A Fight She Never Won [Akira/Hana]

That last interaction left a bad taste in Hana’s mouth. She was certain she didn't do any good there, and since then, she had only been finding destroyed buildings and fallen allies. Her thoughts went out to Hono, Koga, Josh, Hiroe, Kaito, and Tento, praying that each of them were okay. There was too much happening around her to be able to focus in and find anyone. The lingering and bursting energies were almost painful, so she had to focus on what was in front of her.

Running through what little was left of the maze, even with her senses turned elsewhere, Hana could sense him again. She couldn’t tell where he was; her reikaku working as well as static from a TV with an old antenna. She slid to a stop, looking across the way over a scattering of broken wall and her eyes fell upon Akira.

It was his energy… This close, she could tell… sorta. Hana’s recognition felt more like deja vu or having a word on the tip of your tongue. When the mask was removed, she knew it for sure. Her expression shifted rapidly, distorting from confusion, to anger, to disappointment. She had hoped to never see him again, especially after their last fight, but she had beaten him then, she could again.

“You should not have come here,” Hana said as she unsheathed her zanpakuto. “I offered you a peaceful surrender once, and you rejected it… For this?! Only to descend upon the Soul Society and slaughter thousands in cold blood?!”

Another one. If this went anything like the last, Hana would have a hand wrapped around her throat. She would be too scared to try if that happened, and besides, Akira looked horrible. Clearly he had fought someone and somehow managed to escape, or… he killed them. The thought angered Hana and she clenched her jaw down tight. She heard the voice of her inner spirit call out to her.

‘The first time you met this man, you trusted him talked like a friend with a known criminal. The second time, you tried to arrest him. The third, he has clearly fought your allies. He cannot be reasoned with, Hana. He is not like that woman.'

‘I have to fight him…’

‘You do.’

“I will not be going anywhere… My friends, they can defend themselves. I must trust that,” Hana said, gripping her zanpakuto firmly, tightly in her hands. Without a moment’s hesitation, Hana darted forward in a well aimed shunpo, closing the gap between her and Akira in a mere blink. Her sword cut through the air with lethal precision, aimed to slice across his side with a very clear intent to kill him.

Hana had been right; he was injured. She didn’t want to make this last. She beat him before, right? With him injured, she could beat him again, easily. Hana was determined, and therefore his plea was met with a reverberating roar, a battle cry echoing out from the small woman. She turned on her heel, the gap between them closed, and faced him again. From a lower stance, she brought the tip of her zanpakuto upward toward Akira, the blade aiming to impale the man in the heart and end the battle as quickly, unaware that it would not be that easy.

“Why did you insist on coming back here?!” Hana yelled desperately, a hidden question woven within the one she asked. ‘Why did you have to come back?’ He would have been fine if he just stayed away. What a fool... What a selfish fool!

Hana’s attack was fully halted when a Sho struck her in the chest and sent her back. Her body didn’t hit the floor immediately, but when it did, she gasped as the air was forced from her lungs, and she dropped her zanpakuto. Her body rolled once before she got up to her feet and she ran toward the weapon, needing to rearm herself quickly. However, Akira had no intention of letting her do that and pain shot through her entire leg as something, his kido, pierced it.

Hana dropped to the floor, her chest becoming tighter as the fear began to grip her just as much as the pain in her leg. ‘It hurts,’ Hana thought. ‘Get a hold of yourself, Hana. It’s okay. Just focus.’ ‘I have to move…’ Hana looked to her sword again, trying to ignore Akira’s words as she forced herself back to her feet. "I refuse to let you go again," Hana said, barely standing, the uninjured leg taking most of the weight. She took a step forward and was about to shunpo to her weapon...