Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Falling strings
The next day brought on salty air and hungry stomachs. They all shuffled into the mess hall, lined up to get their food and found a spot by the two tables to eat. It was quiet until the women appeared. Orihime was talking far too quickly but it seemed that Nel could easily keep up and talked just as fast.
Nel and the two other women got their food and made their way to the large group consisting of Ichigo, Grimmjow, Starkk, Chad, Nnoitra and Ishida who was sitting somewhat apart from the group, said group was starting to get rowdier as they grew more awake and energy driven due to having food in their bellies.
The sea foam coloured haired woman sat down next to Starkk who wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her closer. Ichigo looked at them in curiosity. The couple saw this and both raised their left hands to show wedding bands. "Been married for four years now." Nel said with a happy smile. Ichigo gave them a grin in return, the two oddly matched.
Starkk was lethargic while Nel was bubbly in a manner that was adorable, he had seen the woman quiet down and become serious in one conversation the previous day.
They all chatted in comfort. Orihime had to sit next to Ishida because Ichigo was surrounded by people. It never seized to amazed Uryuu how easily Ichigo made friends with those around him, the red head had some sort of magnetic aura about him.
It was infuriating sometimes.
But the raven haired med student knew Ichigo didn't know he had this aura as he was constantly complaining about people coming onto him when he went out with his friends.
Now said red head was chatting with Grimmjow about something involving violence.
"Wait so you were a martial arts champion?" Grimmjow asked with large eyes. Ichigo looked his way with an awkward smile. "Yeah I was but after an accident I had to give it up, I can fight when need to but I'll be in pain the day after." Ichigo said rubbing his shoulder with a slight grimace.
"What happened?" Nnoitra asked leaning forward. Ichigo shifted and lowered his left sleeve as much as it allowed showing the beginning of what looked like a medical scar. "I was in a car accident, was driving with some friends home when a drunk driver t-boned our car on my side. I dislocated my shoulder as well as tore a few muscles and tendons. I also got a few cracked ribs, the one driving was badly hurt as well but he made it out alive too along with the other two passengers on the other side of the car, they only got a few scrapes and bumps." Ichigo shrugged pulling his sleeve up.
Nel looked like she was about to cry.
"And the drunk driver?" Starkk asked knowing Nel wanted to know.
Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck.
"Dead on impact." Everyone was silent.
"Don't forget the concussion you had." Isshin said as he came up behind his son. Ichigo looked up at his father while Isshin looked down.
"It was a horrible day that I doubt I would ever forget. I was just ending my shift when Ryūken came in running telling me Ichigo was in the ER. After that the doctor told me that Ichigo would have trouble moving his left arm but Ichigo showed them afterwards. He took his rehab seriously and in a matter of two years his arm as good as new. It just can't handle a lot of rough housing."
"How young were you?" Harribel asked showing she was listening the whole time. Ichigo looked up in thought.
"Sixteen while my friends were older than me." Ichigo said looking the blonde woman in the eyes. After that they moved on to lighter subjects. This whole conversation surprised Uryuu, he never knew Ichigo was in an accident. He glanced at his father seeing the man talking to the pink haired scientist.
After breakfast most of the men ventured into the ship's gym. The five met went to a machine getting ready to burn off some energy. They where half an hour in when Aizen came in wearing a pair of white track pants, running shoes and a purple shirt, none of the Espada second glanced only greeted their boss.
Ichigo was using one of the two treadmills, seeing as there was no better thing to warm up with Aizen took the treadmill next to the red head. Aizen was curious about the red head. Yoruichi had informed him of Urahara's expression when he saw the red head.
He and his wife were on good terms with the blonde and wanted to see the man happy. If this red head could make Urahara happy he would see to it that they end up together. Ichigo who had in I-pod in his ears blasting away music didn't notice the stared he got as he kept a steady yet father fast pace showing that he regularly jogs or runs in this case.
Grimmjow was on one of the two benches using the hand weights to pump iron, Nnoitra was using the weight machine where he had to pull the handle bar down, his long arms helped here but he was surprisingly strong for someone as lanky as he was. Starkk was using the leg lift machine while Chad did sit ups on a bench where your legs were locked in.
They all watched as Ichigo increased the machine's speed easily keeping up. Ichigo could no longer use most weight machines for more than ten minutes before his shoulder would act up. It started with a stiff sensation before pain would flare in his arm.
So he now kept to running, swimming and Pilates as well as yoga. This all helped him keep up his current strength as well as fitness level. The flexibility was just an added bonus. Once he was done and all sweaty he decided he was done, there wasn't anything else he could do, he pulled off his earphones as the machine made deeping noises telling the user it was slowing down. Breathing hard Ichigo used is towel to rub the sweat off his face.
Chad stood up and whipped off the sweat on the seat before walking to the treadmill. Ichigo grinned lopsidedly before making his way over to the bench. Push ups where a no-no but he could do sit ups with ease.
Seeing that the red head wasn't going to put on his I-pod Aizen took his time to speak.
"You seem very fit for someone who does a course to become a doctor." Aizen commented not taking his eyes off Ichigo who started to go his sit ups. A few in and Ichigo finally answered.
"I train whenever I have the time. Mostly on breaks such as now." Ichigo said and looked back to the man who finished his run and now swapped around with his underlings.
He was now using the hand weights closets to Ichigo so they could talk easier and Ichigo could actually look at him in a forward angle. "You seem rather fit as well, tough being a mercenary group leader?" Ichigo asked with a playful grin. The man's eyebrows were always in a state of frowning but it appeared that the man was always frowning to some degree and that it was just how he was.
Aizen chuckled at this. Ichigo wasn't one scared of other's standings it seemed.
"Yes, I can't be a fat old man who can't even climb a flight of stairs without getting winded. That would be disgraceful." The man said holding is head high. Ichigo snickered at the mental image. He continued to do his sit ups.
They all worked out in silence till a rather sleepy looking Urahara stumbled into the room nearly tripping over the metal door threshold. Ichigo and the rest watched amused as the sleepy man looked around clearly not where he wanted to be.
"My my this isn't the mess hall." The blonde was wearing a pair of comfy sweats and white shirt with loafers that were a dark blue. Ichigo chuckled while resting back against the bench. "How on earth do you mistake the mess hall that's a whole floor above us for the gym?" Ichigo asked with a look of amusement in his eyes.
Urahara now more awake when he heard Ichigo's voice looked around and blushed faintly.
The rest of the room laughed or snickered at this. Ichigo just sighed and rose. He cleaned off the bench with his towel before walking to Urahara's side. "Come on I'll walk with you. I feel like a shower anyway." Ichigo and the blonde left the room.
"Heh Blondie has a thing for the fiery red head huh?" Grimmjow said taking Ichigo's place. Chad nodded gaining their attention. "He's in luck then, Ichigo's been gay since high school." The man said and cleaned his space before leaving the room as well. Aizen was rather pleased at finding out that the red head swung the same way as Urahara.
Excellent.
Urahara kept glancing at Ichigo, oh how embarrassing was that?
Ichigo however didn't seem to find it stupid just amusing. "How late did you sleep to miss breakfast?" Ichigo asked looking over at the blonde noticing he wore his shirt inside out. Holding a hand out to tug at the tag making the just faded red on the blonde's cheeks return full force, for some reason Ichigo like doing it.
"Your shirt is inside out you know…" Ichigo said tugging the tag one more time before stopping at his room first. Ichigo got his bath supplies and a new bundle of clothes to wear. They made their way onward till they reached the showers for the men. Ichigo waved Urahara off but the blonde followed him inside, he arched a brown but understood when Urahara took off his shirt. Ichigo swallowed hard when he saw that Urahara had much to hide underneath his shirt. Hard lines and smooth looking skin, realising he was ogling someone he didn't even know was gay made him blush hard and spin around.
This didn't slip past the blonde who looked at Ichigo once his back was turned his way. And what a back it was if he did say so. Smooth long muscles that were not buff or bulging, those were the muscles of someone who did little weight lifting but still strengthened their muscles by other means.
Ichigo ruffled his sweat slicken hair making it stand even more messy and spiky. Urahara pulled his shirt over his head again, Ichigo had by that time chosen a shower cubical and stepped inside. Urahara watched as Ichigo's shoes, pants and underwear were thrown skilfully into the bag that was wide open for the exact reason of catching the clothes.
The shy act was incredibly cute to Urahara. The sound of the shower going on releasing the spray of hot water down a very naked Ichigo made Urahara gulp and flee the room.
Walking down the hallway Urahara tried hard not to let his mind wander at what was in the bathroom. In a white tiled shower cubical, naked water slicken muscles with smooth lightly tanned skin… Urahara was sure he was drooling. Wiping his mouth just in case he really had been drooling at the mental image inside his head he made it to the mess hall. The chefs noticed him and smirked at him just as the others have.
He was given a tray with food in it. When he sat down he was joined by a still slightly sweaty Aizen. The man's brown hues danced with something Urahara couldn't quiet grasp. He nodded to his friend. "How's Momo?" He asked to be polite.
Aizen nodded his head before sipping from his water bottle he had with him. "She's doing well, she told me to tell you she said hello and you should come over for dinner when this is over." The man smiled he ever polite smile.
Urahara nodded as he ate while looking at his friend who clearly had something to tell him if he skipped the shower. "I have a juicy bit of information about Ichigo for you." The man said with a teasing tone to his voice. Urahara looked up from his food when he had to look down to see what he was picking up with his fork.
"Oh?" He said making sure he didn't sound too eager.
The brunette smirked.
"Seems you both play for the same team." He said before standing up and leaving the room without a backward glance, if he had he would have seen a very happy smiling Urahara.
The rest of the day went by peacefully until a loud curse word floated through the air along with a loud howling laughter that sounded very much like Nnoitra.
Ichigo was lying on his bunk going through some of his textbooks he brought with when there was a loud knock on his doorframe. Looking up his eyes went wide when he saw Grimmjow with a bloody towel held to his head while a snickering Nnoitra was behind him.
Grimmjow looked ready to kill the man behind him at any minute. Standing up and placing his book on his bunk he motioned for the two to enter. "What the hell?" he asked making Grimmjow kneel between his legs so he could see the wound better. He gently took the towel from Grimmjow's slightly shaking hands. He looked to the tall man who finally stopped laughing once he saw the serious face of Ichigo.
"Get him something to eat and drink please I think his blood pressure is dropping due to blood loss." Ichigo's no nonsense tone made Nnoitra jump into action bolting from the room. Ichigo in the mean while took his book and placed it on the shared desk of the three bunks. He then made Grimmjow sit on his bunk not really caring if it got dirty. Still holding the towel gently only applying enough pressure to help stem the flow of blood, Ichigo gently lifted the one nook of the towel to see the damage where he saw it wasn't as bad as he expected.
Feeling Ichigo relax made him feel better about the wound.
"Right alright you'll need stitches I'm afraid but if you give me enough time and promise to sit still I can stitch it so that it will hardly leave a mark." Ichigo said taking Grimmjow's hand making him hold the towel again. "Y-yeah…" Grimmjow said feeling rather dizzy. Nnoitra came back with a quick sandwich and a sugary drink. Both men helped the blue haired man eat as his hands were bloody. Once the man had some food in him and shook less did Ichigo place surgical gloves over his hands and dug into his medical bag. He got out pain reliever that worked as a numbing agent. He took out a packaged syringe and needle. He worked methodically getting the right amount of clear liquid into the plastic container and walked over to Grimmjow who was eyeing the needle warily.
Ichigo gave a soft smile with no hints of mockery or even smugness. "You'll only feel a small prick." Ichigo said and came closer till he was now standing between the blue haired man's legs to look down at the wound as the blood soaked towel was removed. Working quickly Ichigo injected the pain reliever into the skin near the wound. He chucked the used syringe into the small yellow container on the table before grabbing cotton swabs and disinfectant. He quickly cleaned the wound making Grimmjow hiss now and again.
When he was done the pain reliever finally kicked in making the area numb and the blue haired man pain free for a few hours as well as very lethargic. Ichigo then grabbed his needle and stitching wire along with the small scissor. They made Grimmjow lean forward while Nnoitra held him steady, now having more light Ichigo gently started to stitch the two loose pieces of skin together working slowly so he could work the skin together as perfectly as he could.
"So what happened?" Ichigo asked and looked up at the raven haired man before going back to concentrating on stitching. Nnoitra chuckled awkwardly before sighing. "Grimmy and I were just hanging out, having a bit on fun when he tripped and he hit his head on the bunk's frame." Nnoitra seemed uncomfortable as he stared at the blue haired man who was resting his head against his stomach to keep it steady.
The pet name didn't escape Ichigo.
A sly smirk crawled onto Ichigo's face as he did the last stitch.
"Oh… having a bit of 'fun' eh?" he said and got some anti bacterial cream and gently applied it after he cleaned the last bit of blood from the blue haired man's face. Nnoitra was now looking torn between surprised and smug.
Ichigo just laughed and applied a band-aid over the area. He patted the blue hair.
"How long? Or are you two just playing around?" Ichigo asked as he watched Nnoitra lift the woozy man onto his feet before throwing his arm around the man's shoulder to keep him up. "Eh just playing around." Nnoitra said not taking his eye off Grimmjow.
He missed the knowing look on Ichigo's face as they left the room with a quick thanks thrown over the raven male's shoulder.
"Pfft I bet you want it to be more than playing." Ichigo mumbled to himself before ripping off his gloves and throwing them into the yellow container. He closed the container and cleaned up the area happy to see there was no blood around his bed and the bloody towel as on the floor not his bed, Ichigo picked it up and opened the yellow container again to throw it in.
Happy that all was clean he sat down on his head with his book in hand ready to go on from where he was studying but the knock on the door made him look up to see his father with a curious look on his face. "Why does it smell like disinfectant?" he asked and sits down next to Ichigo.
Ichigo just smirked.
"Grimmjow got a nasty wound and I just stitched it up. I don't know why they didn't go to the medical bay, probably because I was closer to them than the medical bay." Ichigo shrugged and placed his book back into his bag.
Isshin just shook his head with a smile.
"I am glad I showed you how to stitch before you even went to med school." Ichigo just chuckled. Then the bell for lunch rang. Both Kurosaki men stood and walked to the mess hall. There Ichigo got a tray of food but didn't sit to eat it.
He walked out the door with curious eyes trailing him, his father followed after him curious to see where his son was off to. Ichigo stopped at the room three doors down from them and knocked. Nnoitra's curse could be heard muffled on the other side. The door opened and the one eyed man looked surprised when he saw Ichigo with a tray of food.
Smirking Ichigo handed the tray to the man.
"You can't leave him alone. A bump to the head needs to be monitored. Wake him up every two hours till tonight to make sure he doesn't have a concussion." Ichigo instructed to the taller man who nodded. "Thanks…" he said surprised by the act of kindness. Ichigo snickered when he walked past his father. The man just smiled at his son.
The two walked back to the mess hall to grab lunch and again Urahara didn't show up. It was dinner time when Ichigo carried two trays to the blonde's room. He was happy to see said man's room was open, he didn't have the hands to open the heavy metal door. He saw the blonde behind his desk yet again. With a smirk he walked till he was in front of the desk, he looked and saw an empty spot for the tray. Leaning down Ichigo gently placed the tray down starling Urahara somewhat.
He looked around him, at Ichigo then at the clock on the desk. Grey eyes go wide. "Oh dear I believe I missed lunch." He said and as if to prove his statement his stomach gave a growl clearly heard by the red head who laughed as he took his seat on the blonde's bunk bed with his tray on his lap. Urahara joined in on the laugh not really feeling embarrassed.
"What has you so occupied that you forget lunch and nearly dinner?" Ichigo asked and watched as Urahara practically inhale his dinner. Once he was done he motioned Ichigo over. Placing his half eaten dinner to the side Ichigo rose and moved over.
On the table was the map form last night.
"Remember where I told you where last night?" he said pointing back at the spot he had the night before. Ichigo nodded not really seeing where the conversation was going. Urahara suddenly looked excited. "This is where we were supposed to be." He said his finger moving a little bit closer to the island red cross.
"However this is where we are now." He said moving his finger even closer to the red cross. Ichigo might not have known much about reading maps and such but he could grasp that the ship had moved more than it should have been able to for the weight and such. Brown eyes looked up at Urahara.
"How is that even possible?" he asked not believing it yet Urahara wouldn't lie about this, would he?
"I don't know if it could be true but it could be the island but that would be impossible. Nothing should be able to move this large ship so quickly through the water. It is impossible… however this has shortened our trip greatly. We will be by the island by sunrise tomorrow if a calculated correctly." Urahara watched as Ichigo returned to his meal a look of confusion on his face.
"This is weird." Ichigo said now playing with his food appetitive seemly gone.
"What's weird?" Urahara asked as he watched Ichigo finally push the tray away. "This whole thing. I keep feeling more on edge the closer we get to the island yet my instincts don't tell me its danger. This temple even in pictures screams out to me and then this whole going faster than we should be able to thing." Ichigo mumbled rubbing the back of his neck.
Ichigo shook his head and rose to take the tray from Urahara's desk, he walked back to his half full tray.
"If what you say is true and we arrive at the island by morning you should get some sleep." Ichigo said and looked over his shoulder with an amused smile making Urahara think back on this morning and giving a grin in return.
"Is that doctor's orders?" he quipped with a teasing tone.
Ichigo's head tipped back as he laughed. "Yes. Doctor's order. Good night Urahara." Ichigo said but was stopped from leaving by the blonde.
"Kisuke. Please call me by my name." he said with a smile that he got in return.
"Alright. Good night Kisuke." Ichigo walked out the door back to the mess hall to return the trays and get a light tongue lashing from his father at no eating all his food, he was already eating half portion.
That night Ichigo for the life of him couldn't even follow his own advice and fall asleep. The entire night had Ichigo tossing and turning trying to fall asleep but sleep never came to him leaving him tired by morning light.
The light of the next day brought the island. It was bright green, it was roughly the shape of a crescent moon with the temple in the middle. There was a deep area along the island's more rocky part where they could dock the ship.
Everyone was busy getting dressed in their gear. Ichigo, Isshin and the rest would go into the temple while the Ishida duo with the paramedics would be outside for any injuries there with Szayel's team. Wearing a white shirt with khaki coloured cargo pants and hiking boots. Everyone was in similar dress code. Grimmjow was up and perfectly fine for duty getting the okay from Kurosaki senior who double checked that the scar would indeed be hair thin and hardly noticeable.
They all helped unload the needed things. First were the explosives that were being armed by Nnoitra with the help of Grimmjow and Aizen. While they were busy the medical team and scientific teams got their tents and such ready believing that they would be on the island for a while.
Once all was done the sound of the explosives and Nnoitra's whooping noises drew the group near. Orihime tried all morning to talk to Ichigo but Ichigo just brushed her off saying he was busy. Truth be told he was busy and tired due to lack of sleep. He couldn't even manage to eat any of his breakfast much to his father distress.
He was pale he knew it. He didn't nor could understand what was going on with him. However it seemed his constant rudeness towards Orihime was getting to Uryuu. It was when they got ready to go inside the temple that he declared he was going with them. Not feeling like arguing Ichigo just shrugged his shoulder.
His lack of fire was noticed by everyone.
Szayel and a few of his assistants, Urahara with Yoruichi tagging along, Mayuri with his daughter Nemu who carried most of his tools for him. Aizen, Grimmjow, Nnoitra along with Harribel came along with the Kurosaki duo, Ishida junior came along as medical team. They entered the temple and were surprised when all the large temple was, was one large room.
There was a small moat alone the edges of the room apart from the entryway. The bricks where all a green yellow shade, there was no trace of mould oddly enough surprising Szayel.
Going around the room was a moat, there was a bridge they walked over to get to the middle of the room. The moat flowed in a tunnel to a square like pool in the middle of the room. Looking up they saw that there was no roof allowing natural light to shine in.
Ichigo moved to the side. The moat was closed off by a railing of the same colour cement like texture as the bricks. Looking down he saw that it wasn't water like he thought it was, the moat was filled with unmoving black liquid.
He got a bad feeling from it and asked Szayel for a flask. The man happily gave him a flash and metal clamp so he didn't have to actually hold the bottle and his hands were a safe distance away from the unknown liquid.
The bubblegum pink haired man joined him at the barrier. However the most disturbing thin happened when the flask hit the surface. It dissolved as if the black liquid was an acid. Ichigo released the clamp seeing the acid like water eat up the flask and metal of the clamp at an astonishing rate.
"Okay warning don't even think about touching the black stuff, it will eat you alive." Szayel warned and Ichigo walked away to stand next to Urahara who was looking at the smaller pool of blackness that was in the middle of the room. Once he was beside the man he saw what he saw.
It was a statue. Or rather the remnants of one, the face of the statue was smooth and featureless. The figure was wearing a cloak and had a hand held up straight in the air as a puppeteer would as he controlled his puppets.
"That's kinda creepy." Ichigo commented. Urahara nodded. "This isn't a temple as far as I can gather but… honesty I don't know what this is. A temple is made to be worshipped so where's the town? There is no altar besides this statue. Nothing here makes sense." The frustration in Urahara's voice was easily detectable. They all speared out with flashlights to look at the walls for any sign or clue of what this building could be.
Uryuu took this was his chance to talk to Ichigo. He made his way over and lightly tapped Ichigo on his shoulder. Ichigo looked over and saw that the man was clearly annoyed with something, most likely his attitude towards the woman.
"What?" Ichigo said annoyed looking back at where his flashlight was pointing. He squinted his eyes swearing to himself that he saw something. He lowered his hand on the railing but hissed and pulled his hand back when a sharp pain flared up his hand to his arm.
Holding up his hand both he and the raven haired man beside him went wide eyed. There was a nasty slash along his hand from seemingly nowhere. Both men looked down at the counter seeing nothing but smooth cement.
Without knowing it Ichigo held his hand out far enough so most of the blood fell into the black mass making light sizzling noises.
Feeling dizzy Ichigo shook his head to try and clear it. Uryuu didn't seem to notice Ichigo's lack of focus. Uryuu grabbed Ichigo by his shoulder twirling him around to face him. Ichigo had to fight to keep his balance. Gritting his teeth Ichigo growled out. This scene gained everyone's attention.
"Why are you being rude to Orihime?" he near barked at Ichigo.
Ichigo groaned and rubbed his dizzy head. "Fuck off Uryuu you should be fucking thanking me. You like her don't you so just let me be a rude ass and she'll come running towards you." Ichigo hisses out. Uryuu clearly didn't seem to like the way he was talking about Orihime as some kind of tramp as only he heard it. He didn't even know he was over touchy when it came to Orihime.
Uryuu gritted his teeth and roughly shoved Ichigo against the railing. Nobody noticed the railing cracked.
"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" Uryuu roared and shoved Ichigo again. The lack of sleep and food greatly weakening Ichigo into losing his balance along with the barrier behind him giving in as well, with a terrified scream Ichigo fell backwards.
Isshin and the rest watch in horror as Ichigo fell almost in slow motion.
The moment Ichigo's body met the black mass he was swallowed up by it leaving the echoes of his terrified scream ringing in everyone's ears.
Heh…
Um…
I can explain…
In the next chapter!
