Count The Moments We're Apart
Chapter One: My Feet Hurt! - Renji's POV.
There they were. All five of them, together again for their stand against the ones who took their sixth friend and member of their group.
Kurosaki Ichigo stood in front, his shinigami robes in contrast to all of the white sand surrounding him, though blending with the dark night sky above him. On his back was his famed blade, Zangetsu. It was wrapped up, and basically made Ichigo easy to see, whether he was into the sky with his robes, or on the ground with his white wrapped Zanpakutou. His eyes were shining brilliantly as he stood in front of his group of companions, as those brown orbs gazed around the large desert. In that desert was the largest fortress anyone could ever imagine. His grin flashed across his face, as he had his right hand clutch the hilt of Zangetsu. The orange-haired Substitute Shinigami began to run forward, expecting his friends to follow.
Next in line was Abarai Renji, sporting the very same black Shinigami robes. Over those robes was a tan-like cloak to cover himself and to blend in better with the desert, though if it were coincidence or purely smart, no one know. Though Ichigo certainly thought it was coincidence. At his waist was his Zanpakutou, Zabimaru, in its sheath. His brilliant red hair was in its usually ponytail-Esq fashion as he also wore his white cloth over his forehead, covering the majority of the tattoos on his head.
As Renji began to run in line with Ichigo, the next person behind them grunted. He pushed up his glasses up his nose, constantly fixing them just "to look cool" as he mostly put it. He was wearing the white Quincy clothes and cloak he always did, as no change of fashion consumed him, just the same as Renji and Ichigo. Brushing a hand through his hair in defeat, as he wanted to make a strategy before running in recklessly, he began to follow in suit to the two Shinigami. Around his wrist was, of course, his "Quincy charm thingy" as Ichigo so blankly put it a few minutes before. Oh boy, did Ichigo and Ishida Uryu get along.
The giant behind Uryu stood there, in normal clothes he wore that day during training at the Urahara Shop. His brown hair covered both eyes most of the time, and he size with that combined intimidated mostly anyone who stood in his way. The brute was also a gentle giant, and his voice was soft when he spoke, which was rarely. He began to run after the three. This man was Sado Yasutora, or Chad as Ichigo put it.
The last of their rescue squad was Kuchiki Rukia, and her unusual hair style and short stature causes many arguments between Ichigo and Rukia. Despite that, the black-haired shinigami that was wearing the same attire as Renji began to follow also, as she was very loyal to him. They were all great friends.
They were going through these great extents to invade Hueco Mundo and put a stop to Aizen and his Arrancar army all to save their friend, Inoue Orihime. She had been kidnapped by Ulquiorra Schiffer, the fourth Espada of this army, and boy was that intimidating. Maybe even more so than Sado.
-----
"Damn it! How much farther do we have to run?!"
"Stop complaining, Kurosaki! We'll get there when we get there!"
"So says the guy who set off the trap that almost killed Chad!"
"That was an accident!"
"Surely, Uryu. Surely."
"Did I give you permission to call me by my proper name?!"
"Right now, I don't care!"
Uryu and Ichigo had been arguing almost three minutes after they had began to run toward Las Noches, Aizen's fortress, and twenty minutes of running had passed. If Renji hadn't had the urge to slice one of their throats with his Zanpakutou, that urge was certainly coming in now.
"This is ridiculous! It's so far! Are we even getting closer?!" Ichigo was really starting to kill Renji's ability to concentrate.
"You're only wasting breath and making this harder, Kurosaki!"
"You didn't have to reply and waste your own, did you, Ishida?!"
"If you'd stop making stupid comments, I wouldn't!"
"Then stop being such a smart-ass and answering back!"
Stay calm.
"It's not my fault that you're such an idiot!"
"At least I have common sense!"
Come on. Arrancar please attack. Anyone.
"Common sense?! I have way more than you could dream of!"
"Then why are you wearing a cape that makes your movement so crappy?"
If one doesn't come, Ichigo is going to die.
"It makes me look cooler. I'm sure my opponents would love to be killed by a cool looking quincy than a ridiculous Shinigami Substitute who has clown hair."
"Clown hair?!"
And Uryu will die too.
"If I have clown hair, than you most definitely have four eyes!"
"Original comeback, Kurosaki."
That's it!
"WOULD BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP?!" Renji stopped in his tracks, and swung his arms for emphasis of how pissed he was. Everyone else stopped running and turned to look at Renji, who had fallen into the back in a desperate attempt to drown out the noise. He was very angry, and it showed on his face. He looked as if he was going to bite off Ichigo and Uryu's heads.
"Geez, Abari. If you were getting so mad at us talking, you could've said so." Ichigo chirped in, raising a finger up as he said so.
"You guys were so loud you wouldn't have heard me! I mean, I couldn't even hear myself think!"
The Substitute Shinigami blinked, looking at Renji questioningly. Before he could say something, a foot smashed into his face and caused him to fall back wards and sprawl onto his back. He cringed in pain as he rolled on the sand holding his face in pain. His moaning and grunting were muffled as Rukia landed on the sand gracefully, wiping a bit of blood off her foot and into the sand. She blinked, and then made an innocent face at the others.
Uryu slapped his forehead and quickly apologized to Renji and the others, and they began to run again once Ichigo finally got up. Though he was angry, he decided not to continue. Rukia was fast, and that was a quick, yet cheap, kick. That's why she and Renji were good friends. They agreed on mutual matters, no matter how trivial. Like this, for instance.
"God damn it!"
"What now?!" Renji nearly screamed.
Renji was really getting annoyed, and Ichigo was just complaining about the trip. How they ended up as a team, he has no idea.
"My feet hurt!"
"Then stay here and rest, damn it! Just shut up!"
Ichigo grunted and fell onto the ground, tripping on a small lizard. The Lizard had a hollow mask and a hollow hole, but it looked nearly harmless. He sat up slowly, blinking at the creature. Poking it carefully, he began to slowly move it back wards. He was entertaining himself greatly.
"Ichigo! What are you doing?!"
"Don't worry Rukia, it's harmless-- AHHHH!"
The lizard has bit Ichigo, and a small bit of black reiatsu was leaking out. The lizard was firing a cero. The Substitute was too nervous and having a seizure to react, so Renji pulled out his Zanpakutou. He was quite far away, and he doubted he was going to get there in time before Ichigo's arm was eradicated, so he threw his hand over his blade.
"Howl, Zabimaru!" The blade released into its shikai as he did so, and he threw the blades to slice the Lizard, which it did. The cero dissipated, and Ichigo was on the ground.
"No need to thank me, Kurosaki."
"Thank you?!" Ichigo cried as he shot to his feet in anger, "You nearly chopped off my whole arm!"
"You weren't doing anything, and I wouldn't have made it to save your arm."
"What are you talking about?! It was a puny animal hollow!"
"You just don't get it, Kurosaki."
"What the hell do you mean?!" He screamed, throwing his arms into the air as reiatsu slowly formed around his body from the emotions he expressed. Renji was getting nervous at this.
He really needs to control his reiatsu, damn it...
"Cero isn't somethin' you play with, baka. It's dangerous stuff."
"Oh well! I'll find out myself!"
"Shut up and get running!"
Ichigo blinked, as he was now hundreds of feet behind them all. He screamed in defeat as he ran to catch up.
That shut him up.
-----
Sado stopped after another ten minutes, causing everyone but Ichigo to stop. He valiantly turned around and waved to the others, screaming his lungs out to his hearts content.
"If we're gonna take so many breaks, we'll never get there before Winter!"
"You have to pay attention, Shinigami."
A familiar voice rang through Ichigo's ears. His mind instantly processed a reaction, and Ichigo jumped away from the source. His scowl was obvious that he knew who it was. Renji had no idea who it was, neither did the others, except Rukia. Her expression showed fear, and she was terrified. There was an Arrancar, who promptly turned around.
His blue hair moved along with his, showing how loose it was. How it defied gravity the way it did was a mystery, because it was so loosely compacted that it seemed it would fall down and resemble Sado or Uryu's hair better. The grin he held once he turned a manic, and he looked like a maniac as he pointed to his back with his thumb. Renji eyed the spot he pointed to, and his eyes widened in response. Sado and Uryu had nearly similar responses.
"... Espada... Number Six..." Renji muttered out loud, fear slightly struck at him. The sand did not move, neither did the dead trees, the clouds, or the moon above them. There was no breeze, there was no life besides the six of them. The Espada's grin grew wider, and the hollow mask on his jaw only told Renji who it was. Ichigo had mentioned him, and told him of the mask.
This is... He's...
"Grimmjow... Jeagerjaques..." Ichigo said, finishing Renji's thoughts, as he pulled Zangetsu off of his back, as the tape unwrapped instantly.
"If your friends don't leave us to fight and stay here, they'll never get to Las Noches in time to save your woman, Shinigami." Grimmjow said, turning back around and putting his hands into his pockets.
He's right... If we just stay here, we'll never make it. But if I stay with Ichigo and fight, we'll catch up after we kill--
"I'll handle this. I've got a trick up my sleeve. Go on without me."
Renji couldn't believe his ears. After so many defeats to this Arrancar, he still wanted to do this himself?!
"Are you crazy, Kurosaki?!"
"Hey, I'll do just fine. I'm the one who's going to save Inoue, anyways" He said to Renji, turning his head and giving him a reassuring smile.
Uryu nodded, and grabbed Rukia by her sleeve and ran past Grimmjow, as Sado picked up Renji and began to follow. The grin on Grimmjow's face disappeared, and he was suddenly sword against sword with Ichigo. At that moment, they seemed to blur away, and they couldn't be seen any longer. Renji wanted to test his new techniques so badly, and he didn't want to die here. If they were too separated, they'd all die, and Renji still had... Things to do with his life.
The last they heard before everything behind them faded away was, "Bankai!" and "Grind!".
Alright. My first fan fiction in forever! Hope it's good! The beginning is a tad short and a tad short, but it'll get much more longer and intense in the next chapter! I can never do good with first chapters anyways...
Anyways, here's some details. Every chapter is told in a different characters POV, or at least most of them will. Mostly, they will be told in the POVs of Orihime, Renji, Rukia, Ichigo, and Grimmjow.
Read and Review!