Resurrection of the Beloved
Ichigo did not feel pain as the steel cut through his flesh. Ichigo didn't feel
the sword sliding through his own flesh towards his heart. All Ichigo could feel
was surprise as Aizen slipped past his defense into close quarters and plunged
his blade through the vizard's chest. There was no pain or fear or even blood,
only the slightest gasp of surprise as the cold metal cut his beating heart in
twain.
Ichigo tried to swallow, but felt something blocking his throat, something
restricting him. His vision suddenly burst and he could see everything clearly.
Aizen's cool smile that hid loathing and malice took the greater part of his
sight up, but Ichigo could make out each imperfection, each pore upon the flesh
clearly. He could see just how deep the gash above Aizen's right eye went and
how close it was to healing. Each flake of blood in the drying downpour seemed
as distinguishable as two different people. The room of solid black marble they
had occupied seemed to always remain unbroken and perfect, even as they fought,
but now that had changed. Ichigo's now perfect eyes could see the fissures and
chips that each attack, each swing of the zanpaktoh had chiseled out of the
obscenely strong stone.
As suddenly as it had come the grand vision faded, spikes and wings of black
edging in against his vision. He fought to keep standing, fought to keep going,
fought to stare Aizen down even as he was impaled upon the betrayer's zanpaktoh.
"Worthless." Aizen mocked in his slippery voice, "First the girl, and now you.
You human's are so easy to kill." His laughter was low and lilting, a sound that
made Ichigo's stomach churn and his skin crawl. Aizen twisted the blade,
wrenching his already torn heart into shreds. Now Ichigo felt pain, now he felt
fear, for now, darkness enveloped him.
Ichigo sat up, bolt straight in bed, his hand over his heart, as he tried to
calm his rapid breath. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of his own room, that
sweet comfortable black after one so horrid. His body was covered in a sheen
layer of sweat and his chest pitched up and down, breath wheezing in his dry
throat.
His heart slowed, his breath eased, and Ichigo again found moisture in his
mouth. With a sigh he collided with the uncomfortable dampness of his own sheets
and pillow. With a grumble he turned and hung his feet over the edge, sitting
up. Ichigo leaned forward and rested his elbow upon his knee and head upon his
hand. He stared with his eyes closed at nothing. He looked to his bedside clock,
it read 3:00 AM. It was extremely early, much earlier than he normally awoke,
but he didn't feel the dregs of sleep lingering on his mind or eyes.
Realizing this he stood and tore his boxers off, grabbing a towel from the wash
pile next to his hamper. When he had wrapped the cotton cloth about his waist he
opened the door to a dark hallway. Sticking his head out, he checked both
directions, he was definitely not in the mood for his father to come flying out
of the black begging for an ass whooping. Deeming it safe he stepped out into
the hall, not bothering to flick the light switch, but enjoying the coolness of
the dark upon his skin. He strode down the hall, easily picking out the door
that lead to the bathroom seeing as how it sill had Kon's arm nailed to it. He
chuckled remembering that, oh how the little bastard had squealed. Ichigo he
would be harassing Rukia, or for that matter, any girl, ever again.
The door opened with a small squeak that normally went unheard, but in this time
when the hour was none, the vizard cringed at the high-pitched echo that seemed
to permeate the house. He slipped inside the half-opened door and closed it
behind him softly, once again wincing as the door screamed. Here he found the
light switch and flicked it on. The old light bulb flickered for an instant as
the electrons in the wires worked out their kinks, and then burst into brilliant
light that bathed the bathroom in stark shadows and yellow light.
The room was small and filled with bright colors and flowery smelling soaps.
Ichigo and Karin had opted out of helping decorate their shared bathroom, but
Yuzu jumped at the chance. Now the room was filled with pinks and yellows as
well as an array of reds and bright oranges. Ichigo always felt he smelled like
he was leaving a perfume shop whenever he walked out of here. He wouldn't lie,
at least to himself, on some level he did enjoy the fragrant scents and warm
feeling the room gave off. No way would he ever tell anyone that though.
Ichigo reached behind the glass of the standing shower and turned the knob to
'hot'. Even here, in this room, he could hear the pipes chug as they brought
water up from the ground to the second floor of the Kurosaki home. Frowning
slightly, he turned from the shower to the bath mirror above the sink. Seeing
himself there in the mirror, he finally realized he had changed in the past
three years since…since they had gone to Hueco Mundo for Orihime.
'Three whole years' Ichigo thought to himself, 'Three whole years and Aizen
still haunts my dreams,' Ichigo saw himself there, in the mirror, a few inches
taller, and not nearly as skinny as he was then. Ichigo was in no way fat, but
in the years since Hueco Mundo, the hunting and fighting of hollows made his
muscles grow while keeping his body nearly devoid of fatty tissue. His body bore
scars transferred from his soul, there are some spiritual wounds so grave that
they even carve at the flesh, whether it is present or not. Aizen's was one of
those.
Ichigo traced the hideous red scar across the center of his chest, over his
heart. Orihime had healed him, but she had not been able to rid him of the
injury completely. He grimaced as a twinge of pain soared through his chest as
his fingers lightly touched the tightened flesh over the wound. More scars
marked his muscled arms and back, but this one, the one upon his heart, was by
far the greatest and most gruesome. Like a spiked crucifix, it crossed his heart
that had once been torn to bits.
His amber eyes wandered from his scars to his own eyes, where a different pain
lay waiting for mind and memory to trip over them. He felt it hidden behind his
own consciousness. His mind was trying to shield him from that sorrow, that
sorrow because he knew he had failed. A withering breath escaped his lungs and
he cast his glance away from the reflective betrayal of the mirror. Ichigo hung
the white cotton towel on the rod screwed into the wall haphazardly by his idiot
father, half amazed when the thing didn't fall off the wall like he was every
other morning.
He stepped into the shower, letting loose the cloud of steam that had been
building up behind the glass, and closed the sliding door behind him. Ichigo
loved the burning sensation of the super heated water coursing over his naked
flesh, savoring both the pain of the heat and the pleasure of relief. Time
slipped by and Ichigo slipped into a dark reverie of lost memories. The water
splashing upon his face did nothing to disturb him from his dark recollection.
His memories were blocked from his wandering mind at most times, but he found
that most often when he should be sleeping, one or two facts or images would
seep to the surface of his mind, each more jarring than the last all building up
to the horrifying truth that he and his friends had lived with for just over
three years. From what he had been able to gather so far he knew that he had
died. He had died upon Aizen's blade. A short time later he had been awakened to
find Orihime's protective barrier over him, her concerned face tearstained as
her brow furrowed in concentration. Behind her Grimmjow Jaggerjack stood,
fending off Aizen's blade in his released form, though he fared no better than
Ichigo had. He soon was dispatched, though not slain.
Then Aizen turned on Orihime, she had met Ichigo's eyes and he knew what she was
doing. He tried to scream, but couldn't. He tried to shove her aside, but the
barrier kept him pinned under extraordinary weight. He could do naught but watch
as Aizen's bloodlust caused the end of Orihime's life, that forsaken blade that
had pierced his heart now severing her head in one swift arc. Ichigo's body
quaked as Orihime's head bounced across the ground, leaving a playful stream of
blood in it's wake. Her body slumped forward against her own barrier.
Now Aizen waited, he waited for Ichigo to heal so that he could slay the Vizard
once more. Slay him and mock him and paint the walls with his boiling red blood.
Aizen's cools smile crept upon his bloodstained face, his stark white teeth
standing out like the full moon in the empty night's sky. Ichigo felt the
barrier begin to wane, felt the weight on his chest weaken. Then there is only
blackness. It is almost like a missing part of film on a reel, but not quite.
The movie begins again a week later, lying in the basement of Urahara shop.
Apparently Chad had carried both Ichigo and Grimmjow back into the living realm
from Hueco Mundo, Ishida leading the way and opening the necessary doors. There
the Arrancar and the Vizard recuperated, licking their wounds each with a
crushing reality closing in around them. Grimmjow was an Arrancar without
purpose, lost in a world not his own. Ichigo had failed not only his friends,
but also the woman he cared most for, though he had never dared show it.
The nemeses had regained their health rapidly, walking around again in a matter
of days, rather than weeks, but each found they had scars that would never heal.
Both Grimmjow and Ichigo could not recall what had happened to Aizen, all they
had to go on was Chad and Ishida's word that the man was no where to be seen in
the black stone room where they had found them. Aizen could still be out there,
or he could be a pile of ash caught on the ever-drifting winds of Hueco Mundo,
as long as he never showed his face again, Ichigo didn't care.
Finally something jolted him from his trance; a soft pounding came at the door
of the bathroom. Coming to himself, Ichigo cleared his throat and called out of
the shower, "Yea, what is it?"
Karin's voice challenged him through the thin wooden door, "Ichigo, hurry the
fuck up! You've been in there since I woke up!" she practically screamed at him.
Confused, Ichigo called back, "Calm down, baka, what time is it?"
Outraged, Karin screamed back, "It's eight in the morning, dobe, now get out I
gotta go to school in like, five minutes!" Ichigo knew she was exaggerating the
time she had, but was it really eight already? Or was she just playing a prank
on him that would wake the house? Either way, he remembered it was her first day
of high school today and thought it best not to test his sister's anger. It was
only now that he realized the tighness of his skin signifying that he had been
standing under a downpour of cold water that should have had him shivering and
yelping. He did neither.
Ichigo turned off the water and quickly toweled off, stepping out of the shower
and opening the bathroom door enough to let Karin see his 'naked' body. With and
angry face he yelled at her through the crack in the door, "Calm down, I'm
almost done." He closed the door right in her face, waiting for the curses to
spout from her. Sure enough they were right behind the closure of the door.
Truthfully, Ichigo didn't have any more to do; he just wanted to mess with his
sister, her anger be damned. Chuckling to himself Ichigo leaned against the door
for five minutes. Finally, he opened the door and Karin practically shoved him
out of the way and jumped in the shower. Tossing her robe over the glazed glass
before Ichigo could even leave the room. Ichigo hurried from the room before she
could turn the water on.
Halfway to his room his ears were graced by the horrified shriek of his sister
as the ice cold water met her naked skin. Her holler shook the house's
foundations, "Ichigo, I will kill you!" There was murder in her voice, and
Ichigo didn't doubt that if he was present at that moment, she would have. This
sent a shiver down his spine as he entered his room.
He undid the towel and was about to toss it in the hamper, but froze and quickly
redid it as he saw Yuzu making his bed for him. She folded down the sheets and
the bedspread and fluffed his pillow. She herself was still in her pajamas, pink
pants with yellow puppy dogs, a tank top covered by a robe. She laughed to
herself as she saw Ichigo frantically turn and put the robe back on out of the
corner of her eye. It wasn't like she hadn't seen her brother naked before,
accidents happen, but she thought it humorous that he still jumped like a
jackrabbit when he noticed she was around where he wasn't expecting her.
"There you go, Ichigo," Yuzu said, proud of her work, "All made." She offered
him a smile full of sisterly adoration.
"You know I don't like you coming in my room. Especially if you're going to do
my chores." Ichigo told her flatly.
"Oh, I know you don't mean that!" She offered cheerfully. How she ever managed
to stay so happy after their mother died, Ichigo had no idea. Maybe it was
because she was so young that she didn't even remember her, but Ichigo knew that
wasn't true. Yuzu had once confided that her earliest memory of life was their
mom's smiling face. Aside from pictures, it was all she had. Ichigo finally
broke and offered her a weak smirk.
"How 'bout," Ichigo began to think out loud, "After you get off of school and I
get off of work, I'll come pick you and Karin up. Then we'll go to the ice cream
parlor or something."
Yuzu shot him an awkward smile as she passed him on her way out of his room,
"Ice cream parlor? What are you, seventy?" Ichigo just mussed her hair as she
passed and closed the door behind the petite girl. His smirk faded into that
flat expression that has cursed his features since his mother's death, except it
had grown somehow sadder in the past three years. Not sad as in sobbing tears
and pain, but more of a deep seated angst and pain that he knows he will have to
live with for the rest of his life and knows there is no way around it.
Ichigo closed the door behind her and rested his head against the cool wood.
A familiar voice greeted his ears, "Yo, Ichigo!"
The orange headed vizard looked about to his window where the new and improved Kon stood, balanced on the windowsill. Urahara had managed to give him a home so Ichigo didn't have to deal with the obnoxious stuffed animal, and then after Rukia taught Kon about manners, Urahara had made him a new body. Though he was still a stuffed animal, he was now a brown bear instead of that strange yellow lion. The bear was decked out in silver plushy armor that was stitched to it's body. He was pounding on the window making a soft whisking sound as the furry fluff impacted the glass. Ichigo opened the window to Kon, "What is it, I'm busy."
"Doing what?" The plushy bit back snidely, "Jacki- Hey what are you doing?!"
Ichigo had grabbed the plushy about the neck and began pawing his nightstand for his lighter. He flicked the cap open and pressed down on the flint, "I'll keep this simple Kon. Tell me what you want, and you get to keep your new body. Otherwise we'll test it's combustability." An evil grin broke Ichigo's sorrow; he thoroughly enjoyed tormenting this plushy annoyance. It was then something unexpected happened.
Grimmjow's stark blue hair appeared in the window above that razor sharp face, the arrancar mask hidden my magic, "Put him down Ichigo," His old enemy and new friend warned, "Urahara want's to see you. It's important."