New girl out on the town

A bench nearby had been avoiding damage throughout the brawl that the two quincies and hollow had been having. The more observant of people might realize that there was not a single piece of rubble being thrown on it, and around it, there was a clearly distinguishable, rectangular shape where dust had been prevented from landing inside said rectangle. Within that area was a soul reaper who was making use of his 'Shallow Grave' kido, which sealed all of his spiritual pressure and scent inside of a barrier. The barrier also caused light to move straight through it and anything inside, which meant that the light didn't reflect properly, making them invisible to the naked eye. Those who could physically see reishi, would see a reasonably large prism, but not the being inside.

That same soul reaper had been reading a book about using a forge to craft weapons. More specifically, the fundamental basics of using a forge. Different striking techniques and whatnot... His reading was interrupted by the battle, but he pushed on, ignoring it the best he could while trying to get to a good stopping point. After he heard the loud explosion from the hollow's bala hitting Alana, Mitsuoki let out a soft sigh and began standing up. By this point, Blu had begun charging up her attack and Mitsuoki had begun reading faster in an attempt to get to the end of the paragraph. He was on the last sentence when he felt a strong pressure coming from the hollow, which overpowered the Quincy's several fold and let Mitsuoki know that he'd run out of time.

The sounds of glass shattering would be heard as Mitsuoki forced his barrier to break, letting him use his flash step to get between Alana and Blu, and the hollow. His left hand contained the book, which he was still reading from to finish that last sentence. His right hand was outstretched with a silver energy flying up from his shoulder to his finger tips, just as the cero was maybe five or six centimeters from the appendage. The light from the Cero had consumed Mitsuoki almost entirely; and, when the attack made contact with Mitsuoki's hand, the silver pulse of energy jumped from his finger to the Cero. As the energy transferred, the very tip of the blast had turned to a red crystal and shattered. Mitsuoki's silver pulse, a defensive technique he appropriately named 'Petrify,' had continued traveling up the cero with each and every millimeter of the energy attack being reduced to a shattered crystal that broke off and gracefully dropped to the ground.

The hollow's eyes narrowed and it said "Nani...?" while glaring down at Mitsuoki, who still had his hand held out. The hand was withdrawn and he reached into his robe, marking the paragraph he left off on. "You are not the hollow I was expecting to find." he said, putting the pencil in between the pages before closing the book. The book was then dropped, landing flat on the ground with a distinct smacking sound. Mitsuoki grabbed the hilt of his zanpakuto and said "Mitsuoki Kumagai, squad three. And you are?" while looking at the hollow. It had asked "That is none of your concern, Shinigami." in a cold tone. "In the event that I am defeated, I would want to know the name of my killer." The hollow let out a groan and reluctantly said "Shoregrip." to which Mitsuoki replied "Well met, Shoregrip."

Mitsuoki slowly drew his zanpakuto while trying to gauge the hollow's strength. It was clearly above the level of the two Quincy girls, but he wasn't sure if it was so strong that it would require him to release his weapon. Shoregrip had also held off on attacking him outright. He could tell, even with Mitsuoki not unleashing the full might of his spirit pressure, that the soul reaper was quite strong- around the same level as an experienced captain, but not the strongest ones. Mitsuoki had vanished with a flash step and appeared near the base of the hollow's leg, swinging and grazing the blade of his unreleased weapon against the thick carapace. Sparks were released, but there was no cut left behind. The hollow had motioned to crush him under a fist, but Mitsuoki had already used flash step to move back to where he originally stood. "Your blade is dull, Shinigami." the hollow commented. Mitsuoki had replied by placing both hands on the grip of his katana and said "Give and Take, Create and Destroy..." he moved one hand forward, the hand seeming to phase through the grip of his blade. He took a dual-wielding stance as two swords appeared in his hands as he said "...Push and Pull, Akatsuki to Tasogare." The blades he now held were longswords that were dual wielded. One was pure white, the other pure black, both with a ring with a glowing sphere where a guard should've been.

"A zanpakuto release. Let's hope it's sharper than before." Shoregrip taunted, to which Mitsuoki said "It isn't." with an aloof tone. "My zanpakuto doesn't rely on cutting my opponent to bring them down, it relies on an increasingly random effect that even I cannot control." the hollow's only comment for that was "How useless."

Mitsuoki put on a gentle smirk before using his flash step to get closer to the hollow. Shoregrip had anticipated him trying another cut on the leg and preemptively aimed his punch at the spot. The bait having been taken, Mitsuoki had held up his blades, letting them make contact with the fist while also angling to redirect the attack away from himself. The hollow had moved his leg to kick Mitsuoki, the smaller shinigami lept to the side while spinning, grazing the blades of his now released zanpakuto against the appendage before using flash step to move back a little. "Penalty Game." he said calmly, making the hollow let out a slightly confused grunt. The places where his blade had hit the hollow, two on the hand and two on the leg, had begun glowing and caught his attention. The spots then exploded, knocking the hollow on his side.

Shoregrip was given no time to recover before Mitsuoki had dashed forward using his Pulse ability and jumped to be above him. A silver energy consumed the two zanpakuto that were being raised over Mitsuoki's head. He brought them down in an "x" formation, firing a crescent shaped energy blast from both that immediately impacted the hollow and exploded. It was thought that, that would be enough to finish the creature, but Mitsuoki was sorely mistaken and found that out when a fist shot out of the smoke and impacted him, sending him to the ceiling where he nearly let go of his swords. As Mitsuoki was falling back down, Shoregrip had raised his hand to swat the shinigami like a fly, but only swatted air as the soul reaper vanished with a flash step, reappearing not far from the Quincies.

"You already said you weren't expecting me, shinigami. Why are you defending those two?" the hollow asked, harkening back to when he stopped the Cero instead of letting it consume the girls. Mitsuoki, kneeling down with the tip of one of his swords on the ground, replied "Because... A soul reaper's duty is to protect the living..." He then stood up and his spiritual pressure began increasing just a little, enough to give off the fact that he was far from defeated without completely crushing the bystanders. "Your strength has increased since the beginning of our battle." he said, noting that he felt a lot more air pressure before he flash stepped. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that so soon. Yes, as the fight is prolonged, I grow increasingly stronger and faster." Mitsuoki had then said "That is not all."

While Mitsuoki hadn't seen the entire battle, he was able to feel spiritual pressure. Shoregrip was strong when he attacked the Quincies, but he got stronger after getting underground, where Mitsuoki was. It was only after he got underground that he began using energy attacks, meaning he knew that he had gotten stronger. "The more spiritual beings around me there are, the stronger I become. It is the reason-" "Why you were able to defeat multiple soul reaper units that were dispatched to deal with you." Shoregrip had confirmed that, which had earned no emotional response from him.

Mitsuoki held his two blades out to his side and let them begin falling to the ground. Just before they would impact the stone floor of the subway, Mitsuoki shot a glare at the hollow and said "Bankai... King of Enlightenment." which caused the two swords to immediately erupt into spirit particles before reassembling in the sheath at his waist. The hollow looked around for a few seconds. Awkward silence took on the room as nothing happened... There was no increase in spiritual pressure from Mitsuoki, no change at all in it, and there was nothing to even announce a bankai being used. "You insult your own kind with that lie... or was it that your zanpakuto rejected your order to enter bankai?" Shoregrip asked.

Mitsuoki hadn't said anything, just pointed at the hollows upper arm. "Hrm?" the monstrosity questioned, turning his head and arm to get a better look at the spot. A tattoo that looked like five, interlocked eclipses had appeared on his arm where no markings at all had been before. "You seem to know a little about Bankai. I will remind you that Bankai are just as varied as Shikai, and mine is the green sheep among black sheep." Mitsuoki commented in a very calm, but not arrogant tone. "My bankai is not so generous as to show how powerful it is with some flashy display. It does not make me seem any stronger, nor does it allow you to guess what it does. However, I will tell you this much, everything within one hundred meters is completely submerged in my bankai."

At this point, the same markings would appear on both of the quincies as well as the other hollow, who Mitsuoki had not fully noticed due to his spiritual pressure being overcome by the adjucha's. The two girls would possibly notice a glowing light under their clothes, right in the middle of their chests, where the tattoo would shine through. It was an unfortunate part of Mitsuoki's Bankai; but, a good king is never biased. He held his hands out and a pair of swords that held the exact same dimensions as his zanpakuto's shikai had appeared in his hands, each connected to his wrist by a cable. Both swords and the cable were silver in color, exactly like Mitsuoki's reiatsu. Mitsuoki let the hilt of one sword go, causing it to slide from his hand, before catching it by the Tether and beginning to spin it vertically, next to his being. "I apologize for this, Shoregrip, but by the terms of my Bankai, I am no longer at liberty to show you mercy." he said before yanking the cable and sending the previously spun sword flying, blade first, towards Shoregrip with the cable seeming to lengthen to allow it to keep going. When it hit the ground, a result of the large hollow moving backwards to dodge, the place it hit erupted and sent rocks flying.

A jerk on the cable caused the sword to return to Mitsuoki who was running towards the hollow. He flash stepped and appeared within the creature's striking range. He began swinging the sword but let go of it mid swing, allowing the weapon to fly forward and the cable to hook onto the hollow's neck. A quick tuck and roll to avoid being hit by the hollow's hand, and Mitsuoki had grabbed the cable and yanked it, pulling Shoregrip's head down to Mitsuoki's level where he tried to make a slash at his throat. Shoregrip had pulled himself up and to the side, making Mitsuoki hit his collar bone instead. A set of tattoos appeared there, too. At this point, Shoregrip had already lost the battle. Mitsuoki was just playing with his food.

A ball of energy had been formed at the hollow's mouth and Mitsuoki used his pulse to shoot himself between the hollow's legs, dodging the bala that it fired by a hair. The hollow grabbed the cable that was attached to his neck and Mitsuoki's wrist and tugged it hard, pulling the soul reaper back under him. He then went on to use that same cable to send Mitsuoki flying into a nearby ticket booth, one that was behind the girls, snapping the cable in the process. "A kido based bankai with barely any cutting power is completely useless against-" a silver ball of energy shot from the booth that was identical to the size and speed of a bala, hitting Shoregrip in the mouth and making him let out a "-KWUAGH!" and end his gloating.

Mitsuoki had been on the other side of the shattered ticket booth's glass with his fist extended in a punching form, a technique he made himself as an answer to the hollow's fastest attack. He was smiling, not smirking- smiling. "You know, Shoregrip..." he said while moving himself over the counter. "...Before you and your company arrived, I had witnessed a human pour his heart out to a woman just to be rejected spectacularly. Seeing as something like you is capable of attracting such beautiful company means that there may be hope for that man." The hollow's eyes narrowed on Mitsuoki and he asked "You calling me ugly, shinigami?" to which Mitsuoki replied "You're certainly not one of the cute ones, here."

The hollow let out a roar and began charging towards Mitsuoki, and the quincies by default. Mitsuoki had said "Vertigo" which immediately resulted in the hollow tripping over a train track and eating the dirt. Mitsuoki stepped forward, getting between the quincies and the hollow once more. "Vertigo is a condition where your balance is thrown off. My bankai ruins yours by roughly fifty percent for each of those tattoos. That will change in a matter of moments, so don't get too comfortable." The hollow began getting up as soon as he finished talking, making it seem as though Mitsuoki had used up his precious few moments, but in reality, he was just being a sadist- something he would never admit to being.

Shoregrip charged forward, sending a punch that Mitsuoki sidestepped with an aloof expression. "What ails you, Shoregrip? You seem slower." he taunted, right before slashing the arm with his one remaining rei-sword, leaving another set of tattoos. The hollow jumped back at his normal speed, the effect having already changed. The hollow had tried to return to Hueco Mundo to recover, but realized that his ability to portal out had stopped functioning. Mitsuoki had shot forward with a brand new Rei-Sword formed and spun, slashing at the hollow's stomach and landing a successful hit. Shoregrip now knew fear, and he responded by doing the only thing he could. He tried to punch Mitsuoki and stared in fear as his fist was stopped by just Mitsuoki's hand, without even a crater. His strength was virtually gone... "Muscular Atrophy." Mitsuoki had said from under the fist. At the same time, one of Mitsuoki's bankai tattoos appeared on his cheek. It was a penalty game for him, but he was used to his zanpakuto's chaotic nature- Shoregrip was not.

Mitsuoki vanished from under Shoregrip, causing the hollow's fist to drop to the ground with his strength fully restored, hearing the words "Spiritual Atrophy" being said right before Mitsuoki reappeared, dropping his heel on the hollow's skull, splitting his mask and sending the hollow careening back, screaming from pain. Mitsuoki's leg was bleeding from the hit, a side effect of him also having a mark. It was bleeding, but far from broken. He hadn't even noticed it due to him using his zanpakuto's ability to shut off his pain receptors. Mitsuoki had flash stepped backwards and stood with with his hands resting comfortably inside a pair of pockets in his shihakusho. "You seem to be having some trouble with handling a kido-based bankai, Shoregrip." he said in a cold tone. His posture would imply that he was in no way hindered by his cut foot.

Shoregrip had stopped his whining and turned to Mitsuoki to begin charging a Cero, something that had already failed him once before. A set of black swords rose from the ground and white ones appeared from out of nowhere, all blades positioned together to form a wall between himself and the hollow. When the cero was fired, it hit the wall of swords and was stopped immediately, with the blades moving a little. Shoregrip's eyes grew wide when he saw the blades standing between him and his target. The blades all turned to point at Shoregrip and Mitsuoki rested his hand on the side of one, saying "Resonate, Keihatsu no Ō." causing them all to glow before firing a blast of silver energy. Shoregrip tried to roll to the side and dodge them, but one had grazed his leg, burning away a chunk of the limb and making the rest of it useless.

Something had begun dripping from the hollow's eye, through the hole in its mask. Black liquid, the same happened for its hands and places where Mitsuoki hadn't even cut. The hollow began shaking from adrenaline, fear, and pain. It was supporting its weight on its forelimbs while keeping the injured leg off the ground. "What... what is this...!?" it hollered while looking at Mitsuoki for an answer. "Every capillary in your body just bursted. With no way of escaping to a proper vein, the blood pushes through any exit it can find, which is normally the glands on your skin and tear ducts. You will bleed to death." he replied coldly. With no way of leaving and an injury that would prevent escaping, Shoregrip had no choice but to accept his fate. He would rather end the suffering at this point than try and fight against someone who clearly didn't have a heat. "Please... end this..." he said while bowing his head to expose his neck. Mitsuoki's black and white blades vanished and a large, white sword, appeared over the hollow's neck. "You did well to force me to use my bankai. Do not feel shame in your defeat, but honor in the victories you have had. Lastly, never forgive me." Mitsuoki said before the blade crashed down and turned the hollow into a flurry of light blue spirit particles. His soul, and the souls of every soul he consumed were purified and sent off.

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With the battle concluded, Mitsuoki would turn to check on the two girls. If the other hollow had attacked them, Mitsuoki would expect the women to be able to hold out for as long as possible.

If they were not being attacked by the hollow, that Mitsuoki did not pay any heed to, the soul reaper would walk over to his book and pick it up without dismissing his Bankai. He would bow to the two politely and say "I am Mitsuoki Kumagai, non-officer of Squad Three of the thirteen court guard squads. My negligence has caused you both a degree of trouble. With your permission, I wish to heal your wounds, please." in a very calm tone. His expression lacked any emotions at all, and his eyes carried the same cold elegance that one would expect of nobility. The fact that he hadn't killed them on the spot would be their only way of knowing that he was being sincere.

Mitsuoki was about to respond to the less injured female by asking his own set of questions, but was quickly cut off by the one who was barely being held together having something she wanted to say that she considered to be of greater importance. She wanted to know if there was a way to purify hollows without destroying their souls. He had to give her credit, that was definitely a first for Mitsuoki to hear, coming from a Quincy. Mitsuoki had reached over and pulled her hand to move it across to his other shoulder. "That matter may be discussed while I take care of your wounds." he said and began moving towards the bench to have her take a seat.

Once seated, Mitsuoki would gently remove her arm and kneel down in front her, inspecting the visual damage. A black eye was obvious, as well as considerably more bleeding than the other quincy girl. She was avoiding using one of her arms, so there was a possibility of a muscle strain or dislocation- he would have to investigate further. There was also potential damage from being hit on the head, she didn't black out as of yet, but she could be well on her way to it... While inspecting Alana's upper body, ignoring the chest region, Mitsuoki had addressed the Quincy who didn't take nearly as much damage. "To answer your question... Umm.. Blu...? Was it?" he said, asking for confirmation while hoping he didn't forget her name so soon. "I am not sure what much of your comparisons were, but yes, I do explain my abilities to my opponents. It is one of the requirements of my zanpakuto. Akatsuki enjoys playing games with her 'prey' as she calls them. However, she constantly changes the rules of the game. Tasogare allows her to play her games, but requires that I at least notify my opponent of the changes. That, and I find it unfair to use my bankai without at least letting my opponent know why they are suddenly experiencing various physical complications." he said in a calm voice.

"I am going to use kido to examine you on a more in depth level. It will hurt a little, but should be no worse than the existing pain." he informed Alana. Mitsuoki would then gently place his hand over Alana's forehead, closed his eyes and said "Kensa." in a very calm tone, sending a quick, but gentle pulse of spiritual pressure through Alana that would cause pain in her injured shoulder and head. Mitsuoki had gotten a look at her entire body, seeing that her shoulder was, indeed, dislocated but luckily not broken. She had several cuts, some deeper than others, but nothing that he couldn't heal. Her spine had no damage, and her nerves were, for the most part, doing just fine. Her black eye was just a result of blunt force trauma and shouldn't cause any permanent damage. Mitsuoki had opened his eyes and moved his hand to Alana's shoulder and said "This will ease the pain. Mukankuku." which would cause a grey energy to form over Alana's shoulder, and greatly reduce the amount of pain she was feeling. With his other hand, Mitsuoki held it over the shoulder and said "This will hurt. Seiretsu." With that one, Alana would feel her shoulder, the bones, veins, arteries, muscles -everything in the region of her rotator cuff- moving and hear a loud popping sound as he put it back in place. It wouldn't be immediate, so Mitsuoki decided to explain things to her to set an expectation...

"You were far too reckless. You have a very minor concussion, many lacerations, a dislocated shoulder, and the nerves are shot. My healing is barely sufficient to reverse this. The good news is that you may immediately return to your comrades, if you wish to. My bankai removes any evidence of my intervention, so no one would believe that you came across a shinigami, let alone healed you." The girls would hear the sound of a sword being drawn and see a black and white katana blade being formed near Alana's head. "I will have to remove my numbing spell to completely repair your arm. You may choose which color to bite down on- this will not be pleasant." he explained in a fairly aloof tone. He was making a light joke by letting her choose what to bite on, and, if Alana chose a sword, the back end would face her so she wouldn't cut her mouth open when the pain began. She might find it surprising that for weapons made from pure Light and Shadow, they blades were very much solid.

Once everything was in place, Mitsuoki would keep his kido in place to hold them there before his hand stopped glowing grey. This would allow Alana to feel the full amount of pain from her now burning, screaming nerves. "Naosu." he would say and envelope the area in a warm, white light. While that healing was in progress, Mitsuoki would ask "You said your name was Alana, correct?" if either girls had confirmed the name, Mitsuoki would say "The reason why Quincy weapons destroy a soul entirely is two-fold, I believe. A Quincy's soul cannot be converted or corrupted. When a hollow tries to corrupt it, the soul commits suicide and destroys itself. And, your weapons are made of raw, unaltered, reishi. Conversely, a shinigami's kido, while composed of reishi, is refined; and it is quite possible for us to merge with hollows. I do believe that it is possible to create a weapon that purifies hollows you kill, but it would require a great deal of effort. Possibly a mixture of materials."

By this point, the marks that Mitsuoki had inadvertently put on the two girls would fade away. Any scent, residual spirit energy, or any other thing that could be used to trace it back to Mitsuoki had also vanished. However, the marks were still there, and would never actually go away. Alana, if she had chosen to bite the sword, would have two of Mitsuoki's bankai markings on her, which was the equivalent of ten shikai marks- none of which could be detected. While he, himself was a very reserved man on an emotional and physical level, his zanpakuto spirits were less reserved and quite bored with the healing process. Seeing an opportunity to cause some mayhem, the spirit of the bankai version of his blades had momentarily taken on Akatsuki's nature and had implanted a very minor suggestion in the markings. This suggestion would be a primal, physical attraction to Mitsuoki with no emotional grounds. If either girl was not mentally strong enough to counter it, they would find themselves desiring the shinigami, but not desiring an official relationship with him(refer to OOC permission spoiler).

It would take around a half hour to heal the wounded arm, after which he would move his healing hand to Alana's head to heal the rattled, but not too terribly damaged, area. His other hand would remained over her shoulder, with Mitsuoki saying "Netsu Suru to Hiyasu." which would cause the area to begin gently heating and cooling, alternating between the two to relax the muscle. The headache wouldn't take nearly as long to heal as her arm did since the damage was significantly less. By this point, Mitsuoki would take away his other hand from the shoulder and aim it at Blu, saying "Naosu." to begin healing her. She didn't look like she had been significantly wounded, so the basic level of healing would be all that was needed. When they were both finished, Mitsuoki would say "Hankon Soshiki Jokyo." which would cause all of the scars from the battle to vanish, leaving behind completely natural skin. If there were any preexisting scars that needed removing, Mitsuoki would be happy to help with that. He would let out a breath of air and say "If you wish to help me create a weapon that Quincies can use, that also purifies souls, I would be more than happy to have some help. You see... I find this war to be entirely pointless, based on pride and an unwillingness to compromise. I wish to find a solution that does not involve the complete genocide of either people."