Karakura Town! Beginning of a New Adventure!

A foot lashed downwards, sending a large form into dirt with a roar and making it outright dizzy. The figure that had done this spun in mid-air and landed with a simple placement of his hands in his jacket pockets. Masataka couldn't believe the amount of Hollow activity in this town, it was ludicrous if you considered the small human population that inhabited it. Thankfully, they were not too tough to handle. His pale form glanced down at the odd bulky gorila-like Hollow that he had knocked out and suddenly jumped, missing a sudden swiping tail from behind with a grunt flowing over his lips. Not too tough, but many in number.

"Don't you guys get enough?"

In a flash, he struck again. Masataka sent the monster snake into the earth with a loud, silence shattering kick once again. The raw strength behind it made the beast almost dig into the ground below it, obvious pain coming from the two beasts. He couldn't help it, he hadn't had a mission quite like this before. So many to fight at once would have been a dream for a certain other squad, but he was not of that squad. To him, this was just troublesome. Speaking of which. His hand snapped up and caught the massive fist that tried to blow him across the area and into the lake nearby, a single eyebrow raising,

"Guess not."

WHAM

That was that. The Hollow flew through the air at high speed and slammed into the other still rolling around in pain, a shoe print embedded on the mask. It had about two seconds to screech before they were both hit by a holy light coming from the Shinigami, his foot still extended in the air with a teasing smile. In a flash, they were gone. Both had been purified and at that the man couldn't help but scratch his cheek as he placed his foot back down, hands resuming their place in his comfortable jacket pockets. That was interesting, the beeping noise of his Hollow alerter hadn't let up. Seems like they were more, far more. Something he couldn't handle alone. Speaking of which....

Where were his reinforcements?

High on the rooftops of the small town, a boy was running from a large hollow creature. The hollow had the shape of an ape with exceptionally large hands that made craters as it moved to chase its pray. Its pray was a small boy, fourteen years old in appearance. His hair was blue and downward flowing, his eyes a piercing red. He turned around with a small grin and said, "I think that's far enough. Now its my turn!"

He stopped in his tracks as he kicked himself forward; he had been running backwards up until this points as if to show no concern for himself. He lunged forward and slashed his blade, cutting the right forearm of the hollow. The hollow in question had no legs to hold himself up, meaning it became unbalanced and fell as it was slashed. The next attack was a diagonal one upward meant to end it. In a bright white light, it did just that. The boy's determined glared he'd had during the slash became a light smile as he turned in thought of what had happened.

"The Spirit that hollow was chasing should be safe and sound by now," he said lightly, seeming to talk to himself. This was a trait that the boy seemed to have, an unusual trait indeed. "Still though, seems like there's a lot of hollows like that around." Speaking of around, Akio began to look back and forth, searching for someone and seeing no one around. "Uh oh... Where'd my senpai go? I was so busy leading that hollow away that I forgot!"

"Tut, tut, tut, tut...."

The steady percussion of sucking teeth tapped up from behind the less-than-impressed male shinigami. Up walked a second dweller of the Soul Society, this one much more enthusiastic in his demeanor. Dark Brown hair fell down over his overly attractive features, two emerald eyes narrowed on the gruesome scene in a fit of pity and disgust. He stopped next to the man with his hands in his pockets, resting his sleeveless, lightly-muscled arms on the hilt of the sword he wore on his left side, hands folding over each other.

"All this death and...." he shuddered, waves coursing through his body "close-up fighting. It's so barbaric." The man shrugged, though he didn't like it. Hollows were to be exterminated, and he would have no choice but to comply. He bowed his head for a moment in silence, keeping the memories of those souls, whoever they once were, in his thoughts before snapping back up and placing both hands behind his head.

"They sent me to gather intel on the rising....." He stopped mid-sentence, his right hand lazily pointing out just behind the other shinigami in his vicinity. "Hadou #03, Sogeki!" the wind howled and opened to the power of a single, invisble bullet that set to flight from the tip of his finger. It found the target it had been launched for, a hollow in the form of a bear. The precision was uncanny, connecting straight to the creature's eye, avoiding contact with the mask. While normally exiting out the back of the target, the shot had been bounced back by the density of the hollow's body, rattling around in it's head, shredding it. The hollow roared, stepping back and flailing wildly, holding it's head before dropping to it's back, destroyed.

"Oh yeah, forgot I gotta introduce myself." He turned to face Masataka, hands placed back behind his head after brushing some dust off of his robes, his head tilting back in a motion to him "Raian Aidoru, Squad 9. I'm your back up, uhhhhhhhh......." The newly introduce Aidoru took in a quick breath, blowing it out with puffing cheeks and a roll of the eyes. He wasn't told who this guy was.....or was he? Whatever, he couldn't take the time to dig through his mind for something he could just ask for.

Another large hollow appeared behind Akio, having two sickle arms and a tailed lower body. It moves one of its arms to the side, winging it to the opposite side in an attempt to kill the blue haried boy. The hollow never got a chance was a girl with silver white hair was on it in an instant, slashing its arm off as she lands on the ground. As the hollow roared in pain, she pushes off the ground, slashing again to deliver the as she lands in front of Akio.

"I...I'm sorry!" She apologizies to Akio. "I got ambushed by a bunch of hollows and....well..." She fell silence as she looks at the ground with a nervous face.

Akio smiled lightly as he saw Saikah and said, "Oh, there you are. I thought I lost you for a minute there." He sighed lightly in remembrance of the town. This was the place where he had died not long ago. Akio then turned to Saikah and responded, "I'm not that sure were we are right now, but if we can clear out the Hollows, it'll be okay, right?"

"Masataka Takayanagi, Squad Four. I guess I'm the guy you've been sent to assist,"

He pulled his hands from his pockets and placed a fist in his opposite palm, bowing in common Shinigami nature with a nod before he resumed his natural stance of comfort. All in all, the casual dressed male looked pretty impressed about who exactly his reinforcement were supposed to be, if his gaze gave anything away anyway. He looked pretty average all things considering, possessing a relaxed pair of dark eyes and an outfit that one would wear only within a gigai. Looks like he broke the mold on that factor, or his robes needed washing. Either one. Yet, there was something that truly stood out through all of this. He had said he was a member of Squad Four, yet he seemed to be neither a healer nor someone who would generally fit in there. Whatever strange story he possessed about that was probably a long one indeed.

Sadly, this was not a moment for such stories,

"Looks like we've got more heading towards us."

The brown haired male glanced upwards at the sky as his Hollow sensing tool went wild once again, his mind focused tracking snapping to the general vicinity. His words were the truth, there were a large quantity of the creatures heading straight towards them from each road, almost surrounding them in essence. The nearby water and the sheer beauty of the area depicted a park, one that was going to become a ruined park if they were not careful. Was this why Seireitei had ordered a full number of Shinigami to patrol? Made sense, but hopefully this mission wouldn't be too much trouble. Either way, they had a job to do. His footsteps echoed along the path as he strolled forward and continued to stare upwards, a furious barrage of screeches and roars suddenly making themselves known,

"Ground or Sky, take your pick. I'll take the other," asked Masataka, arching his eyebrow at Aidoru, a smile on the edge of his lips,

The squad nine patron sighed, placing his hands flat on the sides of his hips. He didn't like the thought of so much fighting, especially when it would lead to mass genocide, but he was backed against the wall. No choice in the matter, they were surrounded. Two Shinigami, surrounded on quite literally all sides by the Hollow menace.

Might as well go after the easier targets.

"I'll take the air" he responded to the casual Masataka, returning a smirk to his new ally. To his friends, this was a playful gesture, as if ready to begin some kind of competition, but to the enemy in his sights, it spelled certain doom.

Raian examined the horizon, counting the amount of Hollows on the move, but he held no fear. These were not attackers, they were targets....and they were in his domain. A lazy left hand gripped the hilt of his sword under the buzzsaw-like guard, drawing forth his Zanpakuto and holding it out toward his side. With a flick of the wrist, the blade spun in his palm and was caught in reverse, his right hand held high overhead.

"Sing Beautiful Agony, Tatari Sasayaki!"

His right hand slammed directly down, striking the side of the sword as he did so. A flash of light blocked out all vision of mother Earth's beauty, the very air around them sucking back into a single point within the gleam. The very shreiks from the mouths of the Hollows seemed to warp and draw into the vortex.

Then all went quiet..............for a second.

The ground cracked, waves of pure force and sound launched upward, slamming into the airborn attackers with ludicrous intensity. Masks shattered in a flashed, limbs crippling and warping, useless corpses falling and disintegrating in a rain of death. Those who would continue on lost no viciousness, only pushed on to kill the source which looked on with sorrowful eyes.

The green-eyed Raian stood in a small crater, his custom robes now host to a new weapon. It extended in the shape of a guitar held by a strap around it's weilder, shaped and sharpened into an axe-like design of sapphire color. Raian cradled the neck of his weapon with his left hand, shaking his head at the carnage he had created.

"Let's get this over with, I need a break."

"Umm....I guess...?" Saikah tilts her head as she crosses her arms. "Although we still need to meet up with the person we were sent to help, Akio...What if they get ganged up? Or us? We relaly should find our way around and meet up with him."

"Ground it is."

Masataka began to walk towards the incoming horde and closed his eyes, seemingly waiting for something. A roar shook the earth and the massive form of the first beast phased before him, lashing out with arms twice the size of the Shinigami own. But those arms didn't even reach him. The genius flipped over the blow with a twirl and smirked mid-flight, spinning rapidly and letting loose a sudden kick straight to the Hollow with such force that a small air-shock wave bounced opposite him. The beast was quite literally drilled into the path below from the hit, a flash of a cane following the burst of purifying power that overtook it. Before the revealed Zanpakuto even had time to adjust to the fresh air, it was gone in a flash of light. Wherever he had sheathed it, only the genius himself knew,

"Huh?"

The sudden uproar of his allies Shikai caused him to stumble for a moment and look up, blinking for a few seconds with interest. That, sadly, was enough time for a large shadowy claw to smack point blank into his pale face. A grunt echoed and Masataka skidded backwards, frowning as his hands lefts his pockets with rapidly twitching fingers. That had hurt. Still, it was thanks to his own stupidity that he had been distracted. He launched forward and lashed out, his fist slamming directly into the attacking Hollow and glaring in the process. His hand went straight through. Literally. The packed strength behind it had caused him to punch straight through the bloodied skin of the soulless being with nary a movement. With a following jerk backwards he wrenched his arm out and looked up into the empty black sockets of the mask, a certain cane flashing out one more,

"Two down. Whose next?"

His eyes snapped to the left,

"Oh."

Masataka brushed away the hints of dark blood and dirt that layered parts of his outfit, turning to the horde with his weapon once again hidden somewhere. The amount he was seeing made him pause and sweat-drop, his shoulders slouching for a few moments before he sighed and shot forward, hands comfortably resting within his jacket in his usual fashion. What came next was pretty much a sequence of slow, powerful kicks and sudden strikes of an unseen weapon. Through it all he rarely used his hands, but whenever he did the blows and attacks were far more disgustingly brutal. In the end the remaining beasts shattered into spiritual dust and he was left glancing around, a tad unnerved by the fact he could still sense quite a number of them still crawling through the town. Was this town really that populated with Hollow kind or was there just something weird going on today?

"We might need back up on this one."

Akio shrugged lightly and said, "I'm not sure where to go around here... I guess we should keep looking." As he started to walk, he turned to Saikah and said, "Why are you so shy anyway. I've felt it since we got here. You know we're on the same team, right? In fact... I don't really know much about... anything." He started to scratch the back of his head lightly.

Saikah flinched slightly at Akio as she starts to fidget with her fingers. "U-Uhh...well....IT's a bit complicated..." She mutters as she looks at the ground. The roar of hollows filled the air as well as the intense Reiatsu as she tursn around, seeing an enormous group of them nearby. "A-At any rate, we gotta hurry! We can't leave these hollow alone!" Before Akio could retaliate, she disappears in an instant.

The hollows started to gather around Masataka and Raian, surround the two males. Suddenly, a few hollows cried out in pain before disinigrating as Saikah lands on teh ground with her Zanpakuto unsheathed. She notices Masataka and Raian. "I-I'm sorry I'm late!" She stutters to them.

Akio turned quickly as he saw Saikah run off. His ability to sense Reiatsu was low at best. When Saikah ran off, Akio narrowed his eyes lightly as he looked out at the battlefield. He looked at his blade for a moment and gave a nod before running off. His hand gripped onto his sword tightly as he said, "Engulf in Black Winter..."

Within the distance of the battlefield three move of the hollows seemed scared from Saikah's strike. However, it wasn't a fear that would make someone run away. It was a desperate fear in which they would try anything to survive. The lunged out in preparation to attack. The attack had no time to do anything. A rain of black crystal-like shards came down from the sky. The shards hit the three hollows in a barrage. Upon being hit, the areas became encased in black, crystal-like ice.

A second after that, the blue haired boy was there. He held a large black blade that seemed to be made of a crystal'like ice. It slashed forward, severing the three hollows as Akio looked at everyone. "Hey guys... am I on time?" Akio said with a light smile.

"Heh, looks like the gang's all here."

Raian nodded quickly to the two new arrivals, ducking in a nonchalante manner to dodge a wild strike from another Gorilla like hollow. The beast turned back, throwing another punch which Raian dodged with a quick side step. The irritated Hollow swung with both hands, smashing into the ground with a sledgehammer motion.....only to realize the guitarist Shinigami was standing on it's hands, leaning toward it's face.

"You dance divinely, who taught you?"

Before the creature could swipe him away, he jumped over, allowing the monster to stumble ahead for one of the others to seal it's fate. Raian kicked off it's head and slapped the strings of his weapon, a blast of sound with a thunderous roar and metallic undertone rocketing him into the air to meet the enemies he had claimed. He slowly fell back to the Earth, but while doing so, he turned his attention to the strings.

Hands flashed in skillful succession with the utmost care and precision. A thrashing wave of face melting rock music screamed into the sky, formless fists striking the flying hollows with lethal accuracy. The source could not be pin pointed, simply because they were travelling through it. Any space, especially open space, was the weapon in the hand of Tatari Sasayaki. They were bombarded from all sides as Raian played, spiritual dust forming a falling cloud as he did so.

Landing back on his feet, Raian turned.....and was launched back by a brutal fist. One of the many hollow just happened to catch him at the right time, sending him into a tree with enough force to run cracks through the wood. Raian slumped, leaning his head back.

"Ow, ow, ow, always check behind you, owwwwwwww....."

He pushed himself back to his feet, rolling his neck before setting aim on the attacker. A quick strike of the bladed guitar smacked the hollow with a wave from behind and plowed it into the dirt, shattering it on impact.

"So you're the rest of the unit, eh?"

Masataka jumped back and lifted his foot at that, lashing out with a final kick and sending the final Hollow straight into something that it definitely didn't want to meet. Sadly, it did. A cane smacked point blank into the mask and sent the beast into darkness, only for the same weapon to vanish before one could even figure out where it had gone. The genius adjusted his clothes and turned, arms once again relaxing within the pockets of his blue jacket as he looked over the new arrivals with a keen eye. Akio was considerably shorter than himself, but looked no less deadly. The thing that struck him though was the utmost ease he seemed to have gained a Shikai, an ice one at that. Now, that just wasn't normal. Who was this odd kid? Holding an extreme amount of spiritual energy and a released Zanpakuto? He didn't know what to think,

"Well, least you're here now."

Raian was next on his little list of thought. To see a Shikai was one thing, but to see one that used both sound and held the shape of a guitar? He could barely believe it. Two released blades in one unit? A part of him couldn't help but wonder what the hell he had gotten himself into. Still, he was not about to complain. Finally, the last person to catch his eye was the only girl of the group thus far, the white haired beauty almost shyly backing away from attention. Normally he would simply shrug and welcome her, but a piece of her made him pause. Her spirit. He could almost smell the fear and nervous energy coming from her, yet she didn't make a move to run. Admirable, if a little dangerous. He would have to watch this one, or at the very least keep an eye on her for awhile. All this aside, the genius had other problems now stabbing at the edge of his senses,

"I'm Masataka...and...."

A roar shattered the remaining silence, a roar that was joined by quite a few more, They didn't need high-level sensing skills to feel what was coming their way. Six direct hollows, coming from a number of pathways and roads. Admittedly, this wouldn't be much of a problem, if the strength they could probably feel in each of these beasts were like the trash they had just vanquished only moments ago. They were not. They were far stronger. For a single patrolling Shinigami, this small group of Hollow kind would be their end quickly enough. No wonder they had called in more than a single person to investigate this town before they continued with daily patrols. It would have been a bloodbath for any poor soul on his first job. Masataka could only sigh and glance towards the trip, shoulders arching,

"I guess you can all feel that coming towards us..?"

He paused, a bead of sweat on his forehead,

"Anyone got a plan?"

"Actually....."

Raian held up a finger, motioning with his eyes to the heights. Building tops not too far from their position, offering a wide range of view.

"The fighter with the high ground almost always wins. Those of us with the longer range should take position and hammer on the approaching Hollows, leaving the other two to take care of things from the ground level." He crossed his arms over his chest, his right hand cupping over his chin in thought. "Worst comes to worst, we hold them off allow the others enough time to regroup and we attack again."

He closed his eyes, listening to the wind, feeling the shudder run through his body. The power was much different than the others. It would take their full effort to do away with it. He placed his arms behind his head, a condenscending eyebrow raised to the rest of his makeshift unit.

"Unless anyone else has a good idea?"

Akio turned as he noticed something coming towards them. Even someone like him could feel the power and spiritual pressure of such a thing. What's worse was that it came in a set of six. He placed his hands on his blade with a determined glare to the distance as he said, "I won't let anyone here get hurt. No matter what happens I'll hold them off..."

Inside of Akio's head, a voice called out to him. You can't do this alone. It said to him. Akio blinked lightly as he looked around for a moment, trying to see if anyone else heard the voice. He turned to all the others and said, "On second thought, maybe that guy has the right idea."

Saikah shys away from Raian and Masataka, a little uneasy from people outside of her squad. Regardless, she was sent on a mission to aid them. Her eyes widen as she could feel the powerful reiatsus overwhelming her. Seeing the holllows and hearing Masataka's comment, she grips her Zanpakuto with both of her hands. "We just need to cut down the numbers, right?" She asks to no one in particular but herself. Her Zanpakuto seemed to get darker to the point where it was nearly black.

"Reveal yourself, Akuryōkyōkai"

She forced her hands to move in opposite directions, looking as if she jsut split her sword in half, temporarly blinding the sword in a spark of light before revealing its Shikai form. They were now two seperate swords, both lacking the guard on the hilt. One of the swords was black, almost like a mirrored shadow of her true blade. Her zanpakuto seems simple and not very strong to fight against hollows of that strength, but that wasn't her aim.

In a flash, she disappears from the group, heading towards a group of hollows coming from one of the smaller paths. She manages to dodge their attacks, getitng quite a few close calls while dealing little damage to the many hollows. The more she fought, the more surrounded she was as the hollows in that path were now focusing on her. One of them raises their hand before bringing it down on the unsuspecting shinigami.

The hand stop dead, just a breath away from Saikah's head. In fact, all of the hollows seemed frozen in place. She stood there, her darkened sword stuck into the ground in their intertwining shadows as the full moon shones on the hollows, revealing transparent chains wrapping around all of them.

"I can hold on to these for a little bit, but I can't make any promises." she calls out to the males.

What the hell? Was everyone on this team an expert at their sword bonds? Either way he was both slightly annoyed and pleased at the same time. Her Shikai had caught him off guard all things considered, especially with the fact it seemed to be controlling shadows. He had never seen anything quite like it before. He had been right to keep an eye on her, she did indeed hold a special nature to her. Still, they had things to do. She had managed to capture and hold three Hollows at once, but they already looked on the verge of breaking out if their pissed eyes gave any clue. It wouldn't last long, probably until she snapped under the strain. Even her help though didn't take care of the remaining three running right at them, but least it cut down the numbers.

"Alright, then we'll deal with the rest."

Masataka jetted forward and span on point, his foot lashing to catch a single Hollow that had roared down upon him with rather long claws. The kick caused the beast to freeze up and stumble away at the force, yet didn't do the same action that so many of it's kind had done before. Instead the large creature whipped out a massive arm and swept it down upon the genius, a pair of eyes going wide at the sight. He never stood a chance. The limb crushed into his stomach and sent the grunting Shinigami straight across the road, slap-bam into a car to be precise. He was actually forced backwards over the shattered vehicle because of the hit and his bones physically creaked as he tried to readjust himself, fingers snapping themselves out of his pockets,

"Hope you don't mind, but I'm more of a close quarters kind of guy."

He slowly stood up and faced the creature, his face marked with both dirt and sparkles of fresh blood from his lip. If one were to look close at the scene, they would notice that the genius had been the only one not to release his Zanpakuto. A complicated thought. He made no move to do such a thing either, simply steadying himself and staring directly at his opponent with a grin on the edge of his pale lips. Footsteps echoed as the genius began to walk towards the beast that had nearly caved in his ribs, fists clenching for the fist time since the team had met up. Then, it happened. His bruised knuckles met the mask of the Hollow and the air shook, returning the attack that the creature had dealt him with greater than equal force. It must have hurt, but the oh-so poor creature let off a tormented scream and a trailing crack formed at the edge of the mask, all as it blew into a nearby truck.

He was going to have to pay for that. Literally.

"Just hold em off' till our final member gets here. That should give us a reasonable advantage."

Or not.

Raian had no time to react or set the plan he mentioned into motion. They just sort of ran off and did their own thing. Why would you ask for a plan if.....meh, whatever. He had more important things to deal with. As in the pissed off hollow trying to claw his face off. This thing's speed was insane, offering no quarter in a rapid, wild slashing assault with both arms. Two strikes had connected with the guitarist Shinigami, one to the ribs that had thrown him off of his feet in a direct motion straight up, the other socking him in the jaw, sending Aidoru into a corkscrew rocketing through a clear space.

Where was he? What was going on? Why did his....everything hurt? Raian shook the confusion off, luckily before he had time to have an unfortunate meeting with the ground. In the moment as he was, a skilled hand slid over the strings of his beautiful weapon. A single note played in thunderous volume, and Raian was forced back straight up, but momentum would not let up. He had a choice to make. Either eat the full front of the impact, or suffer less for a gain. The choice was obvious, as he played another note. A second wave of pure sound collided with his back, thrusting Raian forward and ceasing the aftermath of the Hollow's punch, but forcing Raian to his knees, adding his back to his injury list.

Bleeding from the abdomen, swelling on the face. No time to react. The hollow was upon him already. The fists flew again, but this time he was ready. Raian launched backward, hands sliding over the neck of Tatari Sasayaki. Each fist of the beast clashed with the blind force of sound, rapid strikes cancelling each other in a frenzy.

He just had to hold it back, or wait for the time to strike.

"BANZAI!"

The final unchained hollow, looking to be the mix of a bear and some sort of cat, looked up to find the source of the noise. Just in time to get drop kicked in the face by an enthusiastic looking teen.

Hisao smiled as she landed. While there were many things she didn't like about this new 'life' of hers, kicking monsters in the face wasn't on that list.

The hollow roared in anger and pain, clutching at its mask with both clawed hands. That one attack seemed to have cracked the mask, if only a little. The creature glared and growled, swiping one of its massive paws towards the shinigami. Crush or carve, it didn't matter. The hollow wanted the girl dead.

Hisao caught the paw.

A grin.

"Not enough."

She pulled the hollow down and towards her, punching it in the face when it was level with her. It screeched and held its paws again, the mask having cracked a little more.

Hisao took the opportunity to wave to the other shinigami. "Hi. I'm going to guess that I'm late."

Akio looked at the situation, scanning each of his new allies and their abilities. The plan from before was a good one, however there was still an issue. The numbers were greater and the power was more than he had expected or than what he was sure he could handle.

I will assist you., a voice called out within his mind. You cannot do this alone, but you have me...

Akio nodded, not entirely sure what the voice was, but any help would be appreciated at this point. He closed his eyes as two hollows came at him from both sides. He lifted his blade as his Reiatsu grew in power, his sword howling with might as he slashed forward. The speed wasn't as great as Saikah, or a brute force powerful as the girl who'd just appeared, but the spiritual force behind it encased both the hollows into black ice. Akio wasn't done there, however. He slashed again, splitting the ice in half which destroyed the two hollows.

Akio would have said something at this point, but the surge of energy was too much, too much to control at the moment, or even for him to move more than a few steps at a time. He was grounded in one area and on the verge of passing out from the strain.

Saikah started to pant lightly as her hold on the hollows grew increasingly weaker. Normally, she woudl have no problem subduing three hollows, but these were much bigger AND much stronger than your average hollow on the prowl in teh night.

"C-Can't..." She tries to keep her grounded sword in place. The chains were actually starting to chatter from her unstable hold. She sheaths her sword as she places both hands on the sword, pouring as much reiatsu as she can to strengthen the binds, but it was taking quite a toll on her body.

Soon, her shadow sword snaps and released the hollow from their binds. She was then sent flying over to Masataka as one of them lands a hit on her.

A hand snapped out, fingers hooking the robes of the girl and catching her mid-flight. It would have been quite difficult, if one didn't realize how physically strong the genius was. Masataka was actually holding the girl up with one hand all while his other sent the Hollow he had been fighting away once more. His dark eyes snapped to the white haired beauty and they merely blinked, his arm twitching before he gently placed her down on the Earth with nary a grunt. Instinct and raw awareness had allowed him to grab her in time, but his trained strength gifted him with the ability to do so. His following words were hinted with concern and a touch of something one couldn't describe, his eyes darting back and forth between the increasing numbers, "Are you okay?"

He paused at the sudden appearance of their final member, his mind flashing through numerous images before they faded. She was obviously not the calm type if her entry 'Banzai' gave anything away, but her strength and speed assured him that she wasn't just here as a joke. Her attack had broken that mask in the same way he usually did, meaning that she could probably match him in raw strength. This was a good thing. A very good thing. Still, she was not the one causing him concern. The girl he had just caught was. Her power had faltered and she seemed tired, something they couldn't afford in this dire situation. Luckily, the remaining male member seemed to be still ready to fight, with the added bonus of the current arrival.

Two hollows were down thanks to Akio, while the girl and Raian was dealing with one each. Yet that still left two now heading straight at him. A problem, considering that the tired girl behind him looked like she was just about ready to collapse. He could only clench his fists at the thought and shift into a stance, staring at the opposite beasts as they howled down upon him. He knew what he had to do, but so soon? He felt downright ashamed of himself. It was better than the alternative though, wasn't it? Thus, Masataka let his hands relax. His back arched as he stood up straight and fixed his jacket, a single palm coming up with a single grasp at mid-air. Safe to say, one of the Hollows snapping down at him was surprised to be smacked rather brutally by a simple wooden cane, a chuckle following,

"Hit that Hollow even harder and I'll forgive you for being late. Now, excuse me."

Masataka snapped up the cane once more, looking straight at the two beasts with a mocking twirling gesture of the weapon,

"Let's play a little game, shall we?"

Well, they didn't need more welcome than that.

Saikah shuts her eyes, awaiting for the immense pain to course through her body when her body lands on something. Seconds passed and she felt nothing of the sort when her body stops. Hesitantly, she opens her eyes as she looks around, finding herself being held up by Masataka's hand as he gently lets her down. "A-Ah...I'm all right...I'm sorry." She apologizes, scratching her cheek lightly as she notices her breathing was a bit labored. She was never really strong nor did she have high tolorence for pain. "I'm really just a burden, aren't I?"

She shakes her head as she sees the two hollows advancing towarsd them. It doesn't matter what she thinks right now. The hollows needed to be dealt with, whether she was strong enough or not. Her sword shot out from her shadow as she grabs it, heading straight for the two hollows. Using her speed, she repeatively hits one of the hollows' mask while dodging their attacks. Since she continues to hit the same part of the mask, a noticable crack starts to form.

"Can do!" The tomboy called out as she focused her attention once again on the hollow. Which was probably a good thing, as it gave her just enough time to dodge another swipe from it. She made a mental note to not get so distracted. Then she wondered how long it would be until that mental note got lost.

Right. Focus.

Hisao ran up and punched the creature right in the gut, the pain causing it to curl into itself. Unfortunately, Hisao did not see the hollow's tail until it hit her and sent her flying a good distance away.

The teen winced as she landed on her back. That might bruise. Stupid monsters and their mallet-like tail thingies...

The hollow recovered quickly, leaping towards the fallen shinigami with a rage filled cry. Said shinigami waited until it was close enough, then used her hands to push her straight up, feet connecting with the hollow's throat. It gasped and choked, clawing at its throat in a desperate attempt to breathe. Its windpipe had been crushed.

With that, Hisao drew her sword, stabbing the hollow in the crack she had made in its mask. It was purified instantly, dissolving into a white light before vanishing completely.

The girl then sheathed her sword and glanced around with a smile. What did she get to fight next?