards with all the force she could muster! An all out attack! For the moment she abandoned her defenses. This one she had to deal with now, for she doubted she'd have a second chance at such a maneuver!

Raphael watched as Yuki evaded the attacks, but winced as she got hit in the leg and cringed a bit more as she nearly got hit in the torso. This was the thing that he hated. He hated waiting for them to fight, for the hollows to be purified, for the Shinigami to leave. If he wasn’t so afraid of these creatures then he would’ve run away long ago. He would’ve escaped while they were fighting. As it was, though, he was terrified of both the creatures that the Shinigami was fighting against as well as the Shinigami herself. She seemed quite wolf-like, agile and constantly jumping around everywhere. She was agile, to be sure.

Raphael pressed his head against the pallet that had was hiding behind trying to force the whispers to go away, trying to force the migraine down. But no matter what he did, his head kept pounding away like a drum and he tried even harder to force it down. What in the hell did he have to do, bash his own head out against the pallet?! Raphael peaked out again from behind the pallet. She was going to do it, finally, and kill one of the two hollows. Yet… The lion had landed again and was already revving its boosters for yet another attack. This time, it seemed, there was more of a concerted effort to kill her.

He felt something bubbling up. It…wasn’t right, was it? That she should die in his stead… That she should take a bullet that had originally been meant for him… How was that right? It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t… His head was beating harder and harder. They would kill her, then come for him. No. Even her death wasn’t right. She shouldn’t have to sacrifice herself for anyone, not even him. “You lose this round shinigamiiii!! Cicero is ooours!!!” The lion roared as it launched itself at her to impale her while she focused on his flying companion.

“JUST LEAVE ME ALOOONE!!!” The spiritual pressure behind the pallets suddenly ballooned, the wood and metal exploded. A purple bolt, almost the size of a basketball went flying from where Raphael had been standing and slammed into the lion. Its chest cavity seemed to compress on impact and the blast sent it flying off course where it slammed into a fence and seemed to get impaled. The other one, meanwhile, distracted by Raphael’s suddenly outburst, had no time to react, as Yuki’s attack hit it, slicing its mask clean in half.

“…dear…dear…Cicero… I’m sorry…we couldn’t save you…” And with its final words, it faded away. As the debris cleared, Raphael stood panting, a purple flame surrounding him. What he’d just done, whatever had just happened was barely registering. He looked at his hands, as the light that had been surrounding him faded away, though the energy that danced and crackled upon his fingertips stayed and he looked at it, wondering what had just happened.

An ear twitched, shifted to focus in the lion's direction. It was coming for her. And while she'd thought that she was high enough to avoid it she was mistaken. The Hollow had launched itself on a crash course towards her.

Everything seemed to slow down to a crawl. Perhaps she could turn to meet the lion, but that would leave her open for the other one. Beams of red darted swiftly towards her body. A slight movement allowed her to avoid one. Another was turned into a much less severe though still relatively painful graze. One caught against her blade, deflected off into the sky. At any moment one might hit her head on, and if that were the case she'd most certain suffer a nasty, potentially debilitating wound.

I wasn't fast enough. Damnit. Maybe I can take the hit.

Probably not. She was tough, yes, but the lion would impale her twice, and that wasn't even accounting for the massive claws or the crushing jaws of the creature. The initial impact was survivable. Once they landed she wouldn't have much time to react.

At least I can take this one with me. It was fun.

You'll be fine. I'll keep you safe.

How?

Her right ear twitched, shifting to better face the source of a scream. The Human. Had another Hollow showed up? Did she fail even that duty? Pallets exploded outwards. She didn't see the end result, but she heard something slam into the lion, and then she heard it slam into fencing nearby.

Gotcha! Was that you?

No.

One solid cleave split the large egg in half. As she passed through its disintegrating corpse Yuki hit the side of one building, hard. On reflex her blade tore into it to slow her fall to a stop. There she rested for the moment, hanging off her weapon, breathing heavily while she took stock of the situation.

"Are you okay down there?" she called out.

This Human. Raph. He certainly isn't normal. And those Hollows were most definitely hunting him. Oh shit the other one!

Her attention snapped back towards where she heard the lion impacted. Feet pressed against the building. She was prepared to leap away if the creature still lived. Even so the multiple wounds she'd suffered drew a hiss of pain from the Shinigami.

Would be really nice to know some kido right about now.

Raphael looked up when he heard her hit the wall, suddenly snapped out of his stupor of staring at his hand. He could ponder what the fuck just happened later. First things first. He wanted to rush over to the wall where she was standing, but his legs…they wouldn’t move. Was it shock? Was it fright? He didn’t know, all he knew was that he couldn’t move right. Suddenly he felt himself move, or at least he thought he’d moved, and before he knew it he was near where the shinigami was hanging in mid-air.

“I’m fine, yes. Are you alright?” He didn’t exactly like shinigami, but she’d tried helping him, even if it seemed like her reasons for doing so weren’t exactly inspired so much by altruism, as they were the thrill of combat. He didn’t like the taste of anyone getting badly hurt or even killed. Left a bad taste in his mouth. He heard the metal of the gate scraping and scratching as the lion hollow got to its feet. It was impaled through by one of the metal poles of the gate.

“…come…home…Cicero…” It was still clinging to this Cicero shit, and the anger from that was causing his headache to come back and worsen. “Please…Cicero… Do not leave your family like this…” It had gone from a normal headache to a migraine to a full-blown lying in bed migraine. But suddenly he stopped, eyes opened wide and glowing violet, with the flaming aura surrounding him again, something Yuki would be easily able to see this time. Holding up his right hand, the creature suddenly found itself unable to move, though it seemed to be struggling. If Yuki was wise, then this was her time to strike.

I've really got to work on my hoho.

With her adrenaline passing Yuki really started to feel those wounds. It was as though someone had scraped away the top layer of her flesh. They hadn't even directly hit her! She could only imagine what a direct hit might have felt like.

"I will be fine."

They were interrupted by a Hollow. The lion. It was still up and it was still speaking. She was ready to launch into the fray once more, but she was also kind of curious as to what this Human could actually do. As it turned out he didn't even need to touch the creature.

He is holding it in place. Well then. I suppose I should probably finish it.

With a pained sigh she pressed herself off the wall, tearing her blade out as she fell to the ground. Upon impact she rolled to reduce the strain, only to then leap over towards the lion. As much as she hated an easy kill like this it was still her job, and a Human was still under threat. After all she didn't know how long he could hold whatever it was that he was doing.

She made it quick. One solid cleave against the center of the creature's mask. Once she was satisfied with the result she sheathed her zanpakuto and turned towards the Human. He had been lying to her. She really didn't like that.

"Is Cicero your real name? Did you know before that you could do this sort of thing?"

Raphael’s eyes continued glowing violet, though the aura had faded, when she finally killed the beast, splattering blood all over the ground, dissipating. When it was finally dead, the violet in the man’s eyes faded away entirely, the spirit energy that had gathered going with it. The headache was gone, replaced a lot of hunger. He felt like he’d been working out all day, gone through a full day of normal work and had run several miles just for fun. But at this moment, it wasn’t fun at all. He was going to eat enough for four people.

He watched his hands for a few minutes as the energy finally began to fade away. Then began her goddamn questions again. He rubbed his temples as she spoke more. That had been what had set him off in the first place, all this talk about Cicero and… The monsters had made no damn sense…

“No Cicero isn’t my real name. They were calling me that the whole fucking time they were hunting me! And how in the living hell would I know about that! I don’t even know what the hell it was!” He scowled at her. Despite not being upset with her, he couldn’t help but glare. “The sounds of you three fighting, them talking… It was all getting too much for me. I’ve had a headache this whole damn time, and it just…” He shrugged. “I don’t know what the hell happened. You’re more of the expert on this kinda shit, why don’t you tell me?!”

So they are naming him. They called him family. Why?

Closer the wolf crept, leaning in to sniff in Raphael's direction. He didn't really smell like a Hollow. Perhaps the Hollows detected something she did not. Or maybe he was some sort of natural bait for them. But then they weren't speaking about devouring him, they were speaking about saving him, about bringing him home.

This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

In response to the man's question Yuki simply shrugged. "I have not heard of these creatures pursuing Humans for any reason other than feeding. This entire situation is unusual. Your abilities, their desire to drag you to their home, to save you? It is all new to me."

What was she supposed to do now? This Human was potentially in danger. But it wasn't as though she could simply bring him back with her. Nor could she sit around babysitting him. Maybe she could get some other people to keep an eye on him.

Some newer recruits. Yeah.

Glancing down she'd type that note into her little cellphone. She thought it was a good suggestion.

"Do you know of anyone else who might have similar abilities?"

She got closer to him, she smelled him and he couldn’t help but pull back a bit. He disliked people being this close, even live people and this ghost…wolf girl thought she was allowed to get that close without him retreating? Nope. Nope. Nuh-uh. Once she was done and pulled back to what he considered a safe distance, Raphael relaxed a bit, but kept looking at his hand and his feet. How…had he moved closer to her? How had he gotten where he had? He hadn’t been able to move… Then there was the weird energy that he’d fired; how, or why, had he done so?

“You haven’t heard of them ever attacking humans except for when they’re hungry, huh?” He frowned a bit, thinking. “I suppose that makes sense. I’ve never really seen it either…” He pulled out a small notebook from his back pocket. “Then again, I’ve also never heard of shinigami stopping to really speak with lowly humans…” He chuckled, a bit dryly, at his own joke. “Well, at least not many Shinigami…” He looked over the notes and wrote down a few things into the notebook. “What in the world could this mean…”

He sighed when she asked if he knew of anyone else that had powers like he did. Did he? He scratched his chin, deep in thought. “…hm…” He jotted down another few things. “Only person that I can really speak of is someone named Vance, though I’ve got no clue where he is now. Spiky hair.” He chuckled. “Gives off a bit of a creepy aura too. But, seems like a nice enough guy.” He finished writing, snapped the book shut and shoved it back into his back pocket. “If I were you, though, I wouldn’t try to follow up on that lead. You’re going to find that harder than finding a picometer sized needle in a haystack the size of a mountain. I’m not sure quite how you shinigami work, but it’s nowhere near as efficient as human bureaucracy and international agencies, I assure you.” He smiled at her. “You all remind me a bit of police officers, to be honest. Do you have any other questions for me?”

At least she had his scent now. It would make it easier to locate him in the future. Or, at the very least, identify him if he were disguised. Not that he'd try to hide from her. What was the point? She was after all here to protect him. Well, not him specifically but his kind.

Her gaze followed the Human's movements, settled upon the little notebook retrieved. This man was making his own notes. Did he investigate this sort of thing? Or was it just a weird little habit? Perhaps he was working for someone else? Was there a Human organization dedicated to fighting Hollows?

If that were the case then he would have known about them. No, he is probably acting alone. But then I can't really trust him, can I? He has already lied to me.

Raphael certainly knew about her kind. This man was probably more well-versed in these matters than he'd initially led her to believe. At least he gave her a clue to another Human. Someone named Vance. Spiky hair didn't really help much. Apparently he was difficult to locate too.

"We are here to protect Humans from those creatures, and to assist the dead in their passage to the next life. I do have two more questions. First, do you have anything from this Vance person? Any objects that were previously his? And second, have you spoken with Shinigami before?"

Raphael watched her. “Protect? Most people don’t even see them. Does that ever make the protection feel a little moot? I dunno, it would just bother me that I would be protecting people that can’t see me or them. And, as far as escorting the dead, you certainly assist the physically deceased.” He cast his gaze back towards the street. “Most people, though, are just dead on the inside. Working tirelessly till they give out. Great machines, they really are.” He sighed. “I wonder how many think about their own death. How many wonder what the other side will be like. The religious, definitely, despite how wrong they are… What kind of god would make a world like this…”

Then he returned to address her questions. “No. I make it a point to not carry paraphernalia given to me by other people on my person. I have something at my house, but that’s a ways away. Plus, he doesn’t exactly live here.” Her second question, though, made him laugh and probably more than he realistically should’ve. “Yes. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with several of your kind on many occasions. I’ve spoken with the lower ranking people, one new recruit and once the rarer officer. That was a fun time.” He smiled, reminiscing before his countenance returned to normal. “But before you ask, no I don’t know any of their names.”

He studied her a moment. “I saw you watching me write,” he said after a second. “Are you curiuos what I was jotting down? I can show you, if you wish. A gesture of good will and thanks for saving my life.” More defining moments. More choices, each one cascading to an end, though one that no one could possibly know the answer to. He couldn’t help but ponder how she’d respond.