Ashes to Ashes
For the UraIchi event this week over on Tumblr and AO3. Not to mention that this crossover demanded to be written, and better late to the party than never.
May 20: Day 1 - Canon Divergence | Time Loop | Time Travel/Dimension Travel
It happens in an instant. A heartbeat. A single second. Half the world is just… just gone. Nothing but dust. Just ash on the wind.
Watching Chad, Kon, and Karin dissolve away is worse than losing two-thirds of his soul. Than watching Rukia be led to her execution. Than learning that Inoue's been taken by Aizen. Worse even than knowing his mother is dead and his stupidity killed her.
All he does is stare into the void where they'd once been, holding Yuzu as she sobs and sobs and doesn't stop. Ichigo isn't even sure he's breathing until his phone rings, and it's Kisuke's voice on the other side.
It's a blur afterwards as he races through half-empty streets, Yuzu in his arms. Trees are missing. Birds. Even that stray dog on the corner. People are screaming in the streets. There's a mother clutching an empty blanket as she gazes at nothing.
Then, they're at the shop. Yuzu throws herself at Ururu, or maybe it's the other way around. Ichigo's too busy colliding with a blur of green and blond.
Kisuke kisses him hard and fast. Kisses him like he's dying. Like he doesn't care who sees or who knows. Like it doesn't matter anymore. Like this secret is only dust motes floating far away.
Ichigo kisses him back just as fiercely. Teeth and tongue and arms so tight around his waist that he can't breathe.
They don't let go for a very long time.
-O.o.O-
Half the world is gone, but not just this world. Half the Hollows. Half the Quincy. Half the Shinigami.
Rukia. Renji. Yoruichi-san. Jinta. Tessai-san. Shinji. Rose. Hiyori. Toshiro. So many others. Too many others. The list grows longer with each passing moment.
He doesn't even know if his father survived. Hasn't seen him since it happened, and Ichigo doesn't dare go looking for him.
Ryuuken lives, but he's a shell without his son. He just sits in his dark house, surrounded by empty beer bottles.
Inoue is hospitalized. She's drained herself trying – and failing – to bring everyone back. To even bring just Tatsuki back. Her powers slide off like the ashy remnants don't exist. Like they never even existed.
Byakuya hasn't spoken since. His fingers just clench around a teacup as Lisa shows them the entire list. It's taken nearly two weeks to do a full accounting, but the numbers are grim.
Half. Exactly half of everyone is gone.
Ichigo exhales roughly and grips the edge of the table. Kisuke lays a hand on top to still him. It isn't a big gesture, hardly much at all, but it's more than anything else they've allowed until now. More open and honest than they've been the entire time.
Lisa looks at them for a long moment, but she just gives a sad smile and shakes her head. Byakuya simply closes his eyes.
"We still don't know what happened," Lisa admits then, head tilted back as if asking the ceiling for an answer. "Much less who or why."
"I don't know those either," Kisuke offers, and he rubs circles over Ichigo's skin. "I think I know where though. The real where. This didn't originate here. Not on this world or any of those connected. It came from elsewhere." He pauses and taps the list on the table with his free hand. "Likely a parallel reality."
Lisa jerks down to stare at him. She opens her mouth. Then promptly closes it.
Byakuya's eyes are still shut, but his head is angled forward as he listens.
"You're serious," Lisa states a moment later, sounding like she needs to get her hearing checked by the fourth. "You're actually serious."
"Very," Kisuke counters. "I don't even think what happened here was intentional." His fingers still completely. "I think that this is just a side effect of what happened out there, and it carried much further than whoever considered."
A cup shatters against the floor then. The only reason Byakuya's hands don't shake is how hard he has them pressed against the tabletop.
"My sister did not die by accident," he hisses, voice even harsher from disuse.
"I didn't say it was an accident," the blond returns, gentle but slightly chiding, and Ichigo squeezes his hand. "Whoever did this intended for people to die. A lot of people. But they didn't think it would reverberate beyond their own reality. Whatever they used or did was even more powerful than they likely imagined. It's still going through the realities beyond ours, and it might not stop for a good while." He frowns then and lowers his head to shadow his face under his hat. "If ever."
"How do we stop it?" Ichigo questions then, and all he can think about is the shock on Chad's face and the way Karin cried his name as they faded in oblivion.
Lisa nods her agreement, face pale. Byakuya just gazes at them. A clock ticks in the background, but it's otherwise silent.
Kisuke exhales, long and hard. "I honestly don't know if we can."
There isn't much to say after that revelation; the conversation is effectively dead. Byakuya's eyes are storm-cloud grey, and his reiastu is heavy and staticky, roiling beneath the service. Lisa looks like she's aged a thousand years overnight. Neither of them stays very long afterwards.
-O.o.O-
"So when are we going there?" Ichigo asks when Kisuke has returned from seeing them out.
It isn't a question. Since really, he's known they're leaving the moment Kisuke opened his mouth. Even if they can't stop this, they need to be there. To find out what really happened. And prevent it from happening again.
"Eventually." The blond sighs then and corrects, "Soon. Once I get the calculations correct."
He looks impossibly tired as slumps back into his same spot as before. His knee brushes Ichigo's as he reaches forward to pull the teapot and one of the surviving cups closer. The air is somehow colder for Lisa and Byakuya's absence. Or maybe it's the weight of everyone who should be here in the shop but isn't.
Tessai-san should be across from him. Jinta should be on his other side, just like Yoruichi-san should be on Kisuke's. There's just a gaping emptiness instead. A void. A wound that cuts down to his very soul and beyond. A hand reaching out to find only wisps of memory and dust.
Ichigo can feel Ururu and Yuzu in the basement still, but even if they were in the room, he still wouldn't hesitate. He rises up to cup Kisuke's face and kisses him too softly.
"I know it won't be an easy trip," he murmurs as he pulls back, "and I know it'll be one way."
They have no idea what they're walking into, after all. It could be some post-apocalyptic Earth. A hell dimension. There might not even be a planet there, only chunks floating in space.
Kisuke doesn't even nod. He simply turns the rest of the way and invades Ichigo's space. Kisses him again, equally soft.
"Stay with me," Ichigo whispers, and his tone says everything that he can't.
That this is a nightmare. That this is a quagmire sucking him down, and Kisuke is the only reason he hasn't drowned in it. That as much as he loves his friends, his sisters, Kisuke is the one he needs the most. That without him, this life would be worthless.
"Stay with me," Ichigo repeats. His eyes burn. His hands tremble, but he doesn't let go.
Kisuke squeezes him tighter, breathes into his hair.
"Always," he whispers back and means it.
-O.o.O-
It seems like it should take more time, like traveling to another reality should be harder. But Shinigami and Hollows already know how to travel between worlds. It doesn't take much tweaking to reset the route. Ichigo just hopes they're both fast enough to get there before the road crumbles beneath their feet.
There won't be any takebacks. No do-overs. No one to come to the rescue if they fail.
There's a finality to everything as Ichigo packs up the house and grasps Yuzu's hand as they walk out the door one last time. He carries her on his back through the gate to Seireitei, and she clutches his neck as they arrive in a clouded courtyard. The streets are empty. He can sense people in the city, but no one is out, save the rare patrol.
They spend the night at Shinji's because of the privacy it affords. Not to mention that Shinji wouldn't care even if he were still there. Ururu is swept away by Hachi after dinner, and that's the last Ichigo sees of her after he watches her hug Kisuke one last time. Yuzu stays and somehow doesn't cry the entire night. They all sleep in the main room, Yuzu on her own futon with Ichigo and Kisuke curled up on the other a few feet away.
Breakfast is perfunctory at best, and it's over before it really starts. They don't even speak as they clean up. The gathering at the gate would be pathetic under other circumstances, but it's all they have left. Lisa and Nanao-san stand in for the Gotei along with a handful of others, but the courtyard is more empty than full.
Ichigo hovers by the side while Kisuke and Akon fiddle with a machine. He's already said his goodbyes, and this lingering only makes it worse as he looks over to the left.
Yuzu's face is dry, but he can see the tears in her eyes even from here. Next to her, Byakuya places a hand on her shoulder. His eyes have been dead - so dead - but now, there's a gleam of resolve. Now, he has a purpose. His sister is gone, but there's another girl who needs him. Who will keep needing him because Ichigo probably won't ever come back. Even if they succeed.
He gives Ichigo a long look and a single nod.
Then, it's time.
Ichigo jumps through first just because, and Kisuke only shakes his head and joins him to form a solid surface for them to stand on. It's a surreal experience to see stars gleaming beyond their barrier, and it would almost be beautiful if not for the situation. Still, the path isn't nearly as long as he imaged. It barely feels twice the length of the one between Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. The gate at the end is a surprise though. It's a heavy red door that begins to open as they slow down right in front. There's nothing beyond it but white.
A hand slips into his as they pause just beside the threshold.
"Let's do this," Ichigo murmurs, and his heart thumps in his chest.
There is an exhale, harsh and short. Kisuke squeezes tightly as they step forward. Tighter and tighter and…
Everything fades to white.
Ever Hopeful,
Azar