Forged in Guilt, Part 2 [Koga/Hana]

Koga stopped her with ease, and part of her, no—all of her—knew he would. She stood there, motionless, her thoughts a mess as she absorbed his words, trying desperately to make sense of it all. Her mind raced, but her body remained still, caught in the tension between what she wanted to do and what she knew was right. 'I hate this... What... What do I do?' Her zanpakuto shook.

‘Hana…’

‘I will never be able to do this…’

‘Not if you don’t want to.’

‘Why is this so hard?’

‘Do you think taking a life should be easy?’

‘No, but…’

‘Make the decision, Hana. Be decisive. You keep saying you know where you’re going, what your goal is, but every step you take has been with hesitation and fear. If you take that mindset to the battlefield, you will die, and even worse, you will get someone else killed. If you draw your blade, you will draw I with purpose. So, make the decision. Put your blade away or fight.’

‘But I…’

'You want to avenge them, do you not? The thousands who died?'

'Y-yes...'

'Then make the decision! What will you do?'

'I want to fight...'

‘THEN FIGHT!’ Fukaorimiya's voice rang loudly in Hana's mind, like the overwhelming vibration of a large bell rung over a person's head. Fukaorimiya normally reminded Hana of what she believed a real mother would be like, but all Hana could hear was anger, and that all welled up inside Hana in an instant.

Hana was only still for a few seconds, her eyes unfocused as she spoke with Fukaorimiya for those moments, and then her eyes suddenly raised to Koga.

"Okay," she said, and something shifted. There was a quick, narrow movement that twisted Hana's blade around and only the tip of her zanpakuto went to glide up Koga's chest, threatening a deep, surgical cut. Suddenly, Hana's movements were much more direct, controlled, and her eyes were as focused as ever. "I will not put down my blade until I have done what I mean to do," Hana said with an uncharacteristic coldness to her tone, though... a bit menacing.

HABAKI KOGA | STRAY DOG

END POST

Hana stopped as Koga shunpo’d backwards and encouraged her to really fight him. She had made her decision; she was going to fight. She gave a short nod to the man and then shunpo’d back in, closing the distance in a blink and swinging her sword in a short arc, aiming to run the entire blade across his shoulder. And in the moment before the swing, Hana infused her reiryoku within the blade, sharpening it to cut through Koga as she would any enemy.

Hana’s movements quickly became more fluid and elegant with every swing she made. She took into account the training Josh put her through recently, focusing on more swift, narrow swings that were better in fighting a person, not a hollow. Her footwork was surprisingly well placed, each step almost a dance as she glided around Koga, moving her blade with precision. And in a second, immediate attack after her first, she performed a graceful spin that continued from the last movement and brought her sharpened blade down Koga’s back.