The Pain and the Princess (Akira/Hana)

The beauty of the area was not lost on Hana as she traveled through the trees alongside a lake. Normally, she would stop to take it all in, but she could have sworn she saw him. Their initial meeting was so short, that Hana was not sure and she did not want to approach an innocent with the intent to arrest them. Hana had to be sure that this was that man with the jacket and blood: the deserter.

After that man vanished from their last meeting, she was caught with his coat. After a long and tense interrogation about the man, she was found innocent for not knowing who the guy was. She was new, and that wasn’t her job anyway. She could not be expected to memorize every deserter that existed. However, she he knew who he was now, and there would be no excuse if she did not try and handle it.

Through a few trees, she finally found him again. Having also been smart enough to conceal her presence before approaching, she didn’t seem to be noticed just yet. She watched until he turned his head enough to make out the rest of his face. ‘Oh, no… It is him.’ Hana thought. She took a deep breath and shunpo’d forward, landing about ten feet to his side. “It is unfortunate that we meet again,” Hana said, unsheathing her zanpakuto and pointing it at him. “Akira Tairitsu, you are under arrest for desertion and murder and treason… You have a lot in your file.”

No, no, no… Please, I do not want to fight…

Hana was able to steel herself, not allowing much evidence of her nervousness to show when facing what was likely a powerful opponent. She had not had her own look at his file, but Mirai Takamatsu of the Covert Ops Division made sure she knew his crimes. When she first met him, he did not seem evil, but Mirai also made sure Hana understood that a well-practiced psycho could feign any demeanor.

“Are you implying that the Gotei United has inflated your list of crimes?” Hana said curiously, her sword lowering as she thought about that claim for a moment. It was possible, wasn’t it? The Gotei has never been infallible. The Aizen situation and the demon incursion were perfect examples of their failures in the past, but Hana did not think them… evil. And destroying someone’s life to fit a narrative was that.

“My colleague… I a-…” Hana stopped. That look in his eyes was different, more frightening than before. If she told him the truth, that she was here alone, he might attack her and she was not sure how powerful he was. The only things she knew was he possessed shikai and was proficient with kido. Everything else was up in the air. “I… have… back up watching to see if you’re foolish enough to make a move against me. It would be better for everyone if you surrendered. Please.”

Akira’s claims were borderline unbelievable for Hana. Even if she did not want to be a Shinigami, she had met enough of them to believe in their morals and resolve. Of course, she had also met a few she could see doing something like this to pad their own numbers or frame a person they did not like. Hana raised her sword, holding it firm once more as he began walking around her. It was clear he was taking in the surroundings, likely trying to find her supposed backup. She had none.

“These allegations against the Gotei are serious; do you have any proof? I cannot fathom any reason why someone would falsify a report about an orphanage massacre. Are you truly saying they did? And how about the people you killed in the patrol that attempted to arrest you? I assume that was a lie as well?” Hana’s brow furrowed and her grip became stronger. Knowing the things this man did actually brought about anger within her. “Will you surrender yourself peacefully or not?”

Though Akira’s mind was consumed by the memory Hana forced to resurface, she was not aware of it until she finished. She finally noticed the look in his eyes, the change in his demeanor, the vanished smile. The tension between them grew and Hana’s stance reformed. She was ready to fight this man, even though she really did not want to. She could not understand why, but she could tell that she had lost him.

I’m sorry.

Hana saw it. She saw the way his lips moved to form the soundless sentence, and it was quickly accompanied by a chilling shiver. A moment later, his reiryoku burst forth and he began to physically change in front of her. Hana gasped, her heart raced, and she very much regretted not calling for real backup. His passive behavior before led her to believe he would either run or come with her. Instead, his eye focused on her and she recognized the energy of a hollow exuding from him.

’I was wrong…’

Akira charged her and swung his blade down with both arms. Hana’s reflexes took over for the moment, and she brought her blade up, allowing both of their zanpakuto to collide. Stuck together in a test of strength, Hana tried thinking about her next move. It was clear that Akira was a vizard, and something she said must have triggered him. She knew enough through books she read to understand that if a Vizard lets their guard down, their inner hollow would take over.

’I wonder if…’

Hana’s feet began sliding, her body being pushed back to the lake. His words gave her the impression that he wanted to drown her, inspiring her to think faster about what to do. Thoughts of her recent training with Joshua and Kimitsuki came to mind. In those sessions, she found pieces of herself, sparks of confidence that let her move. She needed that now, but the fear began settling in. With her heart pounding hard enough to feel it in her face, something finally clicked. Right!

Hana vanished. A quick step to the side, right before her feet would have met the water, and she removed herself from their collision. About ten feet away, she brought her stance back up and was ready. She took a deep breath and began fusing her sword with her reiryoku, a hard and determined expression on her face. She really preferred to fight normal hollow, but Akira was a vizard, so close enough.

“I have no interest in fighting you, but if you do not surrender peacefully, I will have no choice.” Hana said, knowing he was going to attack. This fight was inevitable, and as that realization came, Hana felt her heart slowing down. With a single breath, she was ready. ‘I can do this. I will defeat him. I will not fail again!’

Watching Akira was terrifying, yet intriguing. He was reacting to nothing, as if fighting something that was not there. In seeing the grotesque distortion that was Akira’s expression, Hana had to take a breath to focus. A monster was forming in front of her, though the expressionless half of Akira’s face left Hana confused. Frankly, it looked like he had a stroke mid battle, with one half stuck like that.

This was not Akira anymore, but his inner hollow. In a way, that made Hana feel better. She was not fighting a person right now, but a hollow, which was the point of her job as a Shinigami. His words were likely meant to intimidate her, especially with this idea of a “game,” yet nothing else was explained beyond the word “thirteen.” Hana could guess “Gotei Thirteen,” but with no other information, she couldn’t care. She had to focus on defeating him and coming out alive as well.

The finger gun “fired” and Hana’s focus allowed to the alertness to shunpo to the side. However, his skill in kido was going to be a problem. The speed at which the Sho fired was beyond her skill. Hana’s shunpo was interrupted as the kinetic energy slammed into her side. It did not hit exactly where it was aimed, but it still took her off balance mid-shunpo and caused Hana to find herself on the floor.

“Are you really starting this now? Get up!”

The voice that called out to Hana decided to interrupt her thoughts for a moment. Hana rolled her eyes, having finally realized that this was her zanpakuto spirit, the same being that refused to talk to her without insulting her. At this point, Hana chose not to even reply to it. Instead, she pushed herself to her feet quickly and retook her stance before shunpo’ing forward. In an attempt to initiate her part of the fight, Hana’s shunpo brought her to Akira’s side, where she aimed to cut along his ribcage with her reiryoku enhanced zanpakuto. Luckily, recent training helped her sharpen her skills here. With the reiryoku, it was much easier to cut a hollow, or in this case, a vizard. Hana did not hesitate and her calm mind kept her focused.