Chapter Text
Tatsuki rolled her head back to glance the other three, eyeing through the current of rain the few classmates that were still in the hollow’s control, before grinning with teeth as she lashed out, kicking and smacking them aside.
“It’s a pity I can’t breathe fire then!”
Knocking them all aside, as she slowly pushed the three back, throwing her arms wide as she made sure to keep attention on her, “What’s the matter!? I’m just one girl!! Won’t one of you give me a fight?!”
“Indeed, no matter what you are, you’re just one girl!!”
More classmates burst out of the building, likely having been on the other floors; a whole swarm of them twice as many as previously even as some continued to drop, foaming at the mouth as Ichigo’s reiatsu pressed down on them and forcibly dissipated the hollow’s reiatsu.
Tatsuki slowly flexed her hands as she eyed a path through their numbers back to the hollow, her earlier plan to drive it off changing to keeping it entirely focused on her if she couldn’t outright defeat it, “Orihime, when I say go, take Chizuru and run and don’t look back.”
“T-Tatsuki!!”
Greenish ooze was running down its face now from where she’d broken part of its mask, an eye or two starting to sprout from amongst the mess she’d made of the pock-marked head and focusing on her.
Even if she wanted to, Tatsuki doubted she could leave now anyway.
“Go to the hospital—!”
Michiru broke out of the crowd, blood running down from how an eye was embedded deep in the back of her left shoulder near her neck with pronounced veins running across and up over her cheek, the tears running down her face nearly invisible in Ichigo’s rain. Tatsuki reached out, talons extended to try and pierce the eye on reflex, only to jerk to a stop just shy when Michiru angled herself away and putting her neck in the way, hesitant to strike blindly so close to arteries.
Then a clawed hand snapped out and grasped her shoulder tightly as she faced Michiru’s wide, watery eyes head on, “I’m . . sorry.” The hand squeezed, blunt nails digging deep enough to bleed, pinning her in place momentarily as hands came from many directions when the rest of the crowd surrounded her.
Tatsuki grabbed Michiru high on her shoulder in return and stabbed directly into the eye on her neck even as she was yanked back her against a clammy, fever-hot body. She fought against the arms holding on tight around her arms and wrists as Chizuru yelled, “Tatsuki!!”
Michiru fell to her knees, hand clasping over low on her neck against the empty wound even as fresh blood oozed up from shallow cut from flanking talons to run down overtop, only to be washed away by the rain. Her eyes were wide, as she shakily scrambled back with her other hand towards Chizuru and Ryō, voice labored as Ichigo’s reiatsu focused in on her, forcing out the remnants of hollow reiatsu beneath its weight, “Wh-what just- happened? What’s- that??”
As Tatsuki continued to fruitlessly struggle, Chizuru stumbling back with Ryō reaching out and yanking Michiru to her feet to come with, the hollow began to laugh disturbingly, nasally, “Yuk yuk yuk yuk yuk!!!”
Orihime didn’t move back from where she stood, hands tightening into fists and lips thinned in anger. Tatsuki couldn’t see what look was on her face as her head was yanked back by her short hair, gaze forced towards the hollow to watch as it turned its head to face its surviving pock-marked towards them while its reiatsu rose behind the pock-marks, “The livelier they are, the sweeter it is to see their faces contort in agony!!”
Not until Orihime took first one step closer then two, gaze now on her, then she saw the way her eyes were bright with determination; saw that she knew what she was risking coming closer and didn’t care.
The hollow shot more of those seeds and Tatsuki snarled behind clenched teeth, digging her toes into the ground for leverage to yank herself free, kicking herself up and out as far as she could into the way.
(It seemed like again, Kaien would be forced to end her life to protect others, even as he cried inside to have to raise his blade once more against someone he cared for.
At least — would still there for him to spread her fins out to shelter him from the rain.)