#candicethunderkitty

Hope for backup or a request for a limit release waned with the unwitting destruction of his own Soul Pager, and it seemed the weather above the plains seemed to agree. Dark clouds blotting out moonlight while threatening calamity with rain and lightning, wind shrieking in his ears to silence the pounding of his racing heart... At any other time, he would pause and revel in the sensations of a storm’s unbridled and unrestrained chaos, but instead, the skies above only played a role of pathetic fallacy to the dire straits he found himself in.

There was no second-guessing it. The high-grade Adjuchas was livid and fought with a fury Kōtarō was not prepared for when he slew his friend before its eyes, and that was only after the shinigami garnered enough strength to power through for a second wind. However, there was something else the battered and bruised soul reaper was not anticipating.

A warning in the air. Faint crackles were sounding off from the steel of his wind-gathering shikai. His hairs stood on end in spite of blood and sweat. The taste of iron in his mouth renewed. His skin began to tingle something fierce. To one so attuned to the weather as he, these signs were enough to send a jolt of alarm through him when he realized he only had seconds to act.

To the Adjuchas’s confusion and subsequent glee, the little shinigami sheathed his weapon, put a lid on his reiatsu, and kicked off hard into flash step with as much force he could muster into his legs. Baring an amused snarl, it readied to give chase and put the poor whelp out of his misery. What, so the Lieutenant finally understood he couldn’t win, and decided to turn tail and run in fear?!

So distracted the Hollow was with its runaway prey, that it could not react in time as lightning splintered the sky, struck true, and seared its very soul out of existence, deafening its final cry with a sickening thunderclap. Robbed of a zanpakutō’s purification by this unusual bolt, it would never meet its companion in the Soul Society, or return to the cycle of reincarnation.

But, that particular wrinkle went unnoticed. Blinding light briefly illuminated the world around him, his eardrums almost popped, the air quaked with a ferocity that shook him to his core, but the Hollow’s reiatsu vanished without a trace – he even turned to find its body turning to ash and dissipating in the gale.

Assured after a few beats that the threat was well and truly gone, exhaustion took hold at last. His legs gave out as he fell to one knee, gaze transfixed on where the Adjuchas still stood until mere moments ago... and not on his surroundings that curiously seem to bear a litany of lightning-induced fissures scorching the earth. As he stared off at nothing in acceptance that he did miraculously survive what should’ve been a lost cause by all accounts, Kōta made to gather his wits anew while he caught his breath, heaved a sigh, and slowly started to come down from his adrenaline high now that he was allowed to rest.

“Whoa! You lived!” Giselle exclaimed as she approaches Candice. “I thought that sour looking Captain killed you.” 

Truthfully, Giselle knew Candice was made of harder material, even a devastating blow like the one she was dealt wouldn’t have kept her down for long. But after the Auswählen, it was impossible to know who was left alive on the battlefield. Even Giselle had just barely escaped with her life crossing Yhwach directly. Stumbling upon Candice was therefore, a very pleasant surprise. Not just for the obvious reason of seeing a fellow Sternritter, but because Giselle so badly needed another person to toy with and annoy. Any distraction from her grievous injuries. As she approached, the need to tease Candice grew greater and greater, and she couldn’t help the smirk that curled in the corner of her mouth. 

“Gosh you’re just too cute Candy.” the zombie sighed, herhead canting to the side for a moment before she hopped up and gently gave the Thunderbolt a peck on the cheek before promptly giving her a thumbs-up. 

“Well, I guess it’s not like you can kill me or anything~ The Illustrious Super-cute Sweet-Chef Giselle will teach you how to make lovely treats~” She promised. 

“I’m not concerned. I’m just curious. What are you protecting that is worth this suffering, hollow?” The other’s reiatsu was naturally repulsive to Candice, so she did not even approach. And she hated cleaning off blood from her boots - it was so hard to get that stain off of white. “No one is going to come for you. Your own kind are not in the habit of caring for one another in the spirit of comradeship - is that worth dying for?”

She listened patiently enough.  It was not as if she were swamped with any particular plethora of things to do given her state. 

It did not surprise her that a quincy would traipse up to her feeling some vestiges of uncertainty in regards to her. Wether that was about her situation, or the motivations behind what would, in comparison to the quincy manner of doing things: seem quite selfless. 

What did surprise her was that it was a ritter that was coming to her with this. 

“This suffering is not irregular in hueco mundo. Particularly not for hollows that are female. I’m not infamiliar with my situation, and in much the same way, I was assured that I would die.” She responded plainly enough as it were. 

“Simply because it does not happen, does not mean that it does not occur. In much the same vein, I would not presume your kind capable of any pity or decorum to my kind. And yet I have observed such an exception.” She closed her eyes for a moment as she felt the bindings adjusting to her reiatsu output. Now that she was not just hanging limply, her reiatsu had begun to cycle, and the chains were adjusting to keep her sealed. It made it annoying to do anything other than save her energy. It might be considered a form of torture in the world of the living. 

The first slap stings. Not nearly as hard as the word, you, which drips with enough electricity to make his hair stand up. The second slap has him clenching his teeth, and breathing through his nose. It’s going to leave a mark, and damn, if he doesn’t know he deserves it. He turns his head, meeting her eyes, as he attempts to raise himself to his full height, though he still feels small in the face of her colossal fury.

This is Kitty though. His Kitty. His beloved livewire. He’d take every ounce of rage she had, and thank her for it.

“Now, babe, ya know good ‘n damn well there ain’t nothin’ on Earth that could keep me from ya. Had ta lay low fer awhile,” He trails off. This explanation will not satisfy her. No, she’ll want blood, and she’s entitled to it. He owes her.

He cups her cheek, his thumb brushing over her refined cheekbone. His eyes roam her angry features, but he can’t feel anything but love towards her. Gods, he’d missed her.