καλειδοσκόπιο
Kaleidoscope
Lust, because it's the original he wants and yearns for.
The heady smell of freshly cut grass and flowers did nothing to distract Ichigo from the glare of the oppressive sun, or the tension that had his entire body on edge; his muscles coiled and ready to spring into action. The garden was eerily quiet; the only thing to be heard was the young mercenary's ragged breathing and the crunch of thick shoulder length grass as he quietly stalked around the seemingly peaceful pasture. He took a moment to take in his surroundings, glancing at the sun, and then around the pasture, removing his helmet to shake out orange hair matted with sweat. He licked his dry lips, reaching for the flask hooked to his belt. As he turned it upside down to drink, only one drop fell from it.
"Damn it...."
The flask was supposed to never run out, which was believable because he knew Renji had twenty of flasks just like his. And Ichigo had chosen to ignore the crackpot story Urahara gave him about fairies blessing the water and the silver from which the flask was made having been cut out of Muargohl himself. Such things had been the reason for Urahara's ridiculously high price.
Finally, he let himself drop to the ground, unheeding of his helmet as it rolled away from him. He watched in naive wonder as what seemed like hundreds of insects of all kinds jumped into the air, buzzing and humming around his face in what seemed like a lullaby of another language. The cloying smell of lilacs and rosemary and earth clogged his senses and made his body feel weary as the sun warmed his face. He was just about to fall asleep when the ground began to shake and rumble, gently at first but then growing in fierceness and intensity until Ichigo thought he'd be bucked off the earth.
As he leapt to his feet, the ground opened up under him, revealing jagged stones in a long dark chasm, like fangs in a gaping mouth about to swallow him. He released a yell as he fell down, down, down, farther and farther from the light that was now only a pinprick above him. He reached his hands up for anything that would stop his fall, succeeding only in scraping his hands and tearing his nails. Just when he thought he'd never reach the bottom, he did, with a painful thud and a clang that resounded in his ears and made his head ring.
Ichigo groaned, pulling himself up slowly, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. He ignored the twinge in his leg when he stood up, checked his sword, and finding that he was more or less intact, he reached into a small pouch on his belt and pulled out a large piece of slightly crumpled paper and a small pale green pill. He folded and twisted the paper until he was rewarded with the form of a rather disheveled gryphon. He pushed the pill into the paper beak and waited a moment as it slowly came to life.
The paper head whirled this way and that, confusion evident. "Wha–? Wait, Ichigo where're–?"
"Kon." Ichigo interrupted. He tossed the gryphon into the air, watching as it flapped its paper wings. "Find Grimmjow and bring him here." the paper beak opened and shut a few times, wanting to say something, but unsure how to word it. Grimmjow was, after all, one of the last people Ichigo would ask for help if he was in a bind. The guy was crazy.
"You better pay me for this 'cause I–!"
"Kon! Find Grimmjow!" Ichigo snapped, sending the gryphon one of his coldest glares. The mercenary watched as Kon flew away, grumbling about being overworked and underappreciated. When he was sure Kon was gone and would not come back to yell something, he turned to take in his surroundings.
Twenty-eight pairs of massive pillars held up the ceiling he'd just fallen through, each carved with unique depictions of women dancing, demons terrorizing things and the gods, in all their glory, standing out against the mortal men forever immortalized in stone. It was easy to imagine this place as a banquet hall, filled with food and people and light and laughter. But Ichigo walked past each work of art with disinterest. He was pretty sure he knew where he was, and he'd not spent the better half of the morning searching flower beds just to be struck dumb by designs that could probably never be recreated.
He knew what he was looking for.
He walked towards the dais at the end of the hall, on which sat an alter with a glowing green object. As he advanced, torches ignited in spectacular bursts of color. Just as he was about to grab the object, he noticed light trickling onto something out of the corner of his eye. Deciding that he had all the time in the world to grab the thing he'd been seeking, and that it probably wasn't going to go anywhere, he went towards it.
It was a mirror. Not silvery and bright, but dark, black, like obsidian or onyx polished into a reflective surface. He watched, enchanted by it and his reflection, which seemed unable to choose a form in which to reveal itself, sometimes appearing as a fierce lion, other times as a small boy, or a monster. There was something that held him to the mirror. As he looked, the mirror showed him his original form, being pulled down by a dozen of pale white hands. A new version of him emerged, pale, grinning wildly, looking absolutely wicked. And to this, he was drawn. He reached out towards the mirror, and his reflection reached out too, grin widening. As their hands touched, the surface of the mirror rippled, and the white hand reached through, grabbing his wrist.
Slowly, his reflection pulled itself out from the world behind the mirror, leaving behind the lion, the boy and the monster. "Ichigo." the reflection said in a high-pitched watery voice. Ichigo was pulled closer, hugged against the pale chest. His eyes widened as he saw the insanity behind the grinning, seemingly friendly, facade. Cool, soft lips pressed themselves against his, taking a moment to taste him, taste what the reflection would soon own. As the reflection pulled away, Ichigo's wrist still caught in his grasp, his smile turned sinister, kissing Ichigo's hand in a mocking form of respect. "I've been waiting for you to see me." He once again claimed Ichigo's delicate pink lips as his own; the kiss deepening as Ichigo unthinkingly opened his mouth when he felt a dexterous tongue trace his lips.
They pulled away a second time, and Ichigo scowled, ashamed that he'd been kissing someone, that he'd liked it, even though this person was clearly an enemy, he'd let him take away his first kiss. "Who are you?" he demanded, pulling his wrist from the reflections grasp and struggling as both arms locked around his waist.
The reflection grinned. "Don't who me, aibou. You know exactly who I am." Ichigo shook his head in the negative, scowl darkening at the word 'aibou'. "I'm your darkness, you nightmares, your reflection, your lust, your needs, your hollow. I'm going to become king, and control you. I'm your power." One arm unlocked itself from around him, and not so gently prodded him in the chest, right above his heart.
Ichigo gasped as pain and a sensation he couldn't place gripped his heart, his eyesight going fuzzy and white. His stomach churned and it took everything he had to keep the contents of his stomach where they were supposed to be. He felt wave after wave of nausea and dizziness, his fingers clenching in the white haori of his reflection. Had it not been for the arms, holding him tight, he would have collapsed already. He let out another gasp of pain, panting heavily. He felt like he was being crushed. Groaning, he subconsciously pulled his white reflection closer, knuckles turning white, as he held on tighter, wishing the dizziness would stop.
Slowly, the feeling subsided, and Ichigo was left shivering and weak in his reflections arms. Again, the ground began to shake, and placing a quick kiss on Ichigo's forehead, his reflection left him leaning against a pillar, grabbing the mirror. "Soon, Ichigo. Soon." and he disappeared, leaving the mercenary there.
Ichigo attempted to regain his composure, and went back towards the dais. The trembling increased, and as he grabbed the glowing green object, everything finally gave way. Forgetting his momentary weakness, he made a break for it as the wall behind the altar crumbled and fell.
"Kurosaki!" Grimmjow's shout echoed around the hall, surprisingly loud over all the noise. "Kurosaki!" Ichigo ran closer to Grimmjow's voice, and looked up, just barely able to make out the half demon's shadow. Suddenly, all the torches extinguished and Ichigo was left groping in the dark for the steel cable he'd seen Grimmjow throw down. He finally reached it, and holding tightly, gave a firm tug.
"I've got it, Grimmjow. Pull!" He was unable to see as the pillars crashed around him, making deafening roars as the earth destroyed what had probably taken a century for man to build. Swiftly, he was being pulled back up towards the light. Grimmjow grabbed his arm, and with the ease only a half demon could achieve, pulled him out.
Ichigo lay panting beside Grimmjow in the warm summer afternoon, his weakness once again taking over, his legs turning to jelly. Amber eyes turned to deep cerulean ones. Grimmjow watched his face intently, an expression far different then his usual murderous insanity in his aura. "Thanks...." Ichigo whispered breathlessly. Grimmjow grinned.
"You owe me one, Kurosaki," he said finally, and though he was grinning, his eyes still held that strange expression. They lay there for a few more minutes, until Ichigo looked around wildly, expecting the paper gryphon to come out of nowhere and attack him. Finding nothing he looked at Grimmjow, confused.
"Where's Kon?" Grimmjow gave him a sheepish smile and reaching into his back pocket, pulled out torn pieces of paper and the tiny green pill.
"He was kind of pissing me off so uh– oh! Hey! Kurosaki!" Ichigo didn't hear Grimmjow's shouts nor could he reply to them. He drifted slowly into a painful nightmare filled sleep.
Ichigo sat quietly in Urahara's shop, poking the large black spot on his chest, examining the runes upside down. He'd just finished yelling at Grimmjow for taking him to Urahara's. Though the blond was more or less trustworthy, most of the time, he was expensive, and he asked for silver whenever possible.
"Well sorry!" Grimmjow huffed, sitting beside Ichigo's futon. "I was panicking. He was the only person I could think of at the time. Besides, your Quincy bitch would have shot me as soon as I came through the door. He's all 'kill demons now, ask questions later'" Despite the fact that what Grimmjow said was the truth, Ichigo still grumbled.
Urahara came in, looking absolutely delighted and not hiding it very well behind his fan. "Kurosaki-kun, that mark on your chest is three things combined. But it'll take an extra silver piece for me to explain it to you." Ichigo's grumbling increased as he dug into his small leather purse for a silver coin stamped with a chimera and flipped it in Urahara's direction. The blonde shopkeeper caught it and with a grin and proceeded. "It is all at once, a seal, a curse, a protection ward and... a mark of ownership...." Urahara again flipped open his fan, his expression changing into that of sly cunning. "Someone must like you a lot to give you one of those."
Ichigo's face flushed, and he wouldn't meet anyone's gaze as he looked down at his bandaged fingers fiddling with the sheets. "I don't think 'like' is the proper word for it..." he mumbled quietly.
Urahara grinned. "What was that, Kurosaki-kun?" Ichigo's face reddened some more, and he dived under the covers feeling hot and annoyed. "Hmm, Kurosaki-san? Did you say something?" Urahara was teasing him, he knew, but he didn't really feel like explaining what had happened. Perhaps Urahara would know the answer though. The blonde seemed to know everything...
Ichigo thought briefly of a story to tell that wouldn't release how he'd gotten the spell placed on him, and left out all the shameful little details, like that kiss... Finally, he sat up, trying to compose his face so it wasn't as red. Amber eyes looked at everything except the shopkeeper. "Do you know of a mirror that never shows the true reflection of the subject, and the reflection can come out of the mirror?"
Urahara slowly closed his fan as his expression became serious. He examined Ichigo closely through grey eyes, as though he was trying to look into his mind and find the real reason for his question, which wasn't that hard for a warlock of Urahara's caliber. "Have you seen one such mirror?"
Ichigo attempted a nonchalant shrug. "In passing."
Urahara nodded. "That mirror is dangerous, and the reflection that comes out of it is the combination of all things evil in the original's heart. The mirror takes all seven sins and creates a vile creature that wishes only for destruction. And the original as well."
Ichigo nodded, his head swimming as he gazed at Grimmjow, who'd curled up to take a nap by a sunny spot in the window. He'd released something terrible on the world. Now he knew that the mirror had been down there for a reason, had a mind of it's own. For all the mistakes with magic he'd ever made, this was one of the stupidest. He'd let himself be enchanted by the mirror. It was by his hand that his reflection came into being. He had to destroy it.
"Each sin is motivation for the reflection –..."
"Urahara," Ichigo cut in. He got up, going towards his pile of clothes that waited in the closet. Urahara grinned, whipping open his fan. He already knew what was coming. Ichigo pulled on his pants, his chain mail, breastplate, greaves and gauntlets.
"What are you going to do now, Kurosaki-kun?" the shop keeper asked, watching Ichigo as he finished shaking out his hair and attaching random objects to his belt, including a tin version of the paper gryphon, which Grimmjow had used as a payback gift.
Ichigo shot Urahara a glance. "I'm going to stop him." He searched the room for his sword. More often than not, for the few times Ichigo had been in Urahara's recovery room, it was standing in an innocent corner. Now it was nowhere to be found.
"It's a good thing I preformed a little.... tune up of Zangetsu then," Urahara said, getting up and stalking out of the room. Ichigo followed closely and entered Urahara's workroom. The place smelled damp with mildew and strange concoctions. Vials of purple liquid bubbled over small burners, and creatures, both alive and dead, were suspended in jars of green goo. Ichigo had experienced enough horrifying accidents to know not to touch anything, not to poke the seemingly cute creatures that were often locked up in cages, not to eat seemingly delicious things and not to put on any jewelry. He knew to keep his hands safely to himself.
Urahara finally stop at a table, on top of which lay his Zangetsu, seemingly unharmed, and perfectly fine. "There's a demon enchantment on it now, Ichigo. That gives it more power and makes your attacks stronger."
"This better not come at a price," Ichigo said as he took Zangetsu. The sword itself felt lighter, almost weightless, and he swung it around a few times to get used to it. Zangetsu had always been a heavy sword, and even though he had trained a long time with it to get used to it, it was weird that it was so light now.
Urahara chuckled. "Always cautious with your money, eh? You know me too well." Ichigo sighed and dug into his purse again for another silver coin, but Urahara shook his head, his cheerfulness looking sinister and unbecoming, enhanced by the creepy surroundings. "That's not how you're going to pay me."
Ichigo shivered, hoping that Urahara wouldn't say he wanted to experiment on his body. "Then what do you want?"
"I want the mirror. And either a lock of your reflections hair or..." Urahara paused for a very long time, just for effect. And normally it got Ichigo all riled up and he would hit him and tell him to spit it out, but just this once, Ichigo only sighed, looking weary.
"Or?"
"Your reflection himself." there was silence for a few moments, amber eyes glaring at grey. There wasn't really much that he could do. It was the price for having Zangetsu become so awesome. But Urahara had forced it onto him.
"Sadistic bastard." Ichigo wandered back into the recovery room and shot a look at the still napping cat demon, his blue hair lit up in the fading afternoon sunlight. "Grimmjow." a blue eye snapped open and looked at him, and the half demon grumbled. "You're coming with me."
Grimmjow gave him a one-eyed glare. "Can't you see I'm napping?" he closed his eye again, and after a few moments, opened both and grinned. "I'll come kick some ass after I'm better rested." Ichigo rolled his eyes. Cat demons could nap for days and Grimmjow, even if he was only half, was no exception.
Attaching Zangetsu to his back, Ichigo left Grimmjow where he was and went to the front of the shop to slip on his boots. He was about to yell at Urahara for suddenly sneaking up on him with a frog in a jar of goo (if there was anything he hated, it was frogs and goo) when Uryuu burst through the door. The Quincy took a minute to catch his breath.
"I came all the way from the Kuchiki estate. It's good you're both here. Rukia collapsed sick last night, and I was called because Urahara was busy with you, Kurosaki-san. She's in horrible condition, so I was told to bring you, Urahara-san. And she was asking for Kurosaki-san as well." Uryuu took a breath, and leaned against the doorframe, but moved when he felt a presence behind him.
Byakuya stepped gracefully through the door, and made a deep bow, which he would never grace anyone with. "Please, save my sister."
TBC
lol. Ooooooh. Lol. Does anyone want me to continue? Lol. For once I feel like writing a real authors note and my thoughts on all this.
I've been dying to write a fic that had something to do with Hichi and Ichi and a mirror and – I smell pizza! Dammit, I want pizza! Anywho, I was daydreaming when I came up with this. Really, it wasn't really supposed to be a Hichi x Ichi. There are only subtle hints. But I'll try to include as much as possible. And look at how long my chapter is! I'm so proud of myself! Hee hee hee. Take that Kiva-chan! Even though 6 pages is nothing to her, I feel accomplished. Hee!
(bows) reviews are very greatly appreciated!