Bleached Powder.II

Terminology

Niit: the form of currency in Zombie Powder.

When Rukia woke up, she had a splitting headache and found herself bound to a chair. Her coat had been removed, leaving her in the thin sweater she had worn underneath. Her guns were missing as well. It took her a moment to recall being assaulted in her hotel room. She looked around. The room was dim, but she could see two men standing on either side of the door, though she couldn't make out their faces. The only face she could see was that of Nando Vavaur, who was sitting across from her, and he didn't look too happy.

Nando was the leader of Septimo Infierno, a small gang outside of Beayr, which was a city south of Cielo Gris. Rukia had sold him some false information about one of the Rings about a month ago.

He smiled at her. "Awake? Good. It's about fuckin' time." The smile disappeared. "I don't appreciate being lied to, Rukia. You're going to pay for that little goose hunt you put me on," he snarled.

"What are you talking about, Nando?" Rukia asked, feigning innocence. "How did you find me?"

"I've got other informants besides you, Rukia. Ones that actually tell me the truth, such as when you check into their hotel." She frowned. So it had been the hotel clerk?

Perhaps I should get an alias. . .

Nando continued. "I'm going to ask you what I did before, and this time you'd better tell me the truth. Your life is on the line now." He folded his hands on his lap. "Where is the Ring?"

Rukia wasn't scared. Her voice was perfectly even as she said, "I don't know."

"Bull shit."

Rukia sighed. Of course she had some information about the Rings. Vague information, but information none the less. There was no way in hell she was going give it to Nando. From what she'd heard, this guy's bark was worse than his bite. Odds were he wouldn't resort to murder. Maybe he wouldn't even have the balls to torture her. Why would she give her precious tidbits of information to someone like him?

"No, I'm telling you the truth. I don't know a thing. The only reason I act as an informant is because-"

SMACK!

In the blink of an eye Nando had risen from his chair and slapped Rukia across the face. For a moment she was speechless; it hadn't been the smack that surprised her, but rather the speed with which he'd managed the feat. She glared at him.

Nando sat back down. "That's what happens when you lie, Rukia."

"Bastard," she spit out, her cheek lightly stinging as it turned a slight shade of pink.

"Where's the Ring?"

"Burn in hell."

"You sure you want to say that? Think about the situation you're in," Nando warned.

"I don't know," she shouted. "You caught me; I don't know anything about the Rings!"

Nando heaved a sigh and looked at someone standing behind Rukia. She looked behind her and saw two more henchmen, each standing on one side of a fireplace. Something was sitting in the fireplace; it looked like a poker. The man on the right grabbed it by the handle and pulled it out of the flames. It was a branding iron in the shape of an N, the tip glowing neon red. Panic fluttered in Rukia's stomach at the sight of it. She snapped her head forward, back to Nando.

"You see?" he asked. "You finally grasp the situation? You're in deep shit, so don't test me."

"I'm telling the truth," she pleaded. "I don't know anything."

Obviously that was not what Nando wanted to hear. He pressed his lips together and help his hand out

for the branding iron. "You're sure about that?"

"Please. . ."

Nando stood. "You leave me no choice." He pressed the iron to her chest, just below the left collarbone. Rukia screamed in pain, and Nando pushed harder. Then it was gone, though the pain remained. Her chest felt like it was on fire; Nando said something, but her concentration was focused on the pain. She didn't hear the shouts outside the door, didn't see Nando motion to the men standing by the door to pull their guns out. However, she did hear gunfire being shot in the hallway.

She raised her wary gaze to the door just in time to see it burst open. A man carrying a giant blade was in the doorway, with the sword in front of him, hiding his face.

Before either of the gunmen by the door could shoot, the swordsman had swung his broadsword- a swift action despite the size and weight of the weapon- and both of them were suddenly in two pieces.

"Kill him," Nando yelled to his two remaining henchmen. They hesitated for but an instant, then shot at the blood covered man. Rukia snapped her eyes shut.

Six rounds later, the guns were emptied. Upon hearing the shots cease, Rukia opened her eyes and looked at her rescuer. He moved his sword aside to reveal his face. It was Ichigo Kurosaki, and he was smirking.

"Who are you?" Nando barked. "What do you want?!" There was a slight tremor of fear in his voice.

"I'm here for Rukia," he bluntly replied. Rukia's eyebrows shot up. For her?

"Why. . . ?" she trailed off as Nando put the gun he'd pulled out during the earlier cross fire to Rukia's forehead.

"Put your sword down," Nando ordered. "Or I'm going to blow your girlfriend's brains out." A chill ran down Rukia's spine, for she knew he'd do it in a heartbeat, without a second thought.

Ichigo hesitated. Clearly, he hadn't expected this to happen. Slowly, glaring at Nando, he laid his blade

on the wooden floor, holding his hands up in surrender.

"You're a coward," Rukia breathed, looking at the barrel.

"No I'm not," Nando replied, lowering the gun. He stepped back behind Rukia to put some distance between Ichigo and himself. "I'm just smarter than you. Kill the bastard," he ordered his last two men.

The henchmen raised their reloaded guns and Rukia pushed off the floor with her bound feet. Her chair toppled backwards, knocking into Nando. He stepped back, attempting and failing to catch his balance, then fell, smacking his head on the fireplace.

Ichigo didn't miss a beat. While the guards were temporarily distracted, he snatched his sword off the floor, jumped onto the back of the armchair Nando had been sitting in, and landed a few feet from where the gang leader had just been standing. With a swing of his broadsword, both guards were dead. He stabbed his sword into the floor before turning his attention to Rukia.

Silently, Ichigo picked Rukia's chair back up on its four legs and set to work untying her. She closed her eyes, trying not to breathe. The smell of blood was overwhelming. She worked hard on keeping her stomach down and tried to ignore the throbbing, head splitting pain in the back of her skull.

"Shit," Ichigo muttered. "I can't get it untied. Hold on. . ."

Rukia looked over her shoulder and saw him pull his sword out of the floor. He rubbed some of the blood off on Nando's suit before slicing through the rope. She winced; he cut too deep and caught the side of her wrist. "Sorry," he said as he cut away the rest of the rope, being more careful this time.

"Don't worry about it," Rukia quietly replied. She stood from her chair too quickly, and the contents of her stomach shot up through her throat and out her mouth, landing in a pile by her feet.

"Holy-! Are you okay?!"

"Ugh. . ." She spit on the floor, trying to get the taste of what was once her lunch out of her mouth, and then rubbed her lips. "Just peachy," she muttered. She looked over at Ichigo. He looked concerned with his eyebrows furrowed together slightly and his lips turned down into a frown. He was watching her for more signs of vomit, and made sure to stay clear of her. "How did you know where to find me?"

"I went back to the hotel to talk to you," Ichigo explained, "and I heard the hotel clerk telling one of the maids about how some gang came for you. He said he didn't know much about it; just that they had some unfinished business with you."

"The concierge just told you this?" Rukia's voice was laden with disbelief.

"Well, with a sword at his throat he wasn't really in the place to refuse. . . Anyway, I found out where their hideout was." His gaze dropped to her chest, where the N was branded through her sweater and on her skin. "Looks like I came a little too late."

"No. You didn't have to come at all."

Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed together a bit more; he was confused. "Of course I did," he said. "I couldn't let them kill you."

A sigh passed through Rukia's lips. For a Powder Hunter, he was pretty naïve. "You're an idiot. How do you expect to collect the Ring of the Dead if you go around rescuing damsels in distress at every turn? You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Hey! What kind of gratitude is that?!" Ichigo yelled. "And who said I always do this rescue shit? I only came after you because I need your help recovering the Rings."

Rukia sighed. "Are you still going on about that?" Ichigo opened his mouth to offer a retort, but before he could, she added, "Never mind. Let's just get out of here." Her head was pounding, her chest was aching, and the overwhelming smell of blood was turning her stomach enough for a round two of vomit. Rukia glared to Ichigo. The scent didn't seem to affect him at all.

She walked out of the room, hand to her forehead, as though she physically push back the pain and nausea. She ignored Ichigo as he called for her to wait up, ignored the corpses up and down the hallways and the blood splattered on the walls. All she cared about was getting out; she didn't even care about her guns. She'd just get Urahara to send her more and lay low until they arrived.

"Hey," Ichigo called out from the doorway. "Where're you going?"

"I'm finding my way out!"

"What about Nando?"

Rukia paused. She'd hoped Ichigo would've just forgotten; she really didn't want to be the one to decide whether he lived or died. After a brief moment of indecision, she commanded, "Leave him."

"What?! But he tried to kill you!"

"Haven't you killed enough men tonight?" Rukia snapped. Her words cut deep, and Ichigo was too immature to leave it be.

"They attacked me. It wasn't as if I had much of a choice!"

Rukia sighed. "Look, are you coming or not? Let's go!"

"Well, for starters, you're going the wrong way. And, unless you want to walk back to Cielo Gris, I suggest we steal a car. It's not like anyone's going to miss it now." Ichigo muttered the last sentence, though not out of earshot range for Rukia.

"Fine! Lead the way!" Rukia said, reluctantly handing over leadership.

She followed him to the garages, where there sat three cars, all black as the night. They weren't the most recent models, but Rukia doubted Septimo Infierno had a big budget. "Do you know how to hot wire a car?" she asked Ichigo.

"Nope," Ichigo nonchalantly replied as he pulled a set of keys off the hanger by the door. With a grin, he dangled them in front of her. "But I think these might help."

"Smart ass," Rukia muttered. She was too tired to drive, so she relinquished the wheel to Ichigo and got in on the passenger side. She rested her head on the cool glass of the window and closed her eyes while Ichigo put his sword in the back seat. She opened her eyes and looked at the blade. It was in its sheath now, which had managed to get very little blood on it. The sheath itself was a plain thing, save for the little design at the top. It was an old character, the number twelve, intertwined with a flower. Rukia recognized the design. Urahara's mark.

She sat up in her seat as Ichigo began driving the car. "Where did you get that sword?"

He glanced back at it. "It's odd, isn't it? So frickin' huge, and yet so light. . . I got it from a traveling merchant."

Then it's definitely Urahara's creation, Rukia thought. She glanced at Ichigo, whose attention was now on the road. Why would Urahara enlist such a . . . green Powder Hunter? Obviously, he proved himself with his swordsmanship, but that was offset by his lack of commonsense. And it certainly wasn't Urahara's style to value strength over intelligence.

Wait. . . Perhaps he'd actually sent Ichigo her way. She was strong, certainly, but nothing like what she'd seen from Ichigo earlier. And, as was proved, it paid to have someone watching your back when you're a Powder Hunter.

But, still, that would mean Urahara didn't think she could get the job done. And that was just insulting.

Just as Rukia was getting in a mood, irritated by Urahara's distrust in her abilities, Ichigo interrupted her thoughts. "Hey! Are you listening to me?"

"What? No, I wasn't. What did you say?"

"I said, what do you want to do when we get back to town?"

"Take me back to. . ." Rukia trailed off as she realized she couldn't go back to the hotel. She bit her

lower lip as the lights of the town became visible through the rain. "Hm."

The car rolled to a stop on the barren back road. Ichigo remained silent as he companion considered her options, giving her the quiet she needed. He waited for her to make a decision with patience. Finally, she leaned back in her chair and, with half-closed eyes, said, "Turn the car around."

". . . Why? What's behind us?"

"Alcantara."

Ichigo's mouth dropped, though it was too dark out to see his expression even if she'd been looking. "Al. . . Alcantara? Are you kidding?" It would be a five day drive, at least, to reach Alcantara from their current location.

"Afraid not," she mumbled.

"What the hell is in Alcantara?!"

"The next Ring, you buffoon! Now would you shut up and start driving?"

All the indignation and irritation bubbling in the pit of his stomach melted away. Ichigo looked at Rukia in a sort of awe. "The next Ring. . .? Why are you telling me. . . Wait. You don't expect 5,000 Niit for that, do you?"

"Of course not," Rukia yawned. "I can't exactly charge a partner, can I? Especially one as penniless as you. . ."

"Partner? For the Rings? . . . You're looking for the Rings?"

"That's what I'm saying. . ."

"But I thought you were just an informant."

Rukia shook her head slightly, which resulted in her slumping against the window once more; she was

falling asleep fast.

Ichigo opened his mouth to ask another question, but the slow, rhythmic pace of her breathing as she slept killed the words on his lips. He watched her for a moment, thinking of her words, repeating them in his head to make sure he hadn't heard wrong. And when he finally put the keys back into the ignition, and the car silently came to life once more, he had the the beginnings of a smile upon his lips.

A/N: Not as good as the first chapter (at least not in my opinion). Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave a review and I'll get back to you.