Whew! This one-shot had me going through a loop, mostly because I kept having writer's block on it and then suddenly having an idea for it and then having another block. But! I finally did it!
I was inspired to write this because me and my girlfriend Katie are doing a story together like this, and she really likes Angel and Demon stories, so I figured I'd write one for her!
Love you Katie!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters associated with the Anime/Manga. They belong to Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump Magazine. Please support the official release.
"By order of The Council Of Angels, you, Kuchiki Rukia, are hereby banished."
Those were the words that set her fate. The words echoed in her mind, each syllable making her number and number until, finally, she could feel nothing. Her arms were hoisted up by glowing ropes woven out of pure golden twine, her chest bare for the world to see as they took away her white robes. Her beautiful wings were stretched out, reflecting the light of the sun that stood so far yet so close to their world, each feather as soft as pure silk. Two other Angels walked up behind her to her wings, long blades glinting in the sun's rays as they lifted their weapons and robbed her of her precious wings.
The pain was unimaginable, like shoving a spiked ball of fire under her skin and letting it roll all along her shoulder blades and arms. She could feel the warm blood spilling down her back, staining her white pants and dripping around her bare feet. She tried her hardest not to scream, but she couldn't help the pained whimpers that escaped her trembling lips. Tears fell down her cheeks, her body slumping against her bindings as she heard the thumps of her severed wings hitting the ground. Her back was nothing more than a mutilated surface now, covered in bright red blood and opened skin from where the joints of her wings once resided.
Anguish and agony swelled deep inside of her soul. She wanted so dearly for this to end...for all of it. She felt like every pair of eyes that now watched her were daggers being driven into her skin, adding to the pain of losing her wings.
The cool air that once calmed Rukia was now a source of pain as it stabbed into her wounds and made her whimper more. She forced her head up to look at the other Angels, the ones who were punishing her for her sins. Sins she had not mean to commit, but ones she did not regret.
The Council stood in front of the crowd of other Angels who were attending her sentencing. Some of the Angels were muttering amongst themselves, staring on at her as if she was some sort of freak. To them she was a freak, a freak who had committed a crime beyond imagination. But it was not her fault. She couldn't help herself...
The man who had announced her fate was Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the leader of The Council Of Angels who stood in a neat line behind him with stony expressions as they watched her bleed and whimper. He was a very old Angel, one of the very first to ever be created by God himself, and the most powerful of them all. His beard was long, but his head was bald and winkled. He tapped his wooden cane, and the binds holding Rukia's arms up disappeared and she fell to the ground in a panting heap.
"You shall serve your banishment on the plain of man," Yamamoto said. All around him were the other Council members, the other Angels who had come to this decision. One of them, a man with long raven hair and a stoic expression, being Rukia's own brother. She looked up at him as he stared back with a cold look in his eyes. Despite his silence now and the lack of any concern or any emotion at all she knew the only reason she wasn't being killed was because of him. The crime she has committed is worthy of death, of torture and beheading, but since she was the sister of one of the powerful Council members she was being banished instead.
"Do you understand what I am saying, Kuchiki Rukia?" Yamamoto asked.
Rukia looked at the old man again, switching from her brother, and slowly, numbly, nodded. She understood one hundred percent why this was happening to her, why her whole life was being torn from her. It was because of Him.
"Speak! Kuchiki Rukia! Say that you understand!" Yamamoto boomed, slamming his cane onto the ground to send tremors all through the land under Rukia's body. "Say it!"
"I..." Her voice was ruined by the pain and despair, raw and strange to her own ears. "I...understand..."
"You understand what?"
Why was he doing this? They were Angels, not Demons. They were supposed to be the good ones, not the cruel ones. "I understand that...I'm being banished..."
"Why? Why are you being banished?"
Rukia wheezed, feeling blood seeping down her shoulders and arms as she tried to push herself up from the ground, but failing.
"Why are you being banished?" Yamamoto repeated, stabbing the ground with his cane once more.
"Because..." She coughed, looking up at the man with hard, violet eyes. "Because I fell in love...with a Demon."
[–]
Rukia wasn't sure what happened next, but she figured she passed out from the massive amount of blood loss and trauma. When she awoke she was laying somewhere in the woods, bandages wrapped tightly around her upper torso to cover the wounds on her back. She was still wearing her blood stained white pants, her hands and feet dirty from laying on the forest floor for who knows how long.
"Earth..." She whispered, looking around. She had been here so many times before, visiting to guide the souls of the dearly departed to Heaven as an Angel does, but never had it seemed so...ominous. She had come to Earth so many times, but only for brief periods of time before she'd return to her home above the clouds.
She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, hissing in pain as the wounds on her back throbbed. She could feel the bandages around her back moist with blood, warm against her skin. She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, all the while biting the inside of her cheek as the throbbing worsened with every movement. Once she was finally on her rear, she slumped forward and panted, her whole body feeling frail and weak. Her strength had been sapped when her wings were taken, and she couldn't imagine doing anything other than sitting here for the next hundred years.
She looked down at the ground underneath her, seeing how it was smooth and slightly indented, meaning they had transported her here through one of the many portals to Earth. Again this must have been thanks to her brother, Byakuya. Most Angels who are banished are tossed over a cloud to Earth, falling to the ground to create a small crater. Byakuya must have convinced the Council to just teleport her, as to ease the pain that she was already feeling.
Thank you, Nii-sama...
As much as she wanted to stay and rest, she knew staying here did her no good. There might be predators out here in the woods, and now that she wasn't an Angel anymore she was susceptible to their might. She took in a deep breath, biting her lip as she placed her hands on the ground and slowly, slowly, slowly pushed herself up onto her feet.
She gave a small whine as she stood, stumbling around slightly as she tried to keep balance. She took a few unsteady steps forward to lean against a tree for support, panting as she felt sweat beginning to form on her brow. She wiped it away, running a hand through her long raven hair as she tried to calm her racing heart. The pain in her back was unimaginable, but she was adjusting to it now. She was a strong woman, was one of the strongest non-Council Angels in Heaven, so she could handle this; at least long enough to find someone to help her.
Once she was confident enough that it wouldn't kill her she began to stumble her way through the woods. She didn't know where to go, but she knew she had to find civilization to achieve grounding in her new, ruined life. She was lucky to have only been banished, because at least she could live on.
But what was a life if she wasn't an Angel?
What was a life without her family or friends?
What was a life...without Him?
She shouldn't even be thinking about him. Especially since it was because of him that she was in this position. She should hate him for what he has done to her, should loathe his very existence. If it wasn't for him she'd still be in Heaven with her friends on a cloud enjoying herself. She should hate him. But she doesn't.
She still loves him...the Demon who stole her heart...
"Ichigo..." She whispered his name, closing her eyes to picture his face. Her heart fluttered just as it does every time she sees him. She wished he was here to take her away from this pain and anguish...but he wasn't. He didn't know where she was. He didn't even know she had been caught.
They had been waiting for her when she returned to Heaven. Rukia and Ichigo had met on Earth so long ago by chance. She had been around channeling a newly deceased soul into Heaven when a lower Demon attacked trying to devour the soul. She had fought the Demon and killed it, saving the soul and leading it along. But it turned out the Demon had been a minion of his, and when he found out it had been killed he went out in search of its killer- which was her. When he found her it had been instant, their rapport. It was like being struck by lightning, the first sight of him. She had never met anyone so...beautiful. So hauntingly mesmerizing and powerful. He had been the forbidden fruit, and she had willingly tasted it knowing the consequences.
Ever since their first meeting they had come together to meet every night on Earth for their own personal rendezvous. They explored the realm of man together, sharing secrets of themselves that no one else knew and enjoying each other's company. She eased his raging spirit, and he excited her calm existence. It was a relationship she had never experienced before, and he brought forth new feelings she had never had before. But he was a Demon, devourer of souls and bringer of War and Famine and Death. She fought his kind, had been trained to kill his kind, and protected Man from his kind, yet she couldn't help but fall in love with him.
She wasn't sure how the other Angels found out about the affair, but they did. They found out and were waiting for her return after a night of staring at the stars with her Demon. They captured and imprisoned her. She spent days in a cell, awaiting her fate and wondering where he was and if he was worried about her. She liked to think he was worried for her, but as a Demon he could have easily moved on. She didn't know how far his devotion to her was...Demons were such deceitful creatures...
No, Rukia thought as she made her way sluggishly through the trees. He wouldn't lie to me like that...he's different...
A terrible cough racked her body, agitating her wounds and making her cry out in pain. She leaned fully against a tree and bit her lip to try and ride out the worst of it, a single tear escaping. That ball of fire under skin seemed to be growing in density, stabbing into her muscle to make her cringe and whimper and cry. She felt so off balance without her wings, felt so naked. Her wings were so beautiful...so white and soft and radiant. Many had complimented her on her wings, told her how they were the most beautiful in all of Heaven. Even Ichigo...her Demon...loved her wings...
And now they were gone forever. Wings don't grow back. They were an Angel's most important appendages, and without them she was nothing. She was...mortal.
Another whimper left her lips, but this one wasn't because of the pain in her back. It was one of sorrow, of unending sadness, of pure grief that opened its giant maw and swallowed her whole. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, wanted to fall to her knees and cry until her tear ducts became useless. All of this anguish, all of this pain was too much...
She couldn't hold herself up any longer, and fell down to her hands and knees to pant, seething as the force of her landing surged through her and made her wounds throb more forcefully. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, grinding her teeth to ride out the pain and to hold in the tears that threatened to escape her. As much as she wanted to cry, she would not. She would not cry.
"Damn them..." She whispered angrily, curling her fingers through the dirt to make fists. "Damn them all!"
"What have we got here?" A voice called out.
Rukia's head shot up in shock at the voice, jerking her head around to find a group of four men wearing camouflage and holding hunting rifles walking towards her from between the brush.
"Jesus! This chick looks pretty badly beaten up!" One of the four men yelled.
"Yeah, but she's pretty cute, don't ya think?" Another snickered.
Rukia frowned, looking up into the faces of the men as they approached. Their faces were flushed a bright pink, their eyes slightly hazy and their breath smelling of alcohol. She scrunched her nose up at the putrid scent, trying to push herself back up onto her feet to stand and run away. She knew from the looks they were giving her that they weren't here to help her.
"Hold on, little missy,"
She tried to get away, but two of the men dropped their guns and ran up to her to take her by the arms and pin her down. She yelled out in pain as they pressed down on her wounds, a few tears bursting free from her eyes and down her face.
"Let me go!" Her voice was raw with despair, desperate and pleading. She struggled against the men who were holding her, but her wounds impaired her strength by more than half and her efforts were easily ignored as the other two walked up in front of her. Though she suspected even if she was a hundred percent, in this form she'd still be much weaker than any of these men.
"Just relax, little darlin'," The biggest of the men crouched down to smile at her with yellow teeth, his booze-stained breath burning her eyes as he breathed in her face with a smirk. "This won't take long. Just close your eyes and pretend we're the handsome little boy from your classes."
Rukia whimpered as the man stood back up, taking off his coat and unbuckling his pants. She couldn't hold back the tears now as they flowed freely down her pale cheeks, dripping off of her chin and to the ground in fat lumps. She let loose a sob, letting her forehead rest against the ground as she heard the man's pants hit the ground.
"Now, let's have some fu-"
The man's words were cut short by the sound of something cracking and then ripping and splashing. She felt something warm spread over her neck and back, staining the bandages around her upper torso and getting in her hair. Her head snapped up, staring in utter shock at the man standing over her.
"W...what...?" He gurgled, blood dripping from between his lips as he slowly looked down at his chest, where a bloodied hand protruded out from. The hand was clawed, so pale it was nearly white. The fingers curled into a fist and then yanked back and out of the man, jerking his body back with it as he spat out a large glob of blood and spit. He stumbled back and hit something, being pushed forward onto his knees.
"What the fuck?" One of the men holding her down wailed as their companion fell face first to the ground, dead.
Rukia's eyes widened as she looked up at the owner of the bloodied hand, her tears turning to tears of joy as she realized who it was.
It was Him.
"Ichigo..."
Ichigo stood tall over the now dead body, staring down at him with pure contempt with his black and golden eyes. His long orange hair swayed in the wind, running down his back and ending just above his black torn pants. His upper body was bare, his ghostly pale skin shining in the rays of the sun as he stood there held up his bloodied, clawed hand. On his face was his mask, the mask all Demons wore whenever in battle. It gave them strength, signaled the beginning of a battle to the death. Ichigo's mask resembled a skull, white with red stripes down the forehead and cheeks, long pointed horns rising into the air from the top of it. In the eye-holes were Ichigo's eyes, golden irises with black sclera.
"W-What the hell are you, freak?" The man standing behind Ichigo yelled, reaching down to pick up his hunting rifle to shoulder it and aim it directly at the Demon.
Ichigo slowly turned to him, not at all intimidated by the weapon. He let loose a slow, menacing breath through the teeth of his mask, making the man with the gun go rigid in fright.
"Go ahead," Ichigo's voice was in a rasp, accompanied by its own echo. "Pull the trigger, if you're man enough."
"F-Fuck you!" The man yelled. "Don't move or I swear I'll blow your head off!"
"Do it," Ichigo said, turning to face the man fully. The man flinched as the Demon moved, the gun beginning to shake unsteadily. "Do it!"
The man roared, raising the gun and pulling the trigger. The buckshot spat out from the nozzle of the gun, flying and exploding apart the juncture of Ichigo's arm and shoulder. Blood gushed from the wound, his arm dangling down by his side as the globs of muscle tore apart under the razor sharp force of the shot. Blood oozed down his side and to the ground in a giant geyser, sloshing all about as Ichigo staggered back slightly.
"Ichigo!" Rukia cried.
"Take that!" The man cheered, laughing in triumph.
Ichigo was silent for a few seconds, his head dipped low as blood dripped from the wound in his arm. He twitched, his head tilting to the side as a single chuckle left his masked mouth. Another dark chuckle escaped, and then another, and another, until finally Ichigo was cackling full out.
"W-What...?" The man lowered his gun in shock as Ichigo lifted his head to glare at the man. Another slow breath left Ichigo's lips, menacing and frightening to all- even Rukia.
"That it?" He taunted, standing to his full height. His injured arm shimmered, rising back into place and snapping as it became conjoined at the joint once more. The blood on his side and on the ground began to sizzle, evaporating into smoke and rising into the air to collect around his wound and seep back in to close it up. He rolled his shoulder, testing its mobility before his eyes curved in what could only be a demented grin. "I barely felt that."
The man trembled in fear, dropping the gun and staring at the Demon with wide, frightened eyes. He took a step back, shaking his head as if trying to dissuade himself of the reality in front of him. Ichigo gave a dark chuckle at the man's expression and took a single step forward.
"No!" The man screamed, turning and making a run for it. Ichigo cackled loudly, his body giving a shimmer before disappearing and reappearing in front of the man. Before he could register what had just happened Ichigo gripped his head in his hands and held him in place, his clawed fingers digging into his temples to break the skin and draw little droplets of blood. The man squealed, his arms and legs flopping about like a fish out of water as he tried to get away.
"Don't worry," Ichigo soothed as the man struggled against him. "This pain won't last forever. But the pain that I will ensure of for you in Hell will be ten times worse, and that pain won't ever end."
The man screamed even louder at this, trying his damn hardest to break free of the Demon's grasp. Ichigo let loose a demonic chuckle, squeezing the man's head in his hands. The man cried out as he felt his skull crack under the pressure, blood pouring from his eye sockets and nose as Ichigo increased the pressure.
Rukia watched in shock and terror as the man's head exploded like a watermelon between Ichigo's fingers, blood and gray brain matter and pieces of his shattered skull falling to the ground in a gory mess. The blood stained Ichigo's torso and pants, dripping from his fingers in long sticky tendrils to the ground.
"Now..." Ichigo looked up from the limp, lifeless body that fell to the ground below him to the two men who were still holding down Rukia. His eyes seemed to slit as he stared at them, anger and blood lust coursing through his very being. "Who's next?"
The men who had been holding Rukia had been so shocked by what was going on they had been paralyzed to the spot, but once Ichigo's mad eyes locked onto the two of them they were free of the spell and both screamed and jumped off of Rukia to turn and run away.
Ichigo's laugh seemed to echo in Rukia's head as he darted after the men. She didn't bother to turn her head and watch, because she knew the men would share a similar fate as the two men laying dead a few feet in front of her. She stared at the bodies, stricken by shock and terror and...relief. She had never seen such gore, such horrible messiness of blood and brains and bodies. It caused her brain to short circuit and her body to tremble in fear and disgust. But there was another part of her...it was happy to see this. These men were going to violate her pureness, going to play with her body and sanity until they were satisfied. They deserved this fate. And to think it was her Demon who brought about all of this...it made her feel content.
Rukia listened as Ichigo tore apart the men who had been holding her down. She didn't dare look, for the sake of her already damaged mental state. She heard the sloshing of blood being spilled, the tearing of skin and cracking of bone as Ichigo played with the men sadistically. She closed her eyes, willing the screams of the men to fade away from her hearing.
And just as quickly as it started it ended. She stayed still for a few moments, unsure of what to do as the air grew still and the only sound she could hear was her own breathing.
"Rukia."
Her eyes shot open as Ichigo appeared in front of her, covered in blood. She looked up at him as he stared down at her, his black and gold eyes boring deep into her own violet ones.
"Ichigo...you found me." She whispered.
He reached up, placing his hand over his mask and swiping his bloodied fingers over it to make it dissipate into thin air, revealing his face. She stared up into his handsome features, watching as his eyes changed from the black and gold to a burning amber. Those were the eyes she recognized, the ones she fell in love with what felt like a whole lifetime ago.
"I felt you the second you landed." He said, his voice normal and no longer that raspy echo it had been with the mask on. "I have been searching for you for hours."
"Thank God you found me when you did..." She breathed, trying to push herself up. He reached down to help her, but the second those bloody fingers came near her she flinched. He stopped, pulling back slightly, unsure of what to do.
"Are you okay?" He asked softly, not a trace of the malice that had been in his tone just a few moments before. "Your wings..."
She bowed her head in shame. "I was...banished."
Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "Because...of us?"
Rukia looked up into his eyes, frowning sadly as she nodded. "I don't know how but...they found out. Now I'm...mortal..." She looked away, tears threatening to spill once again.
Ichigo's eyes widened in shock. "They turned you into a mortal?" He asked lowly, clenching his fists.
"Yes..." She whispered. "I've been banished from Heaven...forever." She couldn't hold herself up any longer, and fell back down onto her stomach with a pained grunt as the tears fell. She sniffled, closing her eyes as to not see Ichigo's face as he watched her cry.
"Rukia..."
"Please..." She said, covering her face from his view. "Leave me...I'm dead...I'm nothing now..." She sobbed.
"No." He said sternly. "You are not nothing, Rukia."
"But I am..." She said weakly. "My wings...they're gone..."
Ichigo said nothing at this. She continued to sob into her arms, the tears dripping down her face and arms to the ground. Her heart ached so terribly, twisted in grief and anguish. She truly was nothing more than a sniffling human now. Her former grace has been striped of her forever; ripped away as punishment for something she could not help. Her heart's desire has cursed her...leaving her abandoned on this plain of existence to forever drown in her own sorrow...
"Rukia..."
Her eyes shot wide open in shock as she felt Ichigo's hands on her back, right over the bandages where her wings used to be. She seethed in pain, his touch light but still enough to erupt little embers of pain along her back.
"W-What are you doing?"
"Just relax," He whispered soothingly, trailing his fingers down her back along the bandages. She bit her tongue, trying not to moan. He hooked his index claw through the wrapping and made a small cut, slicing up to extend the cut all the way up to the top. He peeled away the bandages from her blood wounds, a jolt shooting through her as the cold air hit her back to make her yelp and bite her arm. It hurt so badly, she could barely stand it.
"I-I...I feel like...I'm dying..." She panted.
"Don't worry," Ichigo said softly. "I'm helping you."
Ichigo stare down at the bloody stumps on her back. Congealed blood stuck to her skin, gooey and drying around the stumps that had once been the joints of her wings. The area around the wounds was tender, prickling at the exposure to the cold air. He frowned softly, pulling back as he lifted his hands up.
"What...what are you doing?" She breathed, looking up at him.
"Saving you." was all he said before placing one of his claws against his left wrist. He sliced it open with a quick swipe of his finger, drawing a thin line of bright red blood to ooze slowly out and down his hand.
"I-Ichigo!" Rukia gasped.
"Don't say a word," He commanded, placing his cut wrist over her wounds and squeezing his hand to help the stream of blood dripping from the small wound. The crimson liquid dripped down onto her back, seeping into her wounds and burning her slightly. She shivered and moaned, the burning sensation spreading through her as more of his blood fell into her wounds.
"Ahh..." She felt the pain start to dull, the hot ball rolling around her back starting to shrink and die away. A pleasant warmth engulfed her, and she closed her eyes as she felt the skin on her back tremble and numb over. "What's happening?" She whispered.
"Your wounds," He said. "They're healing, thanks to my blood."
She looked up at him, shocked at what he said. Could Demon blood really heal...?
"You're...healing me?"
Ichigo nodded, and then smiled. "But not only that..." He said, pulling his hand back as the wound on his wrist began to heal. "I'm changing you."
Rukia furrowed her brow in confusion, about to ask what he meant when suddenly something inside of her pulsated. Her whole body tensed as something hot and alive swam through her, devouring her from the inside out.
"Argh!" She screamed as white hot pain spread through her every cell. She convulsed, her fingers digging deep into the dirt as she gritted her teeth together. It felt as if her whole body was being consumed by flames, her skin reddening and her very soul melting away into mush.
"It's okay," Ichigo said, looping his arms under hers to pull her up into his chest to hold her as she writhed in agony. "It won't last long."
"W-What...arrrgh!" She groaned, the pain slicing into her chest and surrounding her frantically beating heart. She shut her eyes tight against it, gripping his shoulders as she fought it. "What did you do to me?"
"What I've wanted to do since I first saw you," He answered, whispering in her ear. "I'm turning you into one of my kind- a Demon."
Shock ran through her at this, her eyes widening as she felt them burn and water. She was turning...into a Demon like Ichigo?
"H-How?" She choked out.
"The Devil himself was once an Angel," Ichigo explained, holding her tightly as she continued to shake. "But he was banished from Heaven, and became the very first Demon. An Angel may become a Demon, if their wings have been removed..."
Rukia buried her face into his shoulder, muffling her scream as the pain continued to ravish her from the inside. She dug her nails into his shoulders, praying the pain would end...
"Don't fight it," He whispered. "It'll only make it worse."
Rukia heard his words, knowing he was not happy with her suffering from the way he held her so tightly in his arms. She knew he would never truly hurt her, never intentionally cause her pain without a purpose. She trusted him with all of her heart, so she did as he said, and stopped fighting the pain.
It lasted a total of three minutes, her teeth grinding so hard they began to turn into dust at the ends. Ichigo held her the whole time, whispering soothing words to her as she shook and moaned. Finally, after the three minutes of total torture, the pain stopped.
"Rukia?" Ichigo called her name as she remained still and silent in his arms. He looked down at her, surprised to see the once bloody wounds on her back completely healed, replaced by smooth, pale skin. The stumps of her former wings sunk back into her shoulder blades, disappearing from sight for all time. Her hair changed from a raven color to a pale purple, her skin graying slightly at the same time. "Rukia?"
She pulled back from him, all pain and anguish gone from her now damned soul. She looked up at him, her pupils slitting and then growing outwards, swallowing her violet irises and white sclera. She smiled up at him, feeling power she had never known before coursing through her veins. She let loose a slow breath, marveling at this new glorious feeling spreading through her.
"Ichigo..." She whispered his name, her heart warming as she stared into his face.
Ichigo's mouth curved into a grin. "You can feel it, can't you?" He asked, leaning in slightly. "The power...it's so delicious isn't it?"
She shivered in delight, her senses now heightened. The world came in at a new contrast, so much more vivid and clear. All she could do was nod at his question.
"You're so beautiful..." He whispered, leaning in fully to kiss her lips. A jolt of electricity surged through her at his lips, and before she knew it she was kissing him back, wanting more and more of this wonderful feeling. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he tightened his hold around her waist, her bare chest pressing against his as she pressed closer to him. She ran a hand through his long orange hair, gripping it to keep him in place, because if he tried to pull away from this deliciously beautiful kiss she'd tear his orange locks out from his head.
She was already thinking like a Demon.
She felt him beginning to pull back, and growled and bit his lip. He chuckled deep in the back of his throat, licking her teeth to dizzy her and get his lip back.
"Relax," He whispered as she panted with want- with need. "We have an eternity for so much more."
"An eternity..." She echoed, grinning. She liked the sound of that.
"We must go," Ichigo said. "I can feel the Angels coming our way."
Rukia frowned at this, looking upwards at the sky. She could see the clouds moving, shifting apart as surely the Angels were assembling. "Why are they coming?" She asked.
"Because they know I have found you," Ichigo said. "Let's go, before they find us."
"Where are we going?" She asked.
He grinned at her devilishly, cupping her cheek and pulling her in for another dizzying kiss. "We're going home, to Hell."
Rukia couldn't help but smile at this. She would go anywhere, as long as it was with Him.
"I love you, Ichigo." She whispered.
"I love you too, Rukia." He said, leaning down to kiss her one last time before flames erupted from the ground and swallowed them whole.
[–]
Kuchiki Byakuya couldn't believe what he was seeing as he landed down onto Earth with three other Angels, his wings flapping about until his feet touched ground and they folded into his back. He looked around the clearing he knew Rukia had just been in, staring in horror at the bloodied corpses of the huntsmen that lay about in gory messes.
"What in the Almighty's name happened here?" One of the other Angels balked at the messes.
"It's a bloodbath!" Another yelped, holding his hand over his mouth in shock.
Byakuya looked down at the dead men, silently praying for their souls- even though he knew it did no good. "It was the Demon, he found her before we could stop him."
"The Demon took Rukia?" The third Angel, Byakuya's lieutenant Abarai Renji, asked in horror. "W-We have to go after them!"
"It's too late," Byakuya said sullenly, looking down as he spotted the bandages he himself had wrapped around Rukia's wounds laying on the ground, sliced open and covered in her blood. "She's been taken to Hell...we can never get her back."
Renji stared at the Council member for a moment, sorrow swelling in his heart as he realized this. Rukia was gone, taken by that vile Demon who has damned her to this terrible fate.
"Let's return to Heaven," Byakuya said, turning away from the bandages. "There is nothing here for us to do."
The other two Angels nodded, their wings spreading out into the air as they jumped and flew high into the sky. Renji waited a moment longer, looking around at the bodies in sadness before following after the other Angels.
Goodbye, Rukia.
I admit I was a little iffy on this when I was writing it, but now that I have it done I'm actually pretty proud of it! I hope you guys like it as well!
Thanks to Katie for the title! I had like no idea what to call this before, but she came and saved the day with the awesome title.
I'm happy to get this done, because I've got a long line of one-shots I want to get done and it feels good to get one done. Go to my profile to vote for which story you'd like to see next! Plus I need to work on Afflicted and Potentia De Mens, so it's especially good to have this done.
REVIEW!