Chapter 2
A/N: And here's part two. Apparently my muse had decided that a two shot is not long enough (unless I make this chapter massive, which I currently don't have the time for as it increases the likelihood that I'll lose the mood and it'll come out crappy in parts).
Again, please keep in mind that this is an AU. Ichigo does still have his powers and the war with Aizen was more than a scouting party, an abduction, a rescue that could've been choreographed and one final epic battle where Ichigo losses his powers. How did Ichigo actually defeat the Demented Butterfly? Well, I'll see if I get to that in this story.
Warnings: Supposed child abuse (you'll see what I mean), language, and incorrect insides of police stations (hey, I've never been to one and I'm making full use of my artistic license. Deal with it.), change of view point, though I think it's easy enough to figure out (if not, someone'll tell me and I'll change it)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the rights to Bleach. Tite Kubo owns the rights along with Shonen Jump and whoever else to which he sold the rights.
The silence had been necessity and then it was necessity and trauma.
~IiI~
Ichigo stared at the white walls of the interrogation room. Really, there was no need for the formalities, but he guessed they needed statements for whatever fictional reason the teachers had given to have him and the others brought in.
Beneath the table, Ichigo's hands twitched in irritation, repressed panic and fear, and above all the nearly overwhelming feeling of tiredness. He didn't need anymore shit. None of them did. And the whiteness wasn't helping. Everything was ironically black and white in Heuco Mundo, Las Noches most of all – and they'd all seen enough of that building and its remains to last them the lifetime of their memories (because he'd say life, but his afterlife was looking like it'd be pretty long and he'd still have his memories of the White Hell).
He could feel his friends/comrades, waiting in a separate area, their reiatsu telegraphing their emotions to anyone who could read them – and he was one of the best in that area. The three were all crowded together, almost close enough to gain suspicion but they were too careful for that, especially in an uncontrolled situation. They were relying on him, who had volunteered to go first as the leader, to determine what was need to be done and relay the necessary information to them. He wouldn't – couldn't – let them down now, when they were just barely starting to truly heal (or at least let the wounds scab over).
The sound of the door opening, next to the wall of mirrors, which from his vague memories of police shows meant that it was two-way glass, pulled him from his inner promises and planning.
A man of medium height entered the too white room and closed and locked the door behind him. Ichigo tensed slightly, disliking an obvious exit being barred from him, though he was sure that if he truly needed to escape, focusing his reiatsu on the door would break it. As long as it wasn't reinforced with seki-seki stones, of course. In that case then –.
The man sat down across from him and looked at a file in front of him, presumably a file on Ichigo himself. Ichigo just watched, face impassive. The man before him was no threat to him physically.
Finally, the man looked up from the paper to lock his gaze on Ichigo's eyes. Ichigo continued to observe.
"Hello, Kurosaki-kun. I'm sorry that we've met under such circumstances, but due to the reports filed by your teachers, I need to ask you some questions."
Ichigo continued to stare at him. If he wasn't going to be forced to answer the damn questions, he wouldn't do more than necessary. What did these people know about him and his friends? They certainly couldn't hear the truth. Beyond breaking the rules, who would believe them?
"Also, this conversation is being recorded for documentation purposes."
Blank face.
"Alright. This is Yakudatsu Shaku interviewing Kurosaki Ichigo after intervention on his and three others' behalf by their teachers at Karakura High School. Pending investigation of potential child abuse."
What?
"I shall begin the questions now."
Ichigo mentally shook his head while Sekkouboku recovered from their shared shock and began laughing uproariously. Zangetsu was quietly thinking of responses that would be acceptable, leaving Ichigo to contemplate the irony of the situation. All things considered, he supposed that, technically, as he and the others were minors, that it was child abuse, but not of the typical kind. Most child abuse doesn't revolve around child soldiers, at least in Japan.
"Your name is Kurosaki Ichigo, correct?"
"Yes," came the reply in a monotone that would do a robot proud.
The man didn't look the slightest bit disturbed.
"You are currently 17 years old, correct?"
And so the questions continued until the hard ones began.
~IiI~
"Can you tell me what you were doing for the time between October and January of this year?"
"Yes." It was technically possible for him to open his mouth and have his brain direct his voice box to explain the Winter War.
"…Would you elaborate?"
"No."
Another note was added.
"Alright. There are reports about a variety of scars from your fellow students at Karakura High School. Would you explain how you go them?"
"No."
"…You do realize that you will be forced to undergo an examination, correct?"
The slightest frown creased his brow. He didn't plan on subjecting himself to that, even if he did have to physically destroy the room. Showing off his scars wouldn't do them a damn bit of good. They wouldn't be able to tell when a Cero barely missed a vital area, where he was nearly bisected by a certain demented butterfly's Zanpakutou. All they would see were wounds and a desperate and helpless teen. At this point, he was neither and he would do almost anything in his power to keep it that way.
~IiI~
The next victim was called in. Ichigo, before leaving the room, pulsed his reiatsu twice to signal that it was safe, but tinged the power with feelings of caution and a slight discomfort. He had been right, after all. The man hadn't been a threat to his physical wellbeing, but mental and emotional wellbeing were fair game.
Instead of being escorted back to his friends, Ichigo was placed in another room. This one was almost exactly like the ones in Las Noches – white, whitewhiteWHITE! Zangetsu calmed him down before anything inexplicable happened, but Ichigo was still tense, even as he felt Ishida's reiatsu in the room next to his, where he had just been.
It didn't help his stress or anxiety levels when the man who appeared looked like Ishida's and Renji's descriptions of the Octava Espada – thin but not overly tall, rectangular glasses, golden eyes, and though his hair was not pink, it was cut to be slightly long, reaching his ears. The smile the man wore did everything but calm Ichigo.
"Hello, Kurosaki-san. I have a test I'd like to give you."
If that wasn't reason for Ichigo to contemplate blasting his way through the room next door, grabbing Ishida and signaling for Chad to grab Orihime and leave, he didn't know what was. Zangetsu, however, being the calm and influence being he was, pointed out that the man in front of him didn't have any spiritual pressure whatsoever and was not the threat he though he was. On the other hand, his Hollow was worried about the slowly decaying status of their inner world – beginning to undo what reconstruction they had – from the other person's intrusive questions.
But it wasn't like the man was going to stop speaking or giving his test.
"I'm going to show you a set of cards with ink splatters on them. I'd like you to tell me what you see."
Ichigo didn't move from his standing position, but carefully nodded, in the vain hope that he could leave soon.
"Alright, here's the first one." A card is held up. "What do you see?"
'A blob. A furry blob. A furry blob an a smaller one connected to it, just like Grand Fisher!'
"A fish."
The man marked a note on the same file that that Ichigo has seen the other man use.
"How about this one?"
'A cat, it's black though… black cats, large cats, Pantera, Grimmjow.'
"A panther."
Another note.
~IiI~
Ishida was being even more uncooperative than Kurosaki was, if that's possible. At least the supposed delinquent gave a reasonable answer. Every retort is now pure snark and cynicism and sarcasm. The man is trying to restrain the urge to throttle the glasses wearing teen. But at least he seems more in line with what his personality was before the period of absence the four shared. It's just…magnified.
Sighing, Yakudatsu returned his attention to the last set of questions. Maybe this one would be more forthcoming about the concerns that the teachers had raised.
Maybe.
…Yeah right.
~IiI~
"And this card?"
'Nel.'
"A centaur."
'Blood.'
"…Ketchup from my sister's omu-rice."
'…Kenpachi?!'
"Bells."
'Aizen.'
"… … A Demented Butterfly." He kept his voice level even, although it took him too long to respond. The look the man gives him tells him so. Even though it's a weird view of the card, it's more than he's given them so far.
"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun. I think that's all we have time for right now. Follow me and I'll escort you to the front examination room. We need a physical and then you can wait in the foyer for your friends."
Ichigo can only nod, slightly distracted, as he frantically flashed to Ishida warnings about this man and his test and to keep calm and not kill the man.
He hopes it worked.
~IiI~
He got Kurosaki's message. Mostly warnings and that peculiar feeling of calm and placation when he knows that there's someone doing something that will make him want to turn another into a pincushion. Ishida just didn't expect the man in front of him. Now Kurosaki's warning made sense.
~IiI~
It was Orihime's turn to enter the interrogation room and she worried about how it would go after keeping tract of Ichigo-kun's and Uryuu-kun's reiatsu and projected emotions. She's not looking forward to the experience. But she steels herself to act like the person she was Before.
Her acting could have been more difficult. She had somewhat maintained her ability to be optimistic, despite the carnage she'd been forced to cause (because no, letting someone kill Ichigo-kun or Uryuu-kun or Chad-kun was something she rejected with her entire being, let alone her Soten Kisshun), but it was fractured. Her days were spent trying to maintain a cheerful veneer over her tumultuous emotions. The mask held, most days, but woe betided anyone who sought to somehow harm her boys. Orihime would've been the one with the highest body count if Ichigo didn't let his Hollow, jokingly called Snowberry, take over in some of the battles, just so they could survive and wrap their wounds before chasing the few remain Hollows and charging back into battle. Some might have called her bipolar, but that wasn't completely correct. She was just trying to find her balance. They all were.
Why couldn't they be left alone?
~IiI~
Ichigo was incredibly uncomfortable at being forced from his clothes so the doctor and nurse could look at him and his scars, documenting them if the notes and camera flashes were anything to go by. His apathy and temper, already put to a test by the previous men and their questions, was just waiting to snap. He just needed a target.
~IiI~
Finally he was done – free to go and leave and flee, to figuratively lick his wounds. But he wouldn't leave his comrades here without support, so he settled to wait. He might as well try and fix the new damage done to his inner world, futile though it may be at this time.
~IiI~
Being escorted to a laboratory by a man very similar to one who had relished crushing his organs was not what Ishida had expected this Saturday afternoon. It was also something he'd rather not repeat, lest the man be killed. It was so very, very tempting after those disturbing inkblots.
~IiI~
Orihime was fairly sure she'd done a reasonable job on that test, concocting a random and outrageous story for why they'd been away and the alleged scars. Now she just had to deal with the one Ishida-kun wanted to kill.
Hopefully she wouldn't, too.
~IiI~
"Your name is Yasutora Sado, correct?"
No response.
"You are nearly 18 years old, correct?"
No response.
…This was going to take a while.
~IiI~
They were finally all through the process, leaving as quickly as they could without raising suspicion to the park where Ichigo had met with Rukia to work on his aim and ability to kill Hollows (the most useless exercised he'd ever had to participate in, even if it was funny now). However, nothing they could have done saved the pictures of themselves from Ichigo's wrath. Not that anyone complained. It was only slightly less invasive than being under Kurotsuchi's scrutinization.
"So," Ichigo said, settling against a tree, "the teachers' think we're all been abused, for whatever reason, at the same time, for four months."
A sharp jerk of a head from Ishida, a quick bob from Orihime, and a slow nod from Chad are his answers.
Running a hand through his hair, Ichigo released a sigh and tried to calm his temper so that he can think of the best possibilities for his friends and not gearing up to murder all the well-meaning teachers.
"Well, as far as I can tell, we've got a couple of options. One, the most legal extreme, is to just leave. Two, try and talk it over with them and get them to understand that their intervention isn't necessary. I'm just not sure how we could do that. They seem pretty convinced. Three, get Getaboshi to modify their memories. We have barely a month left before we can leave and claim to be going to college.
"What do you guys want to do?"
Silence.
"Well, we can't let them take Isshin-san and Ryuuken-san to court for child abuse, but I think we'd draw more attention to ourselves if we just up and left. I think that we should try and confront the teachers and get them to drop the charges – we can always steal the "evidence" back from the police and modify some memories. If that doesn't work, we'll have to modify their memories to finish the school year," Orihime said.
"I agree. We're almost done with the school year and it would raise fewer suspicions if we were to leave after it than now."
Chad also nods in agreement, adding, "We may have some problems if we have to confront the teachers. We'll need another plan."
The other three nod.
"Alright. We'll stick out the next month, try and get the teachers off our backs and failing that modify their and the police officers' memories."
A content silence settles over them, until Ishida interrupts it.
"What are we going to tell our parents?"
Ichigo winces.
Notes:
Sekkouboku - Snowberry, as those that've read Nighttime on the Spirit Train will know.
I'm not sure exactly how long this one will be. I also can't tell you when I'll update next because it's dependent on my mood. I can promise that I'll finish this, eventually.
Reviews are always welcome.
~Illusion~