This War's Not Over: Chapter 2
Look but Don't Touch
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Hope you enjoy Chapter 2.
Slight Ichiruki, but see it how you want to.
A shiver ran down Ichigo's spine. What could his hollow possibly mean? And why was he even helping him?
Ichigo shook his head to clear it. His hollow was just taunting him like he always did. Trying to force him into a corner with fear. Ichigo would not let him win.
Now in his bankai state, Ichigo took a step forward, readying his stance. He couldn't leave any openings. It was then that he noticed someone else behind Aizen. Ichigo squinted, since the sun was in his eyes. The shadow behind Aizen moved to whisper something in the traitor's ear. "We should retreat to Hueco Mundo, Aizen-sama. The soul reapers will be arriving soon."
Whoever it was, it must be an arrancar, the way it addressed Aizen, Ichigo concluded.
Aizen didn't turn towards the arrancar. He simply said. "There is no need to worry about them."
And with that the Arrancar shut up.
"Rukia," Ichigo uttered the name his friend, his voice strained.
In one glance, Rukia could already tell what he was thinking. Funny how they didn't need words to communicate with each other—they knew each other so well.
She gave an exasperated sigh. "Don't worry about me. I'm not so weak that I need you to shield me from harm all the time!"
Ichigo was taken aback by her outburst. He smoldered her violet gaze for a moment. She didn't flinch or back off. That's so Rukia. They continued to have this little stare off until Ichigo finally backed down. Why does she always win?
It was his turn to sigh now. "Take care of that Arrancar standing behind Aizen then."
She opened her mouth as if she wanted to argue, but then closed it again. "Fine."
Should they wait for the enemy to attack? Probably not.
Ichigo attempted at a bit of humor before they went into a battle where the odds were stacked against them. "Any words of advice, Miss Kuchiki?"
Rukia grinned. "Don't die."
And with that the duo sprung into battle. Ichigo lunged at Aizen, immediately being blocked with the traitor's own sword.
"Aren't you going to use your hollow mask?" Aizen smiled dangerously.
Ichigo hesitated. He hadn't used it for so long. Even before he'd lost his powers, the mask had gone haywire when Ichigo went berserk in his fight with Ulquiorra. It was unclear whether or not his inner hollow was still under Ichigo's control. An uneasy feeling told Ichigo that Aizen was only coning him to use it. He decided to ignore his enemy's taunt.
Ichigo leaped away from the parry, looking for any openings. There were none. He cursed. He settled to work with his Getsugatensho.
Ichigo flash-stepped behind Aizen, before unleashing his first attack. The getsugatensho smashed into Aizen when the betrayer turned around, followed by a huge explosion of Ichigo black and red reiatsu. From the calm expression on Aizen's face before he was enveloped by the blast, Ichigo could tell it was far from over. He flash-stepped into the smoke, trying to sense his enemy's reiatsu. Bad move.
The traitor's hand shot out from the smoke, right in front of Ichigo's face. It seemed to be attempting to grab him. With a feeling of horror, Ichigo was instantly reminded of his hollow's warning: If he touches you, it's all over. Ichigo ducked at the last second, flying out of the smoke.
Ichigo swore. He had been so afraid of Aizen grabbing a hold of him that he had missed the perfect opportunity to strike his enemy, since the smoke screen had concealed Ichigo as well as Aizen himself.
His hollow really was only trying to make him lose.
He waited for the smoke to clear to reveal his enemy. When it did, Ichigo shivered. Aizen came out unscathed. Not even a scratch. Ichigo readied his blade. He's only toying with me. I better finish up before he begins to fight seriously. Why are the others taking so long?
"Are you quite finished, Kurosaki Ichigo?"
Ichigo's attention snapped away from his thoughts. Aizen didn't have any openings. His getsugatensho had failed. What more could he do then try again?
"If you are waiting for the soul reapers to come to your aid, you are mistaken," Aizen said.
Ichigo's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"They are too broken and wounded to send a team after me."
Unease prickled through Ichigo. "You're lying."
Aizen easily brushed off Ichigo's last comment. "It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not."
Ichigo decided to remain quiet. He wasn't in the mood for getting into one of Aizen's endless arguments.
Aizen smiled at Ichigo's disturbed expression. He pointed a finger at Ichigo. "Instead, why don't you tell me why you're even on their side?"
Ichigo was getting more and more confused and he hated it.
"Don't you feel stabbed in the back, after the soul reapers have lied to you this whole time?"
Ichigo's brows knitted tightly together. Aizen was surely referring to Ichigo's substitute badge and how the soul reapers had used it to monitor him, which he had only discovered just recently during his fight with Ginjo Kugo.
"If you heard about it that you should definitely have heard my answer." Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "I'm not going to say it again."
"But were you telling the truth?"
This made Ichigo freeze. Then it angered him.
"I didn't come here for a chat!" Ichigo yelled.
Was Aizen questioning his loyalty? Or was he only trying to get Ichigo worked up? It's just like the last time we fought.
Powered by fury, Ichigo raised his blade to fire another getsugatensho but Aizen's voice interrupted his attack.
"You're right. I'm getting tired of this."
Then Aizen let out a burst of reiatsu as he ended those words. Ichigo saw in the corner of his eye Rukia fighting on par with the Arrancar. She even appeared to have the upper hand. But she didn't seem to sense Aizen's reiatsu, since it was so high. Only Ichigo could. Why? Isn't it only someone who has the same level as Aizen who could feel the traitor's reiatsu? Ichigo was definitely not there.
The reiatsu was mixed in with the power of the Hogyoku. Immediately Ichigo felt like his heart was pounding in his head and the teen winced in pain again, just like the last time. He felt like he was going to be sick. Ichigo clutched his head with one arm, tensa zangetsu rattling in his hands as he began to shake uncontrollably. The reiatsu seemed to choke him, surround him and—
"Is there something wrong, Kurosaki Ichigo?" Aizen's sardonic smile was on.
Ichigo looked defiantly through his fingers. This was no coincidence. This was definitely Aizen's doing. But what was the traitor doing to him?
He shakily widened his stance to keep himself from falling over. I can ignore the pain. But his vision was beginning to blur and the throbbing in his head of a few moments ago had turned into a merciless pounding sensation.
What was happening to him?
"I—I won't let you win," Ichigo tried to not make his voice quiver.
But Aizen had already disappeared from his view.
"That's not something to say," Aizen's bone-chilling voice murmured in his ear, "When you're just about ready to fall over."
Ichigo's head slowly turned around, shock plastered all over his face.
His eyes dropped down to the hand touching his shoulder.
Agony exploded through Ichigo as purple vines began to climb their way from the Hogyoku, using Aizen's hand as a bridge to get to Ichigo. Ichigo screamed as they sunk into his flesh, pain tearing through every single cell in his body. Rukia had stopped fighting after hearing Ichigo's cry, her eyes widened in alarm. "Ichigo!"
Ichigo's knees buckled from underneath him, his limp body following as he began to fall. Aizen only stared down as Ichigo hurtled down towards the ground. Rukia shot down after him. He was already unconscious by the time she managed to grab him before he hit the ground. She laid him down on the rubble and watched helplessly as his body began to convulse on the floor.
"Kurosaki!" a familiar voice called.
A cloud of arrows rained down on Aizen and the arrancar. They easily evaded them. Uryu Ishida landed in front of Rukia and Ichigo, his bow at the ready. A burst of energy shot at the betrayer signaled that Chad was here too.
"Kuchiki-san, what's wrong with Kurosaki?" Ishida asked.
Rukia stared down at Ichigo in dismay as he thrashed around in pain. Both friends did the best to block out his pain-filled screams. She watched as the purple vines began to fade.
"I don't know."
Ishida huffed in frustration at the situation they were in. "Where are those soul reapers?"
It wasn't really a question that was directed to anyone in particular because with that he joined Chad to defeat the enemies at hand.
But Aizen was already instructing his subordinate. "Open a Garganta. Our business is finished here."
Without a word, the arrancar obeyed. The sky tore open, revealing a rip of abyss that interrupted the peaceful morning sky.
"You're not getting away!" Ishida said furiously.
However, the arrows just missed them as the sky swallowed the duo whole.
Ishida cursed, before turning his attention to his wounded friend. "Inoue-san!"
The girl appeared behind Chad, running towards the unconscious boy. "Kurosaki-kun!"
She touched her hairclips in an attempt to try and heal him, but when the healing bubble formed, after some moments it immediately shattered. Everyone gasped. Inoue was distraught and confused at the same time. "What just happened?"
The friends simply stared dumbfounded at each other.
"Mah," a voice interrupted the team's distress, "it seems that we're in a bit of a pickle here."
They all turned around, to see a man who seemed to have a green theme going on with a bucket hat over his head.
"Urahara?" Rukia said.
He gave a smile, before closing his fan and pointing it at Ichigo. "Let's bring him back to my shop."
Deep in the depths of Ichigo's mind, Ichigo could see only darkness. He sat up and shivered. He had never felt so lost and alone. He tried to stand up, but his legs couldn't support him. He came crashing back down. He remained on his hands and knees, panting; feeling like every bit of his strength was slowly being drained away. Even the slightest movement caused him pain. What's wrong with me?
Sweat dripped from his bowed head. But it didn't make the noise Ichigo expected it to do as it hit the floor. No. This wasn't a floor at all. It was a gooey black substance, which seemed to make Ichigo sink further in what seemed to be an endless pit. Ichigo frantically tried to pull himself up, his arms pushing the black substance away from him as it began to stick itself to orange haired teen's body. It was in vain. He was already to weak to resist it. His whole body was already in it, only his head remaining afloat. He desperately tried to cry out for help, but no one came. But the soul reapers had to come. Renji, Rukia, Hanatoro, Ikkaku, someone was going to co—
But a mocking warbled voice cut through his thoughts like sledgehammer.
"They won't come. Ever."
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