Tower of Night: Complications

This article, , is part of the Bleach: Tower of Night story-line and features Kenji Hiroshi as the POV character. Naoko Izuru and Maya Zhijun serve as supporting characters.

Kenji beat Naoko to the ground and he momentarily looked back over his shoulder to ensure she was still behind him, but in that instance when his guard was lowered a Hollow charged him clean through a brick wall! He hadn't even sensed it and his phone hadn't beeped to give him warning either, and if the yelp Naoko let off was any indication she hadn't had any warning either. But Kenji wasn't wholly unprepared.

“... Son of a bitch...!” He exclaimed.

Kenji had managed to pull his Zanpakuto halfway from its sheath and intercept the Hollow's charge with the blade of his katana. On the other side of that blade was a bull-like Hollow with two large tusks protruding from a strange white mask with massively wide eyebrows and an open mouth showing razor-sharp teeth. Kenji, despite the pain in his charred left arm, grasped the tusk not obstructed by his Zanpakuto. He graped the tusk and with a mighty heave he sent the Hollow through the air with a mighty throw!

“Byakurai!”

This time it wasn't a penetrative wave from his fingertip. It was a colossal beam not unlike a Cero which he fired from cupped hands. The Hollow bore the brunt of the attack head-on and struck it with sufficient oomph that Naoko was capable of dispatching it cleanly with a single follow-up attack.

“Are you okay!?”

By the time she reached him Kenji was down on one knee. His breathing was laboured and blood was dripping from a number of places on his body; his forehead bore a deep gash above the eye, his burnt left arm was soaked red and a multitude of cuts on his back where visible through the tears in his black kosode. His vision was also blurring from the blood.

“... I think my ribs are broken.” Kenji said at last, though it took him an age to form the words. He was clearly in bad shape.

“I'm getting you back to the house!” Naoko cried.

“Yeah... that's a plan.”

He grunted as she hoisted him gently to his feet and, reluctantly, sagged against her as she supported him. He wasn't that fool that he pushed help away when he clearly needed it; that was idiotic. He was a loner by nature sure... but sometimes even the most isolationist person on the planet needed a hand from someone. This was one of those times. Kenji truthfully couldn't say he remembered much of the trip; he spent the majority of it with his head sagged forward and his vision blurred. He recalled being lowered into a bed and having his wounds cleaned – which hurt like a bitch – but when he next came to he warm light was streaking through the open window and a nice breeze was blowing through the room.

“You're awake. Good, you had Naoko worried.”

His vision cleared in-time but he didn't need his eyes to know who the owner of that voice was. When he could see clearly he saw Maya Zhijun seated nearby with a book in her hand, which she had seemingly forgotten about per his awakening. Today she wore a pair of shorts and a sleeveless yellow top.

“That Hollow came out of nowhere.” He noted, recalling the event. “I didn't even sense it.”

“Neither did Naoko.” Maya revealed. “When you two where off facing strange Hollow we investigated the Tower itself. It appears to emit a strange energy source; one that prevents us sensing Hollow reiatsu.”

“... Not good.” Kenji replied. “How long was I out?”

“Two days. In that time Naoko identified the Tower as a beacon of sorts, but aside from that initial hypothesis we're in the dark. Kugi, Indra and Yuri have been running patrols to deal with the Hollow, but we've no way to track them down when the Tower appears, and when it does we've noticed that their numbers increase too. Naoko and I have been trying to circumvent the Tower's affect somehow but we haven't had any luck so far. There's just too much ground to cover.”

Kenji knew how to track them.

“Leave the tracking to me. My sense of smell is as powerful as any dog's after all.”

“But are you sure you want to show the others?”

“I haven't much choice. I'll live.”

Kenji kicked off his blankets. He was akin to a mummy! Bandages where wrapped around his ribs, left arm and forehead, and a number of medical pads where on his back. As he got to his feet he inhaled sharply as his red eyes began to glow. His skin began to sprout black hair with a silvery tinge throughout and upon completion Kenji stood upon all-fours as a large mastiff-like dog with a black mask, brown paws and a brown head. His clothes and bandages fell to the floor in a heap.

“I'll need to dress those again.” Maya said with a sigh.

Kenji began licking his wounds. When he began walking he was limping on his front left paw and his ribs where clearly giving him trouble still, but he was capable of movement regardless. He made a motion very similar to what would have been a shoulder shrug.

“Is Kenji awake?” Naoko asked, walking in. “I heard- oh my god! Is that a Gwyllgi?”

“It's a long story but no because... it's Kenji.”

“WHAT!?”

When Naoko calmed down at last she finally began to notice the similarities. The coat was identical to Kenji's hair colour and his eyes where the same shade of red, but everything else was hard to take in. This would take some getting used to.

“How do we understand him?” She asked.

“I speak, that's how.” Kenji said, to everyone's shock.

“You can speak!?” Maya exclaimed.

“Yes, now let me sleep. Wake me an hour before the Tower appears.” And with that Kenji hopped back onto the bed and curled himself up into a ball...