It Hides Inside You [Yuuto, Urahara]

Ensnared again. The black holes caught and snagged him mid-movement, and he wasted no time in immediately thrashing and writhing around. Little by little, the new restraints began to give, and eventually, he tore through them as well. Another horrible noise erupted from his throat as he sped after him again, beginning to dart around the room in attempt to avoid the scarlet net that threatened to restrain him.

The Captain blinked around the room, moving from side to side The beak's already open ends began to stretch even further, creaking as it reached its limits. Energy began to gather at the mouth, a sickening crimson orb forming at the ends of the mask's makeshift mouth, before it was suddenly fired toward the Research Captain.

At the same time, Yuuto's body surged toward Urahara, priming his hands in another attempt to gore and tear out his throat. However, as he began to reach him, he froze in place.

Were one able to see behind the mask, they would see a strained, expressionless face. His body twitched and trembled, trying to fight the Hollow's control and force it to stop -- at least, temporarily. A hand dangling, suspended at his side, slowly began to reach up toward the mask, fingers gently coiling around it -- before a sharp, violent tug came.

The mask, however, stayed firmly attached. His fingers slipped off, and he shook his head, before launching himself forward again, once more aiming for the throat.

His spell thwarted, Kisuke was glad at least that his net had narrowed Yuuto's angles of approach to a few more defensible options and he stood ready for the next exchange when suddenly there was a pause in the action. That wasn't to say that they stopped in their deadly duel, as a cero came flying towards him at a blistering speed, but it was pleasing to see that the good Captain appeared to be making at least some visible progress in his own inner battle.

"Tsuppane, Benihime."

A singular circular cut in the air and the crimson orb met with Benihime's own crimson energy, parting the energy into two neat segments that split around the Research Captain by the narrowest of margins and crashed into the terrain behind him leaving ample devastation in their wake. A wry smirk twisted its way across his features as he saw Yuuto begin to surge forwards once more.

"You will have to focus on me a little more than that, I think. Going to all this effort only to end up in a cage, that must be infuriating for you."

Taunting the Hollow might just be adding more fuel to the fire, but if there was a chance that it made things a little easier on the other side then it was a risk worth taking. Even still, it seemed like Yuuto was about to catch him as his claws wrapped around that throat that he so desired, and then suddenly Kisuke was simply not there. Hands slashed at a perfect afterimage, a well-placed flash step executed in the instant that he stopped moving. Then, from behind Yuuto, a voice would alert him again to Kisuke's new location.

"Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō."

Beams of light, sixfold in nature, leapt out to once more ensnare the creature by slamming into his midsection from six different angles. But that was not all, as another spell was silently woven into synchronicity with this binding attack. No sooner had the beams of light begun to ensnare their target did a barrage of hundreds of pillars begin to rain down upon him as Kisuke added his own Hyapporankan into the mix. Lacking only the slightest of power that a traditional casting of the spell would, by ways of Shadow Casting, it would create another barrier between them and force the Hollow to hopefully exert even more of themselves to this battle.

Infuriating. That was all that burned in its mind as it realized that Kisuke had disappeared again. However, he was quick to react, as Yuuto's head whipped around the moment it heard his voice, firing off to once again fly at Kisuke, even faster than before. As the Rikujokoro manifested and aimed to ensnare him again, Yuuto instead backed off the offense, returning to a defensive position as he narrowly moved around the beams of light.

However, the moment he went to try and attack again, the hundred pillars began to rain down on him, suddenly pinning him to the ground. Another frightening wave of spiritual power erupted from him as his throat let out another horrible mixed, eldritch scream as he thrashed and writhed against the pillars.

Again, the beak of the mask parted, charging another crimson Cero between its jaws, before promptly turning his head around and firing it at the pillars around his arm, shattering them. No sooner had that happened did he quickly go about freeing his other arm, as well as the rest of his body, before quickly leaping forward.

Instead of what he had done before, targeting the throat for a quick, efficient, and ruthless kill, instead, Yuuto aimed to kick him in the head at lightning speed. While he didn't have the same colossal strength as other monsters in the Gotei, his own natural strength, as well as the augmentation through his Hollow Mask, would certainly do considerable damage if it connected.

Should it have connected or not, Yuuto would quickly use the rebound or remaining momentum to form a platform under his feet and prepare to strike again -- yet, before he could, his hands once again rose to the mask, both this time, grasping and violently tugging at it. The platform dissolved under his feet, and his body collapsed to the ground, writhing around as he furiously tugged at the mask.




Though still distorted, human sounds and words finally came from him as he struggled. His voice was strained and warped, as if it were a facsimile of the Captain's usual deep, calm utterance.

Again, Yuuto struggled against magic that bound him. It would not take him long at all to break free again, of that Urahara was sure, so he dropped down to one knee and plunged one hand into the dirt. Blue energy surged out of Kisuke as a wall of force began to form in the air between them, the first step of a much more thorough binding process. Power emanated from the Research Captain as he drew it in and expelled it in the same motion.

"Sealed within vaults of ice,"

That same blue wall was torn to shreds no sooner than it had materialised, as Yuuto shot forward to deliver a violent kick to the side of Kisuke's head. One hand still planted in the ground, Benihime darted around him at an impressive speed as a barrier of crimson appeared just in time to absorb the brunt of the blow, but the Hollow power was great enough that the kick carried through the shield eventually and sent the Captain skidding away as he wrenched his hand free and pointed it in Yuuto's direction.

"The hands of a hundred unseen servants,"

From every side of Yuuto, even as the platform that was ready to support his next attack collapsed, it appeared that invisible hands reached out to grab at him and pull him to the ground. He clawed at his own face, but they pulled at his feet, legs, body, arms, and all. One alone was not enough to subdue him, but when it was shaken free another would reach out to pick up the slack. Kisuke's hand twisted, brow furrowing as - for even the slightest of moments - his jovial visage slipped and was replaced by a truly focused stare.

"Entomb you within this prison eternal. Bakudō #97: Enmaraja Kanbyouseibaku!"

The wall of blue energy that had previously been shattered suddenly reappeared, the fragments darting across the battlefield as they formed into a pile on top of the downed Yuuto and force him into the ground. He was given no room to writhe, barely enough room to breathe, as a barrier of formidable power was already beginning to bury him.

Spoiler:

Hearing the words of an incantation suddenly made the Hollow panic. It desperately was trying to take back over, to move, to attack, anything to keep him from landing whatever was coming. But, nevertheless, the Captain continued to fight with resolve never-ending. His hands held onto the mask like a vice, furiously tugging as Kisuke continued to chant.

Invisible hands grabbed at him from all sides, and even in his struggle, he tried to force them off or tear through them with raw power as he continued to try and pull the mask off. The more he threw off and tore through, the more that replaced them.

As his arms were torn from the mask and forced to his sides, another eldritch screech erupted from his throat, mixed with his own voice in defiance, only to be silenced as the energy reformed, slamming down on top of him.

Even as it felt it were impossible to break free, he didn't stop struggling. He strained and forced his way out of the grasp of the arms that held him down, it was a tiring task, taking an irritating amount of energy and effort to do so. He pushed and forced the pile of energy off of his arms, before working on tearing through what was on his chest. Little by little, he tore his way through the Kido, leaving him tired and weary when he finally rose to his feet.

Yet, through stubbornness, Yuuto's body crouched down momentarily, before kicking off and surging toward Urahara. Even in its exhaustion, it still had every desire to kill him. But, before it could make an attack, his body suddenly halted. Once again, his hands went for the mask, but this time the movements were smooth, yet still gripping and pulling the mask with an intense ferocity.

Bit by bit, the mask finally began to give. As it continued to crack and give, eventually, Yuuto tore the mask from his face. It broke apart and dissolved in his hands, and the Captain stared at the ground, his breathing heavy and labored. He took a step forward to Urahara, his body trembling and shaking as he did, as if it was taking all his strength just to stay upright.

"Not a word leaves this room. Nobody is to know about this beyond you, the Head Captain, and whatever other channels are absolutely necessary."

After that, Yuuto promptly collapsed, crumpling to the ground. Every ounce of power had been used to fight against that Hollow, and, his body was demanding another long rest.

Hidden beneath the rim of his hat, a few beads of sweat had begun to form on Kisuke's brow. It was not every day that he cast such high-level spells, and Yuuto was showing little signs of slowing down either. Fortunately, that was as much a good omen as it was a bad one. He wanted to keep him going at full speed for as long as he could, to make it that much easier for all this to come crashing to an end. Still, his sword dropped as he watched the spell take effect. That should settle things no matter how hard he struggled.

Yet still, the Hollow Captain persisted. He ripped and tore and clawed through the energy that sought to bury him, shrugged off that grip which tried to hold him close, and launched into one more attack. Kisuke was slow, far slower than this creature whose blistering speed made even the old Stealth Captain look like quite the slouch, and Benihime was not quite ready to dance. Left with no easier option, he twisted his body and thrust forwards with the butt of his weapon. No fancy spell, just a single clean strike to try to throw Yuuto off balance.

Then, just as suddenly as it had all begun, it was over. The mask pulled clean from Yuuto's face to reveal those familiar features behind. He got to make his demands before the exhaustion set in, and then he went to collapse only to find his body propped up by the curled handle of a cane. It had certainly seemed like Kisuke had been surprised by that final attack, but his weapon was perfectly positioned to catch Yuuto and prevent him from crashing down on his own face. A wry grin already spreading across his lips as he turned the cane in his grip and pulled his colleague close.

"You can rest for a little while, Captain Hisakawa. This battle is over, but there are many more to come on this path that you now walk."