Last Breath

Summary: "Ichigo, there's someone I want you to meet," Rukia replied as she pushed him through the doorway. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Is there a reason why you pulled me here in the Soul Society, you know I'm in no mood to…" He trailed off as his eyes met with familiar gray ones. The girl cocked her head to the left. "Rukia…who is this?"

"O-Orihime?"

Her gray eyes frantically searched the area. 'I have to find him…I have to find Ichigo.' Her left hand pressed against her side as she wobbled her way towards his spiritual pressure. Her face contorted in agony as a wave of pain crashed through her.

"I-Ichigo…" Her vision began to swim as she pressed forward.

Ichigo stopped mid strike, his eyes flashed over in the direction he thought he heard her voice.

"Orihime?" He barely dodged a fatal strike. With his mind made up, he rushed towards his opponent and swung. His sword hit against sword as he cursed. "I don't have time for this damn it! Get out of my way!" He roared.

He couldn't explain the urgency he felt, all he knew was he had to get to her, and quickly. Swinging his sword again, he continued to relentlessly battle. His heart skipped a beat in panic. With a 'tsk', he turned towards Renji.

"Renji! Can you finish this?" He called his voice filled with annoyance.

Renji looked over his shoulder and around his Bankai. He could see the panic in Ichigo's eyes.

"Get going already!"

With at nod of his head, Ichigo flash stepped away. His eyes darted around the fallen buildings. 'Where is she? Her spiritual pressure is extremely low. This isn't good.'

He came to an abrupt stop when he saw her. She was face down on the ground, her hair spilling around her.

"Orihime!" He ran to her side and slid down so he was next to her. He cradled her in his arms and that's when he noticed the blood.

"Shit! No don't you dare leave, do you hear me? Heal yourself damn it!" He shouted as a light rain began to fall. Her eyes fluttered open but she could hardly see anything through the fog.

"Ichigo?" She raised her hand until she felt his skin under her touch.

His vision started to blur as he looked down upon her. 'No…don't tell me…I wasn't able to save her? I'm losing someone else…someone important to me. No!'

"Heal yourself!" He yelled. Instead of cowering away like she would have if she was uninjured. she smiled.

"I can't…I tried and…" She gasped as pain shot through her, "I'm not able to reverse it. Gin must have…made it so my powers wouldn't work to change it."

Anger flowed through him at the mention of Gin. He pulled her tighter to his body. There had to be some way to change this, some way to make it all go away. He lowered his head so it was now in the nape of her neck. She slid her hand back so it was now entangled in his hair.

"Ichigo…don't worry, everything will be okay. You'll be able to save…our home. I have no doubt in that."

"But…I couldn't save you when I swore with my soul I would!" He cried in anguish. Orihime's eyes shone with emotion as she ran her hand through his hair.

"You came for me…even when I didn't deserve it. That's enough for me." The light in her eyes slowly started to fade.

"I'll never forget you…there's no way I could," her voice trembled as she spoke. She was deathly afraid of what awaited her on the other side. Would she get thrust down into hell for joining the enemy or would she be saved?

Ichigo buried his face in her hair as the tears threatened to fall.

"Don't die on me Orihime, I'll find a way to make you better. I will," he vowed.

Orihime moved her hand so it now rested on his cheek. With the last ounce of strength she had left she raised her head and placed her lips on his cheek.

"Goodbye Ichigo." Tears fell down her cheeks as she gasped one last time and then fell still.

Ichigo held her now limp body to his chest as the tears flowed freely. 'I wasn't strong enough to save her…she's gone and it's my fault. I was powerless to stop this…if only I had more power…if only…'

There was a rustling of fabric as someone landed next to him. The person fell down on their knees beside him.

"Oh no…Orihime," the voice that spoke was Rukia. Ichigo refused to let go of the body of his dear friend. Rukia's hand fell on his shoulder.

"Ichigo…there wasn't anything you could have done. Don't start blaming yourself."

He shrugged away from her touch. "I wasn't strong enough…my power alone wasn't enough," his voice was low as he spoke. "The person who did this was Gin…he's going to pay."

Terror washed through Rukia as Ichigo's spiritual pressure raised. It was nothing she had ever felt before.

"No, Ichigo! Don't turn to that! There's other ways we can finish this, different ways we can atone for her death. Don't give in!" She yelled frantically.

Her cries fell on deaf ears as Ichigo slowly lowered Orihime's body to the ground. His body shook with anger as he carefully smoothed out her hair.

'Do you want the power to kill? You know you don't have it on your own,' His hollow chuckled. 'Don't worry though; I'm willing to help you out. See, I can be a good horse when I want to be. Although this time it seems you don't want to feel any of the pain. Well…there's only one way that will happen. Turn yourself over to me; allow me to become King for a while.'

The white of his eyes began to fill with black. Rukia rushed to his side as he stood up, her hands grasped desperately at his arm.

"Ichigo don't do this! Once you give in who knows if you'll ever come back."

"I have to…I didn't save her." His voice shook as his eyes hardened. "I'm going to make them all pay." His bankai flew into his hand from its place on the ground, sending shards of the ground flying in the air around them.

"Ichigo you don't want to be like this. I know you don't! I'm hurting too with her dying but…everything will turn out in the end, you'll see. Please don't be rash."

Ichigo shoved her away from him. 'What's left to live for? The town is being destroyed and there's nothing I can do about it. She didn't deserve to die. She still had so much to live for…so much to accomplish in her life. To get married, have a family and to share all her memories with that family; now it's all been taken away from her. I'm going to wreck hell on Gin, on Aizen and anyone else who threatens to get in my way.'

Rukia looked through her bangs from the place on the ground where she had been pushed. Never before had Ichigo shown such anger…such agony. "Ichigo…Did you love her? Did she remind you of the mother you lost?" After a few seconds of sitting there she shot to her feet and ran after him.

'No I can't let him be like this. I have to save him from himself before he completely loses every ounce of who he is.'

Her eyes searched frantically around the crumbling city. In the far off distance an explosion was set off into the air. Her whole being shook as she felt the tainted spiritual pressure; it paralyzed her to her very bones. 'I've never felt this…even back in Hueco Mundo. Ichigo what exactly are you unleashing?'

Once brown eyes of the substitute shinigami where now black with yellow irises. Ichigo still possessed power over his body and mind as he swung his bankai around. Glaring at Gin, he smirked.

"It appears you don't know what to do with yourself," his voice was low, menacing.

Gin flashed his toothy grin. "Do I make it seem like that? Huh, my apologies."

Ichigo grasped his hands on his bankai tighter as his anger rose to new heights. "You dared to hurt one of my friends…to end her life suddenly. I'm going to kill you painfully."

Gin chuckled as he released one of his hands from his sword.

"Is that so? Was it the weak one? Orihime was it? She didn't put up much of a struggle, in fact she was useless to us here, and I still have no idea why Aizen wanted her as badly as he did. Oh yes, maybe it was because he thought she was pretty." Gin said off handedly.

Ichigo could feel the burning in his skin grow hotter with each word that came out of Gin's mouth. He raised his sword and held it out in front of him, pointing towards Gin.

"I'm going to kill you Gin, and then Aizen. I will put an end to this."

Gin looked at him amusedly. "Is that so? Those are mighty words for a boy who still doesn't know how to control his own power very well."

Ichigo smirked, "We'll see just how much I can control it, shall we?" He then lunged towards the ex soul reaper with the intent to kill.

Isshin Kurosaki watched from afar while his son battled with the ex 3rd division captain. His heart dropped in sorrow at how much emotion was being played across his son's face. He glanced behind him to the spot where the girl laid still. Turning away from the sight he looked back at his own son. 'Just like when his mother died…I can only imagine what is going through his head right now. Ichigo…will you ever recover from this?'

He flashed stepped as soon as Gin's sword made contact with Ichigo's skin. Isshin's blade was there to block the opposing blade before it could make another slice.

"This isn't a place for you to be right now." He was looking at Gin but his words were meant for his son. Ichigo grunted as he slowly pulled himself to his feet.

"Stay out of this! I have to fight, I have to..."

"To what? Die? Do you really think that's what she would want you to do? To run in blindly in your fury only to get cut down? I didn't know that girl as well as you did but I'm positive that isn't what she would want. Whenever she was around you I could see the look in her eyes and I knew she cared about you more than anything else in this world. Don't you dare make her sacrifice be in vain." Isshin's voice boomed.

Gin snickered at the scene before him. "It appears that your father here doesn't believe you can finish your own battles."

Isshin swung again and metal clashed against metal. "That isn't it at all. I just don't think he should be fighting a wimp like you when he could be doing other things."

The anger began to leave Ichigo's body leaving him limp and weak. He sagged against his bankai, which was stabbed into the ground to help keep him standing. 'I can't even move…my body won't respond to my commands.'

"Ichigo!"

Ichigo moved his eyes as he saw who called for him. Uryu came into his sight as he slid down the hill to the place he stood.

"Frankly, you look like crap," he observed as he came to Ichigo's side.

Ichigo chuckled without any humor. "Gee, thanks Uryu. You're looking swell as well."

Uryu pushed his glasses higher on his face. "At least I didn't get the hell sliced out of me."

Ichigo was about to retort when a flash of pain washed through him. He cringed in pain as he leaned more heavily against his sword. Uryu was next to him in an instant.

"We need to get you away from here. You suffer any more damage and your hollow may take over. That's the last thing we need."

Ichigo shook his head, his orange hair swaying in the light breeze.

"I need to fight…I need to win."

"You have that attitude you will get taken over! Orihime wouldn't want that and you know it," Uryu stated slightly frantic.

Ichigo closed his eyes at hearing her name. The friend he allowed to slip through his fingers. The girl that always had a smile on her face even though she lived a far worse life than any of her other friends did. The girl that harbored feelings for him but he was too dense to see until it was too late. The girl that's smile reminded him so much of his mother's…the girl he couldn't help but realize he cared for far more than a friend.

"I let her down…I should have stayed with her," he choked out.

Uryu's eyes scanned Ichigo's wounds. He cringed at one cut in particular. "No one is blaming you, Ichigo. You have so many things to do…you can't possibly be two places at once."

Ichigo's grip tightened. "It's no excuse. I swore to protect her; I swore I'd bring her home. And I broke it…"

Uryu began to go through his small Quincy bag he had at his hip. His fingers shook slightly as he searched for one of the injections the 12th squad captain had used on him and Renji.

"Ichigo, there was nothing you could have done, but if we don't get you out of here soon, you're going to bleed to death and then we'll have a bigger problem on our hands."

Ichigo's vision began to swim as he tried to focus on his father and Gin.

"I can shake this…" His voice began to fade.

Uryu shook his head frantically. "No, Ichigo, you can't. We need to get you somewhere safe and then I'll go and try to find a 4th squad relief member that way we can get you started on healing."

It was useless for Ichigo to argue with Uryu at the moment. There was no way he was going to be able to fight and win in the condition he was in. So he reluctantly let Uryu swing his arm around his shoulder in order to steady him as they began to walk away from the heat of the battle. They walked up the hill and that's when he saw her again.

Her light brown hair was sliding across her face from the light breeze. He was half expecting her to reach up and push the hair behind her ear and smile at him and ask him if he wanted her to heal him so he could go back and fight. His eyes lowered to the ground beside her that was covered in a dark stain of her blood.

"Uryu…once you set me someplace you have to come back for her. We can't…leave her like this. Not here."

Uryu's eyes glistened as he looked down at Orihime's body. Ichigo nudged him causing him to snap out of his thoughts.

"Don't worry about a thing. I'll make sure she's safe Ichigo." Uryu vowed as he once again began to walk towards what he hoped would be a safe spot for Ichigo to be until he was healed.

After a few minutes of searching he came upon a small cave that was made from some crumbled buildings that fell onto one another. He walked in and slowly set Ichigo down which caused him to hiss in pain.

"Sorry about that. I need to go out and look for help, so you stay here," Uryu explained as he glanced around the make shift cave.

"Just go Uryu, I'll be fine. If anyone comes, I can handle them," Ichigo reassured despite his agony.

Uryu was uncertain but by the glare he received from his fallen comrade he quickly made his way out in order to search for some help. Ichigo groaned as he allowed his sword to fall down on the ground next to him. Placing his hand on his wound it quickly was covered in a red sticky liquid.

Raising it in front of him he chuckled. "Well looks like I might not make it after all. but I've had worse things happen to me besides this."

His hand began to become blurry as he looked at it. He shook his head fighting to stay conscious. 'I can't pass out now…I need to stay awake in case anyone comes. I have to be ready to fight; this little graze won't get me down.'

Black seeped through his consciousness. "No, this can't be happening…" Soon his whole world was filled with the blackness.

"I hope he's going to be okay."

"Don't worry nothing could keep him down for long."

'So many voices…what's going on? And why won't my eyes open like I want them to?'

There was a rustling of footsteps.

"I don't want to see him like this anymore. He's been out for almost a full week. This isn't normal for him, is it dad?"

'Karin…why does she sound so worried? I'm not dead or anything so there's no reason for her to sound that way. Besides it's not like her.'

"Dad! I don't want him to die!"

'That's normal for Yuzu. She's always been the one that vocalizes her fears and worries over the rest of us. C'mon stupid body, wake the hell up already. There's no way you could be this hurt.'

"Shh, look he's moving."

'Way to be obvious dad. Of course I'm trying to move.'

Karin went to Yuzu's side as their brother began to stir. They each took a hold of his hand and arm to silently encourage him. With some difficulty his brown eyes opened and landed on them.

"…Hey, sorry to make you worry."

Yuzu broke down into tears and threw her arms around his neck. He cringed slightly but then brought up his right arm to wrap it around her small frame.

"Don't worry so much. There's no way I'd leave you guys." He soothed as his eyes locked with Karin's.

"Stupid Ichigo…We were worried." Her voice shook slightly as he smiled at her.

"I'm sorry, I promise to try not to do that again."

Isshin made his presence known by this point as he patted his son on the shoulders.

"Glad that you made it out of that. You were in the danger zone for a while."

Ichigo continued to hold his twin sisters close. "So…What exactly happened after I went out of it?"

Isshin took a deep breath as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Well…let's just say it's far from over. After your friend came with help for you we were pretty much done. They got away…Guess they accomplished what they came for though."

Ichigo went rigid as all the events came flashing back to him. He gulped as he awkwardly looked up at the ceiling.

"So uhm…did you guys have the…funeral?"

Yuzu raised her head off his chest and looked sadly down at him. "They wanted to wait for you but...Dad thought it'd be best to get it over with as soon as possible."

"Sorry Ichigo…I didn't know if you wanted to be present or not but it's what was best," Isshin apologized quickly.

Ichigo never took his eyes off the ceiling. "No its fine, don't worry about it. I probably wouldn't have been able to attend anyway."

Yuzu looked at him with eyes full of confusion. "But she was your friend wasn't she? Wouldn't you want to say goodbye properly?"

Ichigo closed his eyes at the painful memories of her smile.

"I'll go visit her grave as soon as I can get out of this bed and walk around without feeling like a pansy."

Karin reached out and slightly pulled on Yuzu's arm. "Maybe we should give him some times alone. Rukia wanted us to tell her when he woke up, remember?"

"Don't say anything." His rough voice caught everyone in the room off guard.

Yuzu frowned at him, "Why not? She's been over here as much as she can but she says she has a lot of work to do so she can't be here as much as she wants to be."

"I—I don't need her worrying over me. I'll be fine and I'll go see her when I'm ready to." Ichigo replied, his brown eyes slightly glazed over.

Isshin put his hands on his twin daughter's shoulders. "You heard him. No one tells Rukia that he's awake. Let's let him take things at his own pace for a while."

He twisted around on his heels with his daughters with him. He glanced over his shoulder at Ichigo before leaving the room. There was a slight squeaking noise as a stuffed lion pushed the closet open. He bounded up on the bed and onto Ichigo's chest.

"I can't believe you were out for a whole week? What were you doing? Dreaming or something?" Kon's voice rang throughout the room.

Ichigo didn't make any eye contact as he shifted slightly so Kon fell off his chest and onto the mattress.

"Do you have any idea how worried Rukia was? And what is this I heard about you telling your family not to notify her that you're awake? That's crazy talk, you aren't that beat up about losing are you?"

His voice began to make Ichigo's head throb. Kon continued to chant on and on about Ichigo being weak and stupid without him by his side to help through the hard battles. Something in Ichigo snapped.

"Kon! Will you shut the hell up already? I don't give a rat's ass what you think and how you feel got it? Just," he picked him up by his head, "leave me alone!" he said with emphasis as he threw him across the room. Kon hit the closet wall with a squeak. The stuffed lion stood up and glared at Ichigo.

"What's gotten into you? Wait…I know, you blame yourself for Orihime, don't you?"

Ichigo sat up in bed despite the aching pain and pointed a finger at Kon threateningly. "Don't you start talking to me about that. Just leave me the hell alone."

With effort Kon jumped back onto the bed to stare his comrade down.

"You do feel that way, well let me fill you in on something Ichigo, it wasn't your fault. You can't be two places at once, it isn't physically possible."

Ichigo's hands began to shake with the dread that filled his whole being. "Kon, I said to leave me alone," he uttered deadly.

Kon began to tremble at the feeling that washed over him. 'Ichigo is very unstable right now…'

"Fine then, you just continue to sulk." He huffed as he hopped down from the bed and scurried into the closet.

Ichigo groaned and fell back down on the bed. He stared at the ceiling as he tried to force the memory of Orihime dying out of his mind. 'I can't believe I let her die…if only I got to her fast enough. If only…'

He groaned as he hit his mattress. 'Once I get healed more I'm going to search Aizen out and I'm going to tear his ass apart.'

Weeks seemed to pass slowly as Ichigo healed. Blinking several times he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He stayed like that, not moving, for who knew how long. There was a soft knock at the bathroom door but he ignored it.

Rukia turned the doorknob to see if it was locked, she was surprised to find that it wasn't. Slowly, hesitantly, she opened the door. She was prepared to cover her eyes and scream at the top of her lungs if she saw anything inappropriate. Although as she gazed at the man in front of the mirror she knew she didn't need to.

"Ichigo…you all right?"

He blinked but didn't turn around; instead he looked at her from the reflection of the mirror.

"Hey Rukia, long time no see."

She pulled at her black hair nervously. "About that…I had a lot of things to take care of in the Soul Society. Speaking of Soul Society…I need to bring you back with me."

It took him several minutes before he answered. His stared seemed to pierce through her soul and she disliked that. With a huff she kicked him in the butt. He was prepared though and smoothly slid out of her foots path.

"Ah!" she shouted in pain as her foot came in contact with the pearl sink. Ichigo didn't even crack a smirk as he watched her jump around on one foot holding the injured one in her hands.

"Are you going…to say anything?" She seethed as she continued to rub her foot.

"What do you want me to say? I don't really feel like making a trip at the moment." Ichigo replied, his tone indicating how much he didn't care.

Rukia slowly allowed her foot to join her other foot on the ground. Wincing slightly she walked over to Ichigo and poked him in the ribs.

"It'll be worth your time. You really want to see what I have to show you."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, his curiosity slightly peeked.

"What could you have to show me there that I haven't already seen?"

Rukia folded her arms across her chest, a confident smirk on her lips. "You'll just have to come along and see, won't you?"

He scratched the back of his neck as he studied her confident expression. With a sigh of defeat he replied, "All right I'll go, but I swear if it's nothing important I'm coming straight back. I don't like missing the chance to kill some Hollows."

Rukia waved her hand dismissively.

"Don't worry this will be worth you coming, believe me," her eyes sparkled as she spoke.

'I don't like the look in her eyes…should I really go with her? It might be more trouble than it's worth.' He thought to himself as he walked around her to leave the bathroom.

Rukia followed close behind him, slightly pulling on his T-shirt. Once they were inside his room she held out his substitute soul reaper badge. Ichigo stared at it for a moment before taking it from her and making his soul pop out of his body. Reaching over he pushed the badge on the sleeping Kon and then put him inside his body.

"Kon keep an eye on things here for me. I'll be back soon, if dad asks where I am…just tell him I'm off fighting some hollows." Ichigo instructed the dazed Kon.

Kon blinked a few times and then nodded, "Sure Ichigo, I'll take care of things here. Oh Rukia! It's been a while since you've came for a visit!"

Rukia didn't say a word to him as she jumped out the window. Ichigo rolled his eyes at her urgency and jumped out as well.

They traveled to the Soul Society with Kisuke's help. Ichigo had to cover his eyes from the bright light of the sun as they arrived. It had been ages since the last time he had come. Rukia began to pull his arm when he wasn't moving quickly enough. With a grunt he allowed her to pull him along towards the Seiretei.

"You'll be shocked when you see this. Now—things are going to be different but…I figured you'd still want to see."

"What is it exactly I'm supposed to be seeing?" Ichigo asked with an annoyed expression on his face.

Rukia ignored his mood and continued to pull him along. They turned many corners and went through many hallways and she stopped suddenly, causing Ichigo to run into her.

"Hey you could have warned me you were stopping!"

Rukia rolled her eyes and motioned for him to stay put. Ichigo did as he was told and walked around the small room, paying attention to every little detail in the wood surfaces. A few minutes went by and the sliding door slid open and Rukia stepped back in.

"Okay Ichigo…now…she isn't going to," she was abruptly cut off by another girl that had put her arms around her from behind.

"Rukia! I was so happy to hear that you were back from your mission to the world of the living!"

Ichigo froze at the sound of the other person's voice. 'It couldn't be…I must be hearing things. There's no way…'

When familiar light brown hair with an orange tint popped into the door way and she smiled her dazzling smile his breath caught in his throat.

"Who's this Rukia? Is he new?"

"O-Orihime?" Ichigo uttered, not believing that she was really standing in front of him. Orihime looked at him confusedly.

"Do I know you?" She asked cheerfully but still showing her unease with the current situation. "I'm sorry if I've forgotten! I guess we could have met during classes and I just forgot…Hehe, I tend to do that sometimes. I can be such a bubble head sometimes."

No matter how you diced it she was still Orihime and Ichigo was shocked to see her here, in soul reaper clothes nonetheless. Blinking a couple of times his feet shuffled with each other as he made his way towards her. She replied by staring at him in confusion, her gray eyes holding many questions.

He reached his hand out towards her but then drew it back, "Are you a soul reaper?" The question left his lips hesitantly.

"Oh yes! I just graduated the Academy and got accepted into the 13th court guard squad. I'm with Rukia! It's been so much fun so far," Orihime gushed excitedly.

Rukia watched Ichigo intently, not sure of what emotions where flashing through him at speeds faster than she could comprehend.

He smiled as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "That's great!"

Orihime pressed her lips together and folded her arms, "What squad are you with?"

"I'm not with one, I'm uh—well a substitute soul reaper. I'm human, mostly."

Her eyebrow furrowed in concentration as she struggled with the next words that would leave her mouth. Ichigo waited patiently for her to speak, knowing deep down she must have felt something…he hoped she felt something.

With a shake of her head she held her hand out to him and shook his hand. "I'm Orihime Inoue, and it's a pleasure to meet you…" She trailed off realizing that he had never said his name. His hand moved against hers slowly.

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Ichigo, that's a nice name. I hope we can become great friends," she rushed as she rubbed the back of her head. Ichigo recognized the motion as something she used to do when she was nervous or ashamed of something dumb she did.

"Yeah, I hope we can." Came his uncertain reply, his eyes shot to Rukia who smiled sadly in return. Would Orihime ever remember him and the others? Or was she destined to have those memory's lost forever?

A/N: Hey I haven't been able to decide if I want this to be a one shot or if I should continue. Please review and tell me what you thought and if you want me to continue. I'm still planning on writing my other stories but this idea came to me and I wanted to write it down. :) Please, please review. I really enjoy reading reviews