The air turned heavy as fear and death seemed to surround Makoto. His strength failed, his legs buckled causing him to collapse to his knees as his eyes started to roll into the back of his head.
"No," Makoto thought, as he felt himself teeter. "I can't fail. Please, I just need five more minutes."
Makoto tried to speak to them but his words just came out jumbled and slurred which caused both of the girls to stare at him in shock and horror, even the once skeptical Tatsuki was now in disbelief at what she was seeing.
"Tsukiyo-san!" Orihime shouted as the tomboy caught the shaken boy. "Tatsuki, what's going on?!"
The black haired tomboy checked his pulse. It was sky high and he seemed like he was having trouble breathing. "Is this some kind of epileptic fit?!" She cried out. "What the heck is going on?!"
"You need to run!" Makoto thought, but the words came out slurred once more as he felt the air grow heavier and a greater sense of fear and regret rose in his chest. "Leave me run! I'll be fine just save yourselves.
"What should we do Tatsuki?" Orihime cried out, her face now filled with worry as she looked at her mumbling classmate.
"I don't know!" Tatsuki said as she tried to remain calm. "Call Rukia! She will know more about what's going on than we do. In the meantime we should bring him inside and try to keep him as comfortable as possible."
"Okay," Orihime said as she ran back into the house as Tatsuki dragged the helpless boy into the room on her back, all the while Makoto scream-mumbling for them to flee. Orihime returned with a pillow that she laid on the floor which they placed Makoto's head upon.
Tatsuki rummaged through his pockets and pulled out his phone looking through the list of contacts, her face horrorstruck upon realization. "Rukia's number isn't in here! What is going on?!" The girls looked between each other extremely worried now as if they had walked into a living nightmare.
Suddenly there was a violent shaking which caused the two girls to wrap each other in a hug, scared for their lives. "What was that?" The auburn haired girl asked her friend.
"I don't know," Tatsuki said, looking at the hyperventilating boy that was currently sprawled in front of them. "Could it have been what Makoto came to warn us about?"
There was another violent shake that caused a large pink teddy bear to fall from atop some shelves which drew the attention of everyone in the room. However a certain someone noticed a little more than the others.
"It's here," Makoto mumbled incoherently, freaking the girls out more as they approached the fallen teddy bear which Makoto could feel an intense aura of malice emanating from. "No! Get away from it! Don't get any closer!" His words came out as moans as he rolled onto his side to push himself up only to collapse onto his face, gasping for air.
Tatsuki turned around to look at the struggling and incoherent boy. He seemed terrified, his eyes wide and bloodshot and despite being in a semiconscious state his eyes seemed to hold complete awareness of his surroundings and in that aware gaze she could see nothing but fear. What was going on?
Orihime walked over to the stuffed animal. "Oh no, Enraku. How did you get this giant gash on your head?" Makoto felt a surge in malice as the air grew unbearably heavy to the point he almost couldn't breathe. The Hollow was reacting to Orihime's presence! She was in severe danger!
He took a deep breath, and summoned all his strength, placing his hands beneath himself, pushing himself up and yelled in the clearest voice and most coherent voice he could muster. "Orihime, get away from that thing!"
The two girls both turned to face him before seconds later Orihime gave a short gasped as Makoto saw a giant, red, claw-like hand shoot through her torso with a second Orihime shooting across the room and slamming into the far wall, a giant chain connecting her chest to the now limp and lifeless body that lay on the floor. Makoto's eyes were wide with terror as the giant snake-like hollow emerged from the gash on the head of the stuffed bear, its masked face smiling with a greedy and malicious smile.
"Orihime!" Tatsuki screamed as she rushed over to the lifeless corpse of the auburn haired girl. "Makoto what's going on?!"
Makoto just panted as his eyes fixed on the giant serpentine being as he tried with all his might to summon whatever strength and courage he had remaining. He watched the hollow raise its giant hand once more and he yelled to the tomboy. "Tatsuki! Run!"
The girl turned to look at him only to be thrown across the room a fraction of a second later slamming into the far wall as her left shoulder began to bleed from where the claw had pierced her flesh. Her eyes grew wide as her gaze looked around frantically for her invisible attacker as gasped to regain the lost air in her lungs. The hollow, however, turned to the shaking boy that knelt nearby.
"You," it said to him, his red eyes gleaming in the indoor lighting. "I know you. You are the boy that saved that soul reaper boy earlier. What are you doing here?"
The hollow's voice was cruel and every word he spoke felt like a weight that came crashing down on his back and chest but he fights to remain conscious as the creature continues to speak. "So boy where is your friend, or are you going to be the one to finish me off?" Makoto remained silent.
"What's wrong boy," the hollow said, smiling wickedly. "Why don't you speak or are you too scared to form words?" Makoto gritted his teeth as he stared into the bright crimson eyes of the hollow, but he still remained silent for fear that should he speak he would begin coughing blood but that only seemed to infuriate the hollow once more.
"Answer me, boy!" the distorted voice yelled, while Makoto just remained silent. He had a pounding headache, his heart was racing, and he felt like he was about to pass out but he gripped the carpet floor with his hands and glared at the abhorrent creature.
"Makoto what is going on?" Tatsuki's shaking voice came from behind him, finally causing the hollow to snap.
"Quiet you insolent pest!" He roared as he whipped his tail towards Tatsuki.
The world seemed to slow for Makoto as he watched the hollow's giant scaly tail whip through the air towards his helpless friend. He couldn't tell her to dodge because she couldn't see the incoming attack and it was moving too fast for her to block it in time!
He didn't know how he did it but his body began to move on its own, finding some strength in his failing body and positioning Makoto in between Tatsuki and the giant tail. It slammed into his body sending him flying head first into the window!
There was a loud crash as Makoto heard shattering glass and felt the shards embed into his skin as he flew through the air, with his body landing atop the hard asphalt a second later. Pain shot through his right arm as he heard it snap, causing him to scream in pain. His vision grew blurry as tears filled his eyes as he heard the muffled screams of his name coming from who knows where. His head hurt, he could feel the blood running down his face as lay there amongst the broken glass and growing pool of blood. He wanted to move but every inch of his body hurt, if he shifted even slightly his arm sent a shockwave of pain through his whole body.
"Get back up!" his mind shouted to him, but his body didn't move. "You can't quit now! If you don't help them they are going to die!" His body still remained motionless as the voice in his head continued to plead. "Please get up! You need to help them! To save them!" He tried to use his left arm to push himself up but collapsed immediately, tears beginning to fall on the concrete.
"Please!" Makoto begged his body aloud, trying once more to push himself up only to fall down once more clenching his fist as at the pain that shot down his right arm once more. He felt tears well up.
What could he do? He could feel his strength waning by the second as more and more blood left his body and the Hollows presence was sapping what little remained. "Tatsuki, Orihime, I'm sorry," Makoto said weakly as he let his body collapse to the ground. "I couldn't protect you."
Then he felt another presence. It felt similar to that of the Hollow yet entirely different at the same time. He could still feel that sense of fear and regret as it rose in his chest but this time it came with other emotions, sorrow and joy, anger and complacency, a force so powerful that it counteracted the presence of the hollow. No, it didn't just counteract it, it overwhelmed it! This force was so powerful that it drowned out the hollow's entirely.
"What is this presence?" Makoto said weakly.
"Makoto!"
"Huh?" He noticed a blurry shape running to him through his teary eyes. He strained and focused on them to reveal a girl in a black dress running towards him, her violet eyes filled with worry and brimming with unshed tears. Her pale face illuminated in the bright moonlight as a strand of her jet black hair fell across it only adding to her beauty. "Rukia?" he mumbled weakly.
"Makoto! What happened to you? Are you okay?!" she questioned as she kneeled down next to him.
"That…doesn't matter," Makoto panted as the heavy air started to recede. "Orihime and Tatsuki are upstairs, both of whom are injured. You have to help them."
"Are you insane?!" she yelled back at him. "Look at yourself! You–"
"Are in less danger than those two," Makoto interrupted, using his uninjured left arm to push himself up only to collapse once more in exhaustion. "I'll be fine. Help them, that's your duty as a Soul Reaper, right?"
"Ichigo is up there! They'll be fine," she responded. Then as if on cue they heard grunting as someone was slammed into the ground and without even looking Makoto had a feeling he already knew who it was which Rukia quickly confirmed. "Ichigo!"
The orange haired boy grunted as Rukia ran up behind him, blood covering his face from the spot that he had landed on the concrete. "Ow!" he said.
"Ichigo, are you alright?" Rukia asked.
"Yeah," Ichigo replied, taking a look back at Makoto. "How is Makoto doing?"
"Better than you," Makoto joked back as blood continued to drip down his forehead.
"I'm not sure whether it is better or worse that you can still talk," Ichigo remarked, though a smile could clearly be seen on his face.
"I'd punch you for worrying more about me than Tatsuki and Orihime if I could move my arms," Makoto replied with a devilish grin that feigned strength. "Now stop talking and save them or I'll do it myself."
Ichigo nodded before turning back to the gaping hole in the building, with a flicker of what seemed like both unease and fierce determination as he leaped up to reengage the hollow in battle once more. Leaving Rukia standing alone with Makoto lying a few meters away.
"You should go too," Makoto commented, which caused her to turn to him but he continued before she could retort. "Don't worry about me. It's not like I can move right now." He gave her a small smile and while she didn't seem to like the idea she seemed nonetheless satisfied by his attitude to remain passive and complied with his request, dashing over to the stairs that led her up to the apartment.
With that Makoto breathed a long deep sigh of relief. Rukia and Ichigo were here now so he could rest easy and whatever this other presence he felt was it had basically negated the effects of the hollow's reiatsu on him though it didn't negate the exhaustion he felt afterwards which was only made worse by his now injured body but everything was more or less safe now.
"We did it," Makoto sighed, letting his body relax on the concrete. "We managed to save Orihime and Tatsuki from the hollow and I managed to not die in the process. I would count that as a complete success. I wonder, is this reiatsu I feel Ichigo's? It's overwhelming just how powerful it is. How did I not feel it before? Was it because he wasn't in Soul Reaper form? But I thought Rukia said all people have reiatsu. Is it because he is in battle then? I wish I knew."
However his thoughts were soon cut short as he heard the distorted screams and yells of a hollow as well as a loud crashing against a wall. The distorted voice once again reached his ears and what it said made his blood run cold. "Orihime…IS MINE!"
There was another crash as the hollow broke an even bigger hole in the wall, its long serpentine body stretching to reveal its full length as it seemed to slither through the air. He watched as Ichigo jumped high into the air, his massive sword raised high above his head with Rukia yelling at him to finish the Hollow off.
Makoto watched wide-eyed as the silhouette of his friend raised himself into the air, the tip of the sword tracing the path of the crescent moon as it he brought his sword up, his shihakusho ruffling as he made his descent, the determination on his face to protect those around him.
Then surprising everyone the hollow looked up at Ichigo and spat an odd substance from his mouth which landed on Ichigo's hands that caused Ichigo to drop his sword and yell out in pain. Now defenseless, he once again was bashed into the ground by the Hollow's powerful tail as the sword clattered to the ground a few meters away from him.
Makoto looked on with wide eyes with fear as the hollow laughed maniacally. "Ichigo," he cried out, though his voice was still weak and didn't reach his friend, however the same could not be said for the serpentine creature who turned to look at him.
"So you can speak," he said with a malicious smile. "But I guess that's not surprising since the great hero you trusted is failing right before your very eyes. No one will get between me and Orihime! NO ONE! And I will devour anyone who gets in my way!"
"Is that what Orihime wants?!" Makoto yelled back, eyes fierce as he stared back at the glowing red eyes of the hollow. "You were once her brother, right?! Do you think she would want her friends to be murdered by her older brother?!"
"Orihime is the one who did this to me!" the hollow replied.
"Like hell she did!" Makoto screamed back. "How could Orihime turn you into the monster you are now. I know younger siblings can be a pain sometimes but they would never want to see their older sibling reduced to what you have become, especially Orihime!"
"You don't know what you're talking about, boy!" The hollow exclaimed in anger, moving his masked face right next to Makoto's, making him want to throw up from the unbearable dizziness and tearable feeling that had once again begun to overpower the other presence. "I raised Orihime since I was old enough to work. I took her and left our abusive parents so that she might have a normal life. But she abandoned me! Left me alone for so long! If she has even a shred of dignity left then she would come with me to repent for the things she has done!"
"And we would sooner die than let you corrupt her, you devil!" Makoto retorted, his words as hard as sharp as iron which earned him another slap from the tail of the Hollow sending him flying, pain shooting through his arm once more as he slammed onto the cold hard concrete once again as he screamed out both Ichigo and Rukia exclaiming as he lay there on his stomach coughing up drops of blood.
The hollow laughed maniacally. "Maybe I should start with you," he said, slithering closer to Makoto.
"You bastard!" Ichigo yelled, running towards the two of them picking up his sword as he ran but was stopped by yet another swipe from the massive serpent tail that sent him flying backwards with his sword landing in the opposite direction next to Makoto.
"On second thought I think I'll deal with you first. You won't be going anywhere," the Hollow replied as he began slithering over to the injured Ichigo.
"No," Makoto tried to yell but it hurt to speak higher than a whisper. His mind went into a panic. He couldn't let Ichigo die, Ichigo was the one who was supposed to save the world! If anyone should die it should be him; he isn't meant to be there. He looked around frantically for a solution. His eyes went to Rukia and Orihime above, watching with horrified eyes, powerless to do anything, then to Ichigo who struggled to get to his feet, finally to the weapon that lay just within his reach. "If only Ichigo had his weapon then he might stand a chance. But he doesn't! It's over here with me."
Then an idea dawned on him. That's what he could do! If he could manage to throw the weapon at the Hollow whether hit or miss it would mean that it was that much closer to Ichigo and that would give him a fighting chance and even attract the Hollow back to him if only just a split second that could allow Ichigo to grab his sword. It would most likely lead to his death, but his death was better than Ichigo, Rukia, or Orihime's and that was enough for him. He gathered what little bit of strength he had remaining in his failing and broken body reaching for the giant zanpakuto, with his hand closing around the red handled hilt.
Then his mind went black once again as images flashed through his head once more. The first was that of bright pink lights and glass units one of which he found himself in. At first Makoto was confused but he then noticed beyond another large glass barrier he saw three tall and ominous figures in what seemed to be conversation.
"Who are these people?" Makoto thought to himself examining the surrounding area. "And where am I?"
Suddenly the image faded and he awoke in yet another dream. This time rain was pounding down all around him as he stood atop the thin air of a wide and sprawling city. This time he stared down at the street where a young girl stood a bow in hand made of ethereal blue energy the likes of which he had never seen before. She had short wavy copper hair with brown eyes that felt eerily familiar though Makoto couldn't quite put her finger on where he had seen her. "Who is she? Why do I feel like I've seen her?" Makoto questioned once more but he was pulled away from his thoughts as he lunged towards the girl uncontrollably.
"What's going on?! What am I doing?! Where am I going?!" He thought panickedly as he charged down at the girl with the bow. "Why can't I stop! I'm going to hurt her! I don't want to injure her! Stop!"
The scene faded once more as he found himself standing on the street next to the girl once more, her left shoulder bleeding as she knelt over a man that had slashes and wounds all over. He seemed to be a Soul Reaper as he wore the same black clothes as Ichigo with the only big difference being the long white overcoat he wore and though it was stained with blood Makoto believed that the symbol on his back read the number 10. What's more, he recognized the man as well!
"Is that Mr. Kurosaki?!" he exclaimed wide-eyed not believing the sight that stood before him. "But if that is him then why was he in the Soul Reaper uniform! Then on top of that, who is this girl?!"
Makoto turned his eyes back to the girl and as if right on cue she spoke. "I'm Masaki Kurosaki and I'm Quincy."
"What?!" Makoto exclaimed in complete shock. "Quincy?! What on earth is a Quincy?! And Kurosaki?! Does that mean this woman is Ichigo's mother?!" The scene faded suddenly once more into pitch black. "No wait! I still have more questions!"
However the flashbacks continued. Next he found himself in the entrance hall to a big mansion with a cold woman with black hair staring her down, a restless fury in her eyes. On the floor above he saw another man with pale skin and even paler hair that made him seem old despite the fact that he only seemed a few years older than Makoto at the moment.
"Where am I now and who are these people?" Makoto thought as someone beside him spoke.
"It's alright Ryu," Makoto jerked his head to the other side to find the girl who had introduced herself as Masaki only moments ago.
"Ryu?! Who is that?!" Makoto asked only to start to feel an uncontrollable pain spike throughout his body, centered on his chest as he watched the scene before him disappear once more. "What the heck is happening to me?!"
His next vision was completely different from the last ones as when he woke he found his vision staring at two entirely different things. His right eye looked at a massive skull-like face that bore an uncanny resemblance to a hollow mask while his left eye seemed to stare down at the naked body of the girl from before with a mixture of feelings in his chest. One side of him wanted to devour the girl while the other felt nothing but fear for the monster.
But was he the monster or the girl Maski? Which side of his vision was correct? Was he a monster?! But if he was then why could he see from Masaki's eyes?! Wait, how could he see from either of their eyes?! How could he feel what either of them do?! Was he even feeling what they felt right now?!
Makoto closed his eyes. "Stop! Get me out of this nightmare! Help! Someone! Anyone!"
There was a loud clang as if metal was being used to brace something from falling down which caused Makoto to open his eyes once more. At the moment his left eye didn't see much but his right was far different as he found himself in the hands of Mr. Kurosaki, wearing the same Soul Reaper outfit he had before.
The next moments passed by in a flash as Mr. Kurosaki stated firmly that he would not let the monstrous form harm the soul of the girl. He felt left eye twitch ever so slightly only for both of his eyes to be stunned by the dazzling display as the zanpakuto that Mr. Kurosaki held to be wrapped in red flames as now his conscience switched allegiances. No longer did his right eye feel fear but awe and his left went from anger and bloodlust to downright terror.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" Isshin yelled, swinging his sword causing the fire to erupt from it in a curved slash destroying his left eye which soon reunited his vision as he looked upon the man he saw before him.
"Is this really Ichigo's dad?" he thought as his mind once more faded to black. But this time was different. This time he knew what needed to be done. He felt an unbridled rage boil up in his chest. He didn't know how or why but it did and it was all pointed at one thing.
Hollows.
________________________________________________________________________________________
There was a shockwave of power that emanated from his body as Makoto woke up to find himself standing with a large sword in his left hand. The pain in his arm and chest had vanished as the wind enveloped his limbs though blood still dripped from his wounds leaving red streaks running down his face and right arm while his shirt was stained red. "What is happening," Makoto thought internally as he looked at his surroundings. He was standing in the middle of a street with a small pool of blood surrounding him and from his condition he could only assume it was his own.
His face then turned to a nearby building with a large hole in it with two girls staring at him, one had long auburn hair while the other had much shorter raven black hair with a single strand falling in between her eyes that made Makoto wonder what she had done to cause it to get in such a state, but her face was what caused him the most confusion. She seemed stunned yet also awed, but he couldn't remember where he had met her. Wait, had they met before? No, that's not important now. How had he gotten here in the first place?
He heard the raven haired girl yell in his direction. "Makoto! Look out!" Though he could tell she was frantic he felt no fear. Why was that? They were staring at him like it was a miracle he was standing, like he was about to die. Wait, was he about to die? He didn't feel that way. Then why did those girls look terrified for his life, and why could he not tear his eyes away from the raven haired girl? Why did his heart ache to see her in tears? He had not felt this feeling in so long. Wait, feeling? And he had felt it before? When? Where? Who was it? And who was he?
"MAKOTO!" The raven haired girl yelled with another voice he had never heard before, her eyes wide with terror. Makoto looked to his left to find the second voice he had heard but he was met with another sight. A giant monster with the torso and head of a human but the tail of a snake. Upon his face was a pure white mask that appeared as if it were made of bone and in his chest where his heart should have been was a giant gaping hole.
There was as the Hollow drove his fist downwards causing the ground to crack and dust and dirt creating a cloud that obscured everyone's vision. "MAKOTO!" Rukia screamed in fear as she stared at the dust cloud, waiting with both hope and dread for it to reveal Makoto and his condition.
"Is that my name?" Rukia gasped as the cloud began to disappear to revealing Makoto standing directly behind the Hollow as the wind surrounded him, ruffling his clothes and whipping his hair around adding to the already wild chaotic look with his blood soaked arm and face, to the point where the blood on his face didn't drip down to his chin but backwards along his cheeks! And what was even more she had never felt a reiatsu as chaotic as this! Even Ichigo's was tame compared to Makoto's. She knew he possessed an immense spiritual strength but this could rival even Ichigo's and Makoto isn't even a Soul Reaper!
"How did you get there?!" The hollow yelled as it turned to look at Makoto but was silenced almost immediately by the look of the boy. The boy who had only moments before been hunched over struggling for his life and berating him now stood before him. Blood snaking down and despite that it looked broken he didn't seem bothered by the pain?! Or was he even in pain? The blood that had been dripping down his face now twisting across it into the eerie shape of a canine-like creature as he stood there silently, his bright blue eyes boring into the Hollow with the massive sword of his friend in left hand.
"What's wrong? Weren't you about to yell something at me?" Makoto asked, his voice an icy mountain gale as it whips up flurries of the snow causing an avalanche that crashes down upon all that gets in its way, a ferocious and unstoppable torrent which no man can stop. Gone was the gentle and warm voice his friends had gotten to know, now there was nothing but ice and malice.
Orihime spoke to Rukia without taking her eyes off Makoto. "Kuchiki-san, what is wrong with Tsukiyo-san?" Rukia just stared at the back of the boy's head not daring to take her eyes off him either.
The Hollow roared out at the brown haired boy. "Move aside boy, leave the Soul Reaper and Orihime and I will spare you and the other girl."
Makoto's brow furrowed. "Soul Reaper, Orihime? Are they those girls watching from in that building?"
"I said move, boy," the hollow seethed rising higher upon its tail, but Makoto remained unfazed as his blue eyes continued to stare straight back at the hollow's. "Don't make me ask again." Makoto stood still, refusing to follow the hollow's orders.
"You don't have to," Makoto replied, "I'm not going anywhere."
Enraged, the hollow flew into a frenzy and lunged at Makoto with his giant claw. Makoto watched as the Hollow charged forward unmoving.
Then there was blood.