A/N: My first attempt at a drabble. Doesn't make sense unless you read chapter 248 of bleach manga.
They finally reach the end. Before them is an intersection with five different paths. Only one path will take them to what they seek, all paths leading to certain danger. The reiatsu is so strong that the smaller hollows can barely stand, and it weighs heavily on the hearts of the five.
"The five of us will each have to pick a path."
Rukia's voice echos in this strange room. Ichigo's first reaction is to yell. There's no way he is letting her go alone, not after he had almost lost her to Grimjow. He is yelling, not because he is angry, but because he is trying to fight back the fear that is rising within him.
"Enough already."
Renji moves automatically. He raises his arm almost casually to block Ichigo from reaching Rukia. His voice is calm, but inside he wants to yell and shake Rukia to her senses just as Ichigo does. But he doesn't because he knows that she wouldn't listen. He doesn't because he knows that she has come not just for Inoue, not just for Ichigo, but she has come for herself. So he moves in between them, not to protect her body, but to protect her pride.
"I didn't come here just to be protected by you."
Ichigo stares past Renji and holds Rukia's gaze. She can see the fear in his eyes, and she tries her hardest to look strong. She pretends to be strong because she can't risk him worrying about her. She will not let herself become his weakness. So she holds her head up high and embraces her fate. In her eyes Ichigo can see the decision she has made, and he finally looks away. Any apprehension that she may of had before disappear, not because she needed his approval, but because his trust in her makes her stronger.
"We are about to head to the battlefield!"
As Renji begins the chant of the Gotei 13, Ichigo's hand rests lightly upon Rukia's.
"Promise! Even if the ground may split, We will come back alive to this place!"
Their fingers linger on each other for as long as possible, as if they are grasping on to what little time they have left together. Even as their paths separate they divide without fear, not because they know what lies ahead of them, but because of the promise that they have made.