Don't believe this. This is just what I want to happen.
Enjoy!
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To clarify things.
Grimmjow brings Inoue to Ichigo to heal him so that he can fight him in full power. But he gets defeated, so Ichigo tells Orihime to go with him after he is healed..
They look for Rukia. (Orihime got hurt and a little bit jealous that until now he still worries about her but decides, she's a good girl after all, to help look for Rukia because she knows Kurosaki-kun ain't good at detecting reaitsu and Rukia is a friend.)
They find Rukia and Orihime heals her, but immediately after healing her Ulqiourra finds them and fights against Ichigo.
Before they can fight, the palace of A'roniro Arueri collapses and Ichigo and Rukia find themselves in an underground room.
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Rukia laid her head unto the thick white-washed wall that looked as if it was made out of compacted sand. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she lifted a slender hand to rest on the wall.
"Dammit." A soft curse passed through her lips that reached the shinigami with her.
"Well?"
Ichigo's impatient voice cut through her thoughts and she turned to face him, her eyes fixed on the wall.
"It doesn't appear to be sekkisekki."
"Really? Then all we got to do is bust through it like what Renji and I did the other time right?"
His hand rose to wrap his fingers around Zangetsu's cloth-covered hilt but the look in Rukia's eyes stopped him.
"No", she said seriously, "it's not going to be that easy."
He could see she was tense, and trusting her, his hands fell to his sides.
"What do you mean by that Rukia?"
He watched her clenching and unclenching her fists while she looked at it with furrowed eyebrows and an intense look in her eyes.
"It's…the wall, it blocks out any form of spiritual energy."
"???"
"Eh? You don't understand?" she asked him. "Idiot."
"Damn it. Stop with those insults already!"
"Anyways, unlike sekkisekki, our spiritual pressure aren't affected. I could certainly do any kind of kidou here…but anyone outside of this i-don't-know-what-to-call-it, couldn't be able to tell where we are. I'm not even sure if they can feel our spiritual pressures. Your getsuga tenshou would be useless."
"W-what t-the…"
Rukia proceeded to pace the small length of the room.
"Oh, it isn't much larger than your room…."
"Even the arrancar can't detect our reaitsu?"
"Yeah. Seems like it. I can't feel theirs either."
"Shit." Ichigo sat cross-legged where he was standing, appearing to be in deep thought.
Rukia stopped from walking and leaned against the cold, hard wall.
"That's a nice way to describe where we are."
'She's still looking out that damned window.'
Orihime was. Everytime he came out to check on her, she was. He didn't know and didn't understand why she was still hoping for her 'friends' to be alive. Humans and their damned emotions…
"Stop hoping for them to be alive. Worry about yourself. Aizen-sama would probably not be gentle in handing you a punishment for following that orange-haired boy."
She turned around and faced him with such an intense emotion in her eyes that he thought she would slap him again. But no, she stayed where she was, a fist clenched close to her chest.
"Yes, Aizen-sama probably would. Kurosaki killed Grimmjow, who was on our side, yet you healed him. You also healed Kuchiki who also managed to kill one of the espada. You have pledged your body and soul to Aizen-sama, yet you have proven to be a traitor. And now, because of that single moment of stubbornness you will possibly die. The death of your 'friends' would not be justified especially since they came here to rescue you. Two of your friends are now fighting against Zaelapollo Grants, they have no chance fighting against him. They will surely die."
She clenched her fist so hard that they started to shake with emotion. He noticed this and decided to continue his psychological cage of guilt.
"The other two are nowhere to be found. You must know by now, shinigamis cannot live for a long time here in Hueco Mundo. This is not their world. Are you now satisfied of the fact that you are the one who brought them to their inevitable end?"
Orihime turned her face away from him, but not before he saw the sparkling of tears in her eyes.
A few seconds passed between them in silence before Orihime decided to simply ignore his presence and turned her back on him, looking out that window again.
"Rukia?"
"Yes Ichigo?"
"What's the number of that espada you fought against?"
Rukia looked down at her feet, memories of that fight creeping up in her.
"…he was espada number 9…"
Ichigo watched her closely, seeing the blood on her tattered uniform. She had been fully healed by Orihime so he knew he didn't have to worry about her health, but still….
He sighed.
"I'm sorry."
"huh?" Rukia looked at him in surprise. He noticed this so he scowled and faced the other way, unconsciously raising a hand to scratch his un-itchy head.
"You don't wanna talk about it right?"
He stood up and turned his back on her, walking to the direction she was facing. He was again seeing the injured Rukia, on the floor unconscious, blood all around her, a broken sodeno shirayuki several feet away from her. It was an understatement but he felt rooted to the floor, the same strong urge of disbelief stopping and at the same time pushing him to deny the same feeling he got before Ulquoirra appeared. Her shrinking reaitsu and the possibility…
"No, don't answer."
"Ichi…"
He turned, a finger pointed accusingly at her, a scowl on his face. "I told you that we should not separate! And I don't care if you were insulted!"
"You--! Welll tell me how were we going to pass through all that doors if we were together! Use that orange head of yours! It would have taken days! You fool!"
"You're the fool! Or am I actually the fool for talking to you!"
"Arrgh!"
She was not really angry, it was just that, there was no way she was backing down from something like that.
Ichigo then proceeded to lift Zangetsu from his back. She didn't know what he was doing since his back was facing her.
"W-wait, Ichigo…what are you doing…?"
He didn't find it necessary to answer her question so she walked up to him.
"There." He suddenly exclaimed out of the blue after a few minutes of silence. She peeked over his shoulder and saw that he had cut quite a length from the cloth that wrapped itself around Zangetsu as he strapped it to his back again. It had lengthened itself.
She looked at the long piece of cloth dangling from his hand.
She knew what he was going to do with it, but she was still surprised when he faced her and dropped on one knee.
"Lift your arms." He ordered, concentrating on the job ahead of him.
Suddenly feeling self-conscious and the realization of the fact that they were all alone in this room. It was such an unknown feeling considering the fact that she didn't feel that way even once with Renji, and the fact that she had several personal maidservants who took care of her personally since becoming a Kuchiki.
Thank God the place was dimly lighted. But that only made it worse.
She shook her head hard, meaning to say she didn't want to.
"Rukia." He growled out her name.
Her skin tingled and…and strangely warm.
She stuck her arms close to her body. Making it clear that she didn't want to.
"N-no! You don't have to, Ichigo!"
"Damn it. It's tattered. I'm just gonna tie this cloth around you so the cold won't seep in."
She was looking straight above his head, but he was close enough that a few orange strands of his hair was tickling her nose whenever she breathed, so she held her breath.
He was looking at her with such an annoyed expression in his face.
"What the hell's wrong with you?!"
She took the chance to step back and turn away from him. She crossed her arms across her chest and took a deep breath before shouting back at him.
"N-nothing! And why are you so worried about me all of a sudden? It's not like you---kyaaaa!!!!"
She was so surprised.
She felt his large hand curve around her small waist, holding her in place.
"Hah! An opening! You're really stupid Rukia."
"You're such a goddamn piece of shit Ichigo!"
His hands were warm as they wound the cloth around her once….twice….
And then his hand stopped in midair.
She had closed her eyes as she stood there defeated.
She slowly opened them when she felt him stop. And heard his slightly shaky voice.
"This…this wasn't a good idea wasn't it?"
She didn't know what to say, for once not really understanding what he meant. Instead, she laid a hand on the larger one gripping her waist.
Wrong move.
It really was. Ichigo could feel the warmth from her hand slipping into his cold ones. He had since noted that she had such a small waist but not until now had he actually managed to wrap his hand around it. Her clothes were tattered. And he had come into contact with bare skin.
It. Was. Too. Much.
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Kill Me Now.
Hehheheehe…think whatever you like. Anywayz…they got out of there alive and with some new memories!
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