Bleach Hereafter RPG

INITIATIVE ROLL: LNp1Ah4H1d100

It took seconds for Yukari to recall what exactly happened before her arrival to soul society, Iokua Soma covered the cosmology of the world in the beginning of the semester, hollows used garganta to travel to and from the different dimensions of time and space. An anomaly in the temporal distortion had ejected her to the dangai, before she could even take another step in the flower field, she was immediately met by a shinigami with immense spiritual pressure who was deliberately looking down on her.

As his pristine white seemingly haori waved with the wind, she noticed there was no badge on his arm, she knew Japanese, and had no idea which division he was in. While the student handbook outlined the Gotei thirteen, it only had the kamon symbol for each different squad, it was still suitable information for a student at the Academy if they ever crossed paths with a shinigami. The tan teenager was not in a position to fight against someone that was beyond her caliber in the supernatural world but she also could not afford to be punished for her incidental trespass when her family was in danger back at the farm.

“Aloha kakahiaka.” Yukari offered a slight head bow as a sign of respect in response to his greetings.

The judgement he laid upon her as being a trespasser was followed by two questions, she blinked her golden hazel eyes as she processed her thoughts, and parted her lips to answer but decided to ask a question of her own, to determine whether or not he would believe her.

“Do you have the ability to read my living soul?” Yukari was trembling in fear by this point, the anxiety of not knowing what was taking place back at home, mixed with holding a conversation with this man by being polite as possible was crushing her soul internally. “My name is Yukari Aihara, I am sixteen years old, and I am a student in my senior year of high school. I apologize for my intrusion, I cannot explain properly how I arrived here, but I have a theory. Prior to my arrival, a herd of menos grande invaded my homeland, I had no choice in the matter as the strongest in my family to fight, and I was forcibly picked up by one of the menos. I was brought into Garganta with the herd, at the same time a portal to Hueco Mundo opened inside while the menos grande were tearing open a portal on earth, it was then that a temporal anomaly ejected me into the dangai. Rather than be crushed, knowing my family was still in danger with my absence, I chose to continue living by trespassing.”

Yukari held a melancholy expression at this point, she knew she was going to be punished for her crime, and she would absolutely refuse soul society’s justice because her family was still at risk. With Diana, Hanako, Iwan, and the Soma clan still on earth, there was a chance her parents survived the attack of the Menos Grande herd with their help; she needed to figure out a way to get out as soon as she was able to in order to ensure their safety.

With her odachi blade in hand, the blade pierced the ground at an angle, she secured the sheath on her back over her shoulder, by tying it with a refined red cord, and then she grabbed the hilt of her fullbringer focus once more with her right hand this time. The Reiryoku aura that surrounded her took the shape of transparent flames, black bolts of lightning sparked around her ceremonial sword, a family heirloom forged by the Aihara Clan of blacksmiths after her ancestor branched off by the primary Soma Clan five generations past, it was over six feet long in length with a smoke black finish and a bright red inlay down the middle.

The overwhelming beating of her heart began to ease up at normal levels as her focus was now on her own beautiful sword, she found solace in being able to honor her family name by wielding fullbring powers that exceeded the level of everyone at the Academy, and she could feel herself becoming stronger by the day to accomplish her primary goal of becoming a guardian for the Soma clan.

Every second that passed was tormenting the back of her mind, the translucent flames doused the elevated tension she was suffering from internally, and she began to get her breathing under control in the thick atmosphere.

“I was raised by my parents and was instructed not to follow strangers.” Yukari stated in response to his lack of introduction, keeping his name and title secret, she began to breathe away her anxiety, as she focused on her resolve, “A thousand bells are ringing in my heart. I find it difficult to ask for forgiveness for what I am about to do. No one will be able to change my mind, not you, or anyone else, about answering the crimes I am about to commit. I swore an oath to protect my family, they sacrificed their lives for me, and I must protect them in return. By my honor, I need to find a way back home, even if it kills me.”

When she made up her mind to fight, the red cord that held her sheath was raised from her shoulder over her head to secure it firmly in the middle of her chest. The okobo styled boots shifted across the ground, crushing several flowers, as she took a martial arts stance.

The translucent flames began to form subtle red tips, an indication that her Reiryoku Level under the right training, would eventually turn red like fire, and she released her incomplete fullbring to double her soul signature. The black bolts of energy danced around her blade, she closed the distance between them, and she lowered her blade with focused blade mastery.

Iroh’s intense irises were mesmerizing the more she stared into the red gold glimmer centered around his pupils, she used that as fuel for her strike against the shinigami, who was in the way of her finding an exit out of soul society.

If her attack missed, Iroh would soon discover that the bolts of lightning were already locked on him, as she concentrated her fullbring entirely on him through an applied technique she learned at the Academy.

Yukari remained observant, there was no change in his expression, shinigami were gods, laying judgement was all they were tasked with in soul society and the world of the living. Even if he admitted that he knew that she spoke the truth in her explanation, there was no response to her statements, and she preferred it that way in the heat of battle.

What she did not expect was an entire earth sized fissure distance of experience, she missed her first attempt to strike him, the black lightning bolts locked on to him after he avoided her odachi blade to zap the nameless shinigami.

The tan teenager parted her lips in wonder, the sword in his possession ignited in glorious flames the second he unsheathed it, fire was her specialty with her fullbring power igniting her reishi but this was entirely different than her own ability. The red embers floated with the wind, dancing around her entire form, until one of them made contact on her back, instantaneously combusting.

In the seconds it took to process the explosion, she felt hot for the first time in her life, she was a descendant of Aihara Blacksmiths who used flame based fullbring powers for the past five generations, and her affinity for fire had been under her control with the aura of her Reiryoku alone. Iroh’s flames began igniting her coat, her beautiful long platinum blonde hair, and most importantly it was deliberately purifying her hollow tainted soul. In that instance she felt relief, gasping for air with a heaving chest as she bit her bottom lip, with a reddening blush on her naturally tan cheeks as she closed her eyes to surrender to the flames, and in that instant she had forgotten her resolve for pleasure.

After recovering, she returned to reality, her translucent red tipped flame aura stopped the flames short of her hair up to her shoulder, she had activated a barrier subconsciously, and what remained of the black coat was being held in her free hand. It was the red colored flame retardant lining that was used for the inner side of her black coat, it was upsetting to discover that the coat her mother Miki slaved over a year to make with her worn hands was burned to cinders, she immediately wrapped the fabric that remained around her neck like a scarf, as she scowled at Iroh. One of her red Buddist knot hair pins on the side of her head fluttered with the breeze at a far off distance from the scorched flower field, only one remained on her head, and she was feeling rather insecure about her clothing being tarnished by the nameless shinigami.



Yukari rushed Iroh again, this time bringing down her blade into two precise cuts to form a burning X mark on his chest.

It is demoralizing to think that if it was not for the zetex fabric of her clothes, she would not be nearly as decent surviving the explosive flames, it was a special material that could resist 1,000 fahrenheit temperature. The Aihara clan invested in the fabric to make proper clothes out of, with their fire based fullbring powers, while scraping by with the family farm that was entirely in debt. Yukari’s parents never divulged their finances to her, she knew a pair of gloves for glass blowing was priced at one hundred dollars from researching, most of the shops online only offered quotes for different types of thickness and colors. The tekō and kote gloves that protected her arms to her biceps, were fortified in the same leather like material as her okobo heel style boots, which allowed her to stand at six feet tall in order to swing her odachi blade. While two of her attempts failed, one finally clashed against an invisible barrier which cracked for an instant on contact, while her black lightning struck him twice with her spark stemming from the joy in her life.

There was difficulty in formulating a strategy, she had none, while the Academy had trained her in martial arts, she lacked experience to take a shinigami head on. It was through Japanese Zen Buddhism that allowed her to understand the battle, Kyūdō for accuracy, and Kendō for her resolve to hit her opponent with all her spirit. It was then that his flaming sword collided with her own invisible barrier, cracking it across the surface of reishi, and eventually shattering like glass with a second strike. Without being able to counter in that brief second, his sword continued in the follow through to slice her bare shoulder, the blood would have splattered in an instant, but the flames cauterized the wound. Pain was a reminder that this nightmare was real and she winced as she regained her footing across a pile of ash that was left from the flower bed. The black odachi blade was up against his flame sword into a swordsman clash.

The shinigami had a lot of nerve to dress in Japanese style clothing without having any of the Japanese etiquette to match, expecting a human like herself to follow an unknown sense of justice for a nameless face, and it was ultimately a waste of time; she could not afford to waste any more of her precious time if she wanted to protect her family. This rude man left her no other option but to be taken into his custody, which is the primary reason she resolved to fight, why did he compliment her ability to hit him with her sword just now? Was he getting a rise from battle? Did he forget he was supposed to capture her? Even a police officer, Kahale Soma, who was also one of her instructors for advanced fitness, would drill the justice protocol during their obstacle courses to educate his students on the law. Every officer had a badge number to identify them and were obligated to tell the person who was being arrested their basic rights as a human being. Iroh had no regard for her living soul, every time he aimed his sword of flaming justice to tear into her flesh, even if she was a hollow tainted born soul, her fate was still in her own hands even if she had no personal rights in this domain.

Yukari knew she would not be able to survive another assault like the one before, as he pressed her to react with her sword, but she resigned from it. Instead she took a few steps back, from the engagement of their blades, to strike him with the hilt guard without any of the reishi in her previous attempts.


“Leave me alone.”

[642]

The missing red Buddhist knot hair pin was caught in a nearby tree, the fibers were made from zetex, it was the only material that could survive either flames from a fullbringer or shinigami. The strands were caught in the bark of the tree, preventing it from flying away, it was evidence that a living human had trespassed soul society. It was symbolic to Japanese Zen Buddhism, which was put into practice at Sōma Morotsune Preparatory Academy, on the south eastern coast of the main island of Hawai’i.

Black lightning from Yukari’s spark of her fullbring focus shattered the invisible barrier surrounding Iroh. While he looked unharmed on the surface, she knew another successful strike would potentially drop his guard long enough so she could escape, even after her request of being left alone was verbally denied, he finally revealed who he was. It was rather late for introductions after crossing their blades more than once as opponents in the heat of battle; it did not follow the proper etiquette for the art of the sword in kendō. She was quite unfamiliar with what Iroh meant, the entry in her student handbook only had the kamon for each division, along with outdated rules, and a quick synopsis of their involvement with the earth short of being grim reapers. As a human living for only sixteen years, soul society was largely kept secret of its existence, except for the earthlings who were spiritually aware of the supernatural order of every soul.

After some thought, her golden honey irises peered into his widening red circled golden eyes, did he even blink at some point? Despite the barrier shattering, he was still staring at her with such intensity, she was curious about the benefit he would gain by taking her on alone, without any backup from either the 1st or 10th divisions he mentioned before. It only affirmed her belief that she had a chance with only one problem in her way, Iroh was stronger, faster at avoiding nearly all her attacks, she could never match his ability and it would be difficult to slice through him.

The shinigami reminded her of the crimes she committed, the same ones she was fully aware of when she confessed that it did not matter to her, she had her family to worry about who were in danger of the herd of menos grande. Against all odds, she simply had to press on, and reminded Iroh of her resolve to continue to fight him.

“I am the last heir to the Aihara Clan, it is my duty to continue my family bloodline, I must return home to secure the safety of my family first and foremost.” Of course, Yukari was fully aware she had to answer for these crimes, and she was hoping it could wait until after her death.

Did her goals in life become overruled by the rules of this realm? If the shinigami wanted souls so badly, they might as well murder people on the streets, but based on history of humanity, death came easily on earth, it was a game of survival so it was unnecessary to get involved in the chaos and self destruction on mankind. Did Iroh have a family he was willing to protect, against the rules of soul society he swore an oath to uphold, and at the cost of his own soul? The shinigami overall were gods among humans, Yukari acted on impulse, she knew right away she would not be able to outrun him unless she injured him first.

Iroh informed her to prepare herself for his next assault.

The flaming wall that whipped out from his sword was blocked by her black odachi blade, using her palm to support the weight of the sword against the force of the impact, cutting her own hand in the process which was cauterized by his flames, she was unfazed by the burns which only occurred on the weakened parts of her skin with open wounds. Yukari’s aura that radiated from her soul was a flame by nature, although it was translucent it was still moving visibly with the red tips, she was waiting for the right moment to burn him back with her own fullbring, but he kept pressing her with his own fire. In all her years she was never burned by fire before, she never knew what it felt to be hot since birth in the tropic climate of her island, and Iroh was the first person to make her feel like she was being purified from her hollow powers with his flame. Earlier, she thought about surrendering to him for a brief second, but all the training with her fullbring at the academy prepared her reflexes even in a subconscious state.

With the flaming wall dividing them, it was the opportunity she was looking for to strike him with more focused accuracy, she rushed through the wall of flames swinging her sword horizontally across his waist and then diagonally from his hip towards his shoulder.

[828]

Yukari fell short of her six foot long odachi sword from visibly wounding Iroh, instead she sliced through his clothes, and she met his retaliation with two of his fiery strikes. In the cross path of a straight line of fire, she used the flat side of her blade to resist the impact, which forcibly pushed across the burning field of flowers, as much as she tried to withstand it, her okobo platform boots dug a trench into the scorched ground as she felt all the muscles on her legs tear to prevent her femurs from breaking, she screamed from the pain, it was loud enough for anyone to hear. As the flames subsided she collapsed, face down into the blackened ground, small fires from the burning foliage in the aftermath entirely surrounded her, the aura of her incomplete release prevented the flames from catching her platinum blonde hair on fire.

On the exposed skin above her red a-line pencil skirt, was the fiery curse Iroh placed on her, the ember had embedded deep inside the middle of her back, the surface of her tan skin was damaged in a sunburst pattern on her flesh, a red glow from the surface looked like molten lava that was eating up her hollow tainted soul. The burning pain from the curse allowed her to gain consciousness when her Reiryoku increased, she had been suppressing her ability to raise it this entire time to avoid the fiery pain the curse inflicted her the first time, when she lost consciousness from feeling heat from a flame, and she lied there a bit longer as she rolled on her right side of her hip. Yukari used her left hand to touch both her thighs to heal her torn muscles and stood up again using her sword as a crutch.

“It’s so hot.” Yukari whimpered between deep heavy breaths, her left hand reached down to pull the hem of her red skirt, as her knees were tightly pressed together to showcase her discomfort. The fast beating of her heart felt like it would burst at any minute, with her cheeks entirely flushed by the effects of the curse, which made her blood boil from what could neither be explained as pain or pleasure.

With the same determination, she had a running start to close the distance between them, with her sword held in both of her hands. Rather that slice directly in front of him, she lowered her stance to rush past him on his left side, raised her blade at an angle from the back of his right leg across towards his left leg, as she spun on her boots in a complete circle, in an attempt to sever the back of both of Iroh’s knees.

[463]