Chapter 5: Arrival of Byakuya and Renji
Note: I will do daily uploads maybe until chapter 10. After that, I might do 3-4 chapters a week depending on how much time I have since the holidays are over soon. Also Happy New Year! What are some of your New Year's Resolutions?
-End of Note
Baki spent most of the day until sunset bored and lying on the ground. Kisuke provided him with good hospitality, offering new clothes, and he was grateful for it. However, the day had been uneventful. As he lay down, he reminisced about his time in Hueco Mundo. Despite the enemies not being the strongest, it was a land of endless fights. "I wonder what the Vasto Lorde and the Adjuchas are doing right now," Baki thought.
After a while of daydreaming, Baki finally stood up and decided to pay the delinquents a visit. Although they weren't the best of people, Baki had to admit they were slightly entertaining. On his way to the run-down local business, Baki decided to take a shortcut through a neighborhood. As he walked, he came across a stuffed lion animal walking across the street. Having finally learned not to question everything, Baki followed the creature.
The creature stopped at a house and began climbing up through a window. Curious, Baki followed the stuffed animal and looked through the window. He saw the girl who had been accompanying Ichigo, and she seemed to have been writing a note before being interrupted by the lion toy. The stuffed animal appeared to be getting very emotional, shouting quite a bit. The girl finally had enough and took some tape, grabbing the animal. She tied it to the toilet and taped its mouth, preventing it from making any noise. The girl then finished her note and stood up to leave. Although Baki felt like a creep looking through the window, he was too bored to care. Baki moved onto the roof to avoid being spotted as the girl left through the window. The girl looked distressed and sad as she walked away from the house.
Baki followed her for a while before raising his voice: "Hey, where are you off to?" Baki asked. The girl turned around, startled as she hadn't noticed she was being followed. "It's you, the one who killed the Gillian yesterday. Listen, this doesn't concern you," the girl responded. She then whispered under her breath, "They should be here anytime now."
As Baki was about to give up and leave, he saw Rukia turn around and look above him, recognizing a man with red hair and a ponytail—Renji Abarai, as Rukia said in disbelief. Renji attacked the girl, barely missing her by an inch. At the same time, a man with long black hair walked past Baki, paying him no attention. "You look so human; there's no way that's a good thing," Renji said before turning to the man who had just walked past Baki, saying, "Right, Captain Kuchiki." Rukia appeared to be stunned before saying "Brother Byakuya." Renji took this opportunity to once again attack Rukia, this time giving her a shallow cut on the face.
Baki spent a little more time listening to the conversation between the two. It seemed they were looking for someone who took Rukia's powers. A sudden realization came to Baki; these people were looking for Ichigo. Baki hesitated to get involved; this whole situation had nothing to do with him, and he had no ties with anyone there, as Rukia had said. It was hard to watch a defenseless girl get bullied. While he was deep in thought about interfering, a blue arrow was fired at Renji, who barely dodged it. It was the guy who wielded a blue bow. "An unarmed girl is getting attacked by two men with weapons? It's not a very pleasant sight," the boy who wielded the blue bow said. Baki laughed to himself. "Quite an entrance." Baki continued staying at a distance where he wouldn't be noticed as he watched the events unfold.
After being questioned by Renji, the boy introduced himself as Uryu Isshida. Uryu was good at talking big, making the interaction all the more entertaining. However, it wasn't long before he was quickly cut down, being forced to the ground. As Renji was about to deliver the final blow, a familiar orange-haired Soul Reaper split the ground, stopping Renji's attack. Renji dashed back, a confused look apparent on his face.
"Who are you?" Renji interrogated. "Ichigo Kurosaki," Ichigo responded with a smug face. After Renji questioned Ichigo some more, he finally realized that Ichigo was the one who had taken Rukia's powers. Renji began attacking Ichigo, dominating for most of the fight, finally slashing Ichigo on his shoulder blade. Baki began zoning out because Renji, after only delivering one blow to Ichigo, went into a whole monologue about real Soul Reapers. As Renji persisted in his chatter, this gave Ichigo an opportunity to attack, leading to a slash on Renji's chin. Snapping back out of his daydream, Baki saw the man who was earlier referred to as Byakuya scold Renji for losing focus and even warned Renji that Ichigo had caused a Menos Grande to retreat. Renji dismissed Byakuya's words, even pointing out that Ichigo was clueless about the name of his blade, which he referred to as a Zanpakuto.
Baki, fascinated, began to watch closely. "Roar! Zabimaru!" Renji shouted as his sword changed form into some sort of whip sword, delivering another blow on the same spot, causing Ichigo to fall to one knee. As he was going to finish Ichigo, Rukia jumped onto Renji's back, pulling his arm back into an arm lock, preventing him from delivering the finishing blow. "Run, Ichigo!" Rukia yelled; however, this had the opposite effect, causing Ichigo to stand back up, releasing an immense amount of spiritual energy, causing Baki's hair to blow around.
Ichigo now turned the tables and was dominating Renji. As Ichigo was going to finish things up, Byakuya intervened, breaking Ichigo's blade. No one else seemed to have been able to follow Byakuya's swift movements, only Baki. Baki was impressed but after realizing Byakuya had intervened in an interesting fight, he became disappointed. As he was about to attack Ichigo, Baki dashed in, kicking Byakuya's blade out of his hand, making him jump back. "You were here since earlier; who are you?" Byakuya asked. Baki lowered his leg and turned to Byakuya. "You see, this was the only thing providing me with entertainment today; I hope you can understand," Baki responded. "If you truly need to know my name, it's Baki Hanma, and I'm just a spectator, like you should be,". Byakuya's expression changed; he knew this wasn't just a regular opponent. The most fascinating part of this situation to Byakuya, was that this Baki individual was human. This all had happened in a split second, so everyone was in awe. The speed of the two individuals who stood before them was on another level. Baki started cracking his neck and then asked, "How about you and I have some fun?"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone