Cry! Fight! Stand Tall! Captain of the Fourth! (Elyss/Hanako)

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

The flames of the exploding pollen scorched the ground unter it and walls that were close enough. The shockwave pushed the debris out of the way, only to suck it back in when the flames died and the air that was burned away was replaced. It was a terribly beautiful flower, made from fire and smoke, death and oblivion. Hanako’s wrath flared up in almost the same intensity. She hated Elyss for making her use this ability. Hanako never wanted to use this inside Soul Society, never wanted to use this on another Shinigami. It was too brutal, too…final, to be used against souls that were supposed to be allies. Only that Elyss wasn’t an ally in this moment. She was an enemy. She was a threat.

And she was still standing! This red haired monster was not only still conscious, she was still standing, despite the gruesome wounds all over her body.

She obviously had fallen victim to Bakumusha’s memory altering effect. It was no wonder. After all, she had been standing right in the centre of a 30 metre fireball. But how, in the Soul King’s name, could she still be able to continue the fight? Any why, why couldn’t Elyss simply vanish from Hanako’s life?
The murderous lust in Elyss’ eyes, the demonic lust for death, and her terrifying resilience should have frightened Hanako. And rightly so. No one could be blamed for being frightened by someone like Elyss. One look into her eyes was like gazing into a fountain of blood and nightmares. But to Hanako it only further fueled her frustration, her anger and hatred. At the same moment there was a feeling of freedom that began mixing into everything, a feeling of being unshackled, of not needing to hold back anything. This, more than everything Elyss could do or be, was suited to frighten Hanako.

“What do you want? Why can’t you just fuck off already?” she yelled…no…spat towards Elyss.

It was a rhetorical question and Hanako was very well aware of it. And she didn’t think she’d get an answer. Instead Elyss finally released her sword. Hanako had never seen it before. Before now she never even knew if Elyss had achieved her Shikai or not, or if she used her Zanpakuto at all. The only times Hana had seen her fight, she had used nothing but her fists. She was mighty enough with her fists alone, but until now Hanako’s Shikai had been perfect to counter Elyss’ tendency to rely on melee combat. Now there was a big Chakram, almost as big in diameter als Bakumusha was long. It looked as brutal as it’s owner, a fit made in hell.

Hanako had to change her tactics…

With a flash step she broke away to her right, out of the way of the buzzing ring of steel, at least for the moment. Immediately after she reappeared she yanked on her chain, pulling with brutal strength to get her sword flying back to her. And with another flash step she raced away, towards it, to meet it halfway.
For the first time in this battle Hanako would actually grab and wield Bakumusha like a sword. She’d continue racing forward, her cold blue eyes on her target: Elyss. With a cry she swung the giang blade around, swung it in a mighty arch. She would hit her enemy with all her strength in her swing, coming at her at full speed. She’d only have to reach Elyss before the buzzing saw blade on Hanako’s left side would reach her...

...but she could already hear the buzzing sound of the spinning blade in her ear...

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

It was a sound like thunder when the force met force. The ground vibrated, broke, got ripped open. Stone cracked and debris was hurled away, falling noisily back to the ground just moments after. Then everything went quiet.
There was Elyss’ red glowing hand, holding the massive sword that Hanako had swung with both hands. There was some blood, but it seemed only superficial. Whatever strength it might have cost, Hanako was stopped in her tracks as Elyss proved once again her terrible strength.

The two women were close, an arm’s length away from each other, yet for the moment the distance could have been worlds. It wasn’t something physical, nothing in any measurable sense at all. There was this look in Elyss’ eyes. It was…different. It felt like a cold and empty chasm, deep and lonely, over which the two women looked at each other.
Was this the same woman Hanako had faced in a duel to the death just moments ago? Was this the monster that had brazenly attacked a whole Division all on her own? It must be, it was the same body, the same power radiating from her. Yet it was as if someone different stood there, the red headed aggressor from before being exchanged for her. Whoever she was. The Hundred-million-yen question was: could Hanako trust this person?

There was, in her favour, the Chakram, that stood still in midair, spinning, but otherwise motionless. It would be easy to attack now from behind, while Hanako had to deal with the wielder of this weapon in front of her.

After a moment that seemed to stretch into infinity Hanako lifted her sword from Elyss hand and stepped back and to the side, until the Chakram wasn’t in her back anymore and she could watch it from the corner of her eye. She pointed Bakumusha at the other one’s face, holding it in her outstretched right hand.

“My…division was attacked. The place and the people I found…a purpose in. In order to defend it all I was willing to put my…life on the line and kill someone I used to…used to call a friend.”

Hanako’s voice was quiet, but pressed and vibrating with barely contained wrath. There was still a huge part in her that wanted to kill her enemy. There was also another part, one that asked if it was right to strike at someone that had stopped resisting. Asking if there was an enemy left, to begin with. Both parts agreed on a truce. And vigilance.

“Is that strong enough for you?”

Elyss still had given no word of explanation why she had done this. This could have gone differently. It should have gone differently. She might think there was a reason for all this, but Hanako couldn’t believe there was any reason strong enough for this. What if it hadn’t stopped now? What if they had continued, maybe killed each other. Another two Shinigami dead by the hand of their own. The Fourth bereaved their Captain and Vice Captain in less than half a year, the Seventh Division of their Third Seat, shortly after their Captain left to assume the mantle of Captain Commander. And they could have very well taken a lot of bystanders with them. Where was the sense in that? Where was the sense in spilling the blood of their comrades to prove someone’s strength? To weaken everyone for the strength of a single person.
Curious…not so long ago there had been a Hanako that wouldn’t have been concerned with this. This Hanako would only have been concerned with strength, would have continued the fight until either she or her enemy was obliterated. So much had happened in such a short time…

The back of Hanako’s torn Shihakusho stuck to her back, drenched in the blood that was still seeping out of her wound. She was glad Elyss wasn’t able to see it like that, unaware that much of her uniform was already soaked in dark, wet blood. The cut burned and hurt with every breath she took, made even worse than it initially had been by constant movement.

“What now?” Hanako asked, staring at Elyss along her outstretched arm and the back of Bakumusha’s blade into the other’s eyes.

What now?

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

Slowly Bakumusha was lowered, the tip that had been pointing between Elyss’ eyes sinking until it was hovering only a few millimetres above the broken and scorched ground. Honest disbelief was on Hanako’s face. If it turned out to be just a dream, if Hanako would wake up in a moment in her bed and discover the fight had been a figment of her imagination, her surprise would have been less than it was now. Only she knew it was real. In a short while she literally would have the scars to prove it. And it made everything all the more strange.

“You’re still making no sense, Elyss.” Hanako said. Her voice sounded a bit raspy, though still cold and not particularly friendly.

“Why do we have to be enemies in the first place? Even if we didn’t part on the best of terms, us being enemies was your choice, not mine. Today…everything was your choice. You could have done this in so many ways, including ways which wouldn’t make a few hundred Shinigami hate you all at once, because you spat on their honour and pride. Why ever you believe you’d have to accept me for anything, I couldn’t guess. You never seem to care about anything or anyone, never rely on anyone. You even say it yourself. Killed… killed our Captain without assuming his position. Not even that meant anything to you.”

The last words were so full of loathing one could almost believe the big woman would attack once more. And although Elyss had her Zanpakutos resealed and sheathed, Hanako didn’t follow suit, but didn’t move. She still didn’t trust this person in front of her. She asked herself if she ever really could again. There was too much shrouded in darkness, lies and evasion with this one. It made her angry and sad at the same time, but there was a fellow Shinigami she probably wouldn’t turn her back on for a long, long while.

”Being the enemy…being hated…you could have chosen a different path. But you didn’t.”

By now, Hanako was talking to Elyss’ back. This was one thing Hanako was sure about. The change and the growth Elyss herself had spoken of…it came because Hanako had chosen to change herself. Had chosen to walk another path than the one she set out on. She could have very easily ended up just like the red haired woman that was now walking away. There were so many forks in her path, as well in the past as in the present and the future, on each and every one Hanako had to choose which way she went. More than once she could have gone down the path of pure, unadulterated violence, but she didn’t. She also remembered when, for the first time, she consciously chose to change herself, even though her ‘self’ wasn’t even a decade old at that point. It was when she realised that the path she was about to walk down could mean suffering for others that didn’t deserve it. So she explored new paths, new options for her, and found what she searched for in the Gotei and her duty as a Shinigami, her honour and pride as a warrior. She had chosen to give her life this meaning and purpose. And despite wearing the same uniform, being enlisted in the same organisation as she was, Elyss seemingly chose differently.

Finally Hanako relaxed just a little bit, and with a sigh she resealed Bakumusha. When she slid the Katana back into it’s sheath she felt her fingers beginning to tremble just the slightest bit. Her body had stopped producing adrenaline and what would come now was the inevitable crash after a fight. She stood still and tall regardless, her eyes fixed on Elyss’ back.

The Shinigami that had surrounded the place took it as a sign that the fight finally was over. They streamed into the former arena, several of them surrounding their Lieutenant.

“Sir, the medics are already here.” one said.

“What do you want us to do with…her.” said another one, shooting a glance over at Elyss that would have probably vaporised her, if such a thing had been possible.

“Nothing.” Hanako answered. “Let her go. She didn’t fall in battle, so you know as well as I do that only her Captain and Command are allowed to judge and discipline her.”

”I’ll see that she is…escorted safely off our grounds.” the second Shinigami said through clenched teeth

Meanwhile the medics, who were looking at Hanako’s wounds, were engaged in a heated discussion.

”Geez, so deep…”
”...to the bone…”
”...only a few millimetres below…”

Hanako was no medical expert, but from the pieces of conversation she gathered from behind her, she surmised that she had been incredibly lucky. She clenched her fists in frustration.
With gentle pressure, they tried to steer her away, get her somewhere where she could be treated better.

“Wait.” she suddenly said, just as the Shinigami tasked with ‘escorting’ Elyss was about to leave. Hanako nodded over to her.
“See that the medics treat her as well, if she wishes.”

Then she gave in to the tugging and let herself be guided away from the battlefield.