The Darkness In Our Hearts (TDiOH Bk1)

Chapter 30.5: Her Strength

Urahara's POV 

I had no doubt in my mind that Kera could pull this off. Her strength was fuelled by her emotions, her obligation to protect her family and friends. That blue dragon might be strong, but she had no hope against Kera.

Right now, I watched from afar. I had masked my spiritual pressure so that Kera thought I had disappeared. If she wanted to reclaim her soul reaper abilities, she had to do it alone.

Her speed and abilities had improved nicely since the time we first met, if her Kido attack was anything to go by. But now...

Now her real battle began.

Her body lay prostrate on the ground and the Hollow advanced upon her slowly, hesitate. Bits of its mask crumbled at the edges but it still seemed to be in a healthy condition. I moved closer, slowly, so I could see all the events unfold.

It seemed to observe Kera's prone body, sniffed at it as it circled her.

"Does she require help?" Tessai asked from beside me. He had come down the ladder several moments after the fight had begun.

"No. She'll be quite capable in a moment," I responded immediately.

The Hollow stood over her and its mouth stretched into a smile, glistening wet teeth exposed and purple tongue lolling. It raised a paw. Still Kera lay on the ground, unmoving. It paused for a second, as if savouring the moment. Then the Hollow's paw sailed down towards her body.

An explosion rocked the arena, a pillar of dust and dirt exploding into the air. As it began to clear, something else began to permeate the air.

Spiritual pressure.

The dust disappeared to reveal Kera standing bent under the pressure of the paw. A white sword, the same as the Hollow that had overtaken Kera before, was clasped in her hands, staving off the paw. Blood gushed from the Hollow's paw and it howled in agony, rearing up and away from the cause of the pain.

White liquid streamed from the air around Kera, coalescing on her body. Bloody wounds became covered in the liquid, hardening into a shell. Light blue Hollow liquid formed upon her body: outside of her thighs, sides of her torso, shoulders and wrists. Each were a different size of plating, like overlapping dragon scales. Upon her brow was a pure white strip of Hollow bone, which cupped around the edges and underneath her eyes.

When she looked up, one of her eyes had become a dark electric blue. "I'll deal with you later," she commented, then turned to face the Hollow that had gotten over its injury and charged recklessly.

Jaws closed around Kera's form just as dark blue spiritual pressure erupted from her. It howled again, skin turning black from the intensity and heat of the pressure. Blue flames danced upon Kera's arms as she drew her sword to the side.

Then she appeared behind the creature. A gasp of surprise from the Hollow. Its mask split in half, then shattered completely. The Hollow screamed in agony, so loud that the ground shook and boulders cracked. Then it evaporated, leaving behind only destruction as its legacy.

"Well, I'll you to this," Tessai said as Kera approached with her spiritual pressure twisting around her head furiously. He escaped quickly.

"That had to be one of the stupid ideas you've ever had!" she roared in my face, jabbing the hilt of the sword into my face.

My nose was going to bruise with the treatment I had been getting from these two soul reapers. Can't they see I'm just trying to help?

"I almost died!"

'But you didn't." I snapped open my fan.

"Oh," she shook her head at me, "you have no idea what I went through just to get this sword." She shook it under my nose. "I'm pretty sure there are other methods to help me, but I feel as if you just love causing pain to me and Ichigo."

She paused, head cocked to the side. The sword disappeared, the blue left her eye and all the Hollow plating - besides the ones covering bloodied wounds - shattered. Her eyelids fluttered and she collapsed. I caught her before she hit the ground.

"As I was saying," she murmured, eyes closing, "I swear you just like causing pain. But... thank you," she mumbled at the end.

Then she started snoring. "Glad to be of help."

A/N: So I tried something a little differently. Urahara's POV! I wanted to describe Kera's transformation without blabbing on about it from Kera's POV. Since I've already used the blue dragon and now she's given up the fight against Kera, I can't really use her. 

SO I have tried (and no idea if I failed or not) to capture Urahara's serious. Let me know what you think and all that and if this chapter was a good idea! 

Goodbye for now!