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[x-norainu-x.livejournal.com]

When; Today
Rating; PG-13? For blood and stuff?
Characters; juicebox_woes Kuchiki Rukia and x_norainu_x Abarai Renji with a special guest appearance by Yoruichi goddes_of_flash.
Summary; A battle of pride.
Log;

Why the hell had he agreed to this again? Oh yeah, that was right, Rukia had asked him too.

"Tch. Fucking idiot."

Would he really fight her? Could he really fight her? It wasn't so much a matter of skill as it was a matter of ability. Could he really bring himself to hurt her? He had been forced to do it in the past, but that was before everything had happened, and even then, it took every ounce of strength in his body to raise Zabimaru in her direction. How would he find the strength to do it now?

"You can't..."

It angered him to say those words. There wasn't supposed to be anyone or anything Renji couldn't face, fight...But Rukia? As much as he hated to admit it, she was one of his weaknesses. The simplicity of that fact made the already prominent scowl on Renji's face grow more severe, a stray foot kicking a nearby tree as he continued to pace back and forth through the foliage covering the forest floor. He hadn't known why he had chosen this location...perhaps he secretly hoped Rukia wouldn't be able to find him and that they could just put all this stupid shit behind them.

Had the situation been different, perhaps Renji wouldn't have been the only one to view things that way. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. At least, not for Rukia. Renji's words had stung, cut deeper then she'd expected them to, but that wasn't even all of it. In her normal state, the raven-haired shinigami would have been able to step back from things and rationalize, realize she was over-reacting, allowing other things to cloud her judgment. But right now, she couldn't do that. She was angry, hurt, and frustrated. Things had been fine, happy. Normal, if one didn't count the fact of being stuck in a City that put one through curses. But then...everything had seemed to come undone at the seams, and she'd been trapped in the midst of it, left floundering in an ocean of doubts and unable to DO anything about it. And even though things were beginning to look up, she couldn't get past that thirst to prove, not so much to Renji, or Ichigo, or anyone else, but to herself, that she was just as strong, just as capable as any of them. Maybe that was why the barb about being too afraid to make a move had struck so deeply, dumping salt into a wound that had been festering for awhile. Either way, it made no difference. She'd said she wouldn't hold back, and she wasn't planning to. Logically, she knew she probably couldn't kill Renji. It was simply a matter of him being stronger then her. Not only that, but she...wouldn't kill him. No matter how angry or hurt she might have been, she certainly hadn't forgotten that he was her friend, her best friend.
But those thoughts found themselves pushed from her head as she caught a touch of his reiatsu through the trees. Masking her own until the last second, she shunpo'd in front of him, crouching as she swung Sode no Shirayuki in an upward arc towards him.
"You're wide open, Renji."

Alright, so maybe Rukia did have something to be mad about, after all, anybody would be pissed after basically being called a coward by someone they were supposed to be close to. The Kuchiki Rukia the red haired shinigami knew wasn't a coward, but here, in this city? Well, it had dulled everyone's intelligence and broken most people's resolves, and it was because of that that Renji couldn't take back what he had said. They were acting like cowards. Every one of them. There was nothing to loose in this city, so why not go and rescue Hinamori? Why not team up and fight to bring back a friend that was being held captive by the very arrancar that were so skillfully able to manipulate them? Hadn't they had enough of playing Aizen's ridiculous game? Apparently not.

It was while he was deep in thought that the hairs on his arms began to tingle, his eyes blinking open as he realized Rukia wasn't too far away. Steadying himself, he withdrew Zabimaru just in time to block her attack, his countenance first astonished, then amused. He had forgotten; she had been training under Soifon. That would explain the sudden ability to shunpo. Had the situation been different, he may have even congratulated her, but from a strategic point of view; this was nothing he hadn't seen before.

Cracking the smallest of grins, Renji pushed her sword away with his own, his voice stoic as he spoke, crimson eyes gleaming, "And you're slow, Rukia."

"Tch, that? I'm not even warmed UP yet, Renji." She shoved with Shirayuki, twisting the blade and using the momentum to swing herself up into the air, sandaled foot aimed for his throat. "I wouldn't underestimate me, Abarai-fukutaichou. I'm not the same Rukia you used to know so well." She hoped to catch him somewhat off-guard, after all it was rather unorthodox to combine hakudo with the more standard means of fighting. But it had been Yoruichi who had sat the petite shinigami down and explained to her that unorthodox wasn't necessarily a bad thing. That it could, in fact, be used to throw your opponent off their guard. And for someone light and fast, like either Rukia or her two mentors, it could mean the difference between a win and a loss.

Another scowl.

Watching as Rukia sailed through the air, Renji had to admit to himself that she was quite impressive. Her skill, her speed, her tactics had all certainly improved...too bad for her he had also been training. Tirelessly. Endlessly. Hourly. It's why he always seemed to disappear. It’s why he was able to buy everyone dinner...

His innate reflexes had kicked into action before he had given himself time to think about what to do, his hand sliding over Zabimaru's blade, transforming the sword. Swinging it in an upwards motion only moments before Rukia's foot collided with his throat, the segmented blade blocked the attack, pushing against the shinigami's foot with a force that would knock her to the ground.

"Apparently not."

The force of Zabimaru's blade against her foot knocked her back, her own honed reflexes the only thing that let her land on her feet, skidding backwards across the dirt. Kicking off of the tree her heel impacted with, she darted towards him, shunpoing from side to side to make it harder for him to follow her movements as she softly whispered the kidou. Seeming to flicker as she suddenly upped her speed, she reappeared in front of him, hands held out. "Haddou no Sanjuuichi: Shakkahou!" As the red ball of energy erupted from her palm, she let the backlash send her flying back into the trees, feet impacting with a thick branch.

She wasn't slow, not by any stretch of the imagination, but after having Byakuya as his Captain for so many years, Renji's eyes were well trained to speed. Legs askance, Renji readied himself to parry another blow--but it never came. He had failed to notice the subtle movements of her lips as she neared, her hands parting as a swirling ball of energy rocketed in his direction. His hands and Zabimaru could only do so much to deflect the kidou, and as the smoke cleared, a single drop of blood spiraled towards the ground, setting a path for many more to follow.

Uncovering his face, Renji straightened himself out, using a single digit to wipe the crimson smear from above his right brow. Eying it with a mixture of surprise and irritation, he flicked the droplets off his finger before sighing aggravatedly.

"Doesn't matter what you do to me Rukia. I'm not fightin' you, so if you're intention was to kill me. Go ahead and do it already, would you?"

She hadn't really expected to be able to evade his eyes, especially not considering the fact that he'd worked under her brother for so long. Kuchiki Byakuya's speed was really second only to two people. Shihouin Yoruichi and her protege, Soifon. It was perfectly within reason to accept that she wouldn't be able to lose his eyes. Dropping down out of the trees, she rested Sode no Shirayuki on her shoulder for a moment as she regarded him with a sardonic look.
"And you call ME the coward, Renji? When you're the one who's to afraid to fight someone you care for. Pathetic. What happened to the Renji who tried to kill me?" Pulling the blade off of her shoulder, she held it out in front of her. "Mai, Sode no Shirayuki". With a simple whirl, the blade shifted to snowy white, the long ribbon materializing in a swirl.

He watched her angrily, hand nearly shaking in rage as the venomous words dripped from her beautiful mouth, his body tensing as the distant memories began plaguing his thoughts. It wasn't going to end, was it? There was nothing he could say, nothing that he could do to stop this from continuing. He felt powerless. The female shinigami obviously wanted him to fight, and she had just shown that she had no hesitation in hurting him in order to achieve her ultimate goal. That kidou had been a powerful one; and now, she had unleashed Shirayuki.

What could he do?

"That what you really want Rukia? You want me to fight that bad just because you can't get over your own fuckin' pride? Because you're takin' out all your damn problems on me? ... Fine. Have it your way. If you can't see this for what it really is, then I guess I don't really have a choice."

It had hurt. Everything she had said about him had touched a weathered nerve. Had it been anybody else, this fight would have already been over but-- This was Rukia. There was no way he could bring himself to seriously harm her, and by the looks of things, if he fought the way she was fighting, Rukia wouldn't be able to move. There had to be something he could do....

"This ends now. Bankai."

The reiatsu around him flared up like an inclement storm, the leaves on the nearby trees stripped from their homes; bark, dirt, everything disintegrating as the shockwave following his upsurge in power barreled down the forest.

He had gotten a lot stronger, and he would use that strength to do the only thing he knew would work...

"HOWL, ZABIMARU!"

The giant, segmented serpent left his side at lightning speed, its head reared back, mouth open in a scream as it rocketed towards Rukia's position. It would hit with a tremendous force, yet, it wouldn't do any real damage...If he was forced to fight, he would fight...but he still wouldn't, couldn't severely injure her....

He would overpower her, force her into a corner, make her charge, and then...

She scowled as he stepped back, watching as the segmented sword shifted to it's much more powerful form. She knew perfectly well that while she may have had some slim chance of beating Renji before, there was no way she could win against his bankai. But that didn't mean she was backing down. Yes, he was right, this was about pride. But to her...it wasn't as simple as hurt pride or indignation. They didn't understand, none of them did, how it had felt to be so powerless as she waited for them to come to her rescue. How it had felt to have Grimmjow's hand thrust through her stomach as she was dismissed as simply as one brushes aside a mosquito. How it had hurt to know that she had pushed herself, trained herself, nearly killed herself to try and prove that she was no weaker then anyone else, only to find her attempts at moving forward blocked. Blocked by those that cared for her, who didn't want to see her hurt. While they continued to fight and bleed and risk their lives. And then, the ultimate indignity, to have the one person who she had thought might have understood how it felt to feel in someone else's shadow, to try and claw your way up to be noticed, dismiss her inability to act as simple cowardice. And it was those words, that insinuation, that had stung of more then hurt pride, but of betrayal and malice and dismissal. Growling, she hurriedly spelled the words to another kidou as she attempted to shunpo out of the way. "Bakudou no Rokujuuichi: Rikujokoro!" The 6 points of light expanded into the familiar yellow beams of light, slamming into his midsection. At least if she could hold him in place...

What else could it be? Stupidity? Everybody had the ability to act, everybody chose not to for the wrong reasons. The arrancar where holding Hinamori hostage, they wanted Hitsugaya-taichou, and only Hitsugaya-taichou to come rescue her. Was he the only one that saw what an absurdity this whole situation was? They'd play into their plans, they'd lead him to believe that if he showed up they'd let Hinamori go...Would it actually happen? Even Toshiro knew it wouldn't. But then, why did everybody else seem so damn transfixed with the arrancar's illusion? Was it really that hard to see through.

Maybe. It was the only explanation for people saying they couldn't do anything about it. That they weren't willing to risk her life. Tch. Her life was already at danger, in fact, Renji wouldn't be surprised if she was already dead even though the thought sent tiny prickles crawling along his skin.

The people responsible. Those who chose not to act. Those who stopped those from acting. The fuckin' people playin' right into the arrancar's games.

Enough.

Even though Rukia had tried teleporting out of the way, Zabimaru was simply to fast. The raven haired shinigami disappeared behind the snake's mighty jaws, but not before sending another spell Renji's way. A spell he was all too familiar with. Gritting his teeth, he bit down hard as the familiar pain traversed his now immobile body, drops of perspiration appearing on his forehead as he tried concentrating on breaking the spell. It was nowhere near as powerful as Byuakuya's, but it certainly wasn't easy to get out of either.

Despite the pain of Zabimaru slamming into her, Rukia managed to force her head up enough to watch as the yellow energy hit Renji dead-on. Gritting her teeth and feeling the sticky wetness of blood start to trickle down the side of her head, she whispered another incantation, one arm clawing it's way out of Zabimaru's jaws. "Haddou no Sanjuusan: Sokatsui." The blue energy went rocketing towards Renji as she crashed into the trees, biting her lip and drawing blood as the impact radiated through her form. She would NOT lose. He may not have agreed with her. He may not have agreed with any of them. But did that matter? Was he so blind that he couldn't see that the only thing that kept her, or anyone else for that matter, from acting was a concern for Hinamori's life? It wasn't that they were afraid to risk it. At least, Rukia knew she wasn't. She might not have liked the idea, or found it to be a very good one, but being willing to risk someone's life and staying your hand until you knew all the facts and had thought them through was a different matter entirely. But no, Renji didn't see it that way. He saw them all as cowards, because they'd chosen not to run off half-cocked and swinging. The trunk behind her broke from the force of Zabimaru's strike, and she went tumbling back into the trees to land in a heap on the ground.

The bolt hit him hard, his shoulder flinching as the stream traveled all the way through his flesh, smoke from his now charred clothes permeating the heavy air. He watched horrified as Rukia was slammed into the trees, his immobility making it so that, temporarily, he had lost hold on Zabimaru's actions. Desperate, he began to struggle once again, breathing in as he slowly began undoing the spell, then screaming as the yellow rays shattered around him. Newly freed, he retracted Zabimaru from Rukia's now prostrate form, concern lingering in his eyes as he saw the small pool of blood gathered around her body.

Hypocrisy. They all accused him of being too rash, too fast, too eager to get things done without knowing all the facts. Too proud, too strong, too relentless....but this fight. Wasn't that exactly what Rukia was doing? Endangering both their lives needlessly?

--

He began to run, feet hitting the ground fast and hard as he twirled Zabimaru in the air above him, with one swift stroke, sending the giant animal heavily against Rukia's body once again, knowing that after this attack, she would be forced to act. This is all it would take. Jerking the hilt at the last minute, Zabimaru's sideswiping force was decreased significantly, though, provided enough momentum to make the next landing to come an uncomfortable one.

Pushing herself up to her hands and knees, she tried to muffle the cry of pain as Zabimaru slammed into her again, sending her lightweight form careening through the trees again. Her shoulder hit an unyielding surface with a sickening crack, and she slumped down the trunk, gritting her teeth against the pain. Forcing herself to her feet, she concentrated on what to do next. She could...even though she knew she wouldn't be able to hold it for long, might not even be able to make the technique work regardless, but... Reaching up with a shaking hand, she yanked off the top of her uniform, leaving just the much-abbreviated top of the special-forces uniform underneath. It wasn't really a matter of concern for the state of her clothes. Just..it was easier to move this way. Stumbling slightly as she pushed away from the tree, the one arm hanging by her side, blood dripping slowly off her fingertips, she stared him down. She wasn't finished. Not like this. Concentrating, she could feel the reiatsu focusing and gathering itself. Just a little more.... As Renji closed the distance, she snarled and gave a final push of her reiatsu as the Shunko initialized, the energy erupting around her as it crackled off her limbs, radiating from her with enough force to throw him backwards.

He'd heard of this, but he'd never actually seen it.

Rukia.

Her training had worked. Covering his face with the only arm that moved, Renji shielded himself from the impressive blast, his knees bending as he struggled to stay upright as he skidded backwards across the ground, all around him, pieces of Zabimaru's body falling. After the initial shockwave, he had time to react, instantaneously, his zanpaktou's body reforming, the links once again realigned as the colossal creature protectively wrapped itself around the vice captain's body. Amidst the temporary shield, Renji couldn't help but smile; he was slightly impressed.

Using the opening, he focused his reiatsu, upping his power limit yet again as he prepared and calculated another attack...One that would leave Rukia drained enough to have to use her sword...

Without warning, he pushed off the ground and jumped high into the air, the hilt of his Zanpaktou facing the ground as Zabimaru plummeted into the earth, massive body disappearing before erupting again under her feet. Then, a flash of red light. He hoped Rukia would partly deflect the blow...If she didn't....He didn't want to think about what would happen if she didn't. He trusted her reflexes enough to know that she'd at least manage that. She was no amateur, but...this had to be it. Now had to be the time. If things kept going like this...If she didn't make her move, Renji didn't know how much longer he'd be able to keep doing it.

It had to happen.

It had to.

Thankfully for Renji, her reflexes weren't dulled enough to get herself killed. Jerking backwards, she managed to evade the blast, though the corner of Zabimaru's jaw caught her in the chin, snapping her head back though without enough force to break her neck. Flying backwards, she thudded into the trees again, skidding across the ground. Pushing herself up onto her elbows, she coughed up blood, one hand shakily reaching for Sode no Shirayuki. Regardless of Renji's attack, the momentary use of the Shunko had been enough to drain her reserves. Shaking as she lifted the sword, digging the tip of the blade into the ground and using it as leverage to drag herself to her feet, she focused anger-filled eyes on Renji. This wasn't what she wanted. For him to refuse to fight her for real, and to still be holding back. It infuriated her that he wouldn't just FIGHT her, the way she was fighting him.

Well, if he wasn't going to fight...she would. Pulling back Sode no Shirayuki with her good arm, she ran towards him, all her anger and frustration compounded in a yell of fury as she drove the white blade towards him.

He held his breath as he waited for her to rise, his hand shaking once again, not out of anger, but of fear. What if this had been too much? He relaxed only a little as he watched her begin to move, then tensed up again as she coughed up blood, her porcelain features now streaked with red.

"Too much. Too Fucking much."

Gritting his teeth and looking away, the taste of bile rising in his mouth, Renji had to steady his nerves, forcing himself to look at her again as she began charging him, sword pointed directly at his chest.

Zabimaru, of course, instinctively curled around him, and that's the way it remained until she was nearly inches away. In a flash, the giant creature was gone, Renji's untransformed zanpaktou deliberately resting at his side as Shirayuki penetrated his chest.

Standing his ground, he let the ivory blade continue its course, the tainted metal soon erupting from his back with a sickening sound. He groaned quietly, his teeth bared as he let go of his zanpaktou, the free hand landing on Rukia's exposed shoulder, a small trail of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth as he attempted to speak.

"Guess this means I win."

He could block her strike, she had no doubts about that. Hell, the way she was barely able to grip the sword, a first-year academy novice could probably have blocked it. Hence...she wasn't expecting Zabimaru's form to suddenly vanish. Or the feel of Sode no Shirayuki's blade ripping through cloth and flesh, the sticky warmth of blood splattering over her hands. It was...too much. Too much like before. Shaking, she raised horrified eyes to look at him, hands still gripping the sword's hilt.
"R..Renji.........you....why? Why didn't you block that! You were supposed to block it!"

Tightening his grip on her shoulder, he smiled faintly as he spoke, vision already beginning to blur, "I didn't want to fight you anymore. This is the only way things where ever going to end. One of us had to give and we're both too proud to simply walk away, right?" No matter how much he needed the leverage, Renji released her shoulder, patting her briefly before stepping backwards. It hurt like hell. Pulling the blade out was worse than feeling it go in, the suction it created making his insides burn as it passed through his flesh once again, blood flowing freely as the last bit of it was removed, his hand clutching at the whole in his chest. "Tch, don't look so stunned," he said teasingly, "you look like one of your bad drawings when you make that face."

Cracking another grin, he struggled to bend over, his fingers barely managing to catch Zabimaru as he stumbled back to his feet, the blade piercing the ground for support as he began walking away.

"Oh, by the way," he said, turning his head just enough so she was in his peripheral, "I was wrong. You aren't a coward."

"You..you...DUMBASS!!" What else could she do, but yell at him? No matter how angry she was, how hurt she felt, she'd never meant it to go...this far. She'd counted on the fact that he'd fight her for real, that she wouldn't be able to do enough damage to hurt him seriously. His last statement brought her up short, staring at him as though he'd grown another head. "You....what?"

Waving his hand dismissively, he began to walk away again, with each step the weight of his legs growing heavier, "Yeah yeah, I know. I'm a dumbass, you really don't have to yell." His ears where throbbing enough by themselves. "And I said you aren't a coward. I was wrong about that," he nearly whispered, a cookie-crumb trail of blood appearing behind him as he continued forward.

Nearly out of her sight, he waved his hand in the air again, with what little voice he had left, calling out to her, "This makes us even. See you later, Rukia."

Stunned, she simply stood there as she watched him go. He'd...just stood there, let her run him through...and he didn't...care? As his head of red hair vanished into the trees, she found herself taking a step forward, one hand raised slightly as if to reach after him. But her vision chose that moment to blur and she faltered, falling to her knees, blood dripping from her mouth as she coughed, leaning against Sode no Shirayuki. Stupid. She'd been so stupid to do this, to force him to do this. Drawing a ragged breath, she wiped away the blood with the back of her hand. "...stupid...." With a sigh, she slumped to the ground, Sode no Shirayuki clattering to the forest floor beside her, reverting back to it's sealed state, blade still stained crimson.

A moment later, a black shape dropped from the trees to pad over to her, sitting down beside the unconscious girl's head. There was a scoff, yellow eyes narrowed with an angry expression as the cat regarded the fallen shinigami.
"A pity it took this much for you to see that."
With a sigh, Yoruichi stood up, form shifting into her human one as she slung Rukia over one shoulder, glancing after Renji.
"He'll be fine. He can take more abuse then you can, you little fool."
Muttering obscenities over the foolishness of children, she vanished in a flash of shunpo.

Renji waited till he was completely out of Rukia's sight before faltering, his legs giving out, his body falling with a thud to the forest floor. He allowed his eyes to close as he smiled to himself, unknowingly repeating Rukia's very words, "stupid. So...stupid..." He grimaced as his body convulsed in a fit of pain, his vision diffused to darkness, what little composure he had managed to maintain for Rukia's sake swept away as he allowed what felt like sleep to consume him.