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This article, Lions of Judah, is an extra chapter of the Hueco Mundo arc, which is part of Bleach: War for the King's Seal. It serves as the follow-up chapter to Fractured Light, in which Shiratori alerts Hikari Raiotto of the threat that is Averian, and also the death of his father, Judah Eli. Hikari acts as the primary POV character, with Shiratori in the supporting role.
I was startled out of sleep when I heard the door slam. Wait, startled? Makes me sound like an old lady. I was...shocked. Yeah, that's better. As I sat up from my plush couch, I was met by Shiratori. This would normally be a bit embarrassing, I wasn't in anything but boxers after all. Besides, this was out of character for the brown-haired woman. Sure, she had a key to his apartment, but she never just popped up unannounced.
Not to mention, the way she just stood there made pit fall into my stomach. She normally appeared so confident, her back straight and head tilted up. Most people thought that her posture meant she was looking down on them, but I never got that impression from her. She just appeared to be a woman on a mission, knowing what she wanted and how to get it. Unlike me, who just floated through life like a piece of debris in the ocean.
Maybe that's why he admired her so much. She brimmed with the confidence of certainty.
Not now, though.
She looked a mess, her head bent low, hands wrung together in front of her. Her reddish brown hair was disheveled, her bangs covering her eyes.
"Hikari," She croaked. "Something's happened...." she began to trail off as her voice broke. I flashed before her, gripped her shoulders right before she collapsed to her knees. "Tori!" I gasped, barely keeping her from landing on the hardwood floor.
She wrapped her arms around me, burying her head into my shoulder as she sobbed uncontrollably. I hugged her close, rubbed her back, did anything I could to console her. I didn't know what to say, if I could say anything, so I just held her close.
Eventually, her sobs became more infrequent, which I took as a sign that she was pulling herself together. We stood up, and I led her to the couch to sit. "Tori, you're kinda scaring the shit out of me. What happened?" To be honest, as much as I wanted to hear the answer, it felt like I was standing in front of a door that once opened, couldn't be closed again.
And I was right.
God damn it, I was right.
"It-it's Judah," Tori whispered, as I felt my heart plummet into the pit of my stomach. "What happened?" I spoke, my voice didn't feel like my own. It was a child's whimper, "What happened?" I spoke again, this time my voice breaking as I could feel a sickening fear crawling into my chest, constricting my heart.
"I'm so sorry, Hikari-" Tori tried to speak again before I shot up from the couch. "I get that! Tell me what fucking happened!" I yelled, my fingers digging into Tori's shoulders. She didn't seem to notice as she hung her head low again, but spoke nonetheless.
"It was an Arrancar. We were in the Forest of Menos, investigating the slew of Soldat that went missing around the area. That's when he attacked. He killed everyone, Hikari. Hollow, Quincy, it didn't matter. He would have killed me if it wasn't for your father." Her voice began to break again.
"You're telling me my father was killed by an Arrancar." It wasn't a question.
Tori nodded. "I'm sorry, Hikari. If I hadn't been so weak, so terrified, I might have been able to do something! To help him! Then, maybe.."
"Did you see the body?" I asked. Tori looked at me, her blue eyes tainted red and flooded with tears. "No, I-I didn't, but I felt his reiatsu--"
No. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't! His father can't be...I couldn't finish the thought as I stormed out of the living room, making my way to my room. A few minutes later I was heading out the door clad in black apparel.
"Hikari--"
"Take me there." I spoke simply, my voice as even as I could make it. A tremendous heat began to build behind my eyes as the fear that gripped my chest turned to rage and spread throughout my whole body.
"But--" Tori started to protest.
"If you won't show me where he is I'll find him myself." My shadow stretched out before me, opening a portal large enough to pass through. I stepped into the darkness, barely taking note of Tori scrambling behind me.
We stepped through the portal into the quartz-tree riddled forest. "Where was he?" I asked.
Tori went quiet.
"Where was he?" I asked, every word dripping with barely concealed venom.
"He-he was right here." Tori whispered.
My brows furrowed in confusion until I saw her eyes staring straight ahead. I followed her gaze until my eyes landed on it. A point helmet with gold and blue trimmings partially buried in the sand.
Something...everything within me died, as the reality that I tried so hard to ignore, to deny, smacked me across the face. The flaming indignation I felt slipped into the ether, replaced by an unforgiving numbness that had me standing ramrod straight. The only warmth felt were the hot tears flowing down my face.
As much as my heart wanted to fight it, my mind knew the unrelenting truth. My father, the light of my world, was snuffed out. And fittingly enough, the next thing I saw was black.
"Hikari!" Shiratori yelled as her friend fell to the dirt face first. She rushed to him, taking his head into her lap. Guilt and regret tore through her like a scythe, "I'm..." She was what? Sorry? How many times was she going to keep repeating it? What good did it do? Sorry wasn't going to help Hikari. Sorry wasn't going to bring Judah back from the dead. Sorry wouldn't make up for the fact that Judah died so that a beggar like her could live.
An inky black portal opened before her, as she, with some effort, carried Hikari back to his apartment. "We'll avenge Judah, Hikari. I swear it." She resolved as she dissapeared into the black.