Solo? (Satoshi Ishikawa)

The bright white light of the Senkaimon finally gave way to a deep navy blue sky ahead. Rei could make out a few wisps of dark clouds over the heads of the students in front of her. They were pushing each other forward, eager to catch their first glimpse of the Human World since the ends of their lives as humans. Not that any of them remembered their deaths: that was a rarity. Still, Rei would always hear the giddy conversations of upperclassmen returned from a mission to the world of the living. The food. The clothes. The odd yet exciting technology. She could understand why everyone was so hyped up; she herself had been elated when she heard about the class “field trip”. But the feeling soon wore off. This wasn’t any old field trip to a history museum (which she’d also heard were in the Human World). No, this was a mission to locate and exterminate hollows.

And Rei did not want to be here.

Rei was at the back of the group, so when she stepped out of the Senkaimon and onto Earth’s atmosphere, the doors of the portal slid shut. Without its bright illumination blinding her, Rei could now look down to see the much softer glow of the city beneath them. Though it was nighttime here in Karakura Town, humans were still up and about, just as lively as during the day. Just as easy targets for the numerous hollow attacks that had been occurring lately. Rei shivered slightly, hoping that the squad she would be assigned to would not encounter a hollow. It’s not that she was afraid; the spirit in her wouldn’t let her be. But the spirit was the problem. They had learned in the academy that Karakura Town was rich with souls that were high in spiritual power. That, along to the fact that it was dark, would definitely strain Rei’s control over the spirit. And losing control would mean exposing her identity. And who knew what would happen to her if the Court Guards found out.

Between her looking down over Karakura and now, in the shadow of the trees surrounding some playground, everything was a blur. Rei was too caught up in fretting over what could happen if she confronted a hollow, and she could only faintly recall the sensei in charge of the thirty academy students dividing them into groups of five. But because a tightly knit group of soul reaper students would draw more attention, they’d been instructed to spread out just enough so that if someone spotted something, their teammates would be there to help immediately.

As if we need any help. Rei’s inner spirit snorted. Rei ignored her and leaned back against the wide tree trunk. She instinctively wanted to conceal her spiritual pressure, but knew that her teammates wouldn’t be able to find her otherwise. It was strange though. For some reason, it felt as if her group were moving farther away, though they agreed to take up stations. Was the field trip over already? Or had some other group engaged in battle and needed reinforcements? Either way, Rei’s spirit assured her that it didn’t take thirty students to take down one hollow. She was more needed here, where any wandering spirit of a child could wander by and be targeted. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself anyway, when truthfully Rei hoped she wouldn’t have to fight at all.

Tonight was a good night for hunting, especially for a feline Hollow like Satoshi. His hunting was the stealthy kind, the kind that involved stalking prey from the shadows, striking while the target was completely unaware. It involved leaping from sheer darkness, smothering screams, having the prey's last sight being his lethally sharp fangs, and the last smell be his hot breath, stinking of death. Already, Satoshi had taken down three Shinigami by the looks of them, though they were dressed in different robes; not black. A cursory glance of the robes identified them as Academy students. Individually, not exactly filling, but easy pickings for certain.

His nose still wet with Shinigami blood, Satoshi raised it to the air, at attention, seeking his next meal. He quickly locked on to a reiatsu signature and bounded toward it. He sensed it growing nearer as he approached a playground. Satoshi paused a moment. He didn't like fighting in open spaces- it wasn't really his forte. Then again; it wasn't like his presence was really registered yet, probably. These Shinigami were initiates, hardly even a threat in his eyes. Satoshi muffled his spiritual pressure and crept into the playground.

He could sense the Shinigami's presence coming from behind a wide tree trunk. As he crept nearer, his paws silently padding against the grass, he envisioned his next meal falling to his six sharp claws. It would feel wonderful sheering through the Shinigami's flesh. He was directly in front of the tree now; the Shinigami was just on the other side. Satoshi's tentacles looped around the tree, but above the Shinigami's head. People seldom looked up. "Hiendan!" he growled. A pair of fireballs erupted from his tentacles. The flames were sooty and black; and what's more, Satoshi's flames could not be put out by mundane means. The extinguisher had to have reiatsu behind it.

Another flame-broiled meal for me, thought Satoshi.

Rei, move you idiot!

What? And then she felt it. Because she was in tune with the shadows in a place like this, she could feel the disturbance in the area around her. The presence of something dark. And whatever it was had been doing an excellent job of suppressing its spiritual pressure for her to not have noticed until now. Rei’s crimson eyes scanned the shadows of the trees, just waiting for something to come leaping out at her, seeking her blood and howling for her to join it in its despair.
How slow are you? Look up, above you! Rei felt as if the spirit had physically manifested and yanked her hair down from behind, causing Rei’s face to snap upward. Something stood out against the darkness, appearing to be limbs of the tree she was standing under. Only these limbs, Rei realized, were…what…tentacles? This assessment took only a split second before Rei dropped to the ground and rolled away from the spot at which she’d been standing, sensing the immediate danger. It was a good thing she’d followed the spirit’s advice, or else it would have been her remains rather than the tree’s thick roots that were now engulfed in black flames.

Instantly on her feet, Rei darted out of the trees’ cover and into the open grassy area of the playground. Keeping her eyes trained on the woods, Rei unsheathed her Zanpakutō and held it up defensively in front of her. A lot of good that would do. She was only an academy student and hadn’t reached shikai yet. What could her sword do to the hollow she knew she was now faced with? Rei figured her only hope was to rely on her speed and kido to keep the hollow at bay until her teammates came to her aid. But shouldn’t they have been here by now? Hadn’t they felt the meaningful spike in her spiritual pressure? Unless…
Rei gritted her teeth, waiting for the hollow she knew would show itself momentarily. Unless it picked them off already and it’s my turn… how long will it take for reinforcements to come? Are they all preoccupied with their own battles? That sensei was stupid; this whole setup is so inconvenient…

Satoshi grimaced in annoyance as the Shinigami student dodged his attack, and then had the sense to run out into the open playground. In retrospect, he probably should have looped his tentacles around and bound her to the tree, instead of insisting on using his powers. Ah well. It wasn't like she was going to beat him anyway. Right now, he had the cover of the woods, and he was going to use it to his advantage. Again, Satoshi suppressed his spiritual pressure.

He stalked through the woods easily and quietly, his padded paws making no discernible sound against the earth. He kept moving until one of the playground's attractions, a slide, was between him and the Shinigami. Satoshi approached it quickly, using it as cover to close the distance between him and the Shinigami unnoticed. Just before he reached the mouth of the slide, he flexed his strong leg muscles and launched himself over it.

There was the Shinigami- he fired three Hiendan fireballs directly at her, spaced so that none would actually hit her directly if she stayed still, but upon exploding on the ground, the blast radius of flame would surely consume her.

It was too quiet. Rei’s eyes shifted back and forth, but the dim lightning of the street lamp illuminating the playground did little to break the darkness beyond its tree-lined perimeter. She could feel the hollow’s eyes on her, but she couldn’t tell from which direction.
So I’m up against another manipulator of the shadows, huh? Rei thought, gripping her sword tighter. This hollow wasn’t like the ones she’d heard about. She’d heard that most hollows lost everything except their instinct driving them to kill and devour. But this hollow was taking its time to blend into the surroundings; to stalk Rei and keep her on her toes. It was toying with her. In a brief moment of naivety, Rei wondered if surrendering would do any good. But then she remembered what she was—a soul reaper—and what she was up against—a hollow. Oh yeah. Unless she wanted to be barbequed, now was not the time for a non-violent policy.

And then the sudden whooshing of air drew Rei’s attention to her left. She registered the appearance of the hollow leaping over the slide, like a feline pouncing out of its tall grass cover to go for the kill. It was a grotesque looking creature. Its mask resembled a saber toothed tiger except with longer upper fangs. In the second Rei felt like a doe caught in headlights, she made out the rest of its body: a slim figure, six limbs, a razor sharp looking spine, a tail, and the two odd tentacle things growing out of its front shoulders. The two tentacles which were now charging spiritual energy for another attack.

Rei assessed the black fireballs coming at her. There wasn’t time to run. It was defend or be obliterated by the blasts’ collateral damage. Quickly sheathing her currently useless Zanpakuto, Rei raised her hands, spreading her arms for a better range. “Bakudō number eight, repulse!”
Energy gathered at each of her palms, forming two large, circular shields to repel the fireballs. They bounced off and exploded on the ground meters away, just far enough away for Rei to be safe from the flames. For now. She was fast to back away though, not taking her eyes off the hollow.

ooc: there were three fireballs, your shields only account for two of them. i'm gonna let this time slide, but still, make sure you deal with all the threats of an attack

Satoshi watched the girl who was backing away from him now, presumably in fear. He was amused. The flickering black flames reflected the moonlight eerily, and their crackling made Satoshi's voice even more sinister. "Do you like my flames, Shinigami? They never go out...so if I hit you, you'll burn- forever!" Satoshi punctuated his last comment by firing another two Hiendan at her; again, spaced so that they would explode next to her.

The intent of course wasn't to kill her outright. This one was unlucky enough to have survived the initial killing strike. He was going to toy with her, make her lose all faith before he went in for the kill. Satoshi's Hiendan attack was the fastest of his two techniques- he could fire his fireballs relatively quickly, with no power loss. He would be interested to see how fast she was.

His tentacles rose up, pointed themselves at her, and began firing Hiendan at her rapid fire, seemingly without pattern- again, none aimed directly at her, only aimed to explode close enough to her that their flames would catch on her clothing or flesh.

Ooc: Right, sorry about that. I didn’t realize it until I reread the thread and was going to edit the post but you’d already replied. ^^” I’ll be more attentive.

"Do you like my flames, Shinigami? They never go out...so if I hit you, you'll burn- forever!" The hollow spoke, causing Rei’s eyes to narrow. Two fireballs were fired, and Rei could only think to raise her arms again.
“Repulse!” she called the eighth Bakudo, once more forming the two circular shields of reiatsu. The two blasts ricocheted and exploded a few metes away, just like the previous attack. Rei’s thoughts raced, wondering what she should do at this point. She could counterattack with the basic kido she knew. She could just keep dodging and blocking the hollow’s attacks. Or she could just run.
Rei ruled the last one out; where would she run to? She didn’t want to lead the hollow somewhere occupied by humans, and she didn’t want to lead it to her classmates. Rei had noticed, viewing the hollow head on, the blood staining its mask. That could only prove that her earlier assumption had been correct: that her squad mates had already been defeated. And Rei didn’t want to set that fate upon anyone else. It was better this way right? If she died, nobody would be inconvenienced, and she’d just be reincarnated to the next life in the human world. That wouldn’t be so bad would it?

There was a protest from the spirit at the back of her mind. But before she could hear any more, Rei refocused on the hollow. Its tentacles had raised and were now pointed at her. Crap. The hollow began attacking rapid fire, and all Rei could do was strengthen her shields. “Repulse!”
But it was no good. The fireballs were coming to fast for Rei to find an opening to counterattack, and her shields only accounted for two fireballs at a time. The others weren’t even aimed directly at her. The only choice she had was to move. Aided by the spirit’s power, which was becoming harder to keep a leash on, Rei was able to avoid the first barrage of fireballs. She moved from bare spot to bare spot among the black flames, but the untouched areas were becoming limited as the hollow kept firing. I can help if you just let me. the spirit offered. But if Rei did that, she’d probably inflict more damage to the area than the hollow was right now.

Between forcing her spirit down and barely avoiding dark explosions, Rei was wearing down faster than usual. She cursed whoever’s idea it was to send the students here on a night like this as she poured more energy into her palms, providing her only weapon of defense. Soon though, the rapid fire was too much to hold off, and a few slipped past Rei’s shields. The flames of one blast caught on the right leg of her red hakama. Another licked at the left sleeve of her white kosode. Rei gasped sharply. They never go out… She had to make sure the flames didn’t touch her skin.
Rei instantly dashed for the trees, shedding her kosode as she went. She knew the hollow would probably come after her, but she’d cross that bridge when she got to it. For now, Rei hid behind a wide tree and set to work tearing the burning part of her trouser leg off with her Zanpakuto. It was hard to do without make skin contact with the black fire, but eventually she was left in her red undershirt and missing half a pant’s leg, wondering if she should just keep running now.

Satoshi continued to watch the girl's actions with considerable enjoyment; he almost seemed to be not in control of the tentacles that were firing their deadly cargo. Of course he was, otherwise the aim would not be so precise, but it was a disconcerting thing to watch, for sure. He watched with some satisfaction as some of his flames took hold on her clothing; sure it didn't do physical damage, but it would no doubt scare her, and in some ways, fear was as good a result as harm.

He watched with even more amusement as she darted into the trees, probably in an attempt to lose him in the foliage. Satoshi had to wonder if the Shinigami were just getting dumber these days. Not that he was complaining...he took his time approaching the woods. After all, working in that kind of environment was sort of his forte.

Satoshi elected to make sure she stayed where he wanted her to. He did this by firing a few more Hiendan around the edge of the forest, setting black flames up all around so there was no escape, at least not in that direction. She'd have to head through the forest to get out...if she could. Satoshi doubted it, but still, he wasn't the type of person to give head starts, even to the disadvantaged. So, that being done, he bounded past the flames, homing in on her reiatsu, occasionally firing a Hiendan at a random tree. All to make the whole experience that much more frightening, of course.

Rei, I knew you were dumb but come on.He’s got you right where he wants you!

Rei scowled at her inner spirit as her eyes darted from shadow to shadow. She knew the spirit was right of course. If she were the hollow, she’d cut off her prey’s immediate means of escape somehow and use the lurk-worthy terrain to her advantage. Which meant that the spike in reiatsu she’d felt just now was no doubt the hollow’s preventing her return to the destroyed playground.
How inconvenient. Rei mentally sighed. She stood from her spot on the ground, leaving her ripped clothing at her feet. Okay, so what now? Rei asked herself as she took to darting through the trees. How bothersome that she was stuck doing exactly what she hadn’t wanted to do. To make it worse, she could hear the explosions of blasts hitting trees behind her, which meant the hollow was on her tail. Of course he was.

If this keeps up though, he’ll destroy the forest. Rei realized, still running and easily avoiding raised tree roots in the dark. (She wasn’t going to be one of those clichéd damsels in distress; tripping and falling while trying to escape with her life.) She knew she would regret it, but she at least wanted to spare the innocent foliage. Rei increased her output of spiritual pressure, hoping to draw the hollow’s attention away from destroying everything. She was pretty sure any soul reapers nearby had been killed, so she wouldn’t be endangering anybody else with them coming to her aid.

"Hmph... I thought you were the brave one!" Yasu stated at Rei, as he appeared above a tree's branch. "Looks like you need some help getting out of this mess... who would've thought such a thing of you!" He wanted to speak some more, but he had forgotten that the Hollow was still on their tail, as another nearby tree was hit by some kind of energy attack and immediatly fell. Hurrying up, he jumped to the ground, and without even asking permission or warning, he picked Rei up and placed her on his arms, running off right afterwards, away from the possible Hollow chase. He knew she probably wouldn't like this one bit, but Yasu would just take this as a comical scene if she was to complain. "Eh eh... sorry Rei... I know you probably don't like playing the poor helpless girl getting saved... but right now I'm sure that with all the exercise you've endured, your legs and stamina are tired, unlike me. Plus, I've already passed through this way once, in order to get to you... so I know this path better and how to easily travel it." With this stated, he kept on running, trying to be as agile as possible to make the enemy's shots harder to hit the target. "Rei... I'm sorry to tell you this... but I think you should know. Everyone else that was sent here with us... is dead. The Hollow... I'm sorry Rei." His speed remained unnaffected by his troubled speech. "I was nearby when I felt your Reiatsu, so I immediatly rushed here... didn't expect to find you in such a situation, though." At this point, both were already reaching the forest's exit.

Satoshi registered the appearance of a second spiritual pressure as inconsequential. Although it was stronger than most, in fact, almost on par with his, Satoshi didn't think it likely that the Shinigami in question would be particularly skilled- at least, not as skilled as Satoshi thought himself to be. Anyway, he was not as fast as Satoshi was, as Satoshi could feel himself gaining. Having six legs helped, and the fact that the Shinigami was carrying the other did too.

He sped past the Shinigami, looking for all intents and purposes like he was running away from something. As soon as he cleared the forest's perimeter, he turned around and began firing Hiendan again, to seal this side of the forest's perimeter as well from escape. It was a good things his flames were so persistent, as it helped him spread the fire extremely well. After securing the perimeter, Satoshi leaped back through the flames.

This was all part of his plan to sow fear and confusion. Keeping them in his natural element with a sense of no escape would surely give him a psychological edge. He decided he would confront them directly, and so made his way directly to them, and upon doing so, sitting back on his haunches, letting the blood dripping from his jaws speak for him. Then his tentacles went up, and for the first time, he aimed for a direct hit, one at the standing Shinigami's face, and one at the Shinigami he was holding in his arms.

Rei was, to say the least, in shock. The one moment she’d been avoiding fallen branches, and the next, she was being carried. It took a few blinks of her slightly widened eyes to realize that the one carrying her was Yasu. A wave of relief swept through her, followed by annoyance, then desperation. As if sensing her glare on his face as he carried her, Yasu spoke. "Eh eh... sorry Rei... I know you probably don't like playing the poor helpless girl getting saved... but right now I'm sure that with all the exercise you've endured, your legs and stamina are tired, unlike me. Plus, I've already passed through this way once, in order to get to you... so I know this path better and how to easily travel it."
For a moment, Rei’s concern about the hollow disappeared and she folded her arms, pouting a bit. She didn’t fight though, for she knew it would only slow him down. “I’m not poor or helpless. You’re just a show-off.” But she knew that he was right. The spirit had weakened her considerably and she probably wouldn’t have been able to run for much longer.

Another couple of blasts had just sounded not too far behind when Yasu voiced what Rei had guessed. Their comrades had been slaughtered. Rei would grieve later. For now though, what, the two of them were left to face the hollow? How inconvenient. With more of Rei’s skin exposed, she was more vulnerable to the hollow’s attacks. And Yasu would only be slowed down if he tried to fight and protect her at the same time.
Not that she needed protecting…
Rei felt the hollow’s aura suddenly quicken its approach and she was about to warn Yasu, but the hollow sped past them. At first she thought it had targeted another soul. But then she felt the now-familiar disturbance that was its fire set to the forest. Of course, it was trapping them in.
Rei tugged on Yasu’s uniform shirt and spoke calmly, though her mind raced for possible outcomes of the situation. “You can put me down; he’s not letting us go anywhere. But whatever you do, don’t let the fire touch you.” But just as she said this, the inner spirit shouted for Rei to put up a shield. She finally registered the coming attacks that were the first directly aimed, and Rei twisted a bit in Yasu’s arms to put up her arms. “Bakudo number 8, repulse!”

Yasu was so distracted that he didn't even notice the following attack by the Hollow. He gasped as Rei placed some kind of reiatsu shield in front of them, and protected them both of the attacks. If it wasn't for her, Yasu would be burned food. Right afterwards, though, he decided to put the girl down. Trying to recover from this near-death experience, he spoke to the girl, quickly going back into his self-confident state. "I see you found yourself a new trick to play with... I never liked Kidos that much... I like to get up and personal instead."

He walked a few steps forwards, and looked at the blood-stained Hollow, along with the black flames that were covering their escape. It was safe to assume that one in this position would act frightened, or at the very least concerned about the current situation. However, anyone who knew Yasu for two seconds would be sure that this wouldn't be the case for him.

"*Sigh*... I thought I could get my friend here safe first... but it seems you have quite a problem with women." He stated, provoking the creature with his annoying, cocky attitude. "To be honest, this is actually the first time I have a Hollow right in front of me, and frankly, it's quite disappointing... couldnt you look more like a demon, instead of looking like a mere stray dog? Tell ya what, let's make a deal... if you let this girl here alone, I'll take you in as my pet, how would you like that, uh? I would even teach you a few tricks about how to treat the ladies... because, shooting fire at them is not exactly the best way to get their attention..." At this point in time, Yasu was had unsheated his Zanpakuto out of his back. He knew perfectly well that the Hollow would obviously refuse this offer of his and likely just get more enraged at him, but he thought it was good to make a "cool scene" and show the enemy he was not afraid one bit. "So anyway... what other tricks can you do besides shooting beams at random people? Oh, I got one... how about... PLAYING DEAD? AAAHHH!!!!" He said as he took off to the Hollow, holding his sword with both his hands, while pointing it towards his right. He was hoping to get close to his opponent and inflict a downwards blow to him, but the Shinigami was also being extra careful and ready if the Hollow decided to shoot another surprise attack at him or even pounce.

As the male Shinigami began to bluster, Satoshi sat back on his hind legs and watched, clearly amused, his tentacles gamboling around in the air as if by their own volition, as if uninterested by the Shinigami's bravado. "A problem with women? Not really. I prefer women to men, actually. They have a better sense of hygiene in my experience. Taste better," Satoshi said in response. The Shinigami's insults only further served to amuse Satoshi.

"You actually believe you're capable of killing me? You think we're equal?" Satoshi gave a catlike snort of derision. Satoshi didn't even bother reacting at first; in fact, he allowed the Shinigami to get close to him. Extremely close. The Shinigami's blade was a hairsbreadth from cutting Satoshi's flesh. "Funka." Satoshi's body seemed to explode in flame. The fire was three times the size of Satoshi's body, and it fanned out rapidly in defense. At the same time, Satoshi leaped to the side.

He doubted the Shinigami would be able to avoid his flames, not at that range, and especially since he was charging and all. Men tended to be stupid like that, at least in Satoshi's experience.

"Funka."
At the hollow’s voice, Rei's eyes widened. She hadn't moved from the spot Yasu set her down in because she hadn’t wanted to get in the way. Yasu was obviously more cut out for combat than she was at the moment. What could she do? If she used a hado while Yasu was making his move, she would probably have hit him as well. But she couldn't just stand there, especially when the hollow called out another attack. And Rei realized she didn't know anything about the hollow's abilities besides its fireballs. So,she figured, analyzing the situation as she’d been taught to do. If the hollow waited until now to call out a different attack, it's using defense... Which means Yasu could be in trouble.

"You idiot, we don't know what abilities he has!" Rei shouted as she moved, charging forward. Shields wouldn't work, she realized as flames erupted from the hollow itself. So the only option she had was to intercept Yasu, barreling into him with her weight and sending them both to the ground. Who knew if that would prevent anything, but a child was always taught to stop, drop, and roll if there was a fire.

It was much to his surprise that Yasu soon found himself being intercepted by Rei herself, as both then fell to the ground. "Rei, what are you doing?!" Looking back at the Hollow, a shiver was sent throughout Yasu's spine as he witnessed the enemy somehow exploding in flames, and what could've been his own, gruesome death. "He was about... to incinerate me..."

Still surprised, he tried to change that expression of his face into his usual serious one. At the same time, he quickly got up along with Rei and placed his Zanpakuto in front of him in a defensive position, this time deciding to stand still and wait for the moment. Luckily, the enemy was still in a decently safe distance by now, giving the two enough time to rest even if it was only for a couple moments. It should also be noted that by now, Yasu's normal cocky and provoking behavior was somehow slightly gone. "This ain't no normal enemy or Hollow... I'm sure of it. If I want to get me and Rei out of here alive... I can't be kidding around!" He then spoke towards his friend, without turning his head and making sure to be watching the opponent all the time, but still doing it in a manner that only the two would hear it. "Damn it! I hate to say this... but this demon is way more powerful than I thought! Time to put those useful skills to use, Rei... because if we want to take this guy down, we're gonna have to think together! Got any plans?" He took a quick break as he then remembered something. "Oh, and, Rei... thanks..."

"How chivalrous," Satoshi observed. He didn't seem overly concerned with the outcome of the fight, probably because he was confident he would win. "You know, the chances of you escaping with your lives are slim...I don't see why you persist in this charade..." Satoshi took several steps closer to the pair of Shinigami, leaving flaming footprints were his paws stepped. "If you weren't before, you should be afraid of me now- at least, if you fear pain...and death."

Satoshi's tentacles rose up into the air, pointed at each Shinigami. Each tentacle released a fireball, followed by several others, with the intent of separating the two. He continued to fire volleys of fireballs between them. It would make his job much easier if he were to separate them. And even if they got close together, Satoshi imagined he could surround them with a ring of fire, and assure their deaths. This would be fun.

“Just don’t be so reckless.” Rei responded when Yasu thanked her. Despite what the hollow said, Rei was not afraid. Again, the spirit within her was too proud for that. But she was getting anxious. She wasn’t sure how to reply to Yasu on the other thing, seeing as how right now, the hollow seemed impossible to take down with just the two of them. Right now, she had to think of an escape plan.
Getting too close to him wasn’t an option, seeing as he ‘exploded’ when someone came within a certain radius. And the perimeter of this section of the forest was rimmed in fire anyway. They could run, but the hollow was fast and would probably get ahead of them to block their escape on another route. Could they risk running headlong through the flames? If they were careful not to touch the flames with their bare skin…they could always replace their uniforms later but…

Rei grimaced slightly. Just as she was about to voice her one, precarious idea, the hollow raised his tentacles and shot more fireballs. Rei shoved Yasu away from her, knowing that the hollow would eventually want them separated. But if she were to distract the hollow, Yasu could at least escape and find the other academy students for back up. There were other squads after all, unless they were in battle already.
Rei leaped away from the flaming crater that had formed between her and Yasu. She held up her left arm, in case she had to draw her sword with her right, and pointed a finger at the hollow. “Hado number four, Byakurai!” she called. She felt the energy gather at her finger tip before it erupted as lightning, aiming straight for the hollow.

Yasu was too busy thinking about a plan to bother replying to the first two sentences that the Hollow spoke. However, he somehow managed to hear the third one, and even gather a taunt as a response. "Well... that's just the thing..." he said, trying to provoke the opponent with a grin. "I don't -fear- pain, or death... so, sorry, Fido, but I don't think you really scare me that much!"

With this out of the way, Yasu tried to go back to back to thinking. However, he soon found himself jumping to the side to avoid an oncoming wave of fireballs, which would land right between him and Rei. After landing safely, he looked slightly at Rei, now having a more serious expression about the situation. "Damn it... he's trying to separate us! He probably knows we'll eventually come up with a plan to take him down... darn it!" With this, he slowly started to rise up, placing once again his Zanpakuto in front of him, in a defensive position, while paying attention to the Hollow. "What should we do? It's too risky to go up close, as he can probably "explode" again... should I try to take him down by a distance?" He looked over at Rei again, trying to check if she had come up with something herself. However, instead he found her pointing her finger at the Hollow, like if she was going to use a Kido. "What? Hey... I recognize that! That's it, maybe I should strike now!" He moved a little more to the right so that the Hollow would have more trouble avoiding the two attacks at the same time, Yasu raised up his finger in the same way that Rei did. "Alright, let's see... Hado number four, Byakurai!" Surprised at his own achievement, Yasu saw as his and Rei's attacks were fired simultaneous at the enemy's body. Hopefully this would cause a little more challenge to the Hollow as it would be approached with two hits from different sides at the same time.

Satoshi grinned inwardly to himself as his fireballs succeeded in separating the two Shinigami. And yet, this emotion was quickly tempered by how quickly the two Shinigami still found a way to work together, by firing two kido spells at him. Luckily, Satoshi had had that exact same spell used against him before, by that damnable Shinigami Junko. So he knew exactly what it would do.

He leaped over the twin bolts of electricity, firing two fireballs at once from his tentacles, both aimed directly at the faces of each Shinigami. The instant he hit the ground, Satoshi took off toward the male Shinigami. From what he could tell, this one was impulsive and stupid, something Satoshi felt he could take advantage of. As he charged, Satoshi activated his Funka ability again. This time however, he caused it to consume and obscure him with flame, essentially becoming a very large flaming missile headed right for the male.

And, doing so had an added benefit. The flames were so large, and sooty and black, that it would be impossible for the female Shinigami to pinpoint his exact location within the flames.

Rei reflexively feinted to the side to avoid the coming fireball, her thoughts racing. She should have known the hollow would find some way to avoid her attempt to attack, despite Yasu's quick thinking she had to give him credit for. Rei now watched as the hollow engulfed itself in its flame, and for a moment she criticized his use of the same trick, before charging at Yasu. Her inner spirit was a bit insulted that the hollow judged Yasu to be a more suitable opponent, but Rei came to another conclusion. If the hollow had picked up on Yasu's impulsiveness, then it may have been betting on Yasu to counterattack, which would only cause Yasu harm if he touched the flames.

Rei wanted to help. But what could she do? The black fire made it difficult for her keen eyes to pinpoint the lithe feline body. If only she could aim at the center of the fireball...maybe that would work? Well, she'd never know unless she tried.

"Yasu-san, over here!" Rei called, gesturing for Yasu to come her way. Some would consider this stupid, since the hollow was going for the boy and doing so would only lead it towards Rei--and who wanted a giant fireball hurdling straight for them?But well, that's just what Rei was counting on. She just hoped Yasu trusted her.

Even with such a coordinated attack, the Hollow still managed to easily avoid it and even counterattack by firing some kind of fireballs at his opponents. "...uh?!" Reacting immediatly in instinct, Yasu managed to quickly dash to the side and narrowly dodge the attack. However, just as he moved his attention back to the monster, he noticed the latter was already rushing to him at an alarming speed. As if this wasn't enough, the Hollow also started to, apparently, incinerate with black flames.

"Uh?! What is he doing?" Due to the instincts that the Shinigamy Academy trained and gave him, Yasu actually placed his sword up in defence, but, of course, immediatly remembered the past scenario. "Damn... I can't attack him in close range! Last time, he almost managed to burn me to a crisp with that technique of his. I'm not sure if he can use it so many times, but I just can't take the risk!" The Hollow was still moving in for him, and Yasu was running out of options. Fortunately, it was there that he heard the voice of his friend Rei, who had possibly come up with an idea. "Yasu-san, over here!" "Ah?" He turned his head to her. She was obviously telling him to run in her direction. "What?! Are you kidding me?! Do you want to get ki-" He stopped. "I don't have time for this... I guess... I just have to trust her.." And so, he did as she asked, and started running to Rei, with the monster following in behind him as he glanced back at it. "I hope you know what you're doing Rei! 'Cause I don't really plan on being this guy's deep-fried lunch!"

Satoshi changed direction quick as a bolt of lightning, utilizing all of feline prowess. He was gaining on that impudent male Shinigami- after all, six legs are better than two. With a feral yowl, he leaped forward, flaming harbinger of doom, with every intent of burning this unfortunate boy to a cinder.

Good.

Rei was briefly satisfied that the hollow did as she predicted, but now she had to execute her little plan. That was the tough part. After all, if Yasu got in the way, he'd be injured, if not obliterated, from the close range. And then, there was the possibility of the hollow seeing through her attack and dodging...Rei had to be quick and take advantage of the element of surprise or else she'd have to come up with something else. This was taking way too long. If only she were an official soul reaper. Then she wouldn't be so limited to amateur attacks.

Rei raised her right hand and pointed her index straight ahead. She was pointing right at Yasu's head, but behind him the hollow was closing in. If she missed, she at least hoped to slow it down. After all, she was risking her friend's life. "Yasu, duck!"

She hoped the warning was enough because without further delay, Rei muttered "Hado four, Byakurai", and a lightning bolt was shooting from her fingertip.