Chapter I: Gunshots.
A/N: Title of story was coined by x3HAYden, therefore credits to her. (actually, I am only saying this for fear that she will stuff me into a toilet bowl.) D:
Kurosaki Masaki glanced at the clock, her forehead creased with worry. She had heard the rumours that the terrorists of Lumbre, who had been 'eliminated' by the Japanese army years before, had invaded Kaiwanase, the city just up north of Karakura.
She had not found the need to inform her children, but a nagging feeling told her that Ichigo, her oldest child and only son, had already found out enough. This morning, she had gone into his room to find everything packed into a rucksack.
"Preparations for evacuation, huh..." she murmured to herself almost absentmindedly as she walked into her bedroom.
Noticing the old radio her parents had left her, the sole object she had inherited, she turned it on. There was poor reception, but she could still make out what the reporter was saying.
"...-umbre have inva...ed Kaiwan...are headed...Karakura...government....a....national crisis...vacuation plans...in order...Karakura citizens...fleeing...Japanese army...setting forth in the next hour..."
Evacuate.
That was essentially what they were being told to do.
Masaki reached over to her cellphone and dialed her husband's workplace. Instead of Isshin's secretary answering the phone as usual, a rough male voice answered it. "Who is it?"
Keeping her cool, Masaki asked for Kurosaki Isshin.
"Kurosaki Isshin and Kuchiki Hisana have been taken hostage by us, the Esparainos of Lumbre. The hostages will be safe and perhaps even released if you cooperate with us and do not contact the police. However, if you do not, their lives would be terminated."
"What... do you want?" she asked, struggling to keep her emotions in check.
"Well, we want you to pay up a million yen by 6pm today."
A million yen. That was Masaki and Isshin's total life savings, but... to ensure that they would be safe...
"Where do you want me to put the money?"
"We will meet at the Kurosaki Medical Centre."
Masaki gulped and whispered a hoarse "Yes" into the phone, before putting it down.
Checking the clock, she found that it was nearly 4pm. Two hours for her to get the kids out, withdraw the million yen and contact the Kuchiki household.
As she set about packing her few belongings, Masaki called the Kuchikis. Kuchiki Byakuya answered the phone.
"Yes, Masaki?"
"Byakuya."
Masaki told the latter all she had found out. There was silence as she imagined his mouth set into that familiar thin line. Kuchiki Byakuya was famous for getting anything he wanted. He was born in a rich family, and had grown up spoilt and stubborn. Hisana had been his only friend until the Kuchiki household finally agreed to let them adopt Rukia.
"Alright. I'll get Rukia out of here and head over to your place." he put the phone down.
Masaki headed downstairs and looked at her children, who stopped in the midst of their chores. "Mama, the dishwasher-" Yuzu started saying, but was silenced by Masaki's hand.
"Karin, Yuzu, Ichigo. Go and pack your bags. We're leaving Karakura. I'll explain in due course, don't ask any questions." Karin and Yuzu nodded solemnly and ran up the stairs. There was the rustle of things being stuffed into bags, the familiar creak of the clothes wardrobe and the squeak from Yuzu's familiar yellow lion-bear.
"Oka-san, it's the terrorists, isn't it?"
Masaki nodded, the truth of what had just happened hitting her full force. "They took your father and Kuchiki-san."
"No way."
Before they could continue their conversation, Yuzu and Karin came down the stairs, carrying a big bag between them.
"Alright, now let's go."
"Mama, don't you have to pack..?"
"Oh, right..."
"Oka-san, your bag's over here."Ichigo chipped in.
Masaki gave him a grateful smile and led the children out to the family car. They had just stepped in when there was a blast and the roof where Ichigo had slept under collapsed. The children stared in horror, none of them registering what they had witnessed.
"Ichigo. You know how to drive a car, don't you?" Masaki jumped out of the car even as she asked this question. "Take care of your sisters. Take the radio my parents left for me. Now, hurry!"
But before they could take another step, there was a gunshot and crimson liquid sprayed onto the windows.
Yuzu sprang out of the car, ignoring Ichigo's panicked yells. Karin hesistated for a moment and followed suit. "MAMA!"
Ichigo cursed and got out, clutching his rucksack and stuffing the radio into it as he did so.
"Yuzu, Karin..." he stopped at the sight of a masked man with black hair and a long braid down his back, pointing a gun at him. His sisters were lying on the ground, motionless and covered in blood. Barely a meter away was Masaki, in the same state as her daughters.
"Not my preferred weapon, but whatever. Die," the man hissed and pulled the trigger.
Ichigo felt something embed itself into his left shoulder. Excruciating pain. And then darkness took over.
No. I don't want to die. Not yet.
Kuchiki Rukia looked anxiously at her brother. She had heard that her adopted sister had been taken hostage by the terrorists.
The surprising thing was that Byakuya was refusing to save Hisana. "The priority now is to get YOU out of here."
She had packed all her belongings and was now waiting for Byakuya to come out.
But instead of Byakuya, she had found herself face to face with three men, all wielding guns.
Then everything had gone so fast that she struggled to remember exactly what had happened. From what she remembered, Byakuya had appeared, pushed her out of the way and taken a hit in the chest from the gun of the man in the very front.
Grabbing her, he had muttered, "Rukia, run. My soul will forever be with you. Find the Kurosakis and tell them that all is not well. Do not cry, Rukia. What would Hisana say? If all else fails, find that place."
There was a blood-curdling howl from her brother when another bullet shot him.
"Onii-san, I'll wait for you."
In their hearts, they knew there would never be a chance. Rukia turned on her heels and fled, tears streaming down her face. She ran and ran down the road that led to the Kurosakis.
She tripped over a stone and found herself face to face with the orange haired boy she knew was Kurosaki Ichigo. Checking his pulse, she found one. Faint, but still there.
She moved on to the two sisters and Masaki, who were lying face down, blood around them.
There were no pulses.
Rukia swallowed, suddenly finding it hard to breathe, as if her throat had been clogged. Turning back to Ichigo, she lifted him up. She was a strong girl, and somehow she managed to pull him to a small cavern on a ledge she had found while exploring the town when she was younger. Here, she hoped to heal him using the first aid kit she was holding on to in her duffel bag.
She pulled the taller boy up to the entrance to the cavern and crept in as well. There was a click that sounded like a gun being pulled out of its holster. As Rukia's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she found herself looking into four pairs of eyes, both wary and curious.
"Who are you?" a cold voice, presumably from the person holding the gun, asked.
Rukia raised her hands in a sign of peace. "I am Kuchiki Rukia, and this is Kurosaki Ichigo. We are fleeing from the Esparainos of Lumbre. Who are you?"
Somebody at the back of the cavern lit a small torch that illuminated the small area, revealing its occupants.
The gun-wielder was white-haired, with teal eyes that seemed to freeze everything he looked at. "I am Toushirou Hitsugaya."
A young orange-haired girl with six-pointed clips smiled and gestured to herself. "Orihime Inoue." she had her left hand in a cast.
The boy beside Orihime was sitting halfway in the shadows. He looked at Rukia and Ichigo with almost emotionless turquoise eyes. "Ulquiorra Schiffer."
The last occupant, a black haired girl in her late teens with her hair in plaits and holding a dagger introduced herself with caution. "I am Soi Fon."
"Nice to meet you." Rukia bowed. "...now, um..."
"Rukia-san, I believe Ichigo-kun needs a place to recuperate? Come with me, there's a secret room at the back of this cave. Come on!" Orihime broke the tense silence at last, springing to her feet.
Rukia followed Orihime, surprised at the hospitality the latter showed as compared to the other three 'residents'.
Orihime turned into a small opening that Rukia would have bypassed completely had she not been following Orihime.
"Thanks, Orihime." Rukia muttered shyly.
"Haha, it's alright! We're all living for the same purpose, aren't we? We're fighting to win the terrorists. Each of us here lost something to stay alive. And those who sacrificed themselves, they wouldn't have wanted to see us dying in hiding, don't you think?"
Rukia nodded mutely, keeping the tears at bay as she thought of what her brother had done for her. For her to live.
"Now, about Ichigo-kun. Do you want to take out the bullet?"
"Um..." Rukia hesistated.
"Ah, I'll do it then! Good practice for my nursing course anyway."
Orihime looked around the room and grabbed a towel from an overhead cupboard. Using it as a tourniquet, she tied it tightly onto Ichigo's shoulder to stem the bleeding.
"The part I hate most.." she muttered as she picked up a pair of tweezers, dug into the wound and finally pulled out the bullet and placed it on the table.
Pulling out a bottle, she doused the wound to disinfect it.
"Rukia-san, can you get the knife from the cupboard and heat it on the stove?"
Rukia did as asked. Soon, the knife started to glow. Orihime took it with a grateful smile and put it against the wound.
"What's that for?" the words were out before Rukia realised what she was saying.
"Oh, it's to cauterize the wound." Orihime explained. "You burn the wound so that it will not be infected."
Finally, she placed sterile gauze over the wound and clapped her hands. "Yay, it's done! I should be able to pass my nursing exam~"
"Eh? You're studying to be a nurse?" Rukia could not believe her ears. Her childhood dream had been to be a nurse or a doctor.
"Yeap! I'm in my final year now. Anyway, Ichigo-kun should be alright. Let's go back to the others."
Rukia followed Orihime back to where Hitsugaya, Soi Fon and Ulquiorra were sitting, picking up the bullet as she did so. The words Ggio V. were embossed on the side.
"The orange-haired guy is alright?" Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at Orihime, who nodded excitably.
"Hai! It wasn't very deep so all I actually had to do was just dig the bullet out from the wound, disinfect and cauterize it." Orihime was blissfully unaware of the looks of disgust and horror on the others' faces as she described the entire process.
"Anyway, Kuchiki Rukia. I believe I have heard your name before. You would not happen to be the adopted sister of Kuchiki Byakuya and Hisana, ...right?"
"In fact, I am. Hisana was taken hostage in her office and Byakuya was killed protecting me." Rukia bit back the tears. No, not now. I have to be strong.
"...Rukia-san..." Orihime murmured, tears welling up in her eyes out of sympathy.
"I see."
"What about the rest of you?" Rukia asked. If what Orihime said was true, all of them must have lost someone close to them, one way or another.
"I lost my girlfriend when she was fleeing with me. I don't even know if she was shot." Hitsugaya said curtly, fingering the gun that he had holstered.
"My flatmate Rangiku-san disappeared. I went out to buy some groceries and when I came back she was gone."
"My best friend. He was a Spaniard and had come to visit me. We were running from those jerks when he just disappeared." Rukia was surprised. This was the first time she had heard Ulquiorra say so much at one go.
"Che, my mentor. She left the house yesterday to meet her girlfriends and didn't come back." Soi Fon's face was an emotionless mask, but a hint of sadness was evident in her voice.
They - no, We've all lost someone important to us.
There was a gunshot below the cave, and then a woman's cries, though whether she was crying in pain or fear, Rukia didn't know. But she noticed that Orihime sat up straight.
"It was... it was Rangiku-san." she whispered.
A hushed silence fell over the party in the cave, and then there was a rustle in the bushes outside the cave.
"Soi Fon!" Hitsugaya hissed between his teeth as he drew his gun from the holster.
Soi Fon nodded and crept to the entrance of the cave in the shadows, pulling out her dagger as she did so.
She parted the bushes and muttered, "Who are you?"
There was a gasp from both of them as Soi Fon pulled the person up.
So! I'm posting this without getting it beta-ed. x: Therefore it is not very good, but hey, nothing is perfect! And this chapter is over 2000 words long :D
Reviews are very much appreciated. Critical reviews are da bombz!
