Noble Love - Bleach (Kuchiki Byakuya x Oc x A bit of Various)

十七

Ashido's mask shattered into pieces, but luckily he wasn't hurt. He and Asa landed on the ground where they were surrounded by the Gillian. "I'm sorry, senpai." said Asa, who was guilty about having him save her, which resulted in his mask getting damaged.

"Don't worry about it." he assured.

The Adjuchas laughed mockingly, making them look at him. "It looks like you're dragging along some dead weight this time, Ashido!" he taunted. "You should worry about yourself!"

The two Shinigami stood up, and Asa, who was feeling guilty about endangering Ashido, said, "Senpai, it's my fault you were injured. I'll finish off that Adjuchas."

"What are you babbling about?" continued the Hollow. "I'll kill you first!" He leapt up from his spot, which gave her the cue to charge at him, and as he began to land, his hands turned into stakes that extended to pierce her, who managed to dodge them. She leapt up high and attempted to get closer to him, but his shoulders extended as well as it tried to hit her, only to miss.

Once Asa landed on the ground, she unsheathed her Zanpakutou and muttered, "Asobi (Play), Kage Odoriko." Her Zanpakutou, at that moment, turned into black sword and then created another identical one that quickly dissolved into the thin air. While using Flash Step to charge at the Adjuchas, she gashed his left upper arm with her Zanpakutou, and at the same time, something gashed his other arm, leaving him to have two wounds. Before he could comprehend what was going on, she continued inflicting fatal wounds on him with her Zanpakutou while the invisible one followed in the opposite direction, creating double the amount of damage.

"Think about it again, and then tell me whether or not I'm a dead weight." she taunted before giving the final blow by slashing across his torso and the other Zanpakutou slashed in the other direction, creating a huge X on his chest before he succumbed to his wounds and disintegrated into nothing. With the Adjuchas dead, the Gillian turned around and left.

Asa waved her Zanpakutou to release the Shikai and sheathed it back before making her way towards Ashido, who was crouching in front of his shattered mask. "I'm sorry, senpai." she said guiltily. "This was your friend's..." But he didn't respond and kept his gaze to the ground. Asa hesitated to say something on her mind to him, but eventually, she reluctantly did. "Senpai. I know it's not my place to say this, but don't you think you should return to Soul Society? I understand how you feel about your friends. But the situation is changing. Everything's different than it used to be. And most importantly, you're alive. I think your friends will forgive you if you leave."

Ashido stood up with his gaze still fixated on the ground and simply remarked, "Everyone chooses their own paths to follow." At that moment, he and Asa heard something from far, which sounded like the roars of Gillian. "Let's move on!"

"Right!" responded the latter before leaving the place with him. While running as they searched, she picked up the familiar spiritual force again and glanced over her shoulder. "This reiatsu-!"

Ashido, too, glanced at where the spiritual force came from before looking back ahead. "Move it!" he ordered.

"Where?" she asked.

"The exit." was his reply.

But before they could progress, they were stopped by a large Adjuchas-class Hollow. He had a large shell-like appendage on his back, which was also where his tail stemmed from. His Hollow hole was located on the left side of his chest, and he wore large body wrap around his waist.

"Whoa, there!" he said with his arms crossed. "Where do you think you're going, Ashido?" The said man exchanged uneasy glances with Asa. "Some Shinigami are fighting over there. You can sense their reiatsu easily from here, can't you? Do you want to go save them? Too bad. I won't let you pass! You're going to feel it as your friends get injured, and be helpless to do anything as they die." Despite the taunts, Asa wouldn't allow herself to be affected by them, because she believed that Ichigo and the rest were stronger than he actually thought. The Adjuchas' gaze then landed on the male Shingami. "Let's settle things once and for all, Ashido!"