Snippet #2543365

Joel was tearing at the hollows flesh, still certain that it wouldn't truly die until he had ripped all of its being out of it. He was following the words of his blade and ditching all sense of his own. His ears twitched as he was able to hear the quiet words. Words that weren't those of anger and blood thirst, but those of fear. He had looked around only to see that Reika was being attacked by her own hollow. It seemed she really did need help. Help that Joel was too distracted to give. Though now, since he had heard her voice, he flashed behind the hollow thrusting his blade into its back. With a quick movement he took out his sword and thrust once more. It seemed like he had greatly wounded the beast, as it didn't have the same power of the on who he had fought. "Reika. Get out of here. I can't handle two hollows at once very long." His words were directed to the hollow in front of him and the dead hollow across from him.

"I'll kill you. I swear I'll kill you Joel."

His ears were playing tricks on him if anything. He could have sworn that he heard the dead hollow speaking to him. "Over my dead body!!!" Joel's roar caused his sword to vibrate. It was just what it wanted. Joel would devour everything in his path if he could and the sword wanted that for him. The soul reaper went back to the dead hollow and began stabbing it over and over again, even going as far as to throw his blade away and tear at the dead carcass with his own hands. Since he ignored the girls hollow once more, it had turned back around to her, only to be quickly struck down by another shinigami. Joel ignored the outside world and kept on trying to rip the dead hollow a new one, surprised by the fact that he was now fighting against other shinigami to reach the dead hollow. "Let me go. I must destroy him. I have to kill it."

It took good couple of hours for Joel to snap out of his angered trance. He then looked at the bandages that were wrapped around his arms and looked towards everyone else. It had seemed that they were in some pretty bad shape as well. Joel wasn't allowed to be rested in the same room as them though. He was only around for when they were getting patched up and then sent to a private room where some shinigami could keep a watchful eye on him. Basically, he was treated as a danger to himself and his friends.

At night, though his eyes were closed in sleep, he couldn't have felt more awake. The events of the day played over and over again in his head. No matter how he looked at it, there were many things he could have done differently. Many avenues he could have crossed in order to make sure none of them had been injured the way they did. If anything, if it weren't for the fact that he was distracted by his maddened state, he could have prevented Reika's stomach wound. He needed to be stronger, both mentally and physically. That was the only way he would be able to protect his friends. He had decided that if he was going to do anything, it would be getting stronger for the sake of his friends and for himself.

The days afterwards passed with ease. Sure he was scolded at the captains meeting and was put on probation. Sure he had to look at the worried faces of the Captain and Lieutenant. However, it didn't phase him. He had a ticking feeling in the back of his brain, one that wouldn't be silenced and as soon as they were dismissed on the grounds of probation, Joel took that time to start training himself. He didn't really care if his wounds opened up any more than they already were. He was only focused on training and used the pain as a means to become stronger. Soon, he was changing his bandages every hour and the salt from the sweat of his body, stung his wounds, but still he trained. He hadn't even left his room to eat or check on any of his friends. He was consumed with the want to get stronger and nothing was going to stop him.