- Chapter 26 -

The Final Battle VI: Karakura Town

Miyori

"Miyori-san, please, wake up" A whispering voice pleaded into my ear, strong arms holding my back so I wouldn't fall back. A small groan escaped my lips and as soon as I opened my eyes, I saw a dusted and slightly wounded Ichigo staring at me with his chocolate brown orbs. I felt puddles of tears creating at the corners of my eyes, seeing him safe and alive and I was ready to wipe them away but a sharp pain prevented me from doing so.

"Oh, shit" I cursed and my eyes drifted on my right shoulder. The cloth was a bit scratched and the bitter red liquid was running down my hand, falling from my fingers down to the mud. I tried to lift myself up but my body refused to agree with me and stayed still on the ground. "A lil' help with that?"

My body was lifted up by Ichigo and he was ready to drop me over his shoulder but I pushed him away, landing on the ground steadily. I may have been a total weakling at the past few hours but the countdown had already started and I was prepared to push myself until death to save everyone. Ichigo cursed me with improper words and I rolled my eyes which suddenly fell in a not-so-familiar outfit which wore the person we were looking for all this time. Orihime Inoue.

My heart raced and my mind went dizzy- everything that had happened the past few hours didn't make any sense at all! Ichigo was supposed to be dead and Orihime was locked up in one of Las Noches' rooms, together with someone to watch after her. Well, everything had gone upside down, twisted, backwards and any other shit someone could think of.

"Wait, guys, guys, what just happened? You, were supposed to be dead and you.. you were supposed to be imprisoned by some ass Arrancars; yet everything is nice and good and I'm the retarded Captain who doesn't know what is going on?" I exclaimed angrily, the three of them staring at me like I was a psycho who had just escaped jail.

"Ichigo fought with Grimmjow-sama and he won! Before that, that lady healed him and he came back to life!! I'm so glad Ichigo won dis battle!!" Nel exclaimed happily and hugged Ichigo tightly, the strawberry popping a vein at the continuing hugging.

After that, Orihime healed my not fatal wounds and we were ready to leave, thinking that it would be dangerous for us to stay any further in Hueco Mundo, the enemy's land. Suddenly, a panting sound was heard and we turned around only to see a blood covered body of an Arrancar- that must be "Grimmjow-sama" Nel told me about. Wait a minute... I can recognize that guy! He's the Espada who had attacked Karakura Town when we were in Hitsugaya's Advance Squad, I thought quickly, my eyes staring at his defeated figure. Considering that he was the sixth Espada and was defeated by Ichigo, that would mean a small win for Soul Society and all of us, Shinigamis. Yet, he wasn't dead. His trembling figure managed to stand up and point at Ichigo with his zanpakuto, asking for more fight. Ichigo dropped his sword on the ground and aimed for Grimmjow's hand which he successfully grabbed and prevented from stabbing him. Ichigo seemed to be telling him to stop fighting but the Espada stood his ground and didn't gave up until... a weird-shaped sword stabbed him at the side of his chest, sending him dead a few meters away.

My shocked gaze looked at the destination of the sword and realized that it was handled by one of the Arrancars- or should I say an Espada, since his spiritual pressure was abnormal. He actually looked like an elf- he had long, black silky hair which reached down his visible chest from his V-robe, his grin being huge and monstrous, his shoes being twirled up like a fairy's while his left eye was covered by an eye patch.

"An Arrancar?" Ichigo asked dumbfounded but as soon as the unexpected guest approached us closer, he corrected himself: "An Espada"

"I'm asking you who you are, answer me!"

"N-Noitra... You bastard..." 'Grimmjow-sama' cursed his former teammate (?) and gave him a hard glare of apathy. I watched with disgust as that Noitra guy advanced towards Grimmjow, trying to finish him off but was blocked by Ichigo's extended sword, making both of our eyes to widen.

"The heck?!" I thought out-loud, watching intensively the sight in front of me. "Ichigo, what the hell are you doing? Why didn't you let him finish him off? He's our enemy!"

"What're you doing? You bastard" the Espada asked Ichigo, his glare hardening second by second. "That's my line. Why are you trying to cut down a guy who can't move?" Ichigo yelled frustrated at him, responding to his glare immediately.

Ichigo hopped back, giving me the chance to carefully approach him. "Ichigo, this is serious. His reiatsu is ranked between Ulquiorra's and that Grimmjow guy's; not to mention that Ulquiorra almost killed you! You mustn't take that risk, it doesn't deserve it! I can distract him and-"

"Miyori" Ichigo cut me off, placing his hand on my shoulder and gazing me with his large brown eyes which were giving me a cozy feeling every time I was looking into them. "I will do anything for my comrades... for my friends. That's why I'm fighting. In order to keep everyone safe, sacrifices must be made. Take Inoue and Nel and go". With that, the strawberry charged front and clashed swords with Noitra. I stood there startled for a bit but I knew what to do.

I jogged until where Orihime and Nel were, grabbing the woman's hand while I draped Nel above my shoulder and started running. Running for liberty and leaving my comrades back. I knew that I wasn't doing the right thing but... Ichigo had trusted two innocent souls to me and I had to put all of my might front and keep them safe.

"Teslan!!" the Espada yelled and as soon as he said that, my hand felt something losing. Orihime had been captured by one of the Espada's fraccions and she was squirming around his grip in order to be set free.

"You bastard!!" I yelled and charged at him, keeping Nel close to my chest where she gripped on tightly. I unsheathed my zanpakuto, gripping the hilt of it and slicing close to the Arrancar, though he successfully dodged it. I placed Nel down, safely, and advanced towards him once more though this time with much force. "Let... her.. GO!!" I yelled at him as I sliced his arm, blood ejecting from his wound. He dropped Orihime on the sand and charged on me, obviously pissed off. He sliced the air above me and when I dodged, he raised his foot and kicked me hard on the side of my head, right on my previous wound. Gritting my teeth, my body fell on the ground. The kick wasn't as bad as it looked like, it was just that my wound started bleeding again, taking the same color as my blood red hair.

I cussed internally and tried to stand up but the dizziness was enough to drop me back on the ground. "Crap" I hissed as I fell, my eyes hardening. I want to just get away. Get away from all of this. And never look back. I want to have a normal life where evil won't exist and my favorite persons won't hurt each other, a voice inside me murmured me and I would swear that it was my instict, but the tone of the voice was more... masculine. Sure, it seemed familiar. But who was telling me those things? "I don't have time to fuck around. I have to... protect them"

I held tightly the hilt of my sword and raised it up, stabbing it on the ground. By adding pressure on it, I stood up on my feet and my determination made me forget about my throbbing head. "Don't thank that.. we're finished..." I mumbled at the Arrancar who had turned his attention to me. My eyes at the moment searched around for Nel who was nowhere to be found so I assumed that she was hiding.

When I was sure I was stable, I grabbed my sword with both hands, anger burning at the back of my eyes. "Rise from the burning ground! Faiabado!" I cried, releasing my shikai. New power started flowing through my veins and I felt like I had just been revived, the burning feeling of my sword making me grin like a Cheshire cat.

And so I attacked.

>> Timeskip (cause the author is bored to write fight scenes :p) >>

I whipped the blood off of my mouth as I smirked. The enemy had been defeated- Kenpachi had given him the final blow though- and Orihime was safe. I was startled from the sudden appearance of the captain of 11th Division but I was more shocked when Captain Kuchiki, Captain Unohana and Captain Kurotsuchi came along. I wanted to fight more but captain Unohana pushed me back and told me that it was improper for me to fight like that.

"Besides, you have to recollect your powers for the big fight back in Karakura Town... It has already started" the smiling captain informed me as she healed my wounds. I nodded and was grateful that she was giving me such valuable information.

Toshiro... Please, stay alive...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I jumped up and starting hopping around, being recovered fully. The Arrancars were defeated by Kenpachi and captain Kurotsuchi so the only thing left for us to do was to get back in Karakura Town and fight for its liberty and protection from Aizen's army.

"Beeeeerryyyyyyy-chaaaann~~~~!!!" I sang happily while I jumped on air and gave Ichigo a suffocating hug. The force I used to jump on him sent him back to the ground, causing both of us to be covered with the white sand.

"O-OI! Miyori, WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK?!" Ichigo yelled at me, an anime vein popping on his head as he tried to push me off of him. "C'mon Ichigooo, gimme some love~" I pleaded him and gripped on tightly, not letting him go. He left a defeated sigh and hugged me back, making a wide smile spread across my face.

When I was satisfied by his hug, I stood up and dusted off myself, helping the already wounded Ichigo stand up. I smiled bright;y at my comrades, receiving some smiles back and the emotionless expression of Byakuya together with Zaraki's usual bored face. We started heading off, helping the injured and ready to open a Senkaimon with destination: Karakura Town. But before we were ready to complete that, an Arrancar appeared in front of us and everything happened so fast. Orihime wasn't standing in besides me anymore, leaving an empty space and few confused and concerned looks. But before we could do something else, a loud voice was heard all over the white dessert palace:

"Can you hear me? Members of the intruding forces?" The oh-so-familiar voice belonged of course to the lord of the whole Hueco Mundo, Aizen Sosuke. I gritted my teeth at the sound of his voice; traitors shouldn't even have any connection with us. "Allow me to first convey my respect for having felled so many of the Espada. More importantly, we will now commence our invasion of the Human World"

"Na-Nani?!" I shrieked, taking a step back surprised. What the actual- Orihime! Wasn't he supposed to use her powers for awakening the power of the Hougyoku?!

"I'm placing Inoue Orihime in Tower No. 5. If you'd like to rescue her, come and take her back. She is no longer of any use to me". His statement made me go wild. Everything seemed unimportant to me, only Aizen's words echoing in my blank head. Only when something was mentioned made me wake up: "Actually I'm glad that I succeeded in imprisoning the five Captains who came to reinforce them" And with that, all the Senkaimons which were previously opened, closed instantly and confirmed the non-existence of our plans to leave Hueco Mundo.

I officially knew that there was no way out. And that also, the worst part was that the intruding in Human World was ready to begin with us sitting right here and doing nothing. I decided to ignore all of the other discussions and think about something... think about something useful that would actually send us back home...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ichigo had already charged off and was currently fighting the protector of Orihime Inoue. I hope he will kick that bastard's ass and take back Orihime; I'm truly worried about all of them. Currently, captain Kurotsuchi had an idea about how getting out of here. And it confirmed my theory which was much simpler than that but was the base for his plan to be built.

I smiled proudly as Nemu started listening to his orders and starting building a random object which looked like a huge portal, made of powerful seals. Renji sweat dropped at my ridiculous smile and a vein popped on my head, my eye twitching in annoyance. "What was that for, Renji-kun?"

The red haired male sighed and scratched the back of his head, looking up at the sky. "It is just that while we're down here, the rest of the Captains of Gotei 13 are fighting against the Arrancars and are trying to protect us... and the whole Soul Society plus Karakura Town. I don't know I just feel... kind of responsible about leaving them give such a great fight against those powerful guys"

My heart ached at the mention of this statement, making me consider Renji's thoughts. He was actually right; the burden was huge and we were just sitting around, waiting for them to eliminate our enemies so we can get back home safely. Toshiro... I hope he'll be alright. And I wish that for all of--

"You're wrong" a girly voice mumbled, my yellow eyes snapping to look at the raven female member of the Kuchiki family. "We are trying as well to find any possible way to get back home and fight together with the others and make sure that everyone will be safe in the end. We need the necessary sacrifices for completing this though... But nothing ends without fighting first and putting ourselves in the first line, protecting our friends and comrades till the very end"

That's what a warrior has to do....

~*~*~*~*~*~

After a while, the Senkaimon-like object was built and was waiting for the bright winner to arrive. During that time, I made the necessary preparations for my trip with destination Karakura Town, the current battlefield. I caught my hair in a tight ponytail and sheathed my sword back in its case. Straightened my Shinigami Uniform's sleeves together with my haori's, I was ready.... physically. Mentally, everything was a huge mess.

I just hope that Toshiro, Kira, Hinamori, Ikkaku and Yumichika are completely safe. Not to mention the rest of the Captains and Vice-Captains of other Divisions, I thoroughly thought, munching my lip from the inside.

"Ichigo!"

I snapped my head towards the destination of the voice and saw the strawberry walking towards us, Orihime standing besides him. We had already planned that me and captain Unohana were going to help him pass safe his path towards the infamous town.

As he got closer, I noticed something different about him. His gaze was more empty, more lifeless. I grabbed his hand without a word and got close in the Senkaimon-thing, captain Unohana following us. Without any delay, we jumped in the gate and started our trip.

During that, I decided to ask Ichigo quite a few things, "Oi, Berry-chan. Who did you fight back there? Cause you seem a bit startled" I questioned him and added a small chuckle at the end, my yellow orbs travelling on him.

"I fought... Ulquiorra. And won" he stated, his brown and worried eyes meeting my shocked ones. Ichigo fought with Ulquiorra and killed him? The man that I had passed almost my whole life with... was now dead.

I faked up a smile at him and nodded, giving him thumbs ups. "G-good job. And Berry-chan... What would you do if your comrades were in danger?"

"I would instantly jump in front of them and block all of the enemies' attacks, no matter the cost. Even if they cut off my hands, I would continue kicking them. Even if they cut down my legs, I would continue biting them. Because if you're able to protect your comrades, that means a great victory for your mental values. If you can do anything for them, that means that they really mean something to you and actions are taking the place of general and worthless words"

I seemed to be staring at him for a while before nodding and smiling softly for him. Soon, our trip ended and the huge buildings of Karakura Town appeared in front of our determined eyes.

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Woop, woop, a chapter closer to the end! And believe me, the next chapter will be full of feels and crying! So, enjoy the happiness as long as it lasts x)

And there goes a big chapter for you .3.

Two chapters and the epilogue are left!! If you like this story, then don't forget to vote, comment and fan for more updates! Love ya all <3