The World

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

"Are you a child, or an octopus?"



They're squids, Tsubomi.

---

Once she finally got to her feet, Tsubomi was able to see Oros walking into the water. Why was she doing that? There was no time to figure that out with Morganite's appearance, a veritable cannon-shot, causing a strange sense of deja vu, though she couldn't place why. As she watched Oros run into the water, she began to follow. If she were capable of being surprised, she would certainly be by her own speed as she walked far faster than she could remember doing since her corruption. She threw a wave over her shoulder at the beach-goers as she walked, and had made it about halfway to the water when she face-planted into the sand from stepping in an indent.

Once again she rose, with the same speed she had been walking, and continued on. When she reached the water, she continued on until she was fully submerged, walking still onward with water above her head. It was only when she was totally out of breath that she transformed and allowed herself to rise to breathe again.

The unfortunate part was that now she had water in her eyes, so Acid Drop rubbed them for a few moments to clear them before looking around once more, searching for Oros and Morganite.

[Main Story] Bleach: New Gen

Shion Kana

& Unnamed Worker #1

---

Huh!? Okay, so she had been right on the money, the young boy had been able to see them! And could still see her, at that. She felt the slightest bit of envy at a living soul having so much Reiryoku that he could see them, but it passed quickly once his fear registered. It made sense. After all, seeing people with swords standing mid-air would scare most normal people. Did she just admit that she wasn't a normal person? Eh, didn't matter. More important was keeping him calm and safe, same with the other few humans she had noticed on the other side of the boxes. Though with them, the only concern was safety...

Shion turned so that her back was to the boy and held up her zanpakuto in a defensive stance. No point throwing off enemies who couldn't see her. "Don't worry, we're here to keep you and the others around here safe. None of us want to hurt you, and I need for you to stay as calm as you can so you can help me keep an eye out, okay?" She jumped into the air and created a platform of Reishi under her feet so she could look over the boxes. She spared a second to glance over her shoulder at the boy and show him a smile. "You're not going to die today, unless it's after me, so keep a cool head until then, yeah?"

The man's gaze lingered on Shion, a puzzled look on his face. If it be because of her words or actions were unclear, however, the man remained silent as the woman stood in the air. His eyes slowly shifted to the Shinigami in the air, Mei, unleashing a power that caused his eyes to widen. However, the woman's fixation on another section of the shipyard was his opportunity. His hand remained clutched on the necklace, to the point of his knuckles whitening. He looked back to Shion. "I don't think you understand, but that's good right? Please don't tell anyone you spoke to me!" He spoke in haste, "If you care about me not dying, please don't tell anyone! Especially that one!" He nudged to the woman in the sky flipping a dagger. He dug closer to the boxes, trying to remain out of her eyesight.

"I'll keep a lookout for you but don't make it obvious, okay? And then I'll be on my way and we forget this ever happened! Deal?"

... Okay, that was weird. The now-strange boy was confusing her, but Shion kept to her usual "protect everyone" ideal. "Okay, if you say so. Watch out for the monsters with the white faces, if you head out. We'll try to get them all, but if it'd be bad for you to be seen, then I'll pretend I never saw you. Good luck!"

Having said what she felt she needed to, Shion focused away from the boy and towards looking for hollows. This guy could see her, and the others, but was scared of Mei-san? Why? Was he not a normal person? That actually made her a little relieved; he wasn't some super rare human, and that meant that he could probably handle himself a little better than one. Besides, she didn't have a ton of time to think it over right now. She jumped onto the boxes and looked around, trying to locate any other humans who might be in danger, or barring that at least find that hollow that skittered away.

Jumping onto the boxes, the scene laid out in front of Shion was rather destructive. She would notice Ageha in the air, battling the hollow on the crane while Rio and Jin held off the hollow on the ground which seemed to be resulting in a success. Not too far from where she stood, however, were three humans packing up lunch boxes and beginning to head to break. The hollow from earlier, stood menacingly in front of the group who were walking directly towards it. Its head titled, looking directly at Shion, while its arm raised in the air. It began jovially hopping from one foot to the other, claws beginning to protrude from its fingers and ready to strike once the humans got close. Once again, showing that unnatural level of intelligence, almost as if baiting Shion to move forward...

"Remember, we've got a deal! Do what you have to do, and I'll make sure to warn you if any more pop out! Then I'm gone afterwards!"

Right. Shion flashed behind the hollow and swung at the back of its head.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

"..."



Inner monologues aren't enough to save my word count.

---

A boy stood in front of Tsubomi. In one hand he held Roche by the neck, and in the other a handgun. To be honest, it was hard to tell what kind of gun it was, because the boy had massive fucking tits pectorals. Why the word "pectorals" came to Tsubomi's mind when she saw them, she wasn't sure. What she was sure of was that the boy was talking. Something about how she shouldn't have been lying on top of a van. Had she been lying on top of a van? She didn't remember. She wanted to pause and think about it, but as she began trying to remember, the boy threw Roche to the side. Some sort of monster, a Misseria? No... a squid? Some strange looking thing caught her and ran away. Tsubomi followed it with her gaze only to find that Nyxia was suddenly behind it, chasing it. Why didn't she just shoot it? She shrugged, and turned back to the boy.

The boy continued saying things, evident by the moving of his mouth, though Tsubomi couldn't hear him. He seemed to finish speaking because he pointed the gun at her. She blinked, and the boy changed, becoming blurry. So she rubbed her eyes to try to bring him into focus, and it worked, but now the boy was Suki? And she was still pointing the gun at her. Tsubomi looked down and saw that she was still in her mundane form. Why didn't she transform? She didn't feel like she should, for some reason. And Oros, oh, Suki transformed for her apparently, was now shouting about something. Tsubomi checked her ears and tried to unclog them, but she still couldn't hear anything. The gun was shaking, but Oros lowered it as she stopped shouting. That was nice of her, but if Tsubomi couldn't hear her, how was she supposed to find out why Oros was mad? There was a lot of anger coming off of her, like steam being released from a canister in an anime. It was warm, but not the nice kind of warm that Tsubomi usually felt from people's anger. It was uncomfortable, humid. Suki, who was back to her normal form, seemed to say something under her breath. Then she put the gun to her temple, and -

Tsubomi woke up, finding herself now on a beach towel. Weird. She didn't remember being on a beach towel. She couldn't remember the end of that... dream? Nightmare? Could it be a nightmare if you don't feel fear about it, or about anything? Regardless, she sat upright slowly. Something made her mind go towards the other three she had come to the beach with. Oh, she was at the beach. Hadn't she been at the van before? She decided it wasn't important and looked around, seeing a group of people around her. Huh. They seemed concerned about something, but she didn't bother to ask what about. Her eyes lazily moved from one person to the next as she thought. Earthshaker and Nyxia had gone into the water, hadn't they? That must be where her brain got the idea for the creature in her dream, but what about the weird boy? One of the people nearby seemed to look a lot like him, but she didn't know if she had seen him before for him to show up in her sleep. Again, she decided that it wasn't important. The last thing she remembered was that Suki had been upset. Really upset, if the gun was anything to go by. She should be somewhere at the beach, but looking around didn't show her.

The apathetic girl was concerned about her. Or, maybe "concerned" isn't right. Concerned is defined as something based on emotions, right? So she couldn't have been concerned. Still, there was a nagging feeling in the back of her head, telling her to check on the other three girls. Who knows how long she'd been unconscious, after all. She slowly, so slowly that it seemed physically improbable that she could manage it, stood up, taking one more look around the beach.

[Main Story] Bleach: New Gen

Shion Kana

---

For her part, the former living soul had learned something from her nerves-induced nightmare the day of the festival, notably that arriving earlier than early was important. She had been there exactly twenty-two minutes before the expected time for her mission to the World of the Living, so when Mei told her she was late anyway, she was slightly shell-shocked. The surprise was evident on her face for a few seconds before it sunk in and she collected herself. The shinigami in charge was right, if she and the others had been there even sooner, they could have had more time to prepare both before leaving and when arriving at their mission. Though hours might be pushing the realm of reason.

Her first mission being in the World of the Living seemed fitting for Shion, since she'd only left it a little more than six years ago. Before the others arrived, she idly wondered if that was why she was chosen for this mission, but looking around once everyone was there, she wasn't able to see Hagoromo anywhere, so perhaps that wasn't the case? Or perhaps they figured one previously living shinigami was enough. Her attention was on Mei as she explained the situation, but... A limiter!? Shion was above-average in Spiritual Pressure, yes, but to only a quarter!? Without having shikai, she'd be at a huge disadvantage... Still, she wasn't going to let that get in her way. The mission was ostensibly to defeat hollows, yes, and she had proven her ability to do so with her sealed zanpakuto to graduate, but now that she was down to a quarter strength she was a bit worried. Still, while the mission was to defeat hollows, the reason for doing so was to protect living people, a job she would take completely and utterly seriously.

She walked through the gateway and saw the shipyard that they would be fighting in, noting that the other senior reaper followed in last. Shion took in the situation, the hollows' placement and that of the humans, and noticed that one of the workers was looking right at the shinigami. If they could see them, even on the small chance they could, they'd have to have notably high Reiryoku. And if they did, that would make them a prime target for the hollows, as Shion knew from experience. She decided to start near that person and work her way inwards. Of course, just as she decided that...

A sensation washed over her from the direction of the warehouse just as Rio introduced himself. And right after learning his name, two of the others rushed in. She shouted to Jingorō just as he disappeared, "Be safe!"

She turned to speak to Mei when Ageha spoke. Shion wasn't able to respond before she was moving, so she shouted after her as well. "Ah! Wait, if you're not careful you could knock down the entire crane!" Lowered Reiatsu would help, but at the speed Ageha was moving, would that even be enough to stop the damage? Plus, the hollows weren't limited, if the fight got too intense, it could easily make the crane fall on its own.

Still though, Shion felt that they had a good chance of success today. She turned to Mei and spoke up. "If Rio-san is going in as backup... Please keep an eye on us, Mei-san." Then she turned to Jinzo as well. Given his condition, she assumed he'd be going for the strongest source of Spirit Pressure, so... "If you're going into the warehouse, please be careful."

Having said what she set out to say, she allowed the Reishi under her feet to dissipate and began to plummet towards the ground. As she fell she noticed that there was a hollow beneath her, also looking at where she was just standing. Crap, she wasn't expecting that! Hastily, she pulled her sword from its sheath, barely managing to do so in time to block the hollow's jumping attack. Its arm was knocked away and she was able to land a slash on its mash, but not deep enough to purify it in one blow, just enough to make it run away from her. Was that normal? She'd only ever seen two of the things up close, one when she died and one to graduate, (unless you count the ones she'd seen in her dreams) but a hollow running away implied more intelligence than she hoped it had. Regardless, she couldn't run after it with other hollows converging on the shipyard proper, so she moved ahead with her plan and went to the worker who might have seen them arrive.

With that human and, thanks to her location, a few others in sight, she looked around for other nearby hollows. Now that there were others to protect, her nerves melted away and her focus intensified. She'd make sure nobody she could reach would get hurt; she'd protect everyone in front of her.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

"Zzzzzzzz..."



Good thing she didn't tie it to her neck.

---

Falling asleep is an interesting feeling. As one slowly fades into it, their mind becomes jumbled and holding onto specific thoughts becomes difficult. Each mental image one has becomes altered in noticeable ways, and it's easy to tell from this when sleep is about to come. And yet, nobody can remember falling asleep, or realize at the moment they do so. It's an eternal mystery what it's like to actually pass into it. Do we remain the same person after we fall asleep, or do we become a new iteration of that person, akin to reincarnation, kept "the same" only by the process of continuity?

Regardless, Tsubomi thought of none of this, as thoughts can't become jumbled if they don't exist. She still could tell when she was near the precipice though, and she certainly was when the volleyball collided with the back of her head with enough force to knock her forwards, rolling off the roof and finding herself hanging from it by her shoelaces around her wrist. Surprisingly, it seemed that her anti-falling measure had actually worked, at least somewhat. The ball that had hit her bounced upwards from the collision, then fell back to hit the side of the van's roof and launch back towards the direction of the water.

Tsubomi, for her part, didn't realize any of this, either, as the blow to her head had successfully knocked her unconscious. Blissfully, safely, unconscious as she dangled from her wrist. In the end, she had gotten what she wanted.

Bleach: Rise Of The New Generation

Shion:

1. Snakes Without Sin
Reasoning: Purifying Hollows is a great way to be a hero, but even better is protecting people! Plus, living souls still have a special place in Shions heart.

2. Changing Nature
Reasoning: As great as running into Hueco Mundo would be, protecting civilians is more important right now. Added bonus to learn about Soul Society from those who live there, in a place she's never been.

Symphony on High

Marrie Knight

The moment the money hit her account after the mission, Marrie began the trip home. She'd spent the time between Mika finding whatever she found with the podium and the official end of the mission going back and forth between walking around to check for a new wave of attackers and further inspecting the generator. She did everything she could to memorize the feeling of her mana being recharged by an outside force. She didn't really have a great grasp of how magic worked, but if she could will into existence a beam that could sever limbs, maybe she could do something else? Before she left, she took a few pictures of the podium and the "blade diary" on it with her phone, just in case.

Once the traumatic mission was over and she was paid, she didn't head straight home, despite the overwhelming urge to do so. Instead she biked around Pax to pick up some surprise tools that would help her later. The moment she got home with her new loot she crashed on the floor, barely remembering or able to even lock the door. The last thing she remembered was turning her head to the side as she tried to bring her phone to where she could see it.

Awakening before dawn, Marrie picked herself off the floor and gathered her supplies from the previous day, putting them all into a carrying bag. Making sure she had everything she'd need she left her apartment and traveled to one of the many, many abandoned buildings in Pax, specifically choosing one that didn't have people around to notice her. The sun was just beginning to show itself over the horizon as she parked her bicycle and went inside.

Soon there were empty spray-cans littering the broken white tile flooring and several, different sized targets sprayed on the walls, ceiling, and floor. Some were simply bullseyes while others were more human shaped, and several were notably in the vein of fictional monsters. The targets were scattered in random places, no two were level with each other, nor quite the same size. Satisfied with this first step, Marrie began hanging small bits of wood she'd purchased from any place she could fashion them to. Once all that she had was in place, she dumped out the last items in her bag; full metal jacket target ammunition for her pistol. She was ready to begin, and the sun was now shining bright in the morning sky.

Hours passed, spent throwing her Instrument at the different targets in every method she could find online. Overhand, underhand, sideways, flipped, from a reverse grip, straight on. She practiced each and every throw hundreds of times, each against every target she'd made. Throw it, strike the target, return it to her hand via the chain, make sure to catch it, swipe with it. Throw, strike, return, catch, swipe, throw, return, catch, stab, throw, return, catch. When her esper form's arm got tired, she simply switched to her left hand and began again. Throw, return, catch, swipe, throw, return, catch, stab. Over, and over, and over.

She lost further track of time as she went through the motions of her training, but soon enough it was twilight. Nowhere near satisfied, she took a short break for an hour, watching the sun go down as she rested her arms. But the darkness was good, it gave her a new chance to practice. With less light, she began again using just the light from her phone's flashlight, periodically turning it off for a few minutes and then back on to check her work. Eventually, dawn came and with it she collapsed, unable to move her arms enough to continue. Marrie sat down against a wall and set an alarm on her phone for six hours before falling asleep.

She managed to wake a few minutes before her phone went off. A quick cast of a healing melody brought some of her strength back, and she began phase two of her training. Each and every target she'd made had holes in them by noon. Periodically switching hands and use of her shoulder brace, she was definitely getting more accurate, but progress was too slow for her. By nightfall she was out of ammunition, and began once again training with her Instrument, beginning with basic damage melodies and then moving on to practicing melee combat. The wind-riding esper rested only long enough to watch videos on her phone of how to improve her footwork, trying her best to waste no time. By the end of the third day since leaving her home, she felt like she was at least a little better prepared for whatever might come in the future, but not prepared enough to feel content. But with all the damage she'd done to the building, no further ammo, and no mana left in her tank she didn't have much choice but to stop.

The next morning, having slept fitfully, she began to dispose of the mess. Once everything was packed up, the spent target ammo in a garbage bag to take for proper disposal, the empty spray cans and food wrappers put in the nearest dumpster, Marrie began to slowly bike her way towards The Great Escape. It was notably closer than her apartment and should be about as safe to rest at, even if she couldn't stay the night. Besides, if she wanted to get stronger, advice from those who were already there couldn't hurt.

Stats

19 | Female | Freelancer | Misty Steps
Apexer Predator | Dagger | Physical | Heavenly Chain
Arctic Storm | Masking
Step of the Monsoon | Wind | Riding the Currents
After You Get Smacked Up | Gunstock
[Storm (4), Flight (6)] Damage (2), Damage X (6), Slow Fall (4), Blink (4), Transplace (8), Magic Sense (6), Heal (16), Stabilize (0), Portal (8), Rain (2), Bounce (0), Homing (2)

DAMAGE: C | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: C | 1000

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: B | 0

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

"Beach Episode."



Famously a relaxing time, right?

---

Acid Drop had managed to stay in her Tsubomi mindset the entire time she was transformed on the roof. The girl seemed to be full of unusual things today. She was fine with nearly being flung off the roof a few times, and as soon as Earthshaker parked the van, Tsubomi changed back to her normal form. Earthshaker wanted her to find food, but why? The best thing for everyone was to do their own things, and for Tsubomi, that meant staying on the roof. She pulled out her phone and held it in front of her face, still locked, acting as if she were reading something when nothing actually went through her head.

She gave a quick glance at the water when Roche jumped in, but soon turned her attention back to her blank phone. A few minutes later she turned onto her side so she faced away from the water and began to try to sleep. If this was a vacation from training, she'd take it.

Bleach: Rise Of The New Generation

Shion Kana

---

Oh crap! Crap, crap, crap! The young Shion Kana had been so giddy the night before the festival that she hadn't gotten to sleep until well into the morning, and now she was going to be late! She dashed through the Seireitei as fast as she could, dodging between people, Shinigami and otherwise, and flew past Gin Tonbo and its selection of wonderful eye-wear. She struggled to remember the right path through the hallways, barely managed to slide through the door at the main entrance of Shin'ō Academy before it was closed and locked, now that the students weren't there for the day. She jumped over a man crouched in front of Tomorrow's Tiger Pharmacy's front door, kicking off the door in an attempt to parkour her way to her destination. Did she remember the right way to get to the site of the festivities? She turned a corner to find -

The air around Shion felt heavy, far too heavy. Something was wrong with the Reishi around her, but she couldn't figure out why. She felt herself come to a stop under the pressure, only for a hollow to appear from thin air right in front of her eyes. It breathed out, smoke and mist coming from its mask before it -

"Sup?" The hollow asked, sitting on the ground and putting on a top-hat it pulled from somewhere behind it.

What? Shion looked to her side, she didn't have her zanpakuto and- ... Wait, did that hollow just talk!?

"Uh... hi?"

The hollow breathed out smoke again, this time clearly from a cigar that it slowly moved from in front of its mask with a strange tentacle that appeared on its back. "You look stressed, want a puff?" The tentacle brought the cigar over to where Shion could reach out and take it.

"Um... No, thank you?" Shion was bewildered, she didn't know there were hollows like this! It even seemed polite!

"Suit yourself." The hollow shrugged and threw the now-cigarette towards the nearby wall.

"What- what's going on?" The young shinigami couldn't wrap her head around this, so she decided to simply ask.

"You're dead."

"Huh!? I... died!?"

"Yep. About six years ago. You're in Soul Society now, right?" Shion nodded her head to the hollow's question. "Exactly. So you're dead. No big deal."

Shaking her head didn't seem to help things, and she couldn't shake off the logic there either. She had died, she was in the afterlife, or at least somewhat the afterlife, and it wasn't a big deal. But she was still confused, what was -

"You should probably hurry to your event. You're going to miss it. You're going to miss the party, you're going to miss the party!"

---

Shion bolted upright with a single thought in her mind. Oh crap! Crap, crap, crap! She was going to be late! She jumped out of her futon and grabbed her zanpakuto, running out of the room as fast as she could. She would have kept running if she didn't see the clock telling her that she still had two hours to prepare and that she had been asleep for about three. Thoroughly embarrassed, she went back to her futon and began to prepare properly for the event.

---

It turns out that trying to stay awake on only three hours of sleep was hard. Shion found herself beginning to nod off at the event in spite of her excitement for it. But then the Captain Commander arrived, and that arrival picked up her tiredness and suplexed it. She was wide awake to hear the pinnacle of Soul Reaper-ness tell her explicitly and directly that shinigami are not heroes. But also to maintain balance and peace, which were what a hero would do, right? As the Captain Commander left the stage, Shion was only reinforced in her beliefs. She'd prove that Soul Reapers can be heroes, are heroes, will remain heroes! And now that she was finally awake, she decided to take a look around at those who were now her peers at the bottom of the shinigami ladder, totally ignoring the first impression the Commander had made on them all.

What were these people, anyway? She really hadn't paid any attention to interpersonal relationships in the Academy, but there were a few she knew from their "deeds," if you could call them that at the level that Academy students were at. The short redhead that was speaking to pierced guy? She'd seen her around but didn't know the girl's name, or really anything else about her. Next.

Next in her line of sight was... Agatha! That was her name, right? No, couldn't be, the girl was a noble and nobility of the Soul Society had japanese sounding names. Regardless, she was really talented, someone to look at for inspiration! At least that's what Shion thought before noticing the girl talking to who she recognized as the Squad Eleven Captain. Bleh, Squad Eleven. And there was another person she knew the face of going over to stand next to her too! Yuta? Eh, he wanted in Squad Eleven, who cares what his name is? Now thoroughly disheartened, Shion turned to look farther into the crowd.

Oh, there was that guy who was in a situation like hers! His name was... Koby? That didn't sound right, but it's not like she knew anyone else's name, either. Besides, she and Hagoromo had never even talked to each other, had they? Anyway, she did feel the slightest bit of comradery towards him, what with them both being recently dead from the World of the Living, and being focused on zanjutsu and hoho. That made them, like, partners in specialization, or something!

And standing next to Hagoromo was... someone she didn't recognize. Well, she recognized him as a person in the Academy, but not by name or action. Boring, next! Her gaze turned back to the Captains, and saw that now there was someone talking to the woman who had to be a high ranking shinigami but Shion couldn't put her finger on who she was. It looked like the guy standing next to her was in pain, making her want to go over and help, but... That was the foodie guy, right? Didn't he have some condition? She sympathized, having had several in life, but also knew that his was a little different than hers. Something something always hungry? Regardless, Shion took another look around. That seemed to be everyone she recognized, so she decided to focus on what she wanted to accomplish. Which was... what, exactly? Was there anything here she even wanted to do? She wasn't really the social type with those she didn't already know, which made any interactions in Soul Society difficult. That was partly the reason she didn't know any of her peers' names in the first place.

She didn't recognize anyone from the squads she wanted to join, so the young now-shinigami went over to the nearest tree and jumped up onto the lowest branch, climbing her way up until she was at the top. From there, she should at least have a good view of the fireworks!

Symphony on High

@BrokenPromise
Ah, sorry about that. I think I worded your changes correctly, but I'm not certain that I did? Let me know either way.

New Hider

SPECIAL: Heavenly Chained Eater of God's Hand. Now at Gold Rank, Apotheotic Predator siphons mana from what it hits in six second bursts. A strike by the chain will absorb ten mana, while the blade will absorb twenty instead. This ability works once per target during each six second time frame, and is only able to siphon fifty mana total within six seconds.