Chapter 26

 

We arrived at the scene where half a dozen Hollows appeared, a local park. They were invisible to the people around, but there were a few souls running in terror from the beasts trying to devour them. Renji released me after flash stepping and a little girl immediately ran to me, clutching my legs. She had short brown hair and looked to be between five and ten years of age. I rested a hand on her head as she sobbed and I could feel the chain bumping against my leg. She was a soul.

 

“Don’t let them kill me!” she cried loudly, her fingers digging into my legs out of fear.

 

“We won’t. You’re safe now,” I whispered gently, rubbing her back.

 

“Stay back and don’t let a Hollow near you. As long as you have that girl with you, you can’t fight,” Toshiro instructed. I nodded, knowing my ability affected only spiritual beings. As I pulled the girl to a more hidden area, the Soul Reapers began attacking the Hollows.

 

“What’s your name?” I asked the girl, trying to calm her.

 

“Shizuka,” she answered shakily. I ducked behind a tree and held Shizuka close.

 

“That’s a pretty name. Just calm down and I promise nothing will happen to you.”

 

“What about Nii-san?” My heart skipped a beat.

 

“What?”

 

“Nii-san is in trouble.”

 

I bit my lip to hold back a curse and glanced around the tree we were behind. It was a battlefield between Soul Reapers and Hollows. The humans had all run off, no doubt noticing the exploding trees, but I saw one person remaining. He was curled into a ball and his shoulders were trembling terribly. I turned back to Shizuka.

 

“Where is your brother?” I asked. She looked around me and pointed to the curled young man. I’d hoped she wouldn’t.

 

“You gotta help Nii-san.” I sighed and knelt down in front of Shizuka, forcing her to look into my eyes.

 

“Shizuka, I want you to listen to me very carefully. I’ll bring you to your brother, but you have to stay with me and don’t let go of me, no matter what happens. Do you understand?” She nodded. “Good, now get on my back.”

 

Shizuka did so, clasping her hands together in front of my throat, and I ran into the battlefield as fast as my legs would take me. I could hear the others yelling at me, but ignored their words, refusing to stop until I was beside Shizuka’s brother. Once I was, I dropped to my knees and rested a hand on his shoulder. The young man jumped and turned to look at me. When I saw him, I froze. His brown hair was tousled, and he had a few cuts on his face, but he was the same Kaname I worked with. I felt terrible, knowing I’d have to tell him about his younger sister. Then I noticed the two bodies in front of him. One was Shizuka’s.

 

The other was Kaname’s.

 

My mind stopped working for a moment as I stared at the chain hanging from his chest as fresh tears flowed down his face.

 

“Minako, what’s going on?” he asked, his voice breaking. Before I could answer, I heard the sound of metal clashing. I turned to see Renji blocking the teeth of a Hollow.

 

“What the hell are you doing?!” he demanded. “Get out of here!” I pulled Shizuka off my back and pushed her into her brother’s arms. As I stood, I put my arms out in front of me.

 

“Move, Renji,” I ordered. With my grief for Kaname and Shizuka only rising with each passing second, I was bound to kill something.

 

“What?!”

 

“Move!”

 

Renji jumped out of the way and I unleashed a focused shockwave on the Hollow. It was shoved to the ground, flattened by the force of my pain. The Hollow began dissolving into bits of Spiritual Energy, floating into the sky. Renji’s shock was evident for a moment before he had to pull his mind back into the fight. It was my first time actually killing a Hollow. Usually, I’d only ever had enough power to hold them down. Today was different. I turned back to Kaname and Shizuka, who were staring at me in both shock and fear.

 

“H-How did you do that?” Kaname asked.

 

“The same way I can see you now. Kaname, I’m sure you’ve realized now that you’re no longer living. That’s why you can see those beasts and my friends. For now, I need to keep you and your sister safe,” I answered. Kaname nodded shakily and I stood guard around the two of them, keeping all Hollows away from them. The fight was soon over and I was approached by Ichigo, Toshiro and Renji.

 

“Dry your eyes,” Toshiro murmured softly and it was at that moment I realized I’d been crying. I quickly brushed my tears away before turning to face Kaname and Shizuka. Looking at the two of them, I couldn’t bare the thought of them dying so young. It was how I felt when Toshiro was to become a Soul Reaper again only days before.

 

“Is there any way from them to continue living?” I asked.

 

“No,” Ichigo answered. “If the chains were still attached to their bodies, there could have been a chance. As it is now, there’s no going back. We have to perform a konso.”

 

“A what?” Kaname asked frantically, his arms tightening around his seven-year-old sister. I’d heard so much about the sweet little girl from him before.

 

“A Soul Burial,” Renji answered. “You’ll be sent to the Soul Society, and afterlife of sorts.”

 

“Like Heaven?” Shizuka asked with an innocence that brought a chocked sob from my throat. Ichigo smiled softly as the bottom of Zabimaru and Hyorinmaru’s hilts began glowing.

 

“Something like that,” Ichigo said as Toshiro pressed the hilt of his zanpakuto to Shizuka’s forehead and Renji did the same to Kaname. Two black butterflies appeared in the spirits’ places and drifted into the sky before disappearing.

 

“At least they’ll be going together, so they won’t be alone in the Soul Society,” I murmured. The silence between the three Soul Reapers caused me to stare at each of them in turn. Each face was serious and Ichigo looked somewhat saddened. “That’s not the case, is it?”

 

“No,” Toshiro answered. “The likelihood of them even meeting again is slim to none.”

 

“So they will be alone.”

 

“Not necessarily,” Renji answered. “It depends on what area they go to and who they meet. Don’t worry about them. Right now, we need to move on to the next set of Hollows.” I nodded slowly, rubbing my eyes again.

”Right. Sorry. Let’s go.”

 

“If you need to, go home,” Toshiro said and I shook my head.

 

“No. I’m fine.”