So we meet again (Shiro)

for the unfading miracle named 'you'

A piercing roar alerted Shiro to the presence of a Hollow. It wasn't too far off; he was surprised that he hadn't sensed it earlier. Filled with a sense of urgency, the Shinigami dropped from the roof of the building he had been standing on, letting himself fall headfirst for a couple stories before he caught himself in mid-air and started to fly parallel to the ground. Shiro had already pinpointed the Hollow's location. He was close to it already.

"Hado, number four," the Shinigami uttered under his breath. His words were masked by the wind as he moved. Shiro turned one more corner, and there it was. He didn't even stop to study the Hollow, only raising his right arm and pointing his index finger towards its mask. "Byakurai!" A concentrated bolt of lightning-esque Reiryoku flew from the Shinigami's fingertip, putting a sizable hole through its head and killing it.

As the Hollow began to disintegrate, Shiro dropped to the ground, looking somewhat unsettled. He glanced over to where the Hollow had stood only seconds ago. It was a human once... Thankfully, the gates of Hell had not materialized, which meant that this soul was going to the Soul Society. However, the Shinigami didn't have the time to stand around pondering like this. Another Reiatsu source was fast-approaching. In fact, this Reiatsu seemed a tad familiar, though Shiro couldn't quite place it. Aware that he was still standing in an alleyway with minimal space, Shiro tensed. There wasn't much to be done about it; the newcomer was very close already. Staring in the direction he felt the other coming, Shiro waited with a guarded expression.

for the unfading miracle named 'you'

Shiro's eyes widened when a man in a red mask appeared at the entrance to the alley. Now he knew exactly why the Reiatsu had felt so familiar before. "You're... the one who..." He didn't finish his sentence, as the masked man began to talk, and even formed a Quincy bow. Shiro had been about to ask him what he meant by "his city", but what he said next was more of a shocker. He didn't say anything for a while, only staring at the Quincy with a perturbed expression. How could they say something like that? Why would anyone want to completely erase a person's soul? Shiro didn't understand it.

Though he was outmatched, severely so, Shiro didn't show any signs of fear at the masked man's threat. Instead, he gave his adversary a disappointed look. They must have gone through some rough times, to have such an outlook, to make such threats so easily. Then again, this person was obviously a Quincy. It was natural for them to hate Shinigami... but why other people, those who weren't involved, even? "How can you..." Shiro's right hand shook a little. Seeing people like this made him sad. On top of that, he couldn't forgive what this Quincy had done. "How can you say things like that?! And why did you set off that Hollow Bait?! Do you know how many innocent people died that night?!" Unexpectedly, he ended up yelling, taking a step forward himself.

Shiro didn't want to fight this person; he didn't even know if he could come even close to emerging victorious against them. If possible, he wanted to reach a peaceful solution, which was the only reason he had not yet drawn his Zanpakuto. Still, he was ready to use another Kido if the Quincy pointed his bow in his direction. Shiro wasn't going to let himself get killed here. "No matter what the Shinigami or Hollows may have done to you in the past... this path of destruction isn't going to help anybody!" Shiro was aware that he knew nothing about this person's life, but he felt like he had to at least try and reason with them. After seeing what they had done weeks before, Shiro almost hated this man, but he still felt that he should try to save him.

for the unfading miracle named 'you'

"That's not a reason," Shiro replied rigidly. He summoned a thousand Hollow because he thought more than two Shinigami would show up? That didn't make much sense to him. He had wanted to know why the man did it, not his expectations. The fact that this Quincy before him was laughing in the face of what he had done disgusted Shiro. Maybe he was too far gone. Is there no point in reasoning with him? The Shinigami's question was answered by what came out of the masked man's mouth next. It was true that sending only two Shinigami out that night wasn't the best solution. Shiro himself had wondered about that. But they weren't the only ones at fault. Not by a long shot. "You're the one who broke the bait. The people who died that night? Their blood is on your hands and yours alone," he said sadly. Perhaps the Shinigami's response was lackluster, but that didn't change the fact that no one would have died if the Quincy hadn't set off the bait in the first place.

"That will never happen." Though Shiro looked and sounded resolute, he felt the tiniest bit of fear when the Quincy turned his bow on him. Even so, he wasn't going to stand around like a deer in the headlights. "Bakudo, number 8, Seki!" Just as the arrows were shot, a round shield of light blue Reiryoku formed in front of Shiro. Several of the arrows hit the shield, and it instantly began to break apart. So easily... Though he really shouldn't have been surprised, Shiro was still taken aback by it. The arrows didn't seem particularly strong, and yet he could barely block them.

Before the Shinigami had a chance to recover, something exploded nearby. The outermost edge of the blast shattered what was left of the shield and sent Shiro skidding backwards. He caught himself before he could go careening into the wall. Seeing that some of his left sleeve had been burned away, Shiro was surprised that he had managed to avoid most of the attacks. Was this man even trying?

Now that there was no avoiding a battle, Shiro drew the katana that was his Zanpakuto. "Persecute, Ginkanmuri," The katana began to glow, nearly tripling in size and changing shape. Not waiting for the transformation to complete itself, Shiro slashed through the empty air in front of himself twice, sending two cross-shaped waves of grey Reiryoku towards the Quincy.

for the unfading miracle named 'you'

Shiro hadn't exactly expected his Yuuzai Kurosu to work, especially since he had used it in a weaker state. But when an explosion swallowed the attacks, he was taken aback. It was like what had happened only seconds before, except the Quincy seemed to have used it defensively.

Shortly after, Shiro felt the man's presence behind him. Before he could react, he felt something hit his back and suddenly he was flying towards the cloud of smoke left behind by the explosion. Instinctively, he covered his face with his free hand and let his Reiatsu spike for a moment, somewhat limiting the damage as he flew through the blast for a moment. Shiro landed face-down some feet away, and subsequently, felt a searing pain running up both of his arms and his chest.

Disoriented and expecting another attack, Shiro hastily formed a rectangular shield of grey Reiryoku in front of himself. Almost before he could activate the technique, a series of arrows hit the shield. He could hear them. Just as soon as he had created it, the shield was shattered and Shiro was left defenseless once more. He could have expected that with a level eight Kido shield spell, but not with Ginkanmuri's shield. Even some higher ranked officers - lieutenants even - had a hard time breaking it. And here this Quincy had just shattered it instantaneously.

I can't win like this, Shiro thought, hastily getting to his feet. Luckily, he wasn't alone in Karakura. There was another Shinigami around; a captain if he remembered correctly. It was curious that said captain hadn't picked up the Reiatsu and investigated this already, however. Shiro would just have to find them himself. He knew for sure that he couldn't win this. It would stupid of him to stick it out and die for nothing, too. The other Shinigami was his chance at surviving, and he was going to take it.

Ignoring the man's taunting, Shiro slashed Ginkanmuri through empty air. A small white orb dropped from the edge of the blade and exploded in the middle of the alley, hopefully cutting the Quincy off and blinding them if they looked at the explosion. Due to the lack of space, most of the explosion shot upwards, creating a wall of searing white energy for a few seconds, before the blast died down.

Panting now from the exertion of using so many of his powers in a short period of time, Shiro had slipped around the corner and jumped up onto a nearby building. Hopefully, his Jisuinaito had served as a good distraction and bought him some time. He knew the general direction in which the Shinigami was located, at the very least, and started to jump from building to building towards it. He had to reach them before the Quincy caught up.