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Mock realized the importance of what he just did, when he had previously picked up the clover on the ground. The Espada seemed to be able to absorb the spiritual energy stored in the clovers. And not only was she able to use it's energy, she was also able to use the powers that "emerge" from that specific type of energy.

At first, the Shinigami was amazed by how Rakey's body vanished within his attack. It was not that she was utterly destroyed (Mock knew that at best his attack would cause severe damage to her and not kill her, let alone reduce her to ash) but her entire spirit trace disappeared. After the amazement, Mock felt uneasiness, as he witness Rakey suddenly coming out of a strange portal. Having teleported herself, Mock only had time to felt the Arrancar's reiatsu and her imminent threat.

As the cero beamed towards him, and the remaining couple of balas were aiming for his flanks and the third one above him, Mock could only thought of escape. The only option left was retreat and hope not to get caught by the cero in front of him. He had no time to think, just act in the spur of the moment.

As the Captain leaped backwards, tightening the grip on the nodachi on his hand, he thought that he might be falling for a trap. But what else was there to do, except sprung the trap?

There was another option, much more appealing to him. And that was, to set a trap of his own!

Yonbanmehakka -- Hakumei Hotaru [Fourth Ignition, Twilight/Misfortune Firefly] he muttered, and as soon as he did it, the ash from his Zanpakutou gathered itself in small but denser particles all around him and his surroundings. The particles ignited themselves, forming hundreds of little hovering flames, similar to ignis fatuus.
The hovering flames gave the impression of fireflies fluttering in the air.

Evading all incoming attacks, Mock smirked, as he awaited what was to come and pondered about the possibilities of his next move.

It seemed the Shinigami was wrong. It was always a wise move to act defensively, nevertheless. So for Mock to expect a trap set by Rakey, was his best course of action.

He should've known better though. This particular Espada would never follow through her own moves. She wasn't making well planned attacks, and that was because she had been on the defensive this entire time. All the attacks Rakey made, were actually carried in order to disrupt Mock's own offensive.
This would be odd in any other Arrancar, but it actually wasn't on Rakey. She seemed rather peaceful from the start - though probably a bit naive as well, especially when it came to her own power and its effect on others, as well as the role her kind and Mock's represent.

So, MockaDash wasn't at all surprised now, when the Espada decided to use an elusive skill, in order to conceal herself with her surroundings.

The first thought that popped on Mock's head, was to release his Bankai. That would be overpowering indeed, when used just to counter such harmless move, but it would be overall perfectly effective.
Upon the release of Bankai, MockaDash's surroundings change entirely, turning the world around him into one of two gloomy circles of Hell! This transformation caused by his Bankai would surely shattered Rakey's own illusion - tough Mock's wasn't really an illusion, but the real thing.

The main reason why the Captain had decided against doing it, was that he was standing in the middle of a large city, full of thousands and thousands of people! Hundreds - to say the least - of innocent bystanders, unaware of what was happening above them, would get killed by the fiery pits or the sheer cold that would be produced!
Mock decided against releasing his Bankai.

The Shinigami had yet another - rather easy - way to track Rakey down.
She started losing blood once more, and Mock could taste that blood's scent in the air. It was a characteristic of his bloodthirsty Zanpakutou to track down the reiatsu nature on the blood, after it had been "tasted" by it.

Come out, come out, wherever you are!!! he said, with sadistic glee stamped on his face. The hundreds of fireflies were spreading around the illusory forest, giving the idea that they were looking for Rakey's whereabouts. When in fact, they were only partaking on a ruse to trick the Arrancar.
Mock aimlessly carried himself around the top of the building, that was now a rich forest scenery, while using his senses to pinpoint Rakey's exact location. The fireflies were scattered all over the place, but although their disposition could seem random, it actually wasn't!

Mock smirked, as he finally located Rakey, and brandished his nodachi in front of him. Kumonosu! [Spider web] Itsuryu!!! he said, while licking his lips.

The several small flames resembling fireflies, suddenly changed shape, stretching out to reach one another, thus forming a wide web similar to that of a spider - only this one was made of fire. In the next split of a second, MockaDash was releasing another familiar dark wave of reiatsu. The previous arrangement of the flames was not random at all. They were merely positioning themselves to form the net.

The net of fire, spread throughout the forest, ended around Rakey, surrounding her and completely encircling her within itself. A tip of the web, ended in front of Mock, in the exact spot where he released the Itsuryu! The result of such strategy is obviously clear.

The discharged dark wave reacted with the tip of the net in front of him, giving birth to a chain reaction, that much like igniting the fuse on a bomb, carried it's energy thoughout the web of fiery ash, and ended up exploding violently exactly on Rakey's hiding spot!

These actions were carried out so swiftly by MockaDash - the forming of the net and the release of the dark energy into it were almost instantaneous, as well as the speed at which the energy was carried through the web until reaching Rakey and exploding - that the Arrancar would not be left with much time to escape the trap, in the event of she failing to notice it being prepared.

A large explosion (roughly 10 mt in diameter) exactly like the last one, engulfed Rakey in flames!

Mock was already on the air above Rakey, swinging his Zanpakutou at her. The Captain didn't wait for her to regain strength. He was relentlessly charging at her, now that he had the advantage in battle.

The blast died down and the ash was left hovering in the air. The ash gathered itself around the Espada once more, as Mock released another wave of condensed reiatsu

Nibanmehakka -- Kaen Hana [Second Ignition, Flame Flower] the Shinigami roared. Rakey was still recovering for the previous blast, as Mock discharged the wave of dark reiatsu from his nodachi. Similar to what happened before, the opposite spiritual energies collided and produced an intense explosion. Only this time, it did not stop there!
Since Rakey's reaction time had been diminished by her injuries, Mock had time to "shape" five "edges" of ash, coming out from the main blast. This edges promptly ignited as well, as result of the chain reaction that was occurring.

The five secondary blasts took the shape of flower petals. The end result was that of a large red and orange flower, burning away as it seemed to bloom! The outcome of this simple variation of the First Ignition, is that the area of the blast is 5 times greater! A larger blast and several secondary explosion also translates into more heat, and subsequently more damage!

As the Shinigami landed on the ground, only a couple of meters from the blast, he received some minor burns here and there, but nothing to worry about!
KaijinKami's fire does not harm Mock. But the unstable chain reaction produced by it and KetsuekiZenchou's reiryoku's mixture, is harmful to him as well - to a certain degree.

Landing on the ground, MockaDash didn't wait for Rakey to have time to counter.

Sanbanmehakka -- Tourou Nagashi [Third Ignition, "Tourou Nagashi"] As he said this, the ash took the shape of hundreds of hovering flames, yet once more. Gozan no Okuribi! Daimonji!!!

The several flames converged and formed five large pillars of fire, surrounding Rakey. The pillars converged to its target, aiming to imprison her inside.
This time, they were stable flames, produced by the ash of the fire Zanpakutou only. So instead of burning much, their reiatsu would imprison the Arrancar, in a similar fashion as a bakudou would.

Mock awaited to see if Rakey was successfully imprisoned by his attack, before following up with it...

(( So, "Tourou Nagashi" is that famous Japanese ceremony in which participants float paper lanterns down a river to guide the spirits of the departed to the afterlife - as I'm about to do with you! xp
"Gozan no Okuribi" is a festival in Kyoto, in which five giant bonfires are lit on mountains surrounding the city. "Daimonji" is the first bonfire to be lit, and resembles the kanji with its name. You now it's shape right? ))

Although quite wide and somewhat powerful, the first attack - the flaming flower - did not cause much damage to Rakey, since she successfully avoided it. It did however, fulfilled its true purpose...

As Mock feared, the Espada's speed, even with an injured body, was almost uncanny. So the Shinigami had to resort to diversion tactics.
Hence, the explosion was just a way to make her lose focus - even if only for a second - of her surroundings.

Myou... Mock said, and the five pillars that had entrapped Rakey, quickly twisted and arched on themselves, changing the shape of a Kanji - from the daimonji to the myou.
Rakey was still trapped by the waist line, only now, instead of five pillars extending away from her, there was a lot of weird curves and geometric shapes - that formed the myou character when seen from above. This weird shape, was an energy balanced configuration, that maximized the potential of the forces that were trapping Rakey inside, in order to make increasingly harder for her to escape.

Not that she would have much time to... After Mock pronounced the last word, and as soon as the character was formed (which didn't last more than a couple of seconds), the Shinigami finished what he was saying ...Hou.

The kanji locking Rakey in place, violently erupted into a blazing column of fire. The column shoot to the sky, and the base of it was a lot wider, resembling a pyre. Near the very top of the column the fire forked in tree directions - up, and to each side, forming perfect 90º angles between them - and the same happened roughly about half-way the length of the tall column.
Three smaller columns of fire, detached themselves, and hovered next to the main one, perpendicular to it.


The visual image given by such magnificent burning pyre, to someone who was viewing it from the ground (such as Mock), was that of the hou character.

The Arrancar would now be burning inside such giant pyre. First she was trapped, then burnt and reduced to cinders by the hot flames - at least, that was what Mock hoped.

But the attack was far from over...
Mock was curiously paying attention, to see if Rakey was dead, near-dead, or unscathed and probably aiming to strike back.

((OK. In the Kyoto festival, this is the second bonfire that is lit. It's two different character, as you've noticed, meaning "excellent law". The first one does not add much to the fire already imprisoning you. It just adds more strength in order to prevent you from escaping after being trapped.
It looks like this, when viewed from above Myou Bonfire.

Then instead of imprisoning you, the flames start to burn you, right? They aim to the sky, forming a column that is wider at it's base. It resembles the hou character. Hou Bonfire. As I've said, this time the character is seen from the ground. The great flames is the base of the kanji and the top portions of it are the columns that shoot upwards.
Any questions? .xp: ))

(( I love lavender hued ceros! You now my weaknesses very well!!! stare If I wasn't putting my life on the line, I would just glomp the cero... xp But no, that wouldn't work... So I'll just avoid it kay? ))

Funagata Mockadash articulated. The three hovering flame pillars, on the left side of the Hou kanji, came crashing down at Rakey's current location within the burning pyre. At the time, the Espada had successfully escaped from the area of hotter flames, but was still being burnt. The three pillars came down on her, and erupted, changing the shape of the burning pyre.

It now resembled the Funagata bonfire of Gozan no Okuribi. In the event of striking Rakey, she would be immersed in hot flames yet again, so her evasion attempt would've been for naught. The flames spread to all sides, due to the conflicting heat waves from the collision of several combustion sources. The blaze was spread to the sides and closer to the ground, reaching for the sky in the middle and the extremities, thus giving it a particular shape - that of a boat.

MockaDash thought that Rakey had few - or none - chances of evading this third move, since she was focusing on casting a cero. Being such a powerful and wide attack - a Gran Rey Cero - the Arrancar took her time charging the attack. That way, Mock was able to easily notice it, and think of a way to evade it.
For now, however, the Shinigmai remained in place, in order for her to discharge the attack in that direction.

Before the cero was released, Mock performed the 4th stage of his attack. Hidari Daimonji! the Captain enunciated. The flaming "hell" surrounding Rakey, subdued and shifted once more, turning into an exact copy of the initial Daimonji kanji and restrained her, just before she released the Gran Rey Cero.

Having the time to monitor the reiatsu changes in Rakey's cero as she was casting it, Mock could perceive in advance when she would release it. Easily shumpoing to avoid the attack, MockaDash appeared several meters behind Rakey, in the opposite direction the cero have been shot.
It was still day time, but the flare of such magnificent attack, painted the city sky with indigo. Mock wondered for a second, what the humans below would be thinking after witnessing such weird event. They were probably unable to see that spirit energy, but such a vast amount of it, might just alter the molecular matter of that "real world". They would probably - wrongly - notice that the sun was burning hotter that day...
Scientist, might justify that event with a solar flare. "It was a strong emission of ultraviolet radiation, produced by an hydrogen eruption that occurred on the sun's surface.", they would say.

Mock grinned as these thoughts came to mind. Not wasting time, he followed up his attack. ToriiGata!

The five columns binding Rakey, spiraled and took her into the air. Suddenly bursting all around her. It was the largest combustion yet, when compared to the previous ones. The flames surprisingly took the shape of a Torii gate, and Rakey was on the top, in the midst of the flames forming the horizontal bar.
The all thing imploded upon itself and engulfed Rakey within, before vanishing, and covering the skies with ash.

Mock sighed, as the ash was falling similar to snow. It covered the skyscraper roof, giving that place an ominous appearance. The stench of burnt flesh and concrete filled the air, and helped in creating this ambiance of destruction.
The indigo hue slowly vanished from the firmament.

Mock was a bit exhausted from that last attack. But he guessed that he was in much better shape than Rakey...

Still recovering his breath, the 13th Squad Captain saw Rakey falling towards the ground, and sighed. Mustering up strength, Mock ran as fast as he currently could, and caught Rakey in his arms.

Holding her in his arms still, MockaDash knelt and gently placed Rakey on the floor, on top of the ash mantle that had formed there. The ash was still warm, due to the recent fire attacks, so it should be comfortable for her to lay on such soft and warm surface.

There's no need for further battling. Mock gently said to the Arrancar, while caressing her forehead. It would be easy for the Shinigami to deliver the final blow, but that was not within his principles. Judgment has already been made. And you have atoned.

Sitting next to her, Mock used KaijinZenchou's ability to close Rakey's wounds and replenish the lost blood, before unreleasing the Zanpakutou, turning it into a white wakizashi once more. Since it wasn't Mock's expertise, he used up most of his reiryoku to heal Rakey's burns to an acceptable degree. Meaning that, she still had some left, but they weren't as "aggressive" as before. All the pain should've disappeared as well.

And now, I have atoned. he said. Rakey probably could realize that MockaDash was exhausted from healing her. The Captain basically placed himself at her mercy.
As he heavily breathed, trying to regularize his respiration, only now did Mock noticed Rakey's torn and burned clothes - more precisely, her exposed body.

He blushed slightly, and looked away, pretending to gaze at the horizon. But soon, glanced at her from behind his sunglasses' lenses.

Coughing to clear his throat, as he faced her, Mock said It wasn't my place to kill you. Since the very beginning, that you weren't fighting me for real.

I hope I have indulged your initial request... He then thought to himself Since that was all I was aiming for, anyway...

I'm glad I sucked at it! Mock said with a wide grin across his face, referring to the fact that he was trying to make her hate him.
With a quick shumpo, the Shinigami went for his "flowered" haori, that he threw to the ground moments after meeting Rakey. Ash rose slightly into the air, as Mock disappeared and reappeared in the split of a second, still in kneeling position.

Placing the haori on top of Rakey's exposed body, he offered it to her in order to cover her - especially the "hole" she seemed to be so apprehensive about.

No. I was not contradicting myself. You see... There are only two certainties in this Universe. One is death - it will happen to you either you like it or not... But, the other is life! Life always catch on to everyone, even if they don't want to.

I mean, people will always change. The world around us - and within us - is in constant transition. Pain, is what makes us go on...

Did you knew, that physiologically, painful experiences are "imprinted deeper" in your memory than joyful ones? You remember your failures, easier than you can recall your victories. That's a defense mechanism, created in order to force us to employ all our resources in preventing further painful experiences...

But since we are dwelling on the question of pain... It's important to point out, that bad experiences are needed in order for us to be able to fully give value to good ones.

The Captain paused for a moment, as he reached for his kiseru. Readying himself to prepare the pipe for smoking, Mock halted and returned it to his kimonio, after recalling that Rakey get disturbed by the tobacco smoke. You may be wondering where I'm getting at... It's simple.
We both, had different paths in life, that somehow got intertwined, joining us in this place and moment, right here, right now. We both have had different "pains", that we carry with us.
Use your pain, Rakey-san. Don't get overwhelmed by it. Don't let it control you. Control it yourself!

Laying down close to the Arrancar, Mock placed his hands and arms crossed behind his head, to act as a pillow. His kasa hat was covering his face now - if it weren't, the Shinigami would be gazing at the blue sky.
MockaDash laid down less than a meter away from Rakey, side-by-side, head-to-head.

Don't try to let go of the pain, Rakey. People will tell you that time heals everything. Well, it's a lie! Time heals nothing. It just buries memories deep inside you subconscious, but they are still there! Stirring and influencing your so-called "conscious" actions.
Always keep your pain at the surface, using it to live through each day... That way, you're always watchful of it.

Allowing it to sink deeper within yourself, is what causes people to lose themselves...

Turning his face to the side, Mock stared at the 6th Espada.

You know what I mean?

Would you... he paused. ...like to hear another story?

As Mock turned his head to face Rakey, he wasn't expecting her own face to be so close to his.

Even amongst the stench of cinder and burnt tissue, Rakey's pleasant fragrance invaded Mock's nostrils.
It wasn't a perfume. Rather, it was that typical scent that women carry with them. The unexplainable aroma which entices Men.
Proximate to her, he could distinguish every feature on Rakey's face, as his eye moved up and down, to focus on every individual aspect of her countenance. The scent was pulling him closer to her, luring him - it seemed to fade on purpose, as if seducing him and tempting the Shinigami to approach her even further in order to better perceive the aroma.

Mock was taking long deep breaths, in order to better catch that evasive scent, while trying not to give away that he was doing that. This caused him to lose his breath, since the air inside his lungs was not being completely removed - "old" air mixing with "new" one.

Pretending to yawn, in order to inhale a compensatory amount of oxygen, he looked back up again. He also felt his cheeks getting warmer, as the flush gave away his awkwardness. To hide it, he lowered his kasa even further, to fully cover his face.

The Shinigami wanted to look at Rakey again, but he wasn't going to do so now. Actually, a peculiar thought had previously crossed his mind... While gazing at her face, there was this inner voice - an urge - telling him to kiss her.
It was like that voice that tells you: "Hey! What if you jumped from this balcony?" when you're standing on a balcony on the 10th floor of a 10 storey building, looking at the streets below.

Mock wasn't going to "throw himself from the balcony".
He couldn't explain why he felt that impulse, under a rational perspective. All there was to blame, was the chemicals in the air, being exchanged back and forth.

The man considered how ridiculous that thought had been. Kissing an enemy? Kissing an Espada? But most importantly, kissing a woman who he only just met? - not to mention who he nearly killed, seconds ago.
But that sweet fragrance, still trailing close to his nostrils, was driving him mad now!

One of the reasons he was so constrained, was that he had been caught by surprise. He would never imagine that an Arrancar would ever strike him as being beautiful. Not only that, this particular one, was more humane than most humans - Mock had dealt with - were (not even mentioning Shinigamis and such).

The Captain cleared his throat, and said. Funny you mention my hat... No one has ever asked me that! Either they don't care or they simply are afraid to ask.
It has no special meaning though, it's mostly decorative, same as for my haori... But I do have this long, pointy, and messy hair. So, when I was a kid, my friends always picked on me about that. So when I entered the Shinigami Academy, after they died, I decided to start wearing one. Not only to conceal my hair, but also in order to gain a new image. I wanted a fresh start.

The Captain sighed. Talking made him feel less inadequate. It was the uncomfortable silence that interfered with him. Anyway, I used to only have one plain kasa, but and old friend destroyed it during a spar. After that, she offered me a life-long supply of them.
Once I became a Captain though, I changed hats. This one is much more exquisite and embellished. This happened around the same time Daven died, and a lot of other stuff was going on in my mind... So I decided I deserved a new beginning.

As for my story, I just wanted to tell you, that I used to hate your kind. Not merely because you killed my friends. Yes, it started out like that... But the truth is, I needed something to hold on to, and forget the pain. I held on to the Shinigami creed.

It was my duty to slay your brethren, without remorse, questions asked, or hesitation whatsoever! At the time I thought that I was doing the right thing. But I know now, that I was merely hiding my pain within myself, digging it ever deeper.

In the meantime, a lot or things happened, that made me doubt my beliefs and judgment. I'm now able to live with my pain. It helps to remind me that I was wrong, as so were the ones who killed my friends. I was to blame as much as they were!
This is a reminder of that... That no one is always right!

People are just... he sighed and lifted his kasa in order to reveal his face ...people!