Third Time's The Charm [Closed]

Kaminari's day was quite productive. After she left Genpaku's apartment, she went back to her own to quickly shower and change her shihakusho. Freshened up and ready for her day, she went straight to the Fourth Division to make an appointment. Not wanting to get it done because of upcoming training with Captain Saionji, Kaminari avoided Midori and made the appointment with one of the lower ranked members of the Division. From there, she made her way to the training grounds that Captain Saionji had them training at. The day of training was rather difficult since Kazuo had a different way of teaching than she was used to. She definitely worked up a sweat, but they called it an early day. That was when she got to meet J and Maaya. Needless to say, her day was quite the interesting one.

After a few hours passed of getting to know Lady Maaya, Kaminari remembered something she wanted to do and made her way to the Eleventh Division. She found Lilith and began asking her about Kei. She was trying not to be pushy, but she and Kei were pretty good friends. They may not be best friends in any way, but that didn't mean that Kaminari didn't worry when Kei vanished. Lilith gave away that she knew where Kei was, so Kaminari gave in and left "Just tell her I hope she's well" as a message. Frustrated with the confusion, Kaminari left in a huff and began making her way back towards the Tenth Division. She began running recipes in her head for dinner. It was a little later than she meant it to be. The sun was already gone and the torches within the Seireitei were all that lit up the paths.

With no real rush after she had warned Genpaku about the lateness or lack of dinner, Kaminari was taking her time walking back. She had used shunpo to get back into her Division's territory, but stopped her quickened journey there. Not many people were out. She passed a few on her way back and waved. A couple tried talking to her, but she quickly ended the conversations and hurried on.

Kaminari's day was fun, peaceful, and went almost exactly as she hoped it would. There was just this strange feeling pecking at the back of her head and this shiver that slithered up the back of her neck randomly. That feeling that she was being watched returned multiple times throughout the day. She was caught randomly looking off in some random direction suddenly when that dark itch crept up her skin. She thought someone was there, but never caught sight of them. She brushed it off as part of her own paranoia and planned on giving Genpaku a piece of her mind. Kaminari wasn't the type to walk around feeling scared of her own shadow and after their little talk, she couldn't help but feel anxious.

Night had fallen and it was Kaminari's time to go home. Well, to Genpaku's home and make him dinner. The walk there was quiet. She waved to the guards she passed by, most of them knew her by name at this point. Unfortunately for them, she couldn't remember most of theirs. As she walked along one of the many paths of the Seireitei, Kaminari heard an unfamiliar voice call out to her. "Hm?" she turned toward the sound to see a man she did not recognize. The fact that he was pretty much hiding in the shadows didn't help either. "Hello?" she raised an eyebrow at him and stepped toward him, "My services?" She stopped as he walked out and revealed himself fully. Kaminari's eyes widened.

He was covered in blood and had a few wounds himself. Her first instinct was to ask if he was okay, but he was already freaking her out! His next statement only confirmed it. Kaminari took a step back and to her left quickly, but not quick enough. The man's blade came down and sliced through her right shoulder. Kaminari grit her teeth and took a few more steps back as she pulled her Zanpakutō from its sheath with her left hand. Luckily, she was ambidextrous. "What are you doing?!" she shouted at him. Each time he took a step closer, she moved back away from him. The moment she felt she had a chance, she took a glance at the blood dripping down her arm. Thankfully, the wound didn't seem too deep, but it definitely hurt like hell. "What did I do? Why do you want to kill me?"

Kaminari was going to play with her right to be confused for as long as she needed to. It wasn't every day that a random Shinigami that you didn't know came up to you with the intent to kill you. If she had known him and done something that annoyed or pissed him off, she'd understand this and wouldn't need those questions answered. "How is it 'rather obvious' when I don't even know you!"

"Shini?" Kaminari took note of that. It was an odd thing for another Shinigami to call her. Thanks to some recent intense training, Kaminari was able to anticipate this guy's next attack. She was quick on her feet and a swift step backwards quickly shifted into a full shunpo. Kaminari vanished from his sight and reappeared behind him about ten feet away. She held her Zanpakutō firmly in her hand and glared at him. "If you really think I'm going to just allow you to kill me, you're dead wrong."

Kaminari quickly forced her right arm up and kept her left firmly on her weapon. "Hadō Number Four, Byakurai!" A streak of blue lightning shot from the tip of her index finger, aiming at the torso of her opponent. Her shot was pretty accurate, but a tense of pain did allow it to vere minutely to the side.

Kaminari winced when she wavered. That small change in her movement was enough to prevent the full impact of her Kidō. She was glad to know she had wounded him though; Hopefully it would slow him down. Once the Kidō was fired, she let her arm fall and hang loosely at her side. "What, you thought I wa-." Kaminari's words were cut off by his sudden charge. She couldn't fire another Kidō that quickly and wasn't confident of her ability to block with her left hand. Seeing his blade thrusting toward her torso, Kaminari moved to step back away from the assault. This she knew that she could dodge.

However, she was not expecting a faint. The knife came out of nowhere. Kaminari's reflexes took over the moment that glint of steel made its appearance. If he hadn't been slower, for reasons she does not know of, he would have succeeded. However, this sluggish movements allowed Kaminari to moved her arm back just enough to prevent the knife from completely taking out her left arm. Kaminari felt the sharp sting of his blade as it glided up her lower arm a couple inches. Kaminari took this moment to counter. After taking the hit, she shifted her stance and swung her blade horizontally at his chest.

"No!" Kaminari immediately went in for a second strike, her confidence raised after what she thought to be a successful hit. That confidence though was quickly stolen by a rather strong kick her to her chest. The strike knocked the air out of her and she stumbled back with her right hand over her chest. Before she could catch her breath, he went in for a second strike. His movements changed and Kaminari quickly noticed that. Every motion he made was quicker and more skillful than before. It was as if this man forgot how to fight and was remembering as their battle went on.

Kaminari screamed in pain as his blade slid through her left shoulder with no time for her to react. She backed up quickly, forcing his blade from her shoulder and then shunpo'd about twenty feet away from him. Still in his line of sight, she kept her eyes on him. What the hell was wrong with this guy? "Do you even feel pain!?" she shouted angrily at him, though her voice shook with hints of fear. She went to lift her left arm, but it hurt worse than her right. Breathing heavily, she struggled to change the hand her Zanpakutō was in. Once she did, she hell it as well as she could, but her arm was shaking.

Kaminari quickly glanced to her wounds and then around, trying to think of a way to escape this. From where they were standing, there was only one way she wanted to go to get to him. Unfortunately, that was through this insane man and Kaminari wasn't sure she co-... "He damaged your arms, not your legs. Move, idiot." a voice rang in frustration at the back of her mind. She had only heard that voice once or twice up to this point, but was glad that it was making an appearance here. Shizukana was right. Kaminari may not be able to use her arms, but her legs were fine. She kept her blade in her hand and charged at her attacker. However, once she reached within a couple feet of his reach, she vanished. Kaminari chose to shunpo behind him and run off, doing her best to ignore the pain.

Kaminari had succeeded in faking him out. She ended up behind him and running for her life. She had quite a ways to go to get to Genpaku, since he was the only person she trusted to help her fast enough. Kaminari could hear him coming up behind her. "GO AWAY!" she screamed into the air, refusing to look back. She could feel him getting closer and closer. His footsteps were getting louder and she began to panic. Her mind was only focused on what was behind her. Her body was trying to get where she wanted to be. Unfortunately, she needed to pay a bit more attention to her surroundings.

Kaminari came to a turn that she would normally had been able to take. However, as she turned, she saw how close her opponent had gotten in that time frame and panicked. She completely lost her footing and fell. Her body slid across the white floors of the Seireitei until she ended up rolling into a wall. Her Zanpakutō went flying from her hand, gliding along the ground with the light screech of metal on stone. Kaminari tried to quickly recover, but her arms prevented her from rising quickly. As she raised from the ground and looked up, Kaminari knew she was going to die. "P-Please... don't."

Everything happened so fast. The peaceful and fun day Kaminari enjoyed took a very bad turn. She had fought thinking she could actually win and failed. She ran for her life, scared to look back. Her heart was racing, her breathing was heavy, and in a panic lost her footing and slid across the ground. The fall granted her a twisted ankle and wrist, along with a minorly scraped knee, but nothing more.

Now staring into the eyes of a maniac, Kaminari felt the end coming. She begged him not to, though she knew he would not comply. That sudden movement he made to lunge at her pushed Kaminari to withdraw from him. Her back pressed against the wall as her body curled in on itself and her arms came around her head as if this childish defensive position were going to save her from this man's merciless blade. She expected the hit any moment, but the pain never came. She looked up.

"G-Gen...?" She whimpered as a single tear threatened to fall; she wiped that thing away in less than a second. Her attacker had been sent flying away and so Kaminari knew she was safe. She took a deep breath and held it the entire time she watched this scene unfold. Like twice before, Genpaku was the one who got her out of a frightening situation. By the time he returned to her side, Kaminari was remembering the wounds she had. The adrenaline had temporarily numbed them.

Kaminari nodded and held still like he asked. With her mind running a mile a second, Kaminari did not look at Genpaku or at the onlookers who watched. She stared at that man, his limp and broken body lying in the middle of the walk. She had this strange feeling that he was going to move again. The pain was slowly lessening with Gen's healing. She glanced to him momentarily, but her eyes quickly focused back to what she was hoping to be a corpse. "Is... I-Is he dead?" she asked hopeful of his answer. Though her expression was normal, Kaminari's body was shaking. She wasn't able to hide her fear.

Kaminari shifted uncomfortably. That was not the answer she wanted. There was a piece of her, and it likely showed in her eyes, that wanted to blast the guy with one of her more powerful Kidō to end this. She might have done it too, or tried it, but Kaminari's pain was too much. She finally looked away from him and back to Genpaku. She stared at him until he asked his question. She jumped when he did too.

She opened her mouth to talk, but the incoming members of her Division stopped her. She didn't look to them and did not speak until they left. Once they were gone, Kaminari cleared her throat. "I, um..." she hesitated, took a deep breath and tried again, "I was walking home. Well, to your place and he came and said he wanted me to die. I... Well, I thought I could beat him. He was slow and then suddenly was fast. He hit my left arm first, then stabbed my right sh-shoulder. I got passed him, ran, tripped... and then you." Kaminari was having a hard time getting out the actual details. Her words were choppy, broken, and forced. Her story wasn't exactly in chronological order and the wounds were opposite to what she said. In short, she was shaken up and trying to keep herself together.

Kaminari couldn't look away from those eyes, not when he looked like that. Hers were fixated on his for those few moments. She nodded, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly to calm herself down. "I know, I know." she replied and smiled back to him. Kaminari sat in silence while the other members were being dealt with. She noticed the Hell Butterfly being sent off, but didn't get to hear the message. When he referred to her again, Kaminari nodded and slowly pushed herself to her feet. The more open wounds had closed from being healed, but her ankle was still a bit sore from the fall. She twisted it around a bit to stretch it and then followed Genpaku back to his place without much problem.

Within ten minutes, Kaminari and Genpaku made it back to his place. She was silent most of the time, her mind weary from her little experience. She sat at the table they ate breakfast at and stared at the tables surface, only speaking when he spoke to her. The next ten minutes passed and a hard knock came to Genpaku's door. Kaminari didn't move a muscle. She just raised her head and looked to Genpaku for him to answer it. Once he did, Midori came into the apartment without much of an invite. She seemed to be expecting something and when her eyes fell on Kaminari, she froze. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't. She looked to Genpaku, her eyes horrified. "Oh god, please no."

Midori's entire body was tense and she was holding her breath. Once Genpaku said no, she visibly relaxed and sighed in relief. "Oh, thank god." Midori said with a giggle and hurried over to Kaminari's side. She listened to what Genpaku was saying while checking Kaminari out herself. Kaminari motioned silently to her ankle, which Midori took notice of. Midori applied a small lingering heal to Kaminari's ankle after seeing some slight swelling and then stood up. "Well, nothing is broken, but you do need to come in for an exam some time soon." Midori said, receiving a slight nod as a reply. Midori raised an eyebrow and suddenly whacked Kaminari on the side of the head. "HEY! What'd you do that for!"

"Wake the hell up. You're fine." Midori said softly, tilting her head slightly. Kaminari glared at her and then sent that glare toward Genpaku as well, as if her getting hit was his fault. "Why'd you even call her!" "Don't yell at him. What the hell happened out there? Did you try to fight someone you knew you couldn't?" "No, I thought I could beat him! He just... He was weak at first and then suddenly wasn't. He was slower than me and then suddenly faster. It was like he forgot how to fight and suddenly remembered when I almost sliced his chest open!" "Why was he after you in the first place?" "I don't know... He just wanted me dead. He said I wasn't needed anymore. I didn't even know that guy."

"Kaminari, you know just about everyone, so are you one hundred percent positive you didn't know him?" Kaminari shook her head angrily and stood up from the chair, "I DIDN'T KNOW HIM!" Midori was shocked by the sudden outburst and stayed silent as Kaminari glared at her. Kaminari realized she overreacted really quick and turned away from both of them. She didn't like being interrogates, especially about this. She had just wanted to go to bed and forget about today! She hurried toward the bathroom and just hid away in there, locking the door for a while. "She's really shaken up... What did you see happen?" Midori turned curiously to Genpaku, obviously worried about Kaminari.

"It could have, but I'm not good at comforting friends, so..." Midori shrugged and asked him. She thought on his answers and stared toward the bathroom door, wondering what Kaminari could have done to be attacked. "The answer is beyond me. Maybe he was just toying with her, trying to break her mind before her body type deal?" Midori asked, but then something came to mind, "Or maybe it wasn't him at all. This stays between you and I, but your Li-..." Midori caught herself, stepped closer to Genpaku and spoke quieter, "Your Lieutenant was not the only one attacked. There have been multiple attacks throughout the Seireitei recently. We've lost about seven Shinigami, one of those being a Captain and four others are being questioned and examined." Midori let that hang in the air for a bit.

Midori sighed in frustration and rubbed her temples. "I have no idea what is going in the Seireitei, but it's not safe for anyone right now. We're trying to keep the attacks under wraps. I'm going to be calling for a Captains meeting soon. I know Captai-... Your Mother is wanting one as well." Midori tried to lighten the mood a bit by picking on him. She crossed her arms. "Kaminari is the only one who didn't know her attacker, so it's possible this has nothing to do with the rest, but I doubt it. Your thoughts?"

If this were anyone lower ranking, she'd have told them to leave it be, but... "Captain Fujiki attacked a member of his squad and was confronted by someone else in order to save the victim." Midori lowered her head sadly, "Captain Fujiki was killed in defense of a weaker Shinigami. Though it isn't how I would have settled the situation, I cannot blame the individual involved. When I say lost, I mean lost. They were killed by people protecting themselves or another person who came to protect their targets..."

"In Captain Fujiki's case, his victim even vouched for him and refused to acknowledge it was their Captain that had attacked them. They claimed something was controlling him, forcing him to do that... To the point where he apologized and thanked the one who killed him after being knocked from whatever trance he may have been in... It sounds crazy, but with everything that has been going on, and it being someone like Captain Fujiki in question, I am not ruling anything out at this point."

"An Arrancar?" Midori was actually pretty shocked, though there was more irritation in her tone. All of this was possibly being done by a fucking Arrancar? How did they even get into the Seireitei? What is their target? Midori had many questions she needed answered, but none were going to be answered now. "I think bringing every Captains mind together will be the best option. We'll all bring what we know and see if we can piece things together while also informing everyone of what has really been going on here... Nice job, by the way. That was good, catching the Arrancar's reiryoku. Smart."

"I... believe their all connected too. We'll figure that out." Midori waved that conversation off, literally, and then motioned toward the bathroom door, "You know who your Lieutenant is staying with; she's safe. The other victims have others watching over them as well. You want me to find someone to watch over her?" Midori smiled mischievously, "Or should you take care of her yourself? I mean, the only other person she trusts like you is in the hospital and since we don't know the reasons behind the attacks, and whatever this is has blatantly stated he wants her dead... maybe she should stay with yoouu? I mean she doesn't have to. It is only a suggestion, but I'm sure it's the best choice."