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A Test of Faith	By : honeyMellon Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male > Renji/Shuuhei Views: 1155 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: No underaged beings, humans or otherwise, are involved in this work of fiction. Bleach and all its characters belong to Kubo Tite, I just "expand" them for fun. I do not make any profit from these work of fiction.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Previously on "A Test of Faith":

With her back towards the sky, she did not see the hollow descending upon her, but Renji caught the whiff of foreign spiritual pressure just in time to turn around and see the hollow raise an oversized hammer over its head.

Chapter 12

"Hado no 31, Shakkaho!"
A fiery red ball of light shot to the sky and exploded, the intensity of the kido spell sent a shock wave that threw Renji onto his back. Debris rained down all around him, some grazing his face. Blood immediately seeped out from the tiny wounds.
"Akari!" Renji screamed hoarsely. There was no way the tiny girl could've survived this.
The thick, choking smoke gradually lifted, and Renji stared at the dull yellow glow of circular-shaped energy that shielded the small, crouched figure beneath it.
"Impossible..." Renji muttered in bewilderment.
The glow from the spinning disk of spiritual pressure dissipated as Akari stood up, coughing and spitting.
"I'm okay! I'm okay!" she called out between coughs. She looked disheveled; her ponytail was lopsided, strands of hair had become loose, and her face was covered in smudges of soot.
Renji couldn't believe his eyes. Shakkaho and Enkosen, one after another so quickly? The girl never ceased to amaze him. It was brilliant; the hollow had been descending from above, its arms holding its weapon high above its head, which meant that its front had been completely exposed and vulnerable for a frontal attack. It had probably counted on the surprise factor and didn't expect its potential victim to seize that opening in such a short time; especially when the victim was a pint-sized shinigami.
"Did I get him?" Akari asked, patting her shihakusho and sending small clouds of dust into the air around her.
Renji coughed and waved his arm in front of his face. "That was...awesome!" he said, not knowing what other word he could use to describe it. "You okay?"
"I've been practicing," Akari said with a shy smile, pink in the face from the praise from her vice captain. She silently thanked the layer of dirt covering her face; at least she didn't have to worry about being seen blushing.
Renji looked around them. "I could've sworn that you got him," he muttered with a frown. But there was no sign of the hollow, dead or alive.
"Damn," Akari said, stomping her feet on the ground in frustration. "I should've made the attack stronger."
"Don't be silly," Renji said, giving her a light tap on the head. "You did very well, Akari. Give yourself some credit."
Akari pursed her lips, annoyed at herself. Then her eyes caught a white piece of what looked like a rock on the ground a few feet behind Renji. It stood in stark contrast amongst the dark brick crumbs. On closer inspection, Akari saw that it was actually a flat piece of smooth...rock, for a lack of a better term.
"What are you looking at?" Renji bent down to crouch next to the girl. Akari dropped the rock in his palm. Renji rolled the rock in his hand, running his fingers across the smooth surface, and his eyes widened. "I think this is a piece of hollow mask," he said, bringing the fragment closer to his eyes. "The son of a bitch is injured."
Akari jumped to her feet and did another quick scan of their surroundings. "But where can it hide?"
Renji didn't answer her; he leaned closer to the ground and squinted his eyes, checking to see if there are other fragments of the mask. If they could get a better feel of the hollow's injury...
"Shit!"
At the same time as he heard the scream, Renji felt the wind leave his lungs in a whoosh as he was abruptly knocked aside. He skidded several feet before landing hard against a low wall. Through blurry vision, he made out the vague shape of Akari's back. The girl had her zanpakutou firmly held in her right hand, while her left hand was raised above her head; she had blocked another attack with an Enkosen. The dull yellow glow of the kido spell blinked out from her left hand as she darted aside to avoid a sweeping blow from a mid-sized hollow in front of her.
Looking back and forth between the hollow and the still form of her vice captain, Akari felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach. Open your eyes, please...open your eyes...she screamed in her mind. Then, to her relief, Renji stirred. With renewed determination, she turned back to face the hollow with a growl of her own.
Did she just save me? Renji thought groggily. His head throbbed with a dull ache where it had smashed into the wall, and he gingerly touched the wound. His hand came away slicked with blood. Aww, crap. Struggling to his feet, he reached for Zabimaru. Time for the 6th squad vice captain to get some action.

The hollow wasn't one of those large, dumb-looking beasts that usually prowled the world of the living. This was one of Aizen's prototypes, advanced hollows that were evolved to have shinigami powers. But just like prototypes of any kind, this hollow was far from perfect; it had a somewhat humanoid form but its arms were ridiculously long, and its face mask was cracked, revealing a mouth that was bleeding in one corner.
"I will make you pay for this," it hissed, baring its teeth like an angry beast. A pair of glowing red eyes locked on Akari as the hollow advanced towards her.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Renji hollered as he soared through the air from behind Akari.
"Abarai-fukutaicho!" Akari gasped. A loud clang of metal against metal reverberated around them as the hollow blocked Renji's blade with the hilt of its hammer-like weapon. The hollow reared back to prepare for another attack.
"Now!" Renji yelled as he jumped up into the air.
Akari took the opening and let loose another Shakkaho, which exploded in the hollow's face. With a wild howl of pain, the hollow backpedalled. Not allowing it room to recover, Akari shot another red ball of fire at the hollow, earning another loud screech from the creature.
She was so focused on this hollow that she didn't feel a shadow descend on her until Renji screamed a warning. Looking up with a start, she barely managed to throw herself backwards to escape a spear. Mustering her strength, she yelled, "Bakudo no 39, Enkosen!" The large, spinning disk of condensed spiritual pressure blocked several more stabs from the spear before the second attacking hollow was blasted out the way by Zabimaru in Shikai form.
"There's more than one!" Renji said, raising his voice to be heard over the ruckus.
Akari bit her tongue before she could say "no shit". Picking herself up from the ground, she grasped the hilt of her zanpakutou with both hands and got into a fighting stance. Then, with a battle cry, she leapt into the air.

"Renji!" Rukia cried out in alarm as she landed along with Ichigo. They sprinted towards the redhead, who was sitting among a field of debris with his back against a wall.
"I'm fine," Renji said, his chest heaving from exertion.
"Where's the girl?" Ichigo asked, looking around in a panic.
"Do you think I'd be sitting here on my ass if something had happened to her?" Renji demanded indignantly. A trickle of blood-stained sweat made its way down the side of his face and neck. "We got one, but the other one managed to get away." He pounded his fist on the ground in frustration.
Rukia hopped through a smashed window of a building nearby. The girl with the purple obi was standing there with her back towards Rukia, staring dejectedly up at a hole in the roof.
"It got away," Akari said in a small voice.
Rukia patted her on the shoulder and smiled warmly at the girl. "Don't forget that you destroyed one," Rukia said.
Akari's face broke out in a grin, as if she had already forgotten about that. "That's true," she said.
Rukia gasped in alarm as her hand left Akari's shoulder covered in blood. "You're hurt!"
Akari's eyes widened and she looked down at her right arm in shock. In the rush of adrenaline, she hadn't even noticed the pain of the large, deep gash stretching from her shoulder down to her elbow. The sleeve of her shihakusho was shredded and hung in strips, soaked in blood.
"Let's get you both back to Soul Society," Rukia said, frowning in concern.
Akari did not argue; her face had suddenly gone white at the sight of her own injury.

Akari touched her bandaged arm gingerly. It stung slightly, but the medic had done an excellent job at mending the wound. Her skin had even begun to knit before the bandage was applied.
My first battle scar, she thought with a smile, feeling her chest swell with pride. Nii-san would've been proud.
She wandered down the hallway, peeking into rooms along the way to see if Abarai-fukutaicho happened to be in one of them.
They had been rushed to the 4th division as soon as they got back, guided by Rukia. She heard from the medic who attended to her that her vice captain had suffered a bad concussion and would have to stay the night to be observed. Akari, on the other hand, had only cuts and bruises, which could be healed easily.
As she approached the next door, she heard familiar, murmured voices coming from it. Her skipped with joy as she recognized Abarai-fukutaicho's voice. She ran forward, then froze as she recognized another familiar voice. Flattening herself against the wall next to the doorway, she slowly crept nearer and peeked inside.
Abarai-fukutaicho was holding up a small, rectangular-shaped pouch in his hand. He was laughing and saying something to Hisagi-fukutaicho, who was sitting next to the bed. The redhead had a bandage around his head and his long mane draped across his broad shoulders and framed his face in a way she had never seen before. He seemed...softer, somehow, with the tattoos on his forehead concealed under the bandage and hair.
"You're right, this little thing does bring good luck," she heard her vice captain say.
"You should be ashamed that you need a lucky charm to get back here alive," Hisagi-fukutaicho chided. "How many times did you say you got knocked onto your ass?"
The next words were muffled, so she peeked her head out a little more to listen. Instead, she got an earful of lustful moans. Abarai-fukutaicho had apparently thought that kissing his lover was the best way to shut him up from berating him any further.
Lucky charm? Akari's eyes narrowed indignantly. What do you mean the stupid thing brought luck? I saved Abarai-fukutaicho!
"I love you..." she heard the injured vice captain murmur.
Akari stopped listening at that point; her blood boiled with bitterness and disappointment. She had risked her life so many times for Abarai-fukutaicho during the fight, and what did she get in return? They think it's a freaking lucky charm that kept him safe! What a joke! She felt tears sting her eyes as she walked off, and she clenched her fist, willing the tears to go away.
It was too bad that she left in such a hurry, because she would've felt differently had she heard the next words Hisagi-fukutaicho said.
"No, seriously, how many times did she save you, exactly?"

To be continued...
Okay, how many of you thought that Renji would get seriously injured while saving her? ;)
Sneak preview of the next chapter:

"I've had enough of this shit!"
- 11
- 12
- 13
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A Test of Faith