NOVEL WEB 34 – Submission
Masaki's bow started growing slimmer. Unfortunately, this wasn't an indication of it losing power. Rather it seemed as if the bow was being refined to its intended form being more concentrated and less wild than it was before. The same seemed to be the case for her armour which seemed to be refining it's shape and the Blut Vene-like markings became brighter.
In a way this was probably a good thing indicating she was gaining control and not acting like a completely wild beast. However, it also meant she became more dangerous until she did regain control.
She unleashed another volley of arrow, the power was still about the same however the speed was increased by quite a bit. He was still dodging them nimbly, but his large stature wasn't optimal for this and multiple started grazing him digging trenches through his skin despite running [Blut Vene] himself.
Thankfully this wasn't anything [High-Speed Regeneration] couldn't keep up with and the cuts were healing at a visible pace.
He pushed in towards her in spite of the volley of arrows and managed to land a kick on her face that sent her spinning backwards.
'Sorry, but you need a wake up call.' he though feeling bad about kicking her in the face. It's a little different than doing the same to a Hollow or a guy.
This blow seemed to shake her further as she was struggling to get back up.
"Think about Ichigo, what about Karin and Yuzu? They're all waiting for you. Are you going to just abandon them?" he tried to remind her of her family again since that was the only thing that showed any effect so far.
She was still fighting, but he noticed there was a pained expression on her face unlike the crazy unhinged one she was sporting until this point.
While the Hollow side was forward flip and kicked the back of her head forcing her it into the ground before mounting her from behind and stabbing his arm blades into the ground across her neck. He fiercely head butted her to try to beat the last struggle out of her.
"Masaki I know you're better than this. You aren't a failure of a mom. Your kids need you." he says.
He keeps her pinned to the ground with both the arm blades across her neck somewhat keeping her restrained despite cutting into her neck. He managed to use his remaining limbs to pin all 4 of hers.
She slowly calmed down. He noticed the armour slowly receding and she eventually passed out. Paying attention to her spiritual pressure it calmed down and lowered again though it was still a lot higher than it was before the whole ordeal.
It was then that he sensed something in the distance. Immediately he used his [Illusory Aura] to cover both of them making it look like there was no one there while making sure he remained completely still.
A pair of Shinigami had showed up in the distance. They had received some unusual readings in the area and were sent to investigate. It wasn't hard to determine something had happened here. There were trenches and craters all over the place. In a Forest like this such traces get covered relatively quickly so they were definitely fresh.
Unfortunately, the massive readings that were found before were gone and even with their measurement instruments they weren't able to determine where it went. They eventually made their report through their Hell Butterfly to let them know about the traces they found at the source, but also that they were unable to locate the cause.
They ended up giving the area one more survey before leaving. They didn't have the luxury of time while they were on Earth. Leisure time was something they only had back in Soul Society.
Hisashi didn't take the unconscious Masaki back to Naruki City or any other populated place, because he had no clue whether she would be in control when she woke up or would go right back to rampaging.
Masaki woke up feeling quite groggy and it took her a few moments to recall what happened before she lost consciousness and it was all rather blurry while she wasn't in control all of her focus being on her fighting the Hollow inside her.
"I...I I'm so sorry." she says. She feels incredibly guilty because she knows if it wasn't for Hisashi's actions she would have ended up killing a lot of people something that absolutely horrifies her. Not only that she would likely have been put down like a cur dog by soul society or used by unscrupulous people. She shivers just thinking about the possibilities.
"Alright no need to think too much about it. We can't leave until we are sure you have truly mastered your hollow side though and the only way to know that for sure is to transform into your half Hollow form without losing control" he tells her.
She nods nervously still insecure about managing the transformation, but she knows she doesn't have a choice.
"Still thanks for dragging me back." she says her eyes showing a gratefulness that hadn't been there before even though he had saved her before.
At first they notice now her Quincy powers have returned completely even when she isn't in her Hollowfied form. The first time she tries to will herself to transform it doesn't take her long to lose control needing Hisashi to knock her unconscious again. Although it takes quite a few tries and Hisashi knocking sense into her she finally manages to maintain control while transformed after a few days of continuous attempts.
'Hmm, she may not be quite at the level of the Visored, but they were transformed from lieutenants and captains. Meanwhile she was mostly a regular human before she gained her transformation.' he thought to himself. Although the situation had been dangerous he could also see the potential for this as it would mean she could protect herself and was more than powerful enough to protect Reina too.
'It also seems that we might have made a breakthrough in her trust too. Before this she still had some wariness around me that she didn't have with Reina even after all these years.' he smiled at Masaki.
"Ok, let's head back. You should be fine now." he tells her.
When they get back Reina runs and hugs both of them having been worried sick over the past few days that either one or both of them might have died.
"What happened? Are you ok now Masaki?" Reina asks her worriedly.
Masaki smiled at her knowing Reina cared about her a lot, they had grown very close after spending these years living and training together.
"I'm fine now thanks to Hisashi. Not only that I'm stronger than ever." she says to reassure her.
