"…Say what?", I asked, wanting to make sure I heard that right as I stared at the woman dressed in a tan trench coat over a sleek black dress exposing her cleavage and what was either a witch's hat or a very pointy cowboy hat on her head.
"Have you seen a dragon here somewhere?"
"Oh, so I didn't mishear you. Perhaps you can explain what you mean by a dragon. Are we talking about a Hollow here," I said, raising an eyebrow as the blonde shook her head with a smile.
"No, not a Hollow. Dragons are supernatural beings that have lived in Reverse London for centuries until a few years ago where they were hunt to extinction by my ancestors. Now, I'm the last Dragon Hunter in my family and I've heard rumours of a dragon being here in this town."
"…Well, I don't know what to tell you, but I haven't seen any dragons here. What does it look like so I can know what to look out for?"
"It is an enormous dragon covered in brilliant-white feathers, blue eyes and a bird-lik beak with a golden diadem-like protrusion sitting on its brow in what I call a Crown-Shaped Horn. If that's not enough, it has a long serpentine neck, a massive pair of leathery wings that have feathers at the edges and four very strong limbs."
"…No mask? You're sure it's not a Hollow?", I asked, to which she raised an eyebrow while shaking her head.
"No, it is not the eastern demons you all have to deal with."
"So, I'm guessing that dragons are like your Hollows, except they were all hunted to extinction?", She nodded at my words and I hummed before looking behind me as steps came closer.
"Hey, Don. Mom wants to kno-Oh, hey," Kaoru waved and the woman waved back before she looked to me while taking out some kind of card from her cleavage.
"Should you see the dragon or hear of it, please call the number on this card to reach me."
"Gotcha, Ms. Macy Baljure?", I struggled a bit to pronounce the name on the card, but it seemed to be correct as she nodded with a smile before turning and walking away.
"…Was that your girlfriend?"
"You honestly believe I would settle for any woman that isn't your mother?", I asked as I looked down to Kaoru, rolling my eyes as he gave a sly grin before I pocketed the card and closed the door.
"Mom~ Mr. Kanonji was talking with another woman~!"
"Who?!", Ikumi shouted from the kitchen and as she turned the corner with a sweet smile, I rolled my eyes as Kaoru snickered and walked past her.
"Hey, we're not in a relationship here so I am technically a free man."
"Who was she?", She asked and I held my hands up defensively with a smirk.
"Nobody. Just some foreigner here to look for something in Karakura that I myself am trying to wrap my brain around."
"Mmhmm, and she just happened to have her card in her bra?", She asked, to which I shrugged.
"Technically speaking, it was her cleavage and I didn't ask for it."
"Of course, it just magically floated into your hand like you're a wizard."
"Exorcist. Big difference between the two," I said and she rolled her eyes while crossing her arms.
"Are you…jealous?"
"You'd have to be someone worth fighter over for me to be jealous," She said, but my smirk widened into a teasing smile as a flicker of hesitation appeared in her eyes for a moment.
"You are. You are jealous. Oh, envy is not the colour for you, Ms. Unagiya," I said as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, laughing as she pushed my arm before walking back into the kitchen.
"Kaoru, go wash your hand so that I can get breakfast ready. Are you staying, Mr. Kurosaki?", She asked and Isshin just nodded, hiding his smirk as he gave a subtle thumbs-up while Kaoru walked past with a shit-eating grin.
'Uh-huh, we'll see who gets the last laugh, you little snitch,' I thought with a sharp smile as we kept each other's gaze, Kaoru snickering as he walked past me to the bathroom while I walked into the kitchen with my own grin.
Sitting down next to Karin and ruffling her hair before snickering as she punched my arm, I turned back to Ikumi with an amused smile as the two of us stared at each other.
Most of breakfast was a quiet affair as Isshin and Nakamura were more entertained by Ikumi and I's silent warfare of the eyes and Karin tried her best to watch the whole thing as well, but Yuzu was also trying her best to talk to her twin with some success.
"Hey, Mom. When you and Mr. Kanonji finally go out on dates, do I have to call him Dad or is Don still okay?", I nearly choked on my tea while Ikumi froze mid-bite, both of us slowly turning towards Kaoru who sat with a wide grin.
"Kaoru!", She snapped, turning a bright red as he laughed and bolted from the table with a giggling Yuzu hot on his heels.
"Just asking!"
"…I am never having kids,"
"I already did, sweetie. You're welcome," Isshin spoke with a proud hand on Karin's head, the girl shaking her head a Nakamura just gave a sympathetic smile.
I on the other hand was trying my best to look nonchalant, but I couldn't help the massive grin as she turned to me.
"Don't you start."
"If it's any comfort, I'd make a pretty good stepdad."
"I will throw this plate at you," She muttered with a grumble as she picked her plate up, Isshin and I sharing a discreet fist bump before I looked up as I felt a soft rumbling washing over the house.
"Am I the only one feeling this or can everyone else feel it too?", Isshin asked and I frowned before my eyes widened as I saw a dark shadow passing over the house as the rumbling grew louder.
"Ikumi, you and Nakamura go find Yuzu and Kaoru. Isshin…"
"I'll follow. Go," The man spoke as he popped a pill into his mouth, my gaze focusing on him for a moment as I watched his soul be popped out from his body while the Mod Soul took over his body.
"Uh, is this part of your show or not?", Ikumi asked with a nervous look before nodding as I just gave a wry smile.
"Not part of the show. Got it."
"Stay in here and Karin and Yuzu will protect you guys. No discussing this. This is something big and you two are not ready," I said to Karin, who glared at me even as she nodded slowly before I called my sceptre to my hand and walked out the front door.
"…Okay, what the hell is that?", Isshin asked as we stared at the majestic beast slowly circling the sky, to which I just shook my head before frowning as I saw it raising its head to the sky.
The next moment, my sceptre glowed as I activated the Reishukaku aspect of it, immediately creating a barrier right as it opened its beak and unleashed a wide burst of flames down upon the houses.
The flames were far powerful than I expected as I had to curve in the edges of the flames and fire it back at the dragon, who curled its wings in to block them before snapping them out wide to disperse it to embers.
"Okay, so that is what the woman from earlier called a Dragon if that means anything to you."
"It does and that would be impossible because Dragons have been dead for almost three centuries," Isshin said with a frown and I shrugged while keeping my eyes on the creature.
"Well, someone forgot to give that one the memo."
"Considering that we helped them eradicate the Dragons and then may have helped the hunters vanish, I think someone did."
"By vanish, did they get new lives or did you Shinigami just wipe them out?", I asked, shaking my head as Isshin's answer was a sheepish smile.
"Seriously, what is wrong with you, Shinigami? Is it that hard to work alongside someone?"
"In my defence, I only realized how old-school it was to kill off one's allies after I got married to Masaki," Isshin answered with a shrug and I rolled my eyes before both Isshin and I froze as the beast rumbled.
"He of the Void, you are not of this world," I just slowly looked up at the dragon to see its gaze focused entirely on me, its eyes cold and intelligent as I gave a slow blink.
"Did that thing just talk to you?"
"I think it did."
"You do not belong. Go back to your resting place."
"Uh-huh. Okay, crazy dragon. Tell me, do you know a Ms. Baljure?", I asked, wanting to keep it talking and wanting to see if it meant that I should not be this strong…
Or if it knew about my reincarnation.
"The Ancient One has shown me of your origin, He of the Void. You do not belong."
"Oh, it really doesn't like you."
"Oh, thank you. I haven't noticed," I spoke with a sarcastic smile, rolling my eyes as Isshin just shrugged before my gaze snapped to the far right as I caught a flicker of light in the distance.
"Magic #31: Blue Spark," I was both surprised by the voice that chanted and the five-pronged blast that slammed into the dragon's side and sent it flipping through the air with an irritated roar.
"Oh, did you forget to call me?!", Macy asked as she landed on the rooftop of the building in front of us, her trench coat gone and what appeared to be some sort of pistol that had an elongated thin barrel that ended in three black discs.
"In all honesty, I did, but that was mostly because we just saw it," I answered and she rolled her eyes before we looked up to see the dragon glaring down at us.
With a deafening shriek, it dived down only for Isshin to shoot through the air and meet its charge, spiritual energy gathering at the edge of his sword as he pulled back and clashed with a powerful thrust from its beak.
The clash sent shockwaves rippling through the air and I leapt back to create another barrier around the buildings as the shockwaves cracked them, watching as Isshin gritted his teeth and pushed the beast back.
"Magic #28: Rainy Wheel!/ Hado #31: Shakkaho!", Macy and I chanted respectively as she shot out a cone-shaped energy blast from her gun that expanded with a circular explosion the moment Isshin got out of the way.
My Shakkaho was not too far behind as it pierced through the smoke, hitting the roaring dragon with another explosion that pushed it further back before I frowned as I saw its feathers covered in ash that it easily dusted off with a flap from its wings.
"Okay, none of our attacks are working here!"
"Cease your attempts, He of the Void and Heir to the Baljure! Your attacks have no effect on me!", The dragon roared and I raised an eyebrow as Macy scoffed while crossing my arms.
"Yeah, yeah, Cinderella. Just you wait when I get something that does work."
"Its name is…Cinderella? Did you give it that name?"
"What? It's a pretty good name," Macy said with a shrug and I sighed as Isshin landed beside us with a frown.
"That thing's about as hard as a Menos Grande."
"Why are you not using your Shikai?", I asked the man, raising an eyebrow as he gave a sheepish smile.
"Funny thing is that with me not having used my power for this long, I have to retrain my Shikai to get better control over it since using it now would just result in my spiritual energy wanting to destroy everything."
"Of course, because nothing can be easy," I muttered, making him grumble before I turned to Macy as she landed besides me.
"So, what's the plan?", I asked and she frowned as the dragon let out a roar and dove towards us.
"Take it out as fast as we can and make sure there's no lasting damage to the buildings!," She said as both she and Isshin hopped out of the way, to which I shook my head as I charged the Reishi in the air to the tip of my sceptre.
"O Grand Heavenly Sentinel, encircle the earth, lock the sky and cease escape. Unyielding sphere, defy the touch of flame! Unbreakable law, repel the pain of blade! Bakudo #70: Kyumon!", Fuelling the spell with both the Reishi and the Reimyaku of the land, I watched as the nine dome-like barriers of Kyumon formed around us before smirking as I twisted them and shaped it all into a spherical shape.
The dragon looked wary as it stopped its attack, flapping its wings to stay afloat in the centre of the domes while Isshin and Macy were standing on its edges with slightly wide eyes.
"…Was that a Kido Spell? Wait, have you been using Kido spells all this time? I thought you felt like a human?"
"I am. I'm just able to use Kido spells and no one can tell me why," I answered with a shrug, to which Macy narrowed her eyes before she decided to leave it be as the dragon let out a shriek.
"We'll talk about that later! For now, let's finish your job and take out this dragon! Isshin! Hit and run!"
"With pleasure!", Isshin shouted as he lunged through the air and vanished with Shunpo, reappearing above the dragon with his sword raised high.
He slashed down with a grunt and unleashed a burst of spiritual energy into its back, forcing the dragon down towards us right as both Macy and I aimed our weapons at it.
'I haven't trained this one much since I only figured it out last night, so here's to hoping this works.'
"Magic #68 : Supernal Jail!/ Hado #73: Soren Sokatsui!", As Macy shot out a dozen massive javelins made out of energy from her gun that linked themselves to each other with chains made from the same energy, the Cinderella let out a shriek as the chains and spears pinned it to the sphere's walls.
In combination with that, I threw my sceptre upwards before thrusting both palms towards it, unleashing twin blasts of concentrated blue flames that scorched the air as they crashed into it.
"Pierce the Void, converge and ignite! Fragments of light coalesce and form! Gather the power of a thousand stars! Shatter all who stand before me! Hado #70: Genshikodan (Atomic Light Bullet)!", I was not done as I aimed and shot out the potent shell made out of golden light, watching as it pierced through the flames and exploded against the chest of the dragon.
"Think that was enough?", I asked, not surprised as Macy just raised an eyebrow before snorting.
"I've been trying to kill it for the past two years. That would most definitely not be enough."
"Be burned by the Star Ash," As if to agree, the dragon's voice echoed from the smoke as it flapped its wings, making me let out a frustrated groan at seeing absolutely no damage on its body before it flapped out a thin layer of starry ash from its wings.
"Block that!", While I would love to not say anything, the urgency in Macy's voice made me quickly create a triple layer around it with the Reishukaku right as the ash exploded.
'Okay, I can see why she was worried about that,' I spoke with a nervous frown as I saw the explosion completely shatter the Reishukau's barriers, Macy forming some kind of cloth barrier that captured the explosion before throwing it back at the dragon.
However, my eyes narrowed as the dragon moved its head to the side, the explosion missing its head by a few centimeters before I smirked as I saw a few bits of its crown be shaved off by the shockwave.
"Hey, Isshin! I think it's time to take the crown from this dragon!", I shouted towards the Shinigami who looked confused before his eyes widened as I pointed at my head while flicking my gaze towards the dragon.
"Ah, I get it!"
"Wait, you mea-Oh! It can't be that easy, can it?!", Macy asked as I created a barrier below our feet and carried us out of the way right as the dragon spat out a torrent of fire down at us, to which I shrugged as Isshin landed on the roof.
"Sometimes, it is. Isshin, you keep yourself ready! Macy, you're dancing with me."
"Of course, I am," She murmured and I smirked before spinning and pointing the tip of my sceptre at the dragon.
With a thought, a dozen Kan'onballs sliced through the air and impacted its eyes, making it close its eyes involuntarily as it flinched back right as Macy shot out another dozen energy javelins linked together.
The dragon ducked and weaved through the air as the javelins missed its body, manipulating my Kan'onballs and making sure to surround it from all sides before I snapped my fingers with a grin.
"Kan'onCape: Omni-Directional Prison!", The Kan'onballs glowed before they all expanded into sheets of energy, stalling the dragon for just a moment right as Macy's javelins slammed into it from all sides.
"Now!"
"Getsuga…!", Isshin began as he shot down, the dragon giving one final look up to see a brilliant orange meteor descending down with a roar.
"TENSHO!", The man exclaimed, his Zanpakuto easily cutting the dragon's crown as it was finally incinerated by Isshin's flames and I quickly pulled myself and Macy out of the barrier while shifting its shape to redirect the flames upwards.
"So…", I began as we watched Isshin land on the ground, his flames still raging as Macy raised an eyebrow to show that she was hearing.
"How do you feel about joining my little unit?"
A/N: Sorry for the late upload. Had a town-wide power outage for the past six hours and let me tell you, being an addict to tech means getting bored the moment everything is at zero percent battery.
Anyway, back to the story and like I said, it's Burn the Witch and not at the same time, but the reason for it is basically that they're all extinct since the Shinigami don't like sharing credit.
Also, how did the dragon know about the Don and who it is? Did it actually survive the culling or was it revived by a certain Almighty?
Who knows? Next chapter: Aftermath and Planning.
Anyway, check out my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories that may peak your interest. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!