After receiving confirmation from the surrounding Hollows that these women had been latched onto, Atsushi suddenly stopped moving. "For so long, we've been waiting. It's time now. You'll all become one with us soon," he said. The Hollow swarm was erratic in its behavior at this point, as the ones which entered these women began to consume their "brethren" to gain more power, and thus, more influence over the pair.
"Ugh," this was the first thing to escape Setsuko's mouth as she was overtaken. A Hollow seemed to be working itself into her psyche but it was hardly a thing she could properly describe. Still, she was enough herself at first to resist finding it more than a bit strange that the Captain of the 4th Division was part of this entire thing. Tsubaki on the other hand, looked to Setsuko and nodded, this simple gesture was enough she reached for the band on her neck as did Setsuko as they were both being overtaken by these Hollow. Neither had any reason to side with this man nor accept what he was giving, all they could do was try and create a distraction a rather large one. As they pulled from their persons explosive bands, one from around the neck of Tsubaki and one from around the left arm of Setsuko underneath her badge of office. Doing so caused blinding explosions in the hopes of drawing attention to themselves.
Atsushi did not seem bothered at all by the last ditch effort of these two. The bright explosions which came from the bands they wore as members of the 9th Division's Ikaruga Unit were nothing more than a fancy light show to him. This did, however, quickly alert the Captain that there were members of the unit in need of assistance. As such, he turned toward the flash immediately. "Noel!" he called out just before dashing in the direction of the others himself. At this time, Kohaku was also alerted to the call. He, however, looked toward the flash with narrowed eyes. "Yare yare," the boy muttered. Without further ado thereafter, he simply returned to looking through the window to keep tabs on Oishi Megumi.
By the time Noel's name was called she was already on the move. She'd been exceedingly antsy the entire time, and seeing the bands of her team members go off, she knew immediately that they required assistance. As they ran when they reached the source of the explosions they would find the pair Vice-Captain and 3rd Seat of their Division struggling to hold themselves upright fighting against some unseen enemy. Noel for all her speed took off in search of her friends hoping nothing too bad had come of them. "Taichou... he's..." she tried to speak but it seemed something was stopping her. She couldn't get the words out and her body seemed to be moving of its own accord. Tsubaki filled in the last bit as she struggled against some unseen enemy. "Got us..." she managed as both of them seemed to be falling towards the control of the Hollows latched on to their bodies somehow super powered by the consumption of their brethren. Their statements were slightly unclear and without visual confirmation of the Hollows it could simply be taken as the Captain of the 4th Division having done something to the pair.
Jin's arrival to the scene came with the eventual realization that something was happening to his Vice-Captain, as well as his highest ranked officer. His eyes widened as the two struggled against that which sought to control them. Their words implied the involvement of the 4th Division Captain, whom Jin looked toward with more than what could be called skepticism. "Okawa-taichou! Explain this! What's happening here!?" He demanded this information from the other male, but it didn't seem he would be receiving it. The man known as Okawa Atsushi merely turned to face Jin, spreading his arms while raising his head to the sky. "Ohayou gozaimasu... Ikaruga-taichou. It's a lovely day today." These words from the 4th's Captain caused Jin to narrow his eyes and unsheathe his Zanpakutou. He very carefully avoided an immediate approach, as he remained unsure what was happening to his members, as well as what the other Captain had in mind. "Noel. Be ready."
Upon arrival Noel found that her friend and her Vice-Captain both seemed to be struggling against nothing she could make out immediately. Of course, she wanted to go to them, but not knowing what affected them made her more than a little bit wary. "Sumimasen." she offered to her friends, because this was simply who she was. At her brother's insistence that she be ready the blonde young woman's hands came to rest behind her back on two tanto whose hilts stuck out from her lower back. "Hai, Nii-sama," she said acknowledging she understood her orders. "Shikou..." she murmured causing the small blades to change into large revolver like gun blades along with their sheaths which transformed to accommodate them. "Tsukimono." her hands shifting slightly to fit the larger grips but somehow she seemed more comfortable this way, she was more than ready for anything that came her way, but her brother's conversation with the Captain of the 4th Division seemed to be strange, especially considering the implication of her friends who she trusted even as they struggled against some unknown force.
"Ikaruga... you should be an easy conversion as well. Come. Join us and let us begin the assault," Atsushi spoke. Considering the fact that both he and Noel shared this surname spoken by the man, Jin stepped forward. His brandished katana began to emit ice from its blade. "Ikaruga... who?" Jin asked. In response, Atsushi gradually raised his left hand, pointing it toward the blonde lass called Noel. As he did, there was a rather twisted and uncharacteristic grin upon his face. "Sou ka. Souten ni zase!" At his command, the skies above began to darken as they filled with clouds. His Reiatsu rose until an icy-blue glow became visible in his eyes, and around his body. The blade of his katana transformed into one that seemed to be made of a strange ice, and a long chain with a crescent-shaped blade emerged from the pommel. Temperatures around the Seireitei began to drop rapidly, and within a matter of seconds, it began to snow. "Yukianesa!" Jin shouted while pointing his blade, as well as focusing his Reiatsu, on the now enemy Captain in a direct challenge. "Okawa Atsushi... I will be your opponent," he said further, prompting the other male to begin unsheathing the katana at his hip as well.
When it was mentioned by the Okawa that Ikaruga would be an easy conversion, Noel shared the same confusion as her brother. Of course, she generally assumed herself because she was by far the weaker of the two siblings. But it was as if her elder brother sought confirmation of this, and when the Captain of the Forth Division's hand raised to gesture towards Noel she didn't seem surprised but then her brother chose to act. Her eyes widened as she immediately felt colder and the skies above darkened causing unseasonably cold weather. "Nii-sama..." her voice came out small, as she witnessed the release of the blonde male's Shikai, most certainly in defense of her. The idea that two Captains were about to fight here made her feel like this area was unsafe. She kept her hands braced on both of her weapons her eyes narrowed as she thought it pertinent to remain ready for anything.
The moment Atsushi's sword was drawn, Jin's previously narrowed eyes widened beneath furrowed brows. This marked his first movement, which was a dash into a Flash Step. He emerged from this movement still dashing toward Atsushi's fore. A slash outward accompanied his sudden passing of the man, unleashing a veil of ice which froze him from head to toe. Jin landed behind Atsushi, immediately turning as if he intended to end the man while he was frozen. Atsushi, however, very quickly broke free of his ice prison, his Zanpakutou immediately taking on the appearance of a rapier with a syringe as its guard. A quick turn allowed him to stab outward at Jin's torso, piercing the flesh of his abdomen despite the blonde's hasty retreat upon seeing this movement. Suddenly, Jin's vision became blurred. A moment of vertigo caused his retreat to result in a wobbly landing, but he seemed to be motivated enough to easily recover. "Kisama..." It was then that Atsushi took charge, aiming various additional thrusts of his sword at the 9th's Captain. In response, Jin could immediately do nothing more than begin stepping back while using his blade to parry again and again.
Noel watched this battle and seemed to be taken aback, stunned by the fact that the Captain of the 4th Division had so easily gotten out of the ice jail created by her brother. Soon after, Jin had been hit and this had made the girl catch her breath just a little but he seemed to recover well enough. Beyond this, it seemed that Atsushi was having no problem putting her brother on ropes so to speak. So far that he was on the defense completely with no way to strike back. She prepared to help him, drawing her weapon only to immediately be confronted by Tsubaki as she drew her weapon. "Don't interfere." said the young woman as she clashed with the gun drawn in Noel's right hand. Her eyes widened just a little as she stared at her friend. "Sumimasen... " she said as she drew the left one and immediately fired aiming to shoot it into Tsubaki's torso.
This hit was only destined to make contact with the young woman's shield and soon enough a shadow was looming over the young woman as her Vice-Captain also began attacking her. A downward slash from Setsuko was met by the shield boasted by Tsubaki while both managed to look stunned that Noel had escaped the pair of them. A double round was soon fired towards both of them, and it would strike the back of Setsuko and the follow up aimed to go through her into Tsubaki's shoulder from their present position as Noel moved about behind the pair, having made use of Shunpo to move from between the pair of them. "Sumimasen," the girl was uncommonly skilled in the use of these guns and seemed to be rather fast in addition to this. Though she hadn't taken killing shots on either of her friends she'd hit both targets though they didn't seem to care much about the damage, as they seemed to be through and through shots.
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