[East Rukongai] 40th District

[Apollymi]

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4210/35381629120_be32cff727_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/VUy6Eh)

[Bloodedge]

The 40th District of Soul Society's Rukongai seemed to be having an awful stroke of bad luck, as one day, out of the blue, something occurred there that had not been seen as far as history recalled. Of all things that could happen, a Hollow appeared via Garganta. While not of the Menos Grande classification, its power was great enough that its presence threatened a large portion of this district from the moment it arrived. "Nii-san... this is all going to be for you..."

[Apollymi]

Benihime had been at home alone with her parents and siblings for at least a day. She'd been enjoying the down time and surprisingly enough the company of her elder brothers. Even so, she'd left the house for a bit of fresh air and alone time, and had posted herself up in a tree a few blocks away from her parents house. 'Ugh, I wish they weren't so touchy. I've never given so many hugs in my life... though it could be worse, at least there is gonna be cake soon~' she thought as she happily turned through the pages of a book studying a bit so as not to fall behind from the extra studying her most while she had these thoughts she felt a rather sudden presence which made her eyes widen. 'Nani?! That's... not right.' she thought, before standing where she was, and looking trying to figure out where this was coming from.

[Bloodedge]

"There you are..." the Hollow said. He had been sent to this world to do one thing, and that was eliminate the red-haired academy student in the tree. However, the strongest trace of her Reiatsu he found was not her present location, but the house she had been in for so long. Remnants of her own Reiatsu combined with the similar Reiatsu of family members led this Hollow to believe she was inside, and thus, he believed he'd found his target rather quickly. His right hand rose, and his Reiatsu began to flare.

Moments later, a massive crash/explosion occurred at the location of the Niwatoko house, reaching far and wide. There would be nothing left of this location but a great deal of debris in a large plot of desecrated land. "Kekekeke~! Are you proud of me now... nii-san!?

[Apollymi]

As Benihime stood in the tree searching for the source of the sudden scary Reiatsu, she was soon given something to investigate. A loud crashing noise and an explosion made the young woman turn in the direction of it, and when she did, she immediately felt a sense of dread. 'Oh come on... don't be that...' she thought as she immediately took off, utilizing Shunpo would bring her to the fore of the desecrated land which had once been her house within a matter of seconds. Once she was there her eyes widened just a bit, of all the things she expected to see, just this plot of land and rubble wasn't at all it. Beyond this point, she knew her entire family had been inside this place this day.

She was immediately gripped by a bit of despair as it became obvious her entire family and several neighboring ones had been slaughtered. While people fled and screamed heading for any place except where they were, Benihime turned around to face the hollow which caused it. "You're a bit far from home, aren't ya'?" she asked of it, as she jumped up drawing her blade. She fully intended to kill this hollow, and make it pay for the death of her entire family. Once it was drawn she drew down intending to slash the mask across its face. After all, it obviously wasn't very clever showing up in the realm where there were many things which could kill it.

[Bloodedge]

Shortly after the destruction of what he assumed to be his target, the Hollow was met by the very same redhead he had come to kill. "You're alive. I thought I was done here," he said. As Benihime approached with her blade drawn, the Hollow did not recede. Instead, he inflated his chest to have it take the impact. After being cut through, his chest quickly healed, and he somehow became much more muscular. "Pathetic. I thought there would be more to you since I was the one sent for you," he said as his right hand rose again, aiming to swipe his claws along the redhead's face from the bottom up, as if to rip off her flesh.

[Apollymi]

Benihime's eyes widened in quite a bit of surprise, as this hollow inflated its chest to absorb an impact which would have been a sure method to kill it and went on to heal the damage. 'Nani?! What the hell even is that...' she pondered but soon enough there was a claw coming for her face like it was going to be ripped off. She tried her best to step back using Shunpo but at least one of the claws had managed to drag its way along her face around her left eye. As she reappeared off the Shunpo she flipped her blade around rubbing her eye with her other hand to check and see if she still had one beneath the wound. Much to her own surprise she did. "Whew, I thought I'd lost an eye there, you were sent for me you say? Since when to do hollows, hunt individual student shinigami?" she said that left eye closed. Still she couldn't well give up, if this hollow was capable of changing its body to react to her attacks, it'd become imperative to immobilize it first. She held her sword with her right hand, but with her left, palm outstretched she drew an inverted triangle after conjuring yellow crackling energy there. "Bakudo no sanjuu: Shitotsu Sansen!" as this attack left her body aimed to pin the hollow against the air were it was, the girl made use of Shunpo again this time aiming to appear above the beast to prepare a different sort of attack.

[Bloodedge]

Blood met the Hollow's claw; only one. Still, this was progress toward his overall goal, and proof that this yet-to-be Shinigami would provide some small amount of entertainment in the end. Kidou came next from the lass, taking the form of a binding spell which pinned the Hollow by his arms and midsection. While Benihime prepared her attack from above, however, these restraints were forcibly broken. For some reason, the Hollow then returned to its original size, albeit only while raising its hand toward the redhead and unleashing a blast of Reiryoku in her direction. "We hunt you... because you hunt us. My brothers are dying because of you, so you must die as well!"

[Apollymi]

"Okasen!" this was a spell stated created a yellow arc of energy along the blade of her sword as it came down. This would of course, help to negate the damage of the coming Reiryoku blast which returned the hollow down to it's original size. In addition the blast created by the girl would keep going trying to blast the beast and damage it in someway. 'Hm, absorbs damage, heals it self, bulks up... alright then.' she thought as her blade came down with intense pressure and the kidou cast from it. Still there was the matter of what was being said by this hollow which caused confusion from the girl with her presently limited vision. "I don't hunt hollows, I kill the ones before me when they are trying to kill me. On the other side of that... you just wiped out my entire family and they'd done nothing to you..." she said, noting the skewed logic of these beings, which was to be expected considering they came from despairing and losing their hearts.

[Bloodedge]

"Shinigami are food, just like the rest! Food has no right to kill the hungry; die and be eaten like you should!" This was the single response of the Hollow as it pressed forward its chest once more, taking the Kidou wave into itself. The power-up which followed was far greater than the earlier slash. Not only did this Hollow's muscles receive a great enhancement, but its overall size did as well. He became tall enough to reach out toward Benihime's location in the air, aiming to grip her sword with his left hand. "Become food for Bergamo!" he said. If he managed to grip her blade, he would follow by raising his right hand to grasp at her torso with a touch carrying a highly-acidic burning effect.

[Apollymi]

"Never paused to think that if the food is fighting with you, perhaps you shouldn't eat it?" she asked rhetorically. She understood instincts and all that jazz, but it was a rather stupid to think that something should just give up because it was something consumable. It seemed her most recent wave had also been absorbed by this thing. By that logic the only thing she could hope to do is get close enough so that it couldn't get away from her. 'I guess, I'll let it get me and try to blow it up... like the boy from class. At a close enough range, the really high level kidou should kill him. Though it will also knock me out... it's risky but the only real option at this point.' she thought as her blade was grabbed along with her body. 'You don't have to do that you know. I already told you... if you need me, just call me out. This guy... he's dead if you do.' said the voice in her head about the hollow. Benihime's eyes darted around and she smirked. 'Alright.' she said a grin crossing her face as the beast brought her a bit closer. "Bergamo... I'm going to kill everyone who calls you brother as payment for my family, but before that you're going to die with the knowledge that you brought this upon them. I'm going to make sure they know it too~" she said to him looking him dead in the eye. This situation seemed dire, but the small girl as calm, even as acid burned into her flesh and bandages she wore as clothing. "Tenchikaimei..." her sword began to glow with a red so dark it was almost black. "Yakouboku." After she spoke her sword changed in the beasts hand, while still in her own, the blade becoming hollow and black with deep purple energy that seemed to move with life of its own. And then the shadow of this large beast began to shift and move up his legs. Beyond this the hand which held her blade would begin to dissolve as it was 'eaten by the shadows tainted by her Zanpakuto.

[Bloodedge]

The Hollow named Bergamo had nothing to say in response to Benihime's initial statement. When she spoke of killing his "brothers" as well as himself, he only laughed. The words of a fledgling Shinigami in such a situation as hers were downright adorable, as far as he was concerned. However, Benihime followed this claim with a command; one which was common only utilized by high-ranking Shinigami. Bergamo's eyes widened during the transformation of her sword, but what came next was a much greater deal than a simple sword change. Suddenly, the shadows themselves were engulfing him from beneath, and the same occurred around his hand. Somehow, he seemed unable to absorb any of this. "What the hell is this!?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed she'd indeed surprised this large beast, who was surprised by her ability to perform this most coveted of actions. "It's my Zanpakuto, she's fun this way... really likes the dark. And when you're that big in the day light, you cast such a big shadow~" she said as she freed her blade and her own body in a single deft motion which would leave her standing among these moving shadows with the long blade in her hand being lifted and lined up with her left eye which was closed giving her a very accurate view of the beast and his mask as she jumped readying herself to plunge this blade directly into his mask. "Shindekudasai." If she was successful her Zanpakuto's blade would pierce the center of his mask leaving the shadows to leak from around the blade and further split it from that point. The aim to eat him from the very center of his being down to nothing. Though since it was still her Zanpakuto's ability it would cleanse his soul in the aftermath.

[Bloodedge]

"Shadows... impossible," spoke the Hollow as he was being consumed by the very thing he questioned. "This sort of power... could never belong to a weak Shinigami. Neve-!" While speaking, Bergamo was suddenly on the receiving end of a blade through the face. This only allowed more shadows to engulf him, and soon enough, his entire body was overtaken by them. He knew then that there would soon be nothing left of him. Whilst fading away, though, he had one final thing to say. "This means nothing... Shinigami... Nii-sama... will end you all one day," he concluded, prior to dissolving into the air.

[Apollymi]

"Oh be quiet, die with dignity at least," Benihime said as she soon enough withdrew her blade. A final threat came from this hollow about how someone called Nii-sama would eventually end all Shinigami. The smile which spread across the young girl's bloody face was nothing short of sadistic. "Sure thing, I'll be waiting for him~" she said as his body disappeared and she was left to land on the ground. She resealed her ebony blade and sheathed it in due course. 'Arigatou gozaimasu, Yakouboku.' she said in her head which was accompanied by a tingling warm feeling which wasn't anything specific. She then turned, looking back at the house she grew up in, thinking of how a few moments prior to this, there were thoughts of cake and too many hugs. And now... there was a sullen emptiness she wasn't sure how to overcome. It showed in her eyes as a slightly dimmed version of the light which was normally found there.