Song of a Visionary

So, it just so happened that Fantasia lived in the outskirts of Karakura Town; the housing was cheaper here, and for good reason. It was a dangerous neighborhood, and good realtors didn't sell property here asking market price for them. Her very home was located on Hakushi Block, which was particularly evident as the only block with a street under construction. Around a month before the present, there was a certain misunderstanding that caused a good deal of destruction to both the asphalt paving and cement sidewalks in front of her house, though it was still passable by foot as the damages were located only on one side of the road. Currently, the female teen would be cooking herself a meal from within her kitchen. A simple dish of scrambled eggs was all, as it was morning time, and Fantasia had just woken up well-rested. For a while, nothing but the sickly sweet sizzling of pan-cooked eggs suffused the cozy atmosphere in her suburban residence; that was until the arrival of the rock melody that sounded loudly outside. Furrowing her brows and perking her ears up, Fantasia turned her head. Yeap, that was definitely coming from outside.

After turning the stove off, the blonde was in her reception room, poking her head discreetly through the curtains of her front window. Her gray hues were met with the familiar sight of the construction site, but more than that: There was a figure passing—or rather, standing—nearby. At first the cowl threw her off, until she bothered to focus on the face within it. Blue eyes, golden strands of hair showing, somewhat familiar features. The girl found herself closing the curtains rather roughly and forgetting that she was being discreet in the first place. "What is he doing here?" she asked herself in a furious whisper, not even daring to mention his name like it was some voodoo word. She brought one hand to her forehead and her other was placed on her hip, and she just stood aback in a rashly-thrown-together mix of confusion, curiosity, and anger. He was an Arrancar, or in other words a Hollow wearing a human's skin, and he dared show up in her neighborhood. And he was playing a guitar apparently, as if suddenly he was coming to her home seeking forgiveness for his existing. But, Fantasia knew no forgiveness for Hollows.

The young man, brooding solemnly, would soon be interrupted; After the sudden clicking of a door being opened, there would be but a couple of seconds before the place he was standing in became a crater, and lest he was absent at the time, his body too would become part of the crushed infrastructure. Fantasia had leaped into the air as soon as she had that door open, coming crashing down on the point he had was moping in like the coming of a miniature meteor. Debris and dust would most definitely be kicked up from the action, as suddenly she was showing strength and speed that no ordinary human could produce. After the cloud of brown abated, Fantasia would be standing in something of a combat stance, with her hand reaching over her shoulder and grasping her sheathed weapon—a Claymore—all too eager to bring it out. Her hair was longer from the last time they had met, as it grew at a faster rate than a typical person. She also was wearing her light suit of black armor, which was a mesh of hard plastics and tough fabrics that formed a defensible barrier akin to a layer of steel, while still maintaining flexibility for its user. Fantasia's voice was livid as she called out to Len, her face nothing but an expression of hostility. "Get the hell out of here, before I make you!"

As her foot came crashing down upon the young male, rather that outright crushing him into the pile of rubble, it would merely send him tumbling back into the construction site behind him, causing minor if any damage whatsoever. As she realized this, she clicked her teeth in annoyance. Yeah, she figured this was not going to be cakewalk for her, given the stunts he was able to pull that fateful day they acquainted with each other. However, all hands were laid down when he dared to ask why she attacked him the way she did. Did he take her for an imbecile? Was he really wondering why she wanted this demon as far away from her as possible? The thought that he could have such audacity only disgusted Fantasia more, as if that were possible. Before he could spew anymore of his sympathy-grabbing nonsense, Fantasia would scream as loud as she could and rip her sword violently out of its scabbard. "Shut up!" were her words of choice, just before she brought the massive blade crashing into the ground with catastrophic force. There was so much raw strength in this single swing that the moment the weapon impacted the streets, a shockwave was released with deafening boom to be heard for miles away. It started as just a simple crack, before the wave began to drive forward at Len like a shark's fin. It ruptured and split the earth wherever it travelled, with the 'fin' slicing through anything unfortunate enough to get in its way, including Len if he did not move.

After the attack, the construction site would be all but shambles; a wreck as grand as the streets themselves. Fantasia disregarded it though, not caring one bit as long as she could destroy that which is evil, and that is what she truly believed Len to be. The female teen would draw her weapon out of the ground with ease, a tail of dust lingering behind the sword's tip as it moved, before swiftly dissipating. There was not a nick or dent in the weapon, showing it was clearly capable of actions of such magnitude. Regardless of Len's capability to survive the attack, Fantasia would spit the same angry words at him; corpse or not. "Don't even try to explain yourself, Hollow... Arrancar... Whatever the hell you are. You can pry at people's sympathies all day long, but in the end your the same, and your actions mean nothing. You don't think we know that, how Hollows think?" She waited, as if desiring an answer for her rhetorical question. Her eyes would darken to a shade of black as her frown only deepened, and her lips opened up to reveal everything up to the canines of her teeth. "You don't have a heart. Any niceties you attempt are merely a means to an end. A Shinigami told us all of this, so stop pretending. Either you leave now, or we will kill you on the spot."

By Shinigami, Fantasia was of course referring to Yoruichi. She had received very basic teachings on the inner-working of Hollows, strangely only days before the two had first met—it had only sicked the little girl more, though in time she could probably have guessed the nature of the beast. But there was something strange occurring here, right now in the present time and date. Fantasia had vowed to slay all Hollows at the cost of her life, no matter the hardships needed to be overcome in the process. So why did the blonde even offer that alternative for Len to leave? It confused Fantasia herself, and infuriated her. She figured she knew what she was dealing with, but still it stood in the guise of a human, mocking her, for humans were the beings she wished to protect from such evils. Sooner or later, Fantasia was going to have to pull herself together and acquire the resolve necessary to destroy this demon, because a second's hesitation could mean the difference between his death and her death. She shook her head and gripped her weapon tightly with both hands. The sword was brandished in the early-morning sunlight, casting a glimmer across the desecrated streets and offering a small modicum of beauty.

Dodging the shockwave was no difficult feat, and more than anything just a warning shot; but our antagonist here was very unconcerned with the display of raw power, simply moving to the side and paying no more attention to the collateral damage caused by it. One could only guess that he had seen such ability all too often, and had surpassed being surprised or in awe of it. There was a backlash from producing such immense force from a simple swing of the sword, thus disorienting young Fantasia for a small time and causing her to stumble back as she pulled her weapon out of that ground. She didn't bother to notice such trivialities as the boy's footwear fleeing from his feet, and his almost stupidly absurd ability to play a guitar with his feet while simultaneously performing acrobatics; well, it just meant that the blonde would show as much interest in the fancy party trick as Len did with her outrageous showcase of power. The exchange proceeded just as well, the rungs resetting as he landed back on his feet with guitar in his arms, and Fantasia's vision and balance returned to her. Then came Fantasia's speech, followed by Len screaming a nonsensical statement in that order. A glint of confusion struck the girl's eyes, just before Len's hair and eyes began darkening to an inky black, so much different from the vivid gold and blue, respectively. Additionally, what was once a guitar was now a sword, abruptly ending the intense chords he was streaming from his fingers, but there was little to no time to consider such things.

Len's figure suddenly became larger, taking up most of her field of view as he appeared in front of her so incredibly quickly that it had Fantasia's eyes widening in surprise. She was staring down the scabbard of his newly formed sword, which was aimed at a point directly between her eyes. Angrily, she pulled her sword up and swatted the scabbard away, so wanting to scream at him to shut up with the lyrical rubbish that was spewing from his mouth. Then he tried to cock his head back and send it flying forward as if flung by a slingshot, attempting a headbutt—Fantasia was far more prepared for a follow-up and did not want to meet an attack head on if she could help it. Thus, she leaped back from the short-ranged and highly ineffective attack. It did not matter, though. He was still talking to her to the tune he had concocted, and Fantasia could only figure that the words held more meaning than a children's sing-a-long. If she tried to apply any of it to herself, it would only infuriate her and deepen her scowl. So, she cared for them less than she did his excuses, which brought her to the point: Did he expect her to believe him so easily? Oh how Hollows were tricky individuals, willing to go to so great a length to get to their prey, and for all this woman knew this could be but a trap. His explanation, a convenient one, was supposed to explain how he was able to fire a Cero, the Hollow's primary attack. Apparently, he had a Hollow trapped inside of him. Apparently, there were more like him at the school. Apparently, this was school-taught material. Apparently, this was incredibly fucking natural.

There was no way this would win over Fantasia's sympathy, forcing his backstory onto her in a matter of moments when she was in so distraught a mood; that would not transform into a successful method. Mixing in insults and accusations with the explanation did not help either, as they only hurt and provoked the blonde more than she already was at the thought of Hollows. He so hypocritically lamented only for his own self and his own past, not taking into consideration a second persona that could have suffered a tragedy many in her background. So, it shouldn't have surprised him that even after his broken cry of rapport the girl's expression would not become one of instant empathy. In fact, the deepened shade of red in her face and the pitch black eyes she wore now were only an indication that she was pissed. "H-How dare you compare our situation to your... your... your existence!" She spat the last word, and screamed at the sky to expunge some excess rage that could not be contained by words. She looked at her blade, noticing that for some strange reason she had four arms and two swords on her. Double vision, she realized after a second, and she also realized her hands were bleeding from grasping her weapon too tightly. She immediately softened her grip, but it was still iron in firmness, showing just how powerful her previous grip was. She blinked back tears, and showed she could be stronger than this creature.

"So, Len, you're just an innocent with a Hollow trapped inside of you, huh?" Her tone of voice gave her away as being sarcastic, of not believing his sob story. "Then surrender, and hand your body over to us so we can stick this blade through your stomach and purge the fucking demon from within you, why don't you? If what you say is true, then this should be no problem. If you are any part human, then you'll want the death of Hollows as much as us, and you'll hand us that creature on a silver platter."

It was the aftermath of blind stumbling through the cloud of anger and misunderstandings, with Len to take the first step outside of it. Instead of more lyrical nonsense following her remark, or a violent comeback full of accusation and derision, Len would move out of his stance and stand arms wide open. His blade of the guitar would be freely dropped from his hand, effectively disarming himself in an expression that surprised Fantasia. So assured was she in her view of him that she expected denial, protection of the hollow; yet instead she was met with her very demand, whether sarcastic or not. She stared at him with a look of surprise and confusion, clear in the daylight that she was astonished. There was a huge interval of hesitation, where Fantasia would idly hold her sword at the ready, but not make any movements with it. There were questions racing through her head, such as whether the offer was serious, or a trap to lure her into his grasp? Really, the entirety of this situation was a mess of confusion, and there was no surefire way of being to tell any of this. Her pause of action was reasonable.

So what did she do? Her brows slowly descended, hardening her expression as the stupefaction wore off. Again, as she looked at him she thought of him as human again, for that's what he appeared to be. Unarmed, hands held out to the sides, completely vulnerable; and Fantasia who wished to protect humans, was now about to thrust her sword through the body of a person who at the very least looked like one. After a split-second resolution in her mind, she blasted off of her feet towards him with blurring speeds, pointing her sword in front of her like a lance. The spearhead attack would find itself embedding Fantasia's weapon hilt deep in the boy's stomach, sounding with a slick of flesh, a splattering of blood on the streets, and a light thud that cut the noise into silence. The shiny silver blade stuck out of Len's back half covered in blood, which lightly dripped into the small puddle below that was created by the cruor being displaced out of the body. Fantasia just held the sword in his body like that, staring at her own two hands around the grip as she seemed frozen in place. Did she dare ask if it worked? No, because this was stupid. She knew it would only cause pain whether or not his story was true, because her sword was but a tool of battle.

Groaning, Fantasia quickly slid the weapon out of Len's body and allowed its tip to clank onto the streets beside her. She had a headache—caught in a maelstrom of confusion and indecision. The torments of her past speaking one thing into her mind while her intuition was suggesting otherwise. She wished she could simply know what all this was, but life couldn't be so simple, unfortunately. And now she was stuck with a boy she had just perforated through the gut, who could either be her enemy, or her ally. Her ashen eyes finally shifted up to meet Len's, sorrow and suffering clouding the young teenage girl she was behind all that. She was only fifteen and dealing with levels of stress beyond her years. She had so much on her back and it was only through an immeasurable act of will that the young girl was able to cope with the burden shaped by tragedies and a cruel world... "We don't know," was all she could manage to say in a crippled whisper, and several seconds later she would repeat herself as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Fantasia watched, eyes ripe with tears and horror, as Len's human frame began teetering and seemed like it was about to fall. In that moment it was impossible to see the Hollow within him, and only a human being was presented to her. Humans, whom she desired to protect with her life, and she was watching the fall of one by her own hands. Shock coursed through her hues as they shuddered subtly, unable to be torn from the sight of it, her body unable to move from its position. Len quickly began to lose life in his eyes, dulling the sheen that was present only moments before. To make things worse, his descent was occurring in slow motion, making Fantasia's mind writhe as every millisecond once laid out before her in excruciating detail. The pain in her head was growing infinitely worse, like it was going to burst. The hurt rivaled the agony that she felt when she witnessed her parents die, and she wanted nothing more than to make it go away. But the wounds were already made; she could see it, the aperture at the center of his stomach gushing a slow stream of blood—human blood. Her mind kept going back to the fact that she had caused that injury, and she had just killed a human being.

Then with the cry of a sonic boom, the two were no longer alone. A green blur over took her vision as Len suddenly disappeared into it. It was so fast it took time for the girl's eyes to adjust, but when they did they came to terms with the appearance of a third person. He knelt at the floor, with jade irises staring directly at her. Len was no longer falling, or didn't seem to, for now he was lying gently upon the ground at this newcomer's feet. Fantasia couldn't be anymore shocked than she was, so her eyes simply persisted widely and unblinkingly as she took in the similarities between the two males. They had to be related in some way, reminding the girl only of how human that was. He... even he had family... and Fantasia did not. She would bring her hand over her chest where her heart was beating, and would consequently clench as a result of this revelation. It felt almost unfair to her, but that thought would pass away in her mind as her focus came back to her dire actions.

"I'm Colin Washi of the Vizard Corps," the stranger would begin, as if the word Vizard meant anything to the poor girl. "One of the core defenders of Karakura and doomed wielders of the abilities of hollows." Then his face turned downwards so that his hair would block his somber expression from Fantasia. It seemed like this Colin person was worried for Len, as a good family member would be. His usage of the surname 'Washi' would confirm their relation in her mind, causing her heart to skip another beat. There was a moment of understandable silence before Colin would address her again, that tinge of sadness accentuating his words. He tried to explain the situation in Len's stead, for Len's sake; But Fantasia realized quite ashamedly that he was simply repeating what Len himself had told her, but she had chosen to ignore out of her own blind hatred. Well, she had gotten what she had deserved with this searing headache and mental trauma, and probably merited worse than that.

The entire situation was interrupted by the shift in atmosphere, a red light being cast upon the streets as the space behind Fantasia began to ripple. A crimson line appeared, and then began to split left and right into a massive opening within the fabric of the dimension. Fantasia would feel the ripples of energy on her back, and would turn around to witness the spawning of the great Senkaimon gates. They were styled as antiqued Shoji doors of bamboo wood and a lattice of thin paper framed over the top half. The silhouette of a figure could be made out on the other side of the door, as though a light was shining from behind her to cast a shadow on the paper. Then with a gust of wind, the two center doors slid open to reveal a familiar figure. From the black stretch pants, to the orange robe, to the beige mantle, and the violet hair—it was all familiar. Yet, she did not have a warm smile on her face as Fantasia was used too, but a stern expression lacking of gaiety. Yoruichi Shihouin, stepped through the dimensional threshold and into the World of the Living, an even walk bringing her over to Fantasia with unreadable eyes upon her. The Senkaimon slammed closed, and disappeared in a flash of scarlet, returning the atmosphere back to its original state. That cold stare would persist for a second more before the woman turned her locus to Colin.

"You'll be able to take your charge to the hospital, so I'll leave him to you," she said, while placing her hand on Fantasia's shoulder. "I'll take care of mine from here on, thank you." And that was, with a firm grasp Yoruichi would tug on Fantasia's frame with a strength that left a slight ache of her shoulder. Then, the woman turned away and headed towards the teen's house, most assuredly wanting her to come along. The blonde would take one last look at Len, sad eyes observing the wound, and her inner voice wishing him well. Then, she unquestioningly followed in her mentor's steps, back to her home where she would be scolded for her actions and appropriately punished. It was only right...