Void
"Hey Ishida, wait up!"
Ishida looked back at the voice who called out to him, scoffed and kept walking. Ishida resented that voice. Ichigo came running up alongside him. "What the hell, why didn't you stop I know you heard me calling." Ichigo pants once he catches up. Ishida says nothing in response and just keeps walking, his eyes trained on the road in front of him, not acknowledging the orange haired boy next to him. "Ishida," Ichigo grabs his wrist and forces him to stop walking, "What the hell is up with you?"
Ishida glares at Ichigo upon being touched. He hated being near him, he hated hearing his voice, and he especially hated being grabbed by the soul reaper. "Nothing is 'up with me'" He states calmly as he takes his wrist back from Ichigo's grasp.
"Bullshit. You've been avoiding me all month."
"I have not been avoiding you, I have just been busy." Ishida replies. He knows it's a lie, he has been avoiding Ichigo.
"Seriously Ishida," Ichigo beginning to sound concerned. "Did I do something wrong? Or is something going on in your home life?"
Ishida hated how worried Ichigo was for him, he hated that he cared. "Nothing's wrong, as I said, I've just been busy."
Ichigo didn't believe him but dropped the subject anyway. They continued walking. "Are you going to follow me all the way home?" Ishida asked sounding annoyed.
"Well I figured since you've been to busy to hang out lately that now would be a good time to catch up." Ichigo smiled innocently at Ishida. He just grunts in response. "You should come train with me and the rest of the group sometime at Urahara's." Ichigo suggests, trying to fill the silence.
"I train by myself." Ishida responds.
"I know but it might be good to run some group simulations together and get used to each other's fighting style." Ichigo states.
"I have no problem adapting to other fighting styles." Ishida says proudly, "Besides we split up in most fights anyway."
"Come on there's no harm in training together, just come give it a try if you don't like it you can leave." Ichigo presses.
Ishida feels a nerve snap inside of him. Overwhelmed by the soul reapers presence, why couldn't Ichigo just leave him alone like everyone else does, why does he have to care? Sure he considers himself friends with Inoue-san, Kuchiki-san, and Sado-kun but he knows the only reason they are still friends is Ichigo. If he hadn't met them through Ichigo they still would have ignored them in class and gone about their lives without a second thought. Ishida balls up his fist, patience all but gone.
"Ishida, I'm worried about you." Ichigo finally says after a minute of silence. He reaches out to Ishida but before he connect his hand is smacked away
"Just leave me alone, Kurosaki." Ishida says finally and starts walking away from his startled peer.
"What the hell, Ishida?" Ichigo starts after him, trying to contain his frustration. "The hell is your problem?" He was almost yelling now.
Ishida spun around so quickly, catching Ichigo off guard, and was inches away from his face. "You."
"Wha-?"
"You are my problem Kurosaki." Ishida spits the words like venom. "Just leave me the fuck alone." Ishida tries to walk away again but this time Ichigo is determined to get an answer. He grabs Ishida's forearm firmly, holding him in place.
"What do you mean, what the hell is going on with you?" Ichigo demands, his words are fierce but his eyes are full of concern.
His damn eyes, Ishida thinks to himself, he hated those eyes just like he hated everything else about Ichigo. Deep chocolate orbs peer into his soul, under their gaze Ishida feels light and warm. He pushes that thought to the side. "Let go of me, Kurosaki." He speaks softly, diverting his gaze away from Ichigo's worried look.
"Not until you tell me what's wrong." Ichigo replies just as softly.
Ishida squeezes his eyes shut, thinking about what he's going to say. What he would tell the boy grasping on to him. He decides to tell the truth consequences be damned. "Kurosaki," He whispers, meeting Ichigo's eyes again, strong cobalt blue clashing against rich deep ochre. "Kurosaki I-"
Before he can finish his sentence there's a large cracking noise, the ground shakes, and both of them can instantly feel the intense spiritual pressure.
They look up to see the large crack in the sky. In the mouth of the crevice stands the source of the spiritual pressure. All three traitorous Gotei Thirteen captains stand ready, Beside them stand five out of the ten Espada.
Before either of them have the opportunity to react Aizen points a finger at Ichigo, "Bakudō 61. Rikujōkōrō" He states. A spark or yellow energy burst from his fingers, summoning six beams of light that crash into Ichigo's midsection, paralyzing him.
"Kurosaki!" Ishida screams. Ichigo's eyes are wide and panicked, he can't move he can't speak but Ishida knows what he's trying to tell him and he won't do it. Ichigo's eyes plead for him to leave, to run and leave him behind.
"No." Ishida states glaring at Ichigo, he will not just abandon his friend. He knows the odds he's up against his best bet is to run away and hope that either they give up pursuit or reinforcements arrive. He grabs Ichigo and starts to run as fast as Hirenkyaku will take him but it's not enough, if it was just himself maybe he would have made it, but weighed down by Ichigo he's just not fast enough. Grimmjow appears in a flash by his side and knocks him away sending both Ishida and Ichigo flying, but Ishida refuses to let go, he holds on to Ichigo as tight as he can, slightly surprised that the kido does not interfere with his grasp. They crash into a nearby building, Ishida making sure he lands first as to protect Ichigo. He staggers to his feet weakly, but determined. He holds Ichigo close as he stares down the blue haired Espada. He tries to run again, this time switching directions at random and making his movements unpredictable. However it was no use, his opponent is faster, and it's only moments before he's thrown down again. As Ishida struggles to stand up, still clutching the soul reaper desperately, they meet eyes again. Ichigo looks on the verge of tears, watching helplessly as his friend is struck down again and again in an attempt to protect him. He tries his best to convey to Ishida to run, to save himself, that he'll be alright but Ishida just won't listen. "No. Goddamn it Kurosaki I'm not leaving you!" Ishida shouts. As Ishida slowly stands up he feels a sharp pain in his back. Ichigo's eyes go wide in terror. The world around Ishida starts spinning, he coughs and tastes the bitterness of blood.
Grimmjow smiles to himself, satisfied with his work. "Ya know," he drawls lazily as he unceremoniously yanks his blade out from Ishida's back, "You would have had a chance if you left his sorry ass behind." Ishida drops to his knees still clinging desperately to his friend. He can hardly breathe, he's shaking all over and everything feels cold. "Hell you would'a been a fun fight if you weren't weighed down by him, too bad." The Espada sighs.
Ichigo frantically looks into Ishida's eyes, watching as his friend slowly bleeds out. He can't move, he can't speak but he can feel Ishida's blood seeping into his school uniform.
Tosen approaches them calmly, heaving Ichigo from Ishida's firm grasp and throwing him over his shoulder, before heading back to where Aizen stood. "Dispose of him, Grimmjow, find your way back when you are done." Tosen demands dismissively.
"Sure thing, boss." Grimmjow says casually.
"This was easier than I expected." Gin says, his smile unnaturally wide. They walk back through the ominous crack in the sky which slams shut moments later. Ichigo is gone.
Ishida stares up at the sky defeated. He failed. Grimmjow stands over Ishida, blade drawn. "Come on, you could at least put up more of a fight." He whines, "Executing people is no fun."
"Then I'll spare you the trouble!" A voice calls out. In a flash Urahara appears in front of him. His face hidden by his hat, cane in hand, guarding the wounded Quincy from his attacker. "Can you stand, Ishida-san?" He asks.
"Yes," Ishida replies. He's not sure if he actually can but he'll try nonetheless. He struggles to get his feet under him and fights to find his balance but manages to get upright, clutching his chest in pain.
"Good." Urahara says, he turns back to the blue haired Espada. "Sorry but unfortunately we can't afford to stick around. Feel free to follow us if you wish but if you do you'll find yourself sorely outnumbered." He smiles politely, before wrapping his arm around Ishida to help support him and then flash stepping them both away.
When they get back to Urahara's shop Ishida is barely conscious. They immediately lay him down and begin healing Kido on him, as well as calling everyone over to talk about what just transpired.
"Ishida-san, you've lost a lot of blood but I need you to stay conscious just a little longer and tell me what happened." Urahara says calmly as Tessai works on healing him, once Inoue arrives it will be much easier to repair the damage.
"We were walking home from school when the sky split and we felt their spiritual pressure. There were eight of them, I think they were expecting resistance. The three former captains and five arrancars." Ishida recounts, his voice dry and horse. "Before we had a chance to act Aizen shot Kurosaki with a binding kido paralyzing him. I tried to grab him and run but I wasn't fast enough-" He coughs up some blood. "They took him and left the Espada to 'dispose of me'"
"I see," Urahara murmurs deep in thought. "You did well, Ishida-san" He says smiling solemnly.
"I failed, they took him. It's my fault." Ishida whispers, drifting closer to losing consciousness.
"No, you did not failed. There was no way you could have taken on that large of a force and succeeded. Don't worry, we won't leave Kurosaki-san to suffer alone at their hands." Ishida hears Urahara say before finally drifting to sleep.
When Ishida wakes up Inoue is by his side healing him. He focuses for a moment, sensing the spiritual pressures near him. Sado, Rukia and Renji are in the sitting room, Urahara and Yoruichi are out on in the main shop.
"Ishida-kun!" Inoue exclaims seeing him stir, "How are you feeling?"
"Better now, thanks Inoue-san." He says as he sits up.
"You should really stay laying down and rest for a little longer, you were hurt pretty bad." She comments worriedly.
"I'm alright," Ishida rasps, "I've had worse. Besides we have to go, we have to go save Kurosaki." He starts to get up hurriedly.
Inoue just looks away, "We can't go save Kurosaki-kun," She whispers, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "The soul society has forbidden us from entering Hueco Mundo."
"So what? Damn the soul society, Urahara-san can get us in just like he got us into the soul society when we rescued Kuchiki-san."
"The soul society decided to handle the situation themselves, they deployed a small elite team to go investigate in Hueco Mundo. We are waiting to hear back." She states, "They have forbidden any outside forces from entering and interfering with their investigation."
"So that's it? We just sit back and wait?!" Ishida exclaims beginning to become frantic. "I can't just do nothing! This is my fault I have to fix this!" He stands up and walks out of the room briskly, leaving Inoue.
"Ishida-kun!" She calls after him.
Ishida enters the sitting room where Sado, Rukia and Renji are drinking tea.
"Ishida!" Rukia exclaims as he bursts into the room. "What are you doing up, you should be resting."
"I don't have time to rest, we have to go." He states.
"Ishida, we can't go." Renji replies.
"Why? Because the soul society say so? That hasn't stopped us in the past." He argues.
"This is different, the soul society has taken action and launched a stealth team to infiltrate Hueco Mundo and retrieve Kurosaki." Rukia says, "We will wait until they report back and then we'll decide what to do. It shouldn't be long until they report back, they've been gone for a few days."
"A few days? How long have I been out?"
"It's been three days." Rukia replies, "the soul society launched the investigation team almost instantly."
"It doesn't matter. I'm going." Ishida argues, "I'm not going to leave Kurosaki's fate in the hands of the soul society." He says bitterly. Rukia frowns deeply at his comment but doesn't argue knowing the reason behind Ishida's distrust of the soul society.
"Ishida." Sado speaks calmly, "We'll wait."
Ishida glares at his friend, "If it were any of us taken he wouldn't hesitate, regardless of what the soul society says." With that Ishida leaves the room and finds Urahara and Yoruichi.
"I know what you're going to ask, Ishida-san." Urahara speaks as Ishida enters the front of the store where he lounges lazily. "And you already know my answer."
"This is a convenient moment for everyone to start listening to the soul society." Ishida spits.
"In this I trust the soul society. They know how powerful Kurosaki-san is, they know they'll need that power to defeat Aizen." Urahara says. "If they fail in their investigation then I will interfere, but not before."
That night the soul society concludes their investigation. Rukia receives a Hell Butterfly carrying the news. She relays what it says out loud. "We have concluded the investigation into the kidnapping of substitute soul reaper Kurosaki Ichigo. Upon investigation we have recovered-" She pauses, her face contorting in pain, "We have recovered his body." Inoue gasps and falls to her knees. "Furthermore, we have had the head captain of the fourth division examine the body. It is her findings that Kurosaki Ichigo is - dead."
Inoue is now sobbing loudly on the floor, Sado is quick to comfort her, putting his hand on her shoulder before she pulls him into a hug. Rukia stands there in shock at the report she just received. Renji leans against the wall, covering his face with his hand.
"Is that all it says" Ishida asks, his voice strained.
"No, it continues. We will be releasing his body to his family as well as the full medical report. We will no longer continue to investigate this matter after uncovering these findings."
Ishida feels like he's about to scream. He turns and runs out of the building, and keeps running down the street not to any particular location. He needs to run, to process what just happened. A thought keeps repeating in his head: it's your fault.