Chapter 23 - ch.23

A month had passed since Hinata met Serah. Over time, here body began to adapt to the new chakra, her hair slowly whitening into a greyish hue, her eyes were darkened, almost black. She was already enrolled at the academy, and insisted on extra training. So, here she was after school, preparing to face Blackstar as Stein watched. "Remember Blackstar, she's still getting used to 3-sword style, so you are only to defend." Instructed Stein, even though this is the tenth time they've spared.

"I know, teach, I know. Tsubaki, ninja sword mode!" "Right!" she turned into a small blade, more like a knife than a sword.

"Serah." "Yeah, yeah." Serah turned into a sword which appeared in Hinata's left hand. She placed the blade in her mouth, and held out her hand for another one to appear. Then she drew her zanpakuto, giving her 3 blades. She ran at Blackstar, who readied Tsubaki. She swung her left sword, and pushed forward with the one in her mouth against the first. Blackstar had trouble blocking it, her new chakra giving her incedible strength, and the second blade adding half as much force as the first. He slid back a few inches from her attack, but kept his balance. With a sudden surge of energy, he pushed her off, and rethought his strategy.

"Tsubaki, kakiri mode!" She instantly changed into what looked like two hand-held scythes held together by a chain. Hinata wasted no time attacking again, taking swing after swing at him with all three swords. He manages to block or dodge most of them, the very reason why he's her main sparing partner, but still manages to get cut several times. Blackstar manages to wrap a chain around her hand-held swords and pull them together, breaking her combo. She pulls back, she swords sliding easily away, and retreats a few steps.

"Oi, Hinata! We should try that technique we've been developing!" Hinata just grins at Blackstar, who gets a bad feeling as she appears to ready all her swords. He focuses his chakra on Tsubaki, then throws her out.

"Defence Star!" Tsubaki's chain stretches and turns until both ends meet at the tip an a large star made of the chain, glowing slightly. and it was just in time too.

"Chaos Wave!" She spins, unleashing all the chakra in her blades. The combination of her tainted chakra, and Serah's purifying effects makes a huge wave of chakra in the shape of an arc. As it sped at Blackstar, it crackled with energy, the two forces inside it fighting for dominance. It hit his barrier, stretching it dangerously. Tsubaki could clearly be heard grunting in pain as she attempted to protect Blackstar. Blackstar moved out of the way so Tsubaki could release the barrier, and he was just far enough. After Tsubaki returned to normal size, the wave continued until it hit the ground just behind where blackstar was, creating a large implosion which Blackstar was nearly sucked into.

Stein noted the unique effect calmly, analizing it. Soon, it dissapeared, leaving a small crater in the ground. He looked at Hinata, who was panting from exertion. "Hinata, Serah, did you know that was going to happen?"

"Hell no! Every other time, it blew up in our face, literally. How were we to know it would nearly kill with one blow!?"

"It seems you two have discovered an extremely powerful attack. Mixing Hinata's tainted chakra, while having it battle out with you own purifying chakra in a single stroke. The result is a complete loss of stability, and it implodes upon itself on impact. A very good tool in you belt, but definitely not an attack to spar with. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" Hinata puts her hand up in a mock salute. "Reserve special attack only to kill!"

"Cut out the smartass talk, Hinata!" Blackstar was on his feet again. "Time for payback!" Stein just lets out a sigh as Blackstar attacks Hinata, who blockes both of his blades with each sword. He saw this coming, though, and leaned forward and gave her a head bash. Hinata stumbled backward, holding her head in a daze.

"Damn!" She mumbles as she tries to focus her eyes. Blackstar, however, had no trouble recovering, and was already going for another attack. He swung both ends at the same time, aiming for her head. She blocked, turning her head just enough to block with her third sword. She looks at him, pissed, before swinging both her swords at the sides of his chest, self control keeping the sharp ends away. Her attack hits home, and Blackstar immediately coughs up some spit as the air was knocked out of him. He hits the ground hard, trying to recover.

"Blackstar! Are you OK!?" Tsubaki cried out in worry.

It took him a moment to respond. "Yeah, I'm OK! Ya can't keep a star like me down!" He hops back to his feet.

"Stop. That's enough for today." Stein called out, walking over to them.

"What!? But we barely got started!"

"And she managed to beat you twice already. If you hadn't dodged her first attack, you would be dead, and if she had wanted to, you would have died this time too."

"What'r ya talkin about, teach? I got her on the ropes!"

"Blackstar, you do realise she used the dull side of her blade? If she had used the sharp end, you'd be cut in half."

His own bravado HAD prevented him from realising it. He gulps, and feels his side where he was bruised from her attack. "Fine. Then I just have to train harder, and beat you next time! Enjoy the spotlight while you can!" He went off immediately to somewhere, presumably to train.

"That boy, always so full of himself, and can never sit still."

"It's not like you to complain, Prof. Stein." commented Hinata.

"I'm not. It's just a simple fact, and may very well be why he's so strong."

"What'cha mean?" Serah became human again. "How does being a pigheaded egotist have to do with getting stronger!?"

"Put simply, he hates to lose. And he always takes it as a personal failure when he does. So he trains harder. And no matter the foe, his bravado keeps him coming back. "There's no stage to big for me. I can do it if I want!" He probably doesn't realise it himself, but he motivates himself to always do better, be stronger, be, as he calls himself, the big man."

"I think I see..." Serah says, amrs crossed as she thinks. "C'mon, Hinata! We got to train too, and rub his face in!"

Hinata grins deviously. "Alright." The run off to a nearby training court.

Stein lets out a sigh as he scratches his head. "How can a girl with purifying chakra have such a corrupt personality...?"

--------------------------------------------Next day----------------------------------------

Hinata and Serah were heading out some random town. "Yeah! Our first mission! Arn't you hyped!?" Hinata just looks sideways at her and smiles as she drives. "Hinata, what's wrong? You've been awful quiet the past few days."

"Nothing." The inflection in her voice, indeed indicated nothing.

Still, she persisted. "You're thinking about Naru, arn't you?"

Hinata didn't react. "Nah, I'm over her! Bitch left me, and there's nothing I can do about it. No point in dwelling on the past."

"Yes, but I remember Kid telling me about how heartbroken you were. Can you really just give her up?"

"I didn't, she gave me up." She put the car in park. "We're here." It was a lively town, with what apperared to be a festival going on. She got out, waited for Serah, and the started to walk through. "What's the target again?"

"Some lowlife with pink hair and braces. Not big enough to warrent a title, but enough that the DWMA noticed him. Figures we get the small fry!"

"Well, this is our first meister/weapon mission." She looks through the crowd, occasionally seeing pink, only to find it's cotton candy. The passed an old man with long white hair chaparoning a 12 year old with short spiky hair wearing a jumpsuit. "Perv." She said after she passed, as he was clearly staring at her chest until they passed each other.

"Oi, I think I see him!" She pointed to a man that appeared to be hiding between stalls, witing for a chance to strike. He soon took some ladies purse and ran off with it.

"Let's go!" Hinata started to run, chasing him from the shadows, following until he was alone. They sat on the roof on a back alley, watching count his score. "*sigh* Too easy. Hey, asshole!" He turned around to see them. "Hey, Serah, look at that. He responded to asshole!" Serah giggled a bit.

He pulls out a gun from each side of his waist. "Don't fuck with me! Get the hell out of here before I pump you full of lead!"

They look at each other and laugh. "Those little things? What are they, 9mm? We regularly spar against someone who uses glocks!"

"I said don't fuck with me!" He starts shooting. Within seconds, he's on the ground, barely conscious.

"We get a picture with the profile?" asks Hinata, hovering a sword centimeters away from his neck.

"Uh, yeah, just a sec!" She starts rummageing through her pack before handing it to Hinata.

Hinata looked at it, to the guy, and back and forth a couple more times. "This just isn't your day, huh? Serah, if you would be so kind." She holds out her hand, dropping the picture.

"Yes, my first kill!" She turns into a blade, and appears in her hand. Hinata replaces the zanpakuto at his throat with her at his eye, just as he's coming back to his sense.

"Wait, please! I can make you rich! That lady had nearly 500 dollars in cash! Imagine her credit card!"

"Dude, you have a moment left to live, and you think we care about your damn money? Tsk, tsk, for shame." Responded Hinata before piercing him through the eye, Serah's special weapon powers making his chakra condense just above his stomach. He died, and a glowing red sphere hovered over his corpse. "There you go, Serah, eat up!"

Serah reverts to human, and takes the corrupt soul and swallows it whole. "Whew. That's hard to swallow!"

"How'd it taste?"

Serah started heading out. "Didn't really have a taste. Felt real smooth going down though, like a good bottle of scotch."

Hianta followed. "Would I find a rap sheet on you if I looked in the academy dossier?"

"Yeah, but nothing serious! Just graffiti, underage drinking, driving without a license, sexual assault..."

Hinata facepalmed. "I'm partnered with an ex-con!"

"Nah, never went. Juvie was fun though! Though when I turned 16, I was given an ultimatum: join the DWMA, or some stupid bootcamp for quote, unquote troubled youth, or actually get sent to jail."

Hianta just chuckled. "You are one crazy bastard!"

"And my partner has to be just as crazy if she wants to keep up with me! Which I why I have such picky taste!" She said as she started picking her nose with her pinky.

"You just don't care about appearances, do you?" She says with a chuckle.

"Not in the least." She flicks the booger away, and watches it as something catches her eye. "Oi, how soon do we have to be back?" She asks as she stops.

"They won't expect us till tomorrow, why?" She sees what she's looking at: a love hotel. "Are you kidding!? Who the hell is gonna randomly sleep with us unless they're drunk off their ass!?

"Well, then we just need you drunk!" She said with a devious sparkle in her eye.

"Wait, what..? She didn't have time to say more than that before Serah pulled her into a nearby tavern, setting themselves at the bar.

"I.D.?" Asked the barkeep. Serah flashed some fake I.D.s, one of her and one od Hianta, indicationg them both to be 21. He inspects them, then hands them back. "So, what can I get ya?"

"6 shots, a bottle of you sweetest wine, and rum and coke." "That'll be $50.54." Serah hands him the money, and he starts making the drinks.

"Serah, what the hell?" Hinata whispered.

"Relax. Our bodies are mature enough, the government is just stupid. Now..." She picks up one of their shots, filled with a clear, pungent liquid. "Drink up!" Before she can react, Serah opens Hinata's mouth, and pours it in as she swallows by reflex. She gasps a bit from the feel of it going down her throat. Her mind begins to fog up slightly. "Good, right?" She asks before taking her own shot.

Hinata wasn't sure. Her throat burned slightly, but her mind was pleasently addled. "Ish it supposed to feel like this?" She asked, her speech starting to slur.

"Not yet! Damn, you're a lightweight!" She drinks two more shots in rapid succession. She watches as Hinata drnks a second one on her own, already beginning to sway in her seat. Serah rolls her eyes. She snaps her fingers, and yells "Garcon!" The bartender comes, if a little irritated. "Pretzals, Asap!" He walks into the kitchen, and brings out a basket of large, fluffy prezals. She paid him, and handed on to Hinata. "Here, eat this."

She obediantly eats it, and starts to regain some motor control after a couple bites. "Wow, ish the shome speshial ingredient or shomfin?" She asks, still drunk.

"Nah, bread just soaks up some of the alcohol." She downs the fourth shot, and sips on the rum.

"Oh, my head. It feels like the whole room is spinning..." She looks directly (as she can) at Serah. "You're my besht friend, you know that? Helping me with this shadow bitch, and staying by my side."

She was somewhat caught off guard. "Well, thanks!"

"No, no, no! I'm serious! In fact, I want to show you something. Something only my beshtest besh friends know about." She grabs her and tries to leave, but only manages to pull her down with her as she fell flat on her face, the rume spilling on the ground next to her.

"Hinata, what the-" She's inturupted by Hinata snoring. She sighs in exaperation. "Fucking lightweight. Can't even hold two shots!" She grabbed the bottle, and hoisted Hinata up on her shoulder. "C'mon, sleeping beauty, lets get you a bed." She walked next door, where there was a convinient inn, and paid for a room. She took her up, and lay her in the bed with a grunt. "Damn, girl. Who'd have thought you were so heavy!?"

She noted that Hinata's clothes were coated in muck and grime from the long trip there. "Damn, you are a handful." She said as she started to disrobe her to wash the clothes. She pulled up her shirt, revealing her large breast held by a pink bra. "Ha! Given your attitude, I would have thought black, not pink." She pulled down her pants, noticing a well-concealed bulge in her pants. "What the..." She breathed as she looked closer. She pulled her panties down slightly to show a large cock, bigger than she's ever seen. "Holy shit!" Shje jumps back like it was about to bite.