Asa continued to fall until she noticed that she was safe to land. She flipped herself in mid-air and landed safely on a rock in the middle of a dark forest. "Where am I?" she questioned herself. Looking around, she realised that she was in the middle of nowhere all by herself. "Looks like I've got separated with the others."
Suddenly, eyes glowed in the dark and stared at her. She immediately unsheathed her Zanpakutou and slashed a Hollow that was about to ambush her from behind. She killed the Hollows but more started to surround her. 'Where are all these Hollows coming from?' she questioned internally. 'No matter how many I kill, more and more keep showing up. I have to hurry and get out of here!'
Asa looked ahead and saw some lights from far. 'Maybe I can get there without having to waste some energy on killing these Hollows.' She flipped her Zanpakutou in her hand, letting the blade point backwards, and dashed towards the light using Flash Step while slashing down the Hollows in her way, trying to get out of the dark forest as fast as she could. A Hollow jumped right in front of her but she slashed its mask, causing it to bleed before it cried in agony and disintegrated as she continued to make her way.
But when she got out, a pair of Gillian that had been standing noticed her and turned around. They opened their mouths and began gathered as much concentrated energy as possible. 'Cero?!' thought Asa, alarmed. She tried to move away but had accidentally slipped on a rock and fell on her back. She knew it was already too late to evacuate, and could only close her eyes as she waited for the impact.
Suddenly, she noticed a figure jumping in front of her and retrieved her before the Cero blasts could hit her. The man unsheathed his Zanpakutou and killed the the Gillians, leaving the area soon afterwards. As he jumped from tree to tree, Asa couldn't help but stare at him. He wore a ragged Shihakushou with a fur coat, which consisted of several Hollows masks adorned on it, draped over himself, and didn't have any footwear. He wore a Hollow's mask that resembled a gazelle's skull over his face. But Asa was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable when he carried her by the waist.
"Um..." she started politely. "Thank you for saving me, but can you put me down now?" She received no response from the mysterious man, so she tried again. "Will you please put me down?"
Instead, he stopped on a tree branch. "Be patient." he said. "We'll reach my hideout soon."
"O-Okay." she said, staring at his mask. 'This man...' she trailed off. 'I don't know why, but his reiatsu is quite familiar...'
"We're going." he warned.
Without giving her a chance to respond, he continued to jump from branch to branch. After some time, he stopped on a branch that was across a cave. Once they arrived at the entrance, the man let the Shinigami go, and she followed him inside his cave. Looking around, Asa noticed a ball of light on the ceiling.
"Is that light made with Kidou?" she asked, looking at the man as he sat down. He only placed his Zanpakutou down and stared into space. "So you're a Shinigami. What's your affiliation? Which division are you from?"
"This is the Menos Forest." he said, ignoring the questions thrown at him. "It's the Menos' nesting grounds. A world far removed from where Soul Society's laws carry any meaning." Without another word, he grabbed his Zanpakutou. Asa quickly unsheathed her Zanpakutou and blocked the blade.
"What are you doing?!" she demanded. The man removed his Zanpakutou and tried to slash her. Asa quickly dodged the blade, landing on the wall and clashed her blade with his. She jumped away and landed behind him. 'He's strong, I'd give him that.' she thought. 'He uses such wild movements. And he's powerful.' The man glanced behind at her before disappearing and reappearing next to her with the blade ready. She jumped away and landed across him. She got up and held her Zanpakutou. "Did you bring me all the way here just to kill me?"
Without replying her, he lunged at her and pushed her towards the wall, cornering her. "Is that all?" he berated, pointing the blade at her. "Very well, then."
Asa stared at him without showing any emotion before suddenly throwing some sand at him, which succeeded in distracting him, and got up with her Zanpakutou ready. But he was no longer in front of her. When she turned around, she found his blade pointing at her forehead. The man removed his Zanpakutou from her face and sheathed it back. "What were you trying to prove?" she asked.
"I was just testing your strength." he replied.
"Testing?" she repeated.
"This is a fierce forest." he explained. "The weak cannot survive here." He turned around and walked out of the cave. Asa sheathed her sword and ran out. A hand was held in front of her, stopping her from moving forward. "Someone's fighting."
Asa looked up to inspect the spiritual force better. "This reiatsu..." she muttered before the answer hit her. "It's Ichigo and the others!"
"What a reckless fighting style." he commented before moving forward. "They're just going to draw Menos towards them!"
"Please, wait!" she called, stopping him.
"Stay here!" he ordered.
"I came here with them, and I don't intend to leave them." she argued. "I'm going, too." Giving in, the man nodded as he took off with her trailing behind.
The two jumped from tree to tree as they searched for Ichigo and the rest of the team. The man looked down and saw a part of the forest destroyed, landing there. Asa soon followed and stood next to him. "It was around here." he said.
"Ichigo and the others were here, I'm sure of it." said Asa, crouching down to inspect the damages. "Where did they go?"
"Are you the intruder?" asked a voice. Asa quickly turned around and the first thing she saw was a fist aiming at her. "I found you!" When his fist collided with the ground, Asa reappeared next to it.
'What is this?' she questioned, staring at the Hollow. 'Its body is massive, and its reiatsu is even stronger than a Menos. Is this an Adjuchas?'
"Asa, get back!" yelled the man. He unsheathed his Zanpakutou and landed an attack on the Hollow's arm before backing away.
"Ashido, you're with them?" asked the Hollow.
Asa's eyes widened at the name that sounded familiar to her. 'Ashido?' she repeated.
The Hollow appeared in front of him and punched him. But Ashido reappeared above him, slashing his cheek. Unaffected, the Hollow started to punch at a rapid speed, which the Shinigami managed to dodge all of them. Ashido landed below him and slashed his chest. The Hollow clicked his tongue and yelled, "Come on out, Gillian!"
"What?!" exclaimed Asa. Instantly, a number of Gillian appeared behind the Hollow under his command. 'He can control the Menos?!' she questioned.
"Alright Gillian, hit them with a Cero!" ordered the Adjuchas. The Gillian blasted Cero at the two Shinigami, who jumped away to avoid the attack and landed on tree branches.
"At this rate..." trailed off Asa.
"Don't waste time on the Menos!" yelled Ashido before jumping towards the Hollow. "Stay there!"
"H-Hey!" she called.
"Fire, now!" commanded the Hollow. The Gillians fired Cero at the Shinigami but he used a Hollow's mask as a shield before killing it, including the Gillians.
Ashido landed next to Asa and sheathed back his sword. "What was that guy just now?" asked the latter, looking up at him.
"An Adjuchas." he replied. "They stand above the Gillian. They're second-class Menos. Was that the first time you've seen one?"
"Yeah, it was." she said. "So Adjuchas can control and manipulate Gillian."
"They've only been around for a short time." he added, which caught Asa's attention. "What happened in Soul Society? The Hollow's strength here has been changing, and now you have shown up. What happened?"
Asa looked away with a sad expression as she recalled back what happened in on the day of Rukia's execution, the chaos that happened during that time. "Soul Society isn't infallible." she said. "A lot of terrible things have happened."
Ashido stared at her before saying, "I see. Your friends weren't here, were they? We'll search elsewhere."
"Yeah." she said before apologising to him for making him stop to investigate the place where she thought the rest of the team were. With that, the two of them took off, killing some Gillian along the way before sheathing back their Zanpakutou. "This is more like a nest than a forest."
"Indeed, it's a giant Hollow's nest." said Ashido. "Let's hurry on."
"Okay." responded Asa.
"I underestimated your strength." he suddenly acknowledged. "You shouldn't have any trouble fighting against an Adjuchas with your abilities."
As he led the way through the forest, Asa couldn't help but stare at the back of his head. "I've been wondering about something for a while..." she trailed off.
The man stopped walking to look at her. "What?" he asked.
"Your name is Ashido, right?" she confirmed. "You have the same name as one of my seniors whom I respected many years ago. He suddenly disappeared when I was going to tell him that I enrolled in the academy. Also, that mask. Why do you...?" Asa realised what she was trying to do and looked away in shame. "Never mind, you don't have to answer if you don't want to." The man turned around and took off his mask, revealing his face that surprised the woman across him. "A-Ashido-senpai!"
"It has been a while, Asa." greeted the said man, who had thin red-brownish eyebrows, red-brownish spiky hair and dark-black irises.
"What are you doing here, senpai?" she asked before taking note of his appearance. "And your Shihakushou... What happened?"
"I was chasing after some Hollows who were about to disappear into Hueco Mundo... and wound up here before I realized it." he replied. "I've been here ever since, constantly fighting Hollows."
"Isn't there any way to escape?" she asked.
"Yes, there is." he replied.
"Then, why don't you try to leave?" she questioned again.
Ashido looked at her in the eyes. "Because I'm a Shinigami." was his reply.
The woman stared at him, confused. "Eh?"
"Most likely, all of the Hollows who appear in the Human World come from here." he said. "In which case, if I can decrease their numbers here, then it should decrease their appearances in the Human World. That's why I've stayed here and continued to kill as many as possible. Has the number of Hollows appearing in the Human World decreased at all?"
Asa hesitated to reply that question. "Well..." she trailed off.
"Going by your expression, it hasn't decreased at all." he noted.
The woman looked away and said, "This isn't something I could just lie about. I'm sorry."
"It's not necessary." he assured. "Don't apologise." He turned around and continued walking.
"O-Okay." Asa immediately trailed behind him, not wanting to be left behind in the middle of a forest she was not familiar with. When they came out of the forest, they arrived at a clearing area. "Where are we?"
"This is where we first arrived." he replied.
"So you weren't on your own?" she asked.
"No, I had a few teammates with me." he began. "We knew where we'd ended up, and fought with everything we had as Shinigami. But, there were so many Hollows, and before long, the Menos got involved in the fight as well. I saw friend after friend overwhelmed and killed. I shared the same dream with you, Asa. So in order to protect the human souls, and keep the promise I made with those who lost their lives, I've stayed here and fought."
Asa looked at him sadly and muttered, "Senpai..."
He turned around and looked at her. "I asked you if the number of Hollows had decreased, didn't I? I didn't ask in hopes of hearing how well I was doing. I just thought it would be nice to be able to report in to my friends."
But the woman still felt guilty. "I'm sorry..."
Just then, she felt something gently placed on her head. Looking up, Ashido was rubbing her head as a small smile appeared on his face. "I told you, you don't have to apologise." Once he removed his hand from her head, he placed both his hands on her shoulders, making her look at him. "Asa. When you meet up with your friends again, you should hurry back to Soul Society. If we're not making a dent in the amount of Hollows, then there's no point in staying here."
She gently shook her head. "No, I'm going to Las Noches."
"What?" he questioned, looking alarmed.
"One of Ichigo's friends is being held captive in Las Noches." she explained.
"Vasto Lorde-class Menos are there!" he warned. "Regular people won't even stand a chance there!"
Asa gently placed her right hand on his left hand that was on her shoulder. "I know, senpai. But I have to go." She smiled reassuringly at him. "Don't worry. I'm not on my own. If we all work together, we'll definitely be able to save her." Her senior's surprised look was soon replaced by amusement, but she looked away and took in her surrounding. "Senpai, why did you bring me here?"
The said man let go of her shoulders and looked at the mask. "If I talk, then you'll respond and ask me questions; you'll talk. I just wanted my friends to hear you speak." Understanding what he meant, Asa turned around and looked at the tombs. "It's been a while since they heard a Shinigami's voice." Her gaze landed on him, who smiled at her before putting on the mask, and returned the smile. Suddenly, they heard a clash. "That's-!"
"It's Ichigo!" said Asa, recognising the spiritual force.
"Follow me!" ordered Ashido as he took off with her behind and landed in the middle of the forest.
"This is..." she trailed off
"Strange." he commented. "I'm sure I felt your friends' reiatsu here just moments ago."
"But there isn't even a hint of reiatsu left." she noted.
"I destroyed all traces of them!" declared an Adjuchas, getting their attentions. "If I didn't, then you could hardly call this an ambush! Come on, Gillian!" Just as he said that, many Gillian surrounded the two Shinigami.
"Th-There's so many!" said Asa, alarmed.
"Don't panic!" advised Ashido. "If we defeat him, then the Menos will scatter."
"Use Cero!" commanded the Adjuchas. All of the Gillian blasted Cero at the two. The Shinigami jumped away to avoid the attack, making the Cero blast some trees. They dodged some Cero before making their way towards the Adjuchas, who blocked their blades with his arms. Ashido and Asa immediately jumped away until the Hollow pointed at the latter. "Go after that one, Gillian!"
Asa glanced back before jumping away as the Cero was blasted at her. "Asa!" shouted Ashido.
The said woman hid behind a tree as the Gillian started to get close to her. Suddenly, the Adjuchas appeared behind her and aimed his claw at her. Ashido's eyes widened with horror as he recalled back the similar scene where one of his close friends was killed in the same manner. He immediately jumped in front of the Adjuchas and the claw sliced the mask into halves as he flew backwards.
"SENPAI!"