PLEASE READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE! PRETTY PLEASE WITH CHERRIES ON TOP OF A RAINBOW! Hey there! Alright, so not my first Bleach story, but I think it'll be one of my best ones... not to sound conceded, haha, but I worked very hard :) Alright, so, there're a couple things to go over... First of all, a proper summary! Because you know, there isn't a lot of space in the things they give us...
An accident with a subway leaves several civilians trapped underground, their driver dead and many injured. They only have a limited supply of food and water, and tensions run high between the group. It's impossible to say how long they will be trapped, or if any of them will make it out alive. Meanwhile, outside forces try to find them as soon as worried fathers and brothers realize their loved ones are missing. No one knows if they can make it to them in time, or if they'll perish from starvation, dehydration, or worse-each other.
There are a lot of characters in this! Some aren't mentioned in the first chapter and will come later. Well, that's all I really can think of right now, other than I hope you liked it, and reviews and suggestions are always welcome! Anyhow,,,
Enjoy!
The streets buzzed mildly as a tall orange-haired teen made his way through the throngs of people. His height being an advantage, he glanced around for that familiar face, his phone clutched tightly in his hand as he shifted the backpack on his shoulder. The air smelled of cigarette smoke and perfume and body odor, a strange mix that assaulted his nose harshly. It wasn't his first time being here; his dad had brought him here when he was little.
This thought only made him tighten his grip on the shoulder strap of his backpack, his eyes straining for any sense of regularity in the odds and ends of people in the crowd. It was an unusually busy day, he mused, though it might always be like this. When he'd come here as a boy, the first and last time he'd ever come here, it'd been an entirely opposite kind of day, and even different situation.
A vibration ran through his arm from the death grip he had on it, and Ichigo glanced down, letting the screen flash up and words let him focus on something else.
Waiting for bus. They're here. Where r u?
Ichigo sighed and would have run a hand through his already unruly hair, but instead tightened his grip, not bothering to respond to the text as he pushed through the crowd, his eyes continuing their search for that one face in the crowd.
Orihime smiled brightly, her eyes shining slightly with wet tears that she refused to let fall. Her bag was tucked carefully under her arm, the strap digging into the weak point in her neck painfully. She ignored it, though, as again she allowed her brother to pull her into yet another head. Laughing, she held him back, as his body shook with chuckles.
"I'll be back soon, you know," Orihime reassured him, though she herself couldn't deny the twist in her gut, and the sharp ache in her heart, little though it may be, of being away from her brother for so long. Sora pulled away, resting his hands on her shoulders with a comforting smile.
"I know," he said softly, "But are you sure you don't want me to drive you there?" Orihime smiled and shook her head.
"It's hours away, Sora. You know I wouldn't make you spend that much money on gas for me. Besides, I'll see you in a few weeks." Sora nodded, smiling, and gently brought his fingers up to brush against the blue pins clipped in her vibrant mandarin curls, that framed her innocent face so well.
"I know," he said quietly, "I'm just going to miss you." Orihime's smile widened and she wrapped her arms around her brother's hug, pulling him into a hug this time.
"Me too," she murmured into his shirt, taking in his sweet, familiar scent, "I love you, Sora."
"I love you, too." Finally they pulled away, and Sora smiled before offering an arm.
"Here, I'll walk you to your station." Orihime took his arm cheerily, excitement and anticipation running through her body.
Grimmjow shoved his hands into his pockets, letting the cigarette hang lazily from his mouth. An older woman gave him a slightly scathing look and Grimmjow winked with a leer, which she returned with disgust before hurrying off. Most people gave the tall, electric-blue haired young man a wide berth, not that Grimmjow was complaining.
He took the cigarette out of his mouth to let out a long stream of smoke, curls and wisps disappearing in the air above as he made his way lazily through the crowd. He didn't really care about what time it was, or the fact that he was probably going to be late. Why the hell would he? Didn't really want this damn job anyway.
Grimmjow contained a huff and instead breathed in another long drag, letting it out close to the faces of those who looked disapprovingly at him as they passed. He finally made it to the ticket booth and waited in line, glancing around. When it was his turn, he lazily dug in his pocket and threw a wad of bills on the counter, gaining a glare from the man at the counter, to which he sneered at, before snatching up his ticket and turning.
Grimmjow's eyes scanned the area as he took another long drag of his cigarette. He let it out again and was just about to place the cigarette in his mouth before something—or someone—caught his eye, and he swore loudly. The black hair barely shifted as their head turned and green eyes appraised him. Grimmjow scowled, refraining just barely from crushing the cigarette or stabbing the other guy in the eyes with the lit end of it.
"You've got to be shitting me."
The short figure slid easily through the crowd, barely anyone noticing she was there. A baseball cap was drawn low over their face, a simple but expensive-looking bag hoisted on their shoulder. The rest of their clothes were relatively dark, with tight jeans hinting at a slight figure and a baggy sweatshirt that hid the rest from the eyes around. Just then something buzzed, and a hand dug into a pocket.
The screen lit up, only a glance caused her to scowl. Rukia shoved the phone back into her pocket, ignoring the text from Byakuya demanding her to come home "this instant." The decision was made; there was no way she was going back. The short teen made it over to the ticket booth, and almost rolled her eyes when asked about where her parents were. A fake smile and flash of ID later, Rukia turned to wait. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted someone with bright blue hair standing next to someone with dark black hair, the blue haired one smoking and looking extremely irritated. Rukia scoffed quietly and shook her head a bit, moving to the opposite side of the bench, attempting to ignore everything and everyone around her as her mind wondered what exactly the hell she was going to do.
Finally, he spotted it. The one face in the crowd. As he hurried his pace, a part in the crowd allowed him to see the man with two little girls, and they to spot him.
"Ichi!" Ichigo couldn't contain a smile as he finally forced his way through the crowd and the younger one, who came up a bit passed his bellybutton, leapt into his arms. He laughed and crouched, pulling the girl into his arms.
"Hey, Yuzu." The slightly older one with dark hair avoided looking at him, her arms crossed. Ichigo watched her until, finally, her resolve broke and she met his eyes. He stretched his free arm out to her, and she only hesitated a moment before throwing herself into his arms, though slightly more controlled than her sister had been.
"Hey Karin," he greeted softly, holding his little sisters tightly. The man with dark hair, his dad, smiled a bit as he watched the scene, though his usually warm eyes held something more serious. Ichigo pulled away from his sisters and stood, keeping his eyes trained on his dad. Isshin stepped closer and clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Take them to the address I gave you," he said quietly, close enough that he could be heard by only his son through the busy noise of the terminal, "There's an old family friend there that will take care of them." Ichigo nodded, and Isshin's grip tightened on his shoulder.
"This will not be forever," he promised, and it still struck Ichigo how strange it was to see his happy-go-lucky dad so happy, though he knew it was warranted, "Hopefully, it will be sooner than we think." Ichigo nodded again and clapped a hand on his father's shoulder, also. Isshin smiled a bit before pulling away, turning to the two girls that automatically pretending as if they weren't attempting to listen to the conversation.
He bent slowly, wrapping his arms around the girls and pulling them to his chest. Yuzu buried her face in his neck while Karin simply held back, her face stony but eyes watery with tears. Isshin placed a kiss on the top of both of their heads, and pulled back to look at them. Tears had started flowing freely from Yuzu's caramel eyes that matched her hair, and Karin's gray ones were just about ready to let loose some of their own.
"I'll see you two soon, alright?" he started, smiling, "I'll call you every day and every night, and text you throughout the day, and—" The mood lightened as the silly tone came back into his voice and Karin scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"That's a little drastic, don't you think?" Isshin pretended to look hurt.
"Not when it comes to my little girls! Now come on, give your daddy a big kiss—"
"Ugh, dad!" Ichigo and Yuzu laughed as Karin attempted to fight their crazy dad off. Eventually, after sneaking in a kiss on the cheek and earning a thump on the forehead, Isshin straightened and nodded to his son.
"You should get going, your ride should be here by now." Ichigo nodded back, and was brought into a large hug that, on a moment of rarity, he actually returned.
"I'll see you later, Dad," he muttered in his dad's ear.
"I love you.
"I love you too." Isshin pulled away and punched Ichigo hard in the shoulder, to which he yelped in protest.
"Now get going!" Isshin ordered, grinning, "Call me as soon as you get there!" Ichigo shook his head at his dad's antics, but agreed. After exchanging a few more good-byes and a few more tears on Yuzu's side, Ichigo took one of each of his sister's hands and lead them through the crowd, Yuzu and Karin both turning back to wave at their dad before he disappeared in the mingle of the crowd. Yuzu blinked around them, carefully trying to avoid getting whacked with brief cases or bumped into by the oblivious people are them.
"Are we getting on that train now?" her small, worried voice strained to be heard over the crowd, but Ichigo caught it and squeezed her hand lightly.
"In a second," he assured her, "There's someone we're meeting first. He's a friend, so be nice." This last part was appointed to Karin, who simply gave a scowl in response, and they continued moving, Ichigo holding on tightly to his little sister's hands, thankful that he had them with him.
Renji cursed under his breath, finding himself, as usual, in a pissed off mood. The disgusting smell of body odor and cigarette smoke wasn't helping, even making him a bit sick. Of course, where Ichigo had told him to meet him just happened to be right beside some weird guy with bright ass blue hair that was obviously a chain smoker; he'd been standing here for about thirty minutes and the guy had polished off his first cigarette and moved directly to the next. When he'd asked (politely, of course) for him to stop, the guy'd simply scoffed and returned the question with a nice, "Fuck off."
Now, usually Renji wouldn't stand for this from anyone, even strong, gang-looking type guys like him, but the creepy guy standing beside him was a different story; the red head got shivers down his spine just looking at him, and when those startling, albeit terrifying (though Renji would never admit that even if his life depended on it) emerald eyes landed on him, no expression in them whatsoever, it was enough to turn his blood cold and seal his mouth shut like it'd been glued. Renji glanced down at his phone, checking for a message and getting a blank screen as he had the past half hour, and scowled.
Where the hell was he? Just then something bumped into him, hard, and Renji felt his anger flare.
"Hey!" He turned to berate whoever had bumped into him and found his vision flooded with white hair and turquoise eyes. The boy was a lot shorter than him, almost half his size (admittedly, Renji was pretty tall, but even so, this guy was short), and looked up at him blankly, seeming unimpressed. Annoyance pricked Renji in the temple, and he could just feel a growing headache. What the hell was with people with no expressions today? Did they have a creepy convention or something.
"My apologies," the boy muttered in a surprisingly mature voice, and Renji briefly wondered if he was older than he looked before he pulled headphones over his ears and maneuvered around him, moving to stand on the other side of the bench completely. Renji gave an agitated sigh and resisted running a hand over his face. Something told him that this was not going to be his day. The teen turned to scan the crowd, and almost immediately found a shock of bright orange hair above the crowd, and was just short of throwing his hands in the air triumphantly.
"Finally!"
Grimmjow grunted as the long train finally pulled up. He didn't move as the doors opened and people began streaming inside, instead taking a few last precious drags of his cigarette. The guy beside him didn't move, either, and Grimmjow found himself not for the first (or last, he'd bet his lousy savings on that) time cursing him in his head. Grimmjow finally took a long, last drag before taking the remaining cigarette butt from his lips and dropping it, snuffing it with the toe of his boot while he blew the stream of smoke out, curling his lips to aim directly for the face of the guy next to him.
The black haired guy didn't so much as blink, much less try to bat away the smoke like someone normally would before glaring at him and starting to berate him for second-hand smoke and all that crap. The emerald eyes flickered to him, though, and Grimmjow cursed again in his head as he felt an involuntary shiver run down his spine. He suppressed this and shoved his hands in his pockets before finally moving towards the doors, irritated as footsteps followed closely behind him.
When he entered the filthy, yellowed stained interior of the train, he glanced around a bit as he automatically made his way to the back. Already sitting near the front was a hot girl with huge… well, assets, playing with a strand of brilliant orange hair. Her brown eyes met his briefly before she blushed and scooted a bit closer to the window uncomfortably. Grimmjow sneered and might have slid in next to her if he didn't have death-on-legs shadowing him.
He continued his way to the back, observing another woman who was breath-takingly beautiful with weird purple hair, dark skin, and dazzling golden eyes. She simply waved a dainty hand at him when she felt his eyes on him and he snorted, not in the least perturbed. Behind her sat a small guy, maybe a year or two younger than him, with dark black hair and nervous-looking dark eyes.
Grimmjow didn't so much as give him a once-over and continued.
Sitting across the narrow aisle was some guy who looked extremely small, his hat drawn over his face so not so much as a bit of skin was showing. Grimmjow snorted a bit as he noticed they all sat as far away from each other as possible. Of course, he mused, I would get the section with all the wacked out introverted freaks. He could have sworn one guy was even sewing—sewing—though the large Mexican sitting beside him kept Grimmjow from commenting. He loved picking fights, but he wasn't an idiot.
Further back was a tall teen with a shock of bright ass orange hair, way lighter than the hot chicks, on either side of him smaller girls, probably his sisters, one cuddling a stuffed lion. Across from him was the red-headed asshole from before with the weird ass tattoos on his face. Grimmjow simply sent a sneer and a wink when the guy sent him what he supposed was a threatening glare. Finally, Grimmjow ceased caring about these idiots and took the seat at the very back, thankful that his company chose to sat across the aisle from him instead of trying to sit next to him.
"Bunch of freaks, eh?" Grimmjow muttered, snickering. A delicate eyebrow was raised.
"I believe you are the one with blue hair." A growl came in response, and a sudden urge for more of his cigarettes.
"Shut up, Ciffer."
Ichigo held tighter onto Yuzu as the subway lurched forward and her hands clung on tighter to his shirt. He smiled down at her and stroked her hair, gaining her attention.
"You alright? You've got Kon?" Yuzu smiled and nodded, bringing up the stuffed lion to show him. She was too old for such things as finding comfort in stuffed animals, but Ichigo and his dad had agreed it was alright on special occasions. After all, despite all she'd been through, Yuzu was still very kid-like. Karin, instead of clinging to him like Yuzu was, simply sat with her legs crossed, head buried deep in a book as she ignored everything around her, as per usual.
It was strangely silent in the subway car; it was the closest one to the driver, at the very front, and no one seemed very talkative; the bus driver didn't even bother to announce when they were taking off or when they'd be arriving. It seemed as if there was some strange spell cast over the car that made everyone turn silent, and so it seemed extremely out of place and loud when Renji leaned and whispered to him.
"That guy better not be getting off the same place as us," he hissed, no doubt talking about the guy he'd only barely was able to mention to Ichigo before said guy boarded.
"Why?" he asked amusedly. Renji had always been the one to pick fights, and the guy he was talking about looked himself like he'd be one to start trouble. His friend scoffed.
"Don't you pay attention? For one, he's an as—" Renji dropped off at the warning look Ichigo sent him, glancing down at Karin, who simply rolled her eyes without looking up from her book, before continuing, "I recognize him. He's part of that gang around here. Don't know where he'd be going, but it sure as hell better not be wherever we're going." Ichigo sent him a scolding look before rolling his eyes.
"How do you know he's in a gang? And where do you recognize him from?" Renji gave an exhasperated sigh.
"Really? Don't you ever watch the news?" he asked, glaring, to which he received a shrug, "He's, like, a legitimate criminal. He's got such a long line of sh—tuff on his records they could make a freaking book." Ichigo snickered at the pathetic save before giving a glance behind him. The guy with blue hair was leaned against the window, chin in his palm with the deadliest look of boredom on his face Ichigo had ever seen. From his weird hair, it was kind of hard to believe a criminal would want to be that reckless, until he remembered; Renji's dad was a cop, so of course he would watch the news all the time.
Ichigo subconsciously tightened his arm around Yuzu, who looked up from her game with a small smile, which he returned, before turning back to it, oblivious. Renji continued to mutter under his breath, and though he knew his friend could overreact sometimes, Ichigo found himself worrying, and hoping that the electric-haired guy wouldn't be getting off at their stop, either. Little did either of them know, that was the least of their worries.
Rukia's phone was turned off. Throughout the wait for the subway bus, it had been vibrating insistently, and finally she decided to turn it off' it took all she could not to rip the battery out of it and hurl it at a wall. The car she was in was weirdly quiet besides two towards the back that were whispering, though Rukia didn't know or care what they were talking about. Eventually even they quieted, leaving the air awkward and strangely… tense. She glanced around the car, musing in her mind that this had to be the strangest assortment of people she'd ever seen. Rukia ignored this, though, and pulled her hat lower over her face, sinking back into her own problems.
Her brother would be furious. Already was, most likely; Rukia could just picture him in that infuriatingly calm demeanor, handing out orders to men with guns that shivered in their boots at his icy, cutting tone. Not many people could affect others like Byakuya did, and he was the only person Rukia knew that was powerful to get away with it. Rukia held in a sigh, staring out the window. There wasn't much to see; a dirt wall, carved out for them to pass through, unyielding. Rukia was never bothered with enclosed spaces; they didn't affect her at all, but she did feel a strange sense of… uneasiness suddenly come at her. She swatted it away, almost like a persistent fly, and scolded herself. If she let just a bit of nerves from being in a tunnel get to her, how's she expect to survive once she reached where she was going.
Rukia was tempted to rest her head against the window, but decided against it, not wanting to risk falling asleep or letting the hat slip off accidentally and reveal who she really was, though Rukia doubted most of these people would even know who she was.
It was deadly quiet for the longest time, everyone in the car jumped when the squeal of metal on metal clashed in their ears, causing most of them to flinch. Ichigo exchanged a glance with Renji, who was frowning deeply, and tightened his arm around Yuzu. There was more screeching and suddenly the car lurched, as if trying to stop, and Rukia was thrown forward almost out of her seat.
"What the hell?" A shout came from the back, no doubt by the blue-haired delinquent. His acquaintance was silent, his face seeming no less stoic than before. There was a sudden shuddering and they all clung to the seats and walls, or the nearest person next to them. A huge ka-thunk! Sounded directly behind them and the car tilted back, shuddering again. Panic struck, and Orihime found herself panting shallow breaths, clutching a piece of her hair for dear life as her stomach twisted painfully.
"W-Was that…?" No one knew who had asked the unfinished question, and only a few guessed what the rest of it was. One of the few was the large Mexican, whom his companion immediately moved out of the way for as he stood and moved into the aisle. No one spoke, but many exchanged nervous glances, as he calmly started towards the back, glancing and catching eyes with Ichigo for a brief moment before he came closer to the back door. Grimmjow sneered.
"What the hell are you doing?" His voice betrayed venom instead of panic as the tall Hispanic reached a large, tanned hand out and grabbed the door handle. There were a few voices of protest, Rukia adding in another, "What the hell do you think you're doing?", thankful no one seemed to notice her voice was a bit high amongst the others. The man didn't answer as he pushed the door open carefully, and everyone's breath caught, one person letting out a strangled, surprised yelp. The entire end of the car was gone; the metal that had linked the second car scraped gratingly against the railing, sending sparks like electric sprinklers and screeching painfully in their ears. Cringing came just before another shudder ran throughout the train, more high-pitched squealing as if brakes were being applied but weren't working.
Before the Hispanic found something to hold onto, the car jerked forward and his large body flew out the opening, disappearing in the dark. His friend stood and cried "Sado!" as Grimmjow lurched over and slammed the door shut. They were going unbelievably fast now, and someone shouted for the driver, but no answer. Ichigo was just about to suggest someone going to the front and checking on him when suddenly pattering sounded on the roof. Almost simultaneously, everyone looked up at the metal top of the car.
"What the…?" The question barely got out when the pattering suddenly slammed against the top of the car, dents bursting from the metal as it groaned in protest.
"What the hell is going on?" Ichigo shouted, no longer bothering to watch his language as he curled his sisters in a deadly grip, though neither of them responded; Yuzu was crying, terrified, and Karin's eyes were narrowed, her jaw shut, not crying yet but damn close to it. Just then a girl in front, one with long orange hair, rose, speaking.
"M-Maybe I should go check on him—"
"No, don't!" A purple-haired woman cried and literally leapt from her seat. This all happened a moment before there was a huge crunch! And the train brutally stopped, the bottom end flying up and throwing all its occupants forward like rag dolls.
Someone slammed into the window, the sound of glass shattering broke their ears, the squealing ripped at their senses seemingly directly beside their ear drums. Ichigo held tightly, so tightly onto his sisters as he felt his body suspended, and saw flashes of people and glass and blood as his back slammed into the ceiling, something biting at his flesh, and he heard Yuzu shriek in his ear as someone else let out a blood-curling scream. No one noticed the pattering on the roof had stopped. The car lay completely still for several minutes, permeated by silence. It was almost completely dark, the lights flickering and dimming. The engine steamed as they lay still, broken. There was no telling who was living, if anyone was. Who was dead, why, how. If thoughts could be read, one might stand out above the others.
This was definitely not a good day.
Soo...? *shifts and smiles nervously* Umm... Hope you liked it! Next up: A little more introduction to the characters, some tensions (unexpectedly-we ARE dealing with Grimmjow here XD) and some blood, yes. So, if that makes you queasy... This may not be the story for you :/ But if not, you're good to go!
Now, I need you guys to help me out!
There are some couples that I have somewhat decided on- yes, there will be romance tossed into the mix-but I haven't completely decided, so if there is any couple/couples you guys want, let me know! Review and tell me, and if I like it enough, I'll go ahead and throw it in there! And who knows, some might change ;) Alrighty then... It is late, so I am going to retire... I really hope you guys liked it! Suggestions are ALWAYS welcome, soooo yeah. Review and stuffs please, bye!