Amid the chaos and the echoing sounds of battle from deeper in the mansion, Mei stood her ground, her zanpakutō, Shiro no Shikaku, glinting with icy menace. Yuichi was beside her, his own zanpakutō drawn, the tension between them palpable as they faced down the five cloaked attackers standing in their path. The narrow corridor was far from ideal—too tight for Mei's agile fighting style and far too confined for Yuichi's abilities. The odds, even as skilled as they were, seemed stacked against them.
"Hui, guard the young lord," Mei ordered, her voice steely. She didn't even glance back as she spoke, trusting Hui to follow her command without hesitation. "I'll take care of their defense."
In the blink of an eye, Mei raised Shiro no Shikaku, and an intense, bone-chilling cold spread through the air. "Sōzō no Yuki," she whispered, her reiatsu flaring as she willed the ability into existence. Out of nothingness, snow and ice began to swirl around her, rapidly solidifying into a shimmering, translucent barrier that surrounded both Byakuya and Hui. The ice was thick ensuring that no attacker would reach them easily.
Yuichi could feel the temperature plummet around them, the ice glistening even in the dim lighting of the corridor. He trusted Mei's decision, knowing that protecting Byakuya was paramount. But now it was just the two of them against five skilled opponents—hardly ideal given the space and circumstances.
Mei quickly assessed the corridor. It was far too narrow for her typical style of swift, precise strikes. She would be hindered in her movements. Yuichi's abilities, powerful though they were, were indiscriminate, and the confined area made his techniques even riskier. There would be no room for error in timing; one wrong move, and they could fall victim to his power.
With a heavy breath, Mei made her decision. "Yuichi, you know what we have to do."
His eyes flicked toward her, understanding dawning. They had practiced this technique, but it was far from perfect, far from refined. Yet, there was no other choice. Yuichi nodded, gripping his zanpakutō tighter, feeling the weight of what was to come.
"Get ready," Mei whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of approaching footsteps. Their enemies were getting closer, their confidence radiating from their reiatsu. These weren't ordinary foot soldiers—they were elite.
As the five attackers charged, Mei and Yuichi braced themselves. Mei's voice was cold as ice as she said, "Shunkō: Hyōten!" In an instant, her body was enveloped in an aura of freezing, crackling energy. The air around her turned arctic, the very floor beneath her feet freezing over. Frost spread rapidly, and her entire form seemed to shimmer with the deadly beauty of ice. Every movement she made was now infused with incredible reiki, the ice around her body serving as both offense and defense. The sheer cold emanating from her could freeze anything that dared touch her.
Yuichi followed her lead. "Shunkō: Enkai!" he roared, his body suddenly igniting in a blazing inferno of fiery reiatsu. Flames licked the air around him, swirling and dancing in violent patterns, as though the very air itself were on fire. His entire form was engulfed in a red-hot blaze, the heat intense enough to distort the space around him. Unlike Mei, who relied on speed and precision, Yuichi's Shunkō was a force of raw destruction. Anything that came near him seemed as if they would be incinerated by the searing flames, their energy wild and untamed.
The attackers, skilled as they were, hesitated for a moment. They hadn't expected this. The sudden appearance of frost and fire surrounding their enemies was enough to give them pause. But only for a moment.
"Go!" the lead attacker shouted, his voice dripping with authority. He had sensed the danger, but they outnumbered Mei and Yuichi, and their mission was too important to fail. Five-on-two or not, they were trained to kill. In an instant, they lunged forward.
Mei moved first, her body disappearing in a blur of motion as she charged forward with blinding speed. Shunkō: Hyōten allowed her to move like a gust of icy wind—swift, lethal, and freezing everything in her path. She cut through the air with a sound like cracking ice, and the first attacker barely had time to react before Mei's fist was upon him. He raised his blade in defense, but the moment it made contact with reiki infused fist, it froze instantly, the frost creeping up his weapon, numbing his hands.
Mei twisted her wrist and with a single, brutal strike, shattered both his sword and his arms. The attacker let out a strangled cry as his limbs were encased in ice. Mei showed no mercy—her fist tore through his chest in one fluid motion, blood splattering against the frozen walls and froze as his lifeless body crumpled to the ground.
But there was no time to stop. As the first man fell, the remaining four attackers charged in, their swords aimed at Mei from multiple angles, each trying to overwhelm her with sheer force. Mei's movements became even more rapid, her body a blur as she danced between the strikes with minimal movement, her icy aura deflecting their blows with ease. Frost spread wherever she stepped, turning the battlefield into her domain. Yet the effort was draining—Shunkō burned through her reiryoku at an alarming rate, and she knew she had to finish this quickly.
Meanwhile, Yuichi's approach was far more direct. The flames surrounding his body surged as he swung his zanpakutō, sending a powerful wave of fire toward the nearest attacker. The man barely managed to avoid being caught in the inferno, but the heat was intense, scorching the air around them. Yuichi followed up with a rapid series of strikes, his sword burning with fiery energy. The attacker parried, but each clash of their blades sent sparks flying, the heat from Yuichi's Shunkō scorching the man's skin with every close contact.
"You'll have to do better than that!" the attacker sneered, lunging forward with a ferocious overhead strike. Yuichi stepped back, dodging the blow, but his opponent was relentless. He followed up with a spinning kick aimed at Yuichi's midsection, the speed of the attack catching Yuichi off guard. The kick connected, sending Yuichi skidding back a few feet.
The flames around Yuichi flared wildly, reacting to his fluctuating reiatsu. The kick had hurt, but it wasn't enough to stop him. In a flash, Yuichi retaliated, his body surging forward with incredible speed. He swung his zanpakutō in a fiery arc, the flames erupting in a wave that engulfed the attacker. The man screamed as the flames consumed him, his body turning to ash within seconds.