The seemingly innocent looking dark sky above Karakura Town suddenly tore in the middle like a piece of fabric, revealing five silhouettes standing in the middle of the distortion. The five figures stepped out of the strange distortion and into the light, revealing themselves to be Arrancars who had been standing beside Grimmjow during the first meeting in Las Noches.
The first of the group, Shawlong Koufang was a tall black haired man, wearing the standard Arrancar uniform with his hair braided into a long ponytail. The remains of his Hollow Mask were covering the top of his head as well as the half left side of his face.
The second, Edrad Liones was a very large Arrancar with half red hair on the left side of his head and half shaved, two eye holes resting on his nose as a proof of his Hollow past, garbed in the standard Arrancar uniform except the jacket was opened to reveal a Hollow Hole in his chest.
The third, Yylfordt Granz was a tall blond haired man dressed in the standard Arrancar uniform with a broken helmet made of bones.
The fourth, Nakeem Grindina was a fat Arrancar with a bowl haircut, dressed in the standard uniform. Half of his round cartoonish face was covered with an intimidating mask, leaving the other half exposed.
And finally, the fifth, Di Roy Rinker, was an outlandish looking white haired teenager with the left side of his head as well as right covered in cyan bandages. He had strange square shark like teeth and an arrogant smile.
"Is this everyone?" the aforementioned Espada asked from above a tall building. He had arrived early to wait for his team so that they could get to the fun part. Ulquiorra may have let them live, but he was going to kill them regardless of their power, number or relations.
Leaving your enemy alive and giving them time to achieve power was not only preposterous but suicidal! Why give them time to reach higher when you could just diminish their fruition right now by crushing them?
"Yes." Shawlong answered softly, his hands behind his back.
"Did anyone see you?" the blue haired Espada asked pointedly, though not really interested in his answer since they were going kill the humans one way or another.
"Of course not." the thin Arrancar answered, as if the mere consideration of that concept was absurd. "Grimmjow."
"Yeah?"
"On the journey to meet with you, I detected several powerful Spiritual Pressures, contrary to Ulquiorra's report."
Grimmjow grunted in annoyance. Outwardly he was frowning, yet on the inside, he was grinning from ear to ear. More enemies means more people to kill "Open your Pesquisas!"
Shawlong, Di Roy, Nakeem, Yylfordt and Edrad closed their eyes and concentrated, extending their senses and awareness to their absolute maximum to pinpoint the most heavily concentrated Spiritual energy in Karakura Town.
"It seems there are quite a lot of them." Grimmjow commented smugly, a savage grin on his face. He could almost smell and feel the blood dripping down from his enemies! "Let's begin. Don't rest until every one of them is caught! If they show even a glimmer of Spiritual Energy, kill them without any show of mercy! Don't let even one of them escape! Go!"
"Right!"
"Alright Rangiku, that's enough for today." Haru announced as he stopped a tired sword strike from the exhausted Shinigami. They were outside the mansion, near the clearing where Haru and Naru had confronted Ulquiorra and Yammy. Haru had decided to train Rangiku in everything he had learned and mastered during his Ninja days.
His time as a Ninja might have been one of bloodshed and constant wars, but it taught him one thing above all else… how to survive. If anyone has the resolve and guts to survive in the midst of conflict and bloodshed, nothing would be able to get in his way.
While he had no intention of training her in the art of killing for the sake of stupid orders, he was going to turn her into an unstoppable force. He had made the mistake of presuming that she would be safe all the time once; he was not going to make the same mistake again.
"Has anyone ever told that you are one mean sadistic old geezer?" she breathed out, collapsing onto her hands and knees, everyone bone in her body protesting the slightest of movement.
Who would have thought that the cheerful looking blond could be a slave driver in training? She couldn't even breathe properly with all the finger flicks he had delivered to her bruised and bleeding forehead.
When he had first approached her after both of them had their asses chewed out by an irritated Naru, she had been surprised and excited to receive training from someone who had lived for millennia. However she instantly regretted that decision.
Haru and Rangiku were standing with their heads bowed, their feet slowly making circles in the ground below as Naru ranted their ears off with talks of "proper respect" and "getting their asses kicked next time". They had been caught a few minutes after their rather abrupt departure from Ichigo's house.
After a few minutes, the busty blonde finally calmed down and walked upstairs with an amused expression on her face, putting a little extra sway to her wide hips since she knew Haru was looking at her fleshy backside. Enjoying the show?
Hard not to when you sway them like you are trying to seduce someone!
You are that far from the truth since I am trying to seduce someone… though judging from the look on that someone's face, I don't think I need to put much effort into my actions.
That someone might just leave Rangiku in the middle of the room and come upstairs to "discipline" you! he sent in mock irritation.
The voluptuous blonde gave him a tempting smirk over her shoulder. Who am I to refuse such a generous offer?
Sometimes I really hate you!
Naru let out a soft giggle and disappeared into the master bedroom, making sure to give Haru a tempting show by seemingly bending low to adjust her long kimono and giving her plump rear a provocative jiggle. Her smirk widened when he heard Haru groan in misery.
"I knew you were whipped old man, but I never thought it was this bad" Rangiku teased just as Naru disappeared atop the stairs, totally oblivious to the battle of wills that had happened right before her eyes.
She turned around with a massive grin on her face, expecting Haru to lash out at her for calling him old; however, she was surprised to see Haru with a serious look on his normally vibrant and cheerful face.
"Rangiku, tell me something, what is your dream?" he asked seriously.
If he wanted to succeed the things he had in mind, then he needed to discard his cheerful mask for a while, no matter how much it would hurt him inside to see her fearful visage.
"What's with the sudden change in attitude old man?" she asked warily, laughing nervously to both avoid answering the question and change the subject. Her eye widened when a monstrous pressure descended on her shoulders, instantly causing her to drop down to her knees.
Haru felt as if a thousand blazing blades of lava pierced his heart when he witnessed the terrified look on her face. He knew she would be fearful of him for a while, maybe even abandon him due to fear, but it was needed… no not needed… it was essential for her growth.
"Answer the question Rangiku." he replied calmly and reduced the pressure until it vanished completely.
She seemed to be in shock over the fact that he had used that much pressure on her and struggled to stand up on her wobbly feet, using her sword as a support.
"M-my dream was to become a Captain and to find you." she replied warily, still in shock.
She hadn't seen this side of him during her childhood or even now except when he had invaded the Seireitei. The calm and calculative look from those gleaming red orbs and the tall height presented an aura of unspeakable terror. She couldn't stop herself from shivering when she saw those crimson orbs focused on her.
"Was?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Yes, but since I found you, I have another dream… to protect you and big sister." she announced with conviction.
Haru had to give her credit for even standing up properly after being exposed to his killing intent, let alone talk with that much determination.
"You do realize that I and Naru are more than capable of protecting ourselves from anyone and everything." he pointed out calmly, hoping to at least point the considerations and parameters of her dream.
She nodded. "I know, but that is not going to stop me from trying."
"Well then, since you are so determined to protect us, I'll be training you. Follow me."
Haru calmly walked out of the mansion, a slight jingle of his Shakujo resounding throughout the area as she followed him. She had to admit she was way of what was to come but also excited to be trained by him. After all, it's not every day a Primordial entity offers you training.
They came to a stop in a wide clearing as Haru turned around. "This is where we'll be fighting."
"Fighting!?" she asked hesitantly, not quite sure she had heard him right. He meant train right?
"Yes fight. Use everything in your arsenal and go for the killing blow. Use your Shikai; use Kido, Hado, Zanjutsu, Hohou and Bakuda, anything you have. I know you do not have a Bankai, so I'll force you to achieve Bankai!" With a simple snap of his fingers, his black coat and red shirt vanished into black mist, exposing his muscular torso.
Her eyes widened in shock, cheeks red with embarrassment as she tried not to drool. She had seen him shirtless many times during her childhood, but at that time she had no attraction towards it since she was a child. But now, she couldn't believe she had dismissed this perfection during her childhood.
Broad steel bar-like shoulders, a chest almost resembling a marble statue, washboard abs and bulgingly muscular arms! She now understood why Nanao and Soifon would blush whenever Haru's was mentioned.
"Don't hesitate. Never let anything distract you during a battle. Always be on your guard. I'll give you the first five hours to touch me with anything you like without retaliating. However, after the five hours, I'll be using my fingers to flick you in the forehead and if you think, my forehead finger flicks would be easy to take… then think again."
He walked to a large boulder in the clearing and simply flicked it with his index finger. Imagine her surprise when the boulder was smashed to tiny pieces.
"Five hours!? Are you insane?" she shouted in shock, both over the fact that he just smashed a boulder like it was nothing and that she would be trying to touch him for five hours. That meant she would be actually defending herself after the first five hours were over!
Haru didn't even flinch.
"I used to train for 24 hours straight without any breaks when I was a human, and three days with only 1 hour break each day."
"W-what!?" she stuttered in astonishment. Just how could a human train nonstop for 1 day straight without any breaks. Was he even a human? Well, he was not a human now, but she was already questioning if he had been a human back then if this was how he trained.
"Yes. Let me make things clear for you Rangiku, if you are really determined to protect me and Naru from harm, then you need to commit fully to my training regimen. Make a choice!"
She didn't even hesitate. "I am ready!"
"Then prepare yourself and welcome to hell."
She gulped.
Since then, he had practically killed her during every training day. Making her catch him with constant Flash Steps, not stopping until she had caught him or had collapsed from exhaustion. Drawing blood from him was like trying to stop the sun from shinning, considering he had no blood to begin with!
Hand to hand Combat, Spiritual training and Swordsmanship. The damn blond knew everything!
However, while she was verbally cursing him for putting her through this sort of hellish training, she was beyond excited to see its amazing results.
Her speed had increased tremendously due to using constant Flash Steps until exhaustion as well as her stamina for trying to catch that monstrous blond. Her sword attacks as well as the use of the dormant Chakra Haru had gifted her with, had yielded incredible results. All in all, she was dying to find some Arrancar so she could kick the crap out of them.
"Yes, in fact you have been saying that ever since we started training. If I remember correctly, you have called me that almost 13 thousand 2 hundred and 33 times." Haru replied with a cheeky grin. His eyebrow twitched when she muttered something about "perverted old geezers" and "slave drivers".
"Quite calling me an old geezer!" he muttered with a tic mark on his forehead.
Rangiku was too tired to even come up with a comeback as remained seated on the ground. A soft glow from Haru's hand instantly healed her wounds as she stood up and instantly sensed an approaching Spiritual Pressure.
She whipped her head towards Haru in surprise and suspicion. He was looking at her in approval. It seemed he had been testing her to see if she was capable of sensing the Arrancar from this distance. Judging from the approving look, she had passed with flying colors.
"Don't even think about releasing the Limiter, your current strength should be more than enough to go Haineko on his ass. Now go, kick his ass and make this old man proud!" he said cheerfully, pumping a fist in the air as he cried anime tears of pride.
She grinned from ear to ear and with one last hug, shot towards the approaching Arrancar like a bullet. The Arrancar unfortunate enough to face her would die before he even knew it! With the training she had received for the past week, she was confident she could even take her Captain on in battle!
Haru looked on with pride and satisfaction at the speeding Rangiku meeting her opponent head on. His training may have been hellish… borderline insane… but the results were more than satisfactory. If he continued to train her like this, not even her Captain would be able to keep up with her.
He wasn't even going to bother monitoring her fight since he already knew the results.
He shook off the feeling of pride and looked towards the direction of the highest level of Spiritual Energy currently battling Ichigo. From the looks of it; the orange haired boy was getting beat up badly.
His tall form turned to red mist and vanished without a trace.