THE RAIN AGAIN
His Hollow raged, deranged shouts and swears spewing from its mouth. It shouted, yearning battles and war, bloodlust fueling it. He tried to suppress it as he had done so many times before. But this time, its dominance was strong, and its fiery power incited an urge in him, an impulse that both disgusted and tempted him.
HER BLOOD! BEAUTIFUL AND RED, SLICK IN OUR HANDS! I CAN SMELL THE HOT LIQUID RUNNING UNDER HER SKIN! LET ME PIERCE THAT SOFT, PALE SKIN AND LICK THAT BLOOD OFF OF HER!
SHUT UP!
DON'T FIGHT ME, KING! MY POWERS ARE STRONG, YOU KNOW THAT! AND YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T HELP THESE FEELINGS! BLOODLUST RUNS IN YOU, WITH OR WITHOUT ME TRIGGERING IT!
DISAPPEAR!
~~~ xxx ~~~
"ICHIGO! STOP IT!"
His words bounded off deaf ears as he watched his son stand tall and menacing near the edge of the cliff, lightning lighting up the stormy skies behind him.
"PUT HER DOWN, ICHIGO!"
Had he not been grievously injured, he would have stopped his son. Unfortunately for him, he was the only one who would have been able to stop the boy-turned-Hollow, as it was only he facing the beast he called 'son'.
"DAMN IT! ICHIGO! LISTEN TO ME!"
The girl was barely breathing. He could see the slight sharp rise and fall of her chest as her throat was slowly choked.
"ICHIGO!"
The boy turned to him. More than half of his face was covered in a Hollow's mask, yellow irises on a black plain glinting evilly as he gazed at the older man. His mouth was turned into a wicked sneer as it gave a feral growl.
"ICHIGO IS NO MORE!" it cackled, raising the girl up high by her neck. The small black-haired scrabbled weakly at the boy's larger hands clamped around her throat.
Over the howling wind, the man heard the girl say his son's name in a strained voice. "Please..."
"ICHIGO! STOP ALL THIS!" He was suddenly racked with a coughing fit, grimacing at the puncture in his torso.
"OLD MAN! I AM NOT ICHIGO!"
The fallen man raised his head painfully, cursing as he tried to rise up. At that moment, he witnessed it.
A maniacal laugh resounded in the skies as the girl fell, eyes shocked and lifeless, neck tilted at an unnatural angle, blood streaming from her mouth and cut in the neck. His son, no, the Hollow, bent down and scooped the limp creature, mouth wide in hungry anticipation. It licked the blood off the girl, ravenously.
The fallen man yelled in anger and sorrow. What had this thing done?
"ICHIGO! SNAP OUT OF IT!"
The feasting Hollow turned to him and snarled. Now, its whole face was covered by a mask. "SHUT UP!" it screeched.
As quickly as he could, the man chanted under his breath and sent a spell in the Hollow's way. The creature flicked it away as if it were a mere bug. He glared chillingly at the man and dropped the girl before stalking over to the fallen Shinigami.
"You know what, you're awfully annoying for an old man."
The man smirked grimly at its words. "Just like Ichigo, aren't you?"
"OF COURSE! I AM PART OF THIS USELESS FOOL! I'VE JUST TAKEN OVER!" The Hollow crouched down in front of him and pulled the man's head up by his hair. He winced.
"After I have my fill of her blood, I'm gonna have a taste of yours!" The Hollow grinned maliciously. "The fool will die when he finds out!"
It released the man and went back to the dead girl. The fallen man gritted his teeth and then shouted with all his might, "KUROSAKI ICHIGO! WHERE ARE YOU? IS THIS THE MAN WHO WANTS TO PROTECT?"
The Hollow turned to him, face set in a look of disgust. "Do what you want, old man, but the pathetic idiot won't – "
"WHY DIDN'T YOU PROTECT, ICHIGO? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN SHE NEEDED YOU? ICHIGO!"
The Hollow's face suddenly turned to that of anger and horror. "What –"
The mask started to crack at the edges. The Hollow screamed in agony as it clutched its face and fell to its knees, blood suddenly spurting from his mouth. He wrenched his face up and spat at the man, "YOU! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
The man, angrily cursing himself, silently replied, "What I should have done in the first place."
The Hollow's screams were heard over the lashing rain and it frightened the man to the bone. The shrieks finally came to an end when the he heard the sound of breaking glass.
The man looked up and saw his son on all fours, panting heavily. Slowly, he said, "Ichigo."
The boy's head snapped up. "Old...man..."
The fallen man couldn't help but be relieved at his son's 'return'. But sadness quickly overtook those feelings.
"Rukia..." he finally managed.
He watched as his son's eyes turned wide and he hesitantly turned his head to look behind him. When the boy saw the dead girl, he began to tremble violently.
"Ru..kia?"
Ichigo crawled over to her uncertainly. "Ru..kia?" A tentative hand reached out to touch her face, his trembling unceasing.
"Oya..ji...D-did I...do this?"
The man couldn't answer him.
Ichigo took the girl by the shoulder, shaking her gently. "O-oi, Rukia!" The girl remained quiet. "Rukia!"
"Ichigo..."
"DID I DO THIS?" The boy spun around and the man was shocked to see tears welling in his son's stricken eyes, even with the anger radiating off the boy. "OYAJI! ANSWER ME! WHO DID THIS?"
He didn't have the heart to tell his son, burdened more by the fact that the boy was crying.
When no answer reached him, the boy yelled to the sky, letting all his pain and grief flow out in that long scream. He gathered the girl in his arms, crying as he sheltered the body from the rain.
The boy's father watched in sadness and sympathy for his son. Never in the years since his wife had died had he seen Ichigo cry, not once. This must be truly unbearable for him.
Now, as the rain fell on them, Kurosaki Isshin watched his son crying over the dead girl who had been so precious to him and that he would protect no matter what. Kuchiki Rukia slowly started to vanish in shining, snow-like sparks. Ichigo held her tighter when he saw this, refusing to let go as he called her name over and over until the last of her remains were gone with the wind and rain.
Kurosaki Ichigo howled.
~~~ xxx ~~~
"How are you, Rukia-chan? We're all doing fine here." Kurosaki Isshin crouched down and touched the small headstone on the gentle hill. "I hope you're fine, wherever you are."
The man sighed and gazed out into the horizon. "We miss you a lot, all of us." He sat down heavily by the grave. "Ichigo, most of all." He let out another sigh. "He's been mourning ever since you died. He feels guilty it was him."
Isshin patted the headstone. "Your brother was...enraged when he found out that Ichigo...well, you know. Can you believe it, Rukia-chan? I saw him cry! I did! But, he's a noble and the Head of the Kuchiki family. He had to get over it quick to run the clan."
The man looked up to the sky. "Now that I think about it, a lot of people looked at Ichigo, how should I say, a different way? They became wary of him and he secluded himself. He became...distant from us.
"But when Byakuya-san wanted to set a grave to remember you by, Ichigo came and suggested this hill. Byakuya-san didn't want to listen, and Ichigo, being Ichigo, was insistent. Nobody knows why he was so adamant about this spot. Do you?"
It was quiet for a while. Isshin looked out to his surroundings, noticing how peaceful everything was. Maybe that was why the boy chose this place, but who knows what's in that head of his?
Isshin stared at the engravings on the headstone, spelling out 'Kuchiki Rukia'. "I hope with all of my heart that you would forgive him. He wasn't...in control...that time."
A soft breeze answered him and he smiled a small smile. "I tried getting him to come and visit but that idiot refused! Probably afraid he's going to break down or something." He started to get up. "Aa, I should be going now. Soul Society's not very keen in having an exile around." He chuckled before bowing slightly to the grave.
"Please watch over Ichigo, Rukia-chan. Please tell him whether you forgive him or not. And please..." Isshin straightened up and grinned. "Make the idiot come visit you. It isn't nice not to visit someone you care about."
Kurosaki Isshin left the hill to a dancing wind.