Akira, Chapter 3
Warn the soul society! Rukia Kidnapped?
Akira Disclaimer...
(I do not own bleach or anything except Akira, Hikaru , and Shiho, I also am NOT making any money from this by the way.)
xXX
Akira emerged from the other side of the gate into soul society outside the fourth squad barracks. Looking around, she cautiously walked forward, alert to any danger that might appear. No sooner then she had taken 10 steps; guards suddenly appeared and surrounded her. Alarmed and shocked, Akira put a hand on her Zanpakutou.
"What's going on? I've done nothing to warrant such action towards me." Akira looked around warily at the men who were looking at her with frightened eyes, others glared at her with hate. "We knew this would happen Akira. Play along with them for now." Akira frowned as SoiFon; the captain of squad 2 walked stealthily through the guards and stopped in front of Akira, one hand on her zanpakutou.
She pointed an accusing finger at Akira. "By the order of head captain Yamamoto, you are to be brought in for questioning by suspicion of conspiracy with Kisuke Urahara." She got in her battle stance. "Surrender now, or die!"
Akira took a step back, only to feel the sharp end of a zanpakutou through her shihakusho. She looked back behind her to see a familiar face glaring back at her, his amber eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Shiho, you too huh." She gave him a sad smile.
She looked at the ground and held up her hands in defeat. "Alright, take me in." She grabbed Akira and shackled her hands behind her back after the other shinigami backed off. Smirking, SoiFon leaned forward to whisper something in Akira's ear.
"Pity, it would have been fun if you actually put up a fight." Akira laughed; SoiFon's breath tickled her ear.
"Wouldn't it have been a disappointment to be beaten, SoiFon?" Akira mumbled back at SoiFon, smiling as SoiFon roughly lead Akira away to the Head Captain's meeting. Akira could only speculate what would happen to her.
"Now we can know what Aizen's been up to while we've been gone." Hikaru said softly. Akira sighed as she was led by a very pissed off SoiFon.
"Hopefully it won't be anything that bad." Akira thought back at him. She heard Hikaru sigh. "Knowing Aizen… I just know it's something more then he's showing." Akira shivered.
Suddenly the aspect of Aizen not doing anything that bad seemed farther from the truth. A cold chill creeped down her back as she recalled the moment he cut her down. The look in his eyes was that of a cold, calculated killer hell bent on ruling the Soul Society and sacrificing the lives of Karakura town to fit his own ends. Nothing would stand in his way.
Suddenly Akira was very frightened of the man she once called 'friend.'
xXXx
"Akira Yoshi has been detained! Her fate will be decided when she gets here." Yamamoto's voice called out over the room full of waiting captains of the Gotei 13. Ukitake Jushiro was worried about his subordinate. Shunsui Kyoraku elbowed Ukitake in the ribs.
"Don't worry, Akira can handle herself." He whispered, trying to comfort his longtime friend. Ukitake nodded solemnly. Before Ukitake could answer Shunsui, the doors opened and Akira was lead to the front of the room, the captain's eyes on her. SoiFon gladly yanked Akira across the room. Akira's eyes briefly caught Aizen's and he smiled. Akira shivered.
"Can I kill him now? Please Akira? With a cherry on top?"
"As much as I want to oblige that notion, we have to figure this out."
"Aye-aye." Hikaru snorted.
Glaring at SoiFon as she sauntered away with a smile, Akira stood before the legend himself, Head captain Yamamoto. Before she could look at the encouraging face of her captain, (He was always encouraging her,) the head captain's booming voice called out her fate.
"Akira Yoshi! By conspiring with and helping Kisuke Urahara conspire against the Soul society, with whom you have pledged to serve with your life, the punishment for treason is death!" Akira fell to her knees as everything fell silent. "No! This can't be how it ends!" Her zanpakutou growled.
"This is exactly what Aizen wanted Akira! He couldn't kill you, so he had someone do it for him!"
"Head Captain! I implore you to reconsider!" Akira looked with shocked eyes at her captain, Ukitake. He stood defiant, ready to defend his comrade and friend. "Akira has served faithfully all these years! Why would she have be-"
"That is enough! It has already been decided!"
Akira met the eyes of her shocked commander and whispered. "I'm sorry." Ukitake frowned and stood back in line, and Shunsui laid a hand on his shoulder to comfort his long-time friend.
Shunsui gave a solemn nod at Akira as she turned around. "She's my friend too." Shunsui gave an uncharacteristic frown.
Akira looked for the inner strength to defend herself before it was too late. "Hikaru, give me strength to stand strong." She mentally pleaded with Hikaru.
He scoffed. "Why do you have to? I'm right here. Knock em' dead Akira!"
Akira gave a small smile and stared the head-captain in the eyes. "You've been listening to too many action flicks Hikaru."
Akira's voice called out, shaky but holding strong. All eyes were on here as she tried to decide her own fate. "How have I been accused of this false crime? I have not done anything wrong! I have served faithfully and fully all these years. Have I not taught hundreds of academy students? Have I not fought beside my captain and my comrades with everything we had to exterminate the hollo-"
Her chance was cut short. "SILENCE!" Yamamoto cut off Akira. "By conspiracy with Kisuke Urahara in the holofication experiment and endangering the lives of fellow shinigami, you have no say in this decision. There is unyielding evidence that shows you are guilty!"
He paused and stared into Akira's eyes, the fire behind them smoldering out her soul. She was frozen, unable to move. Her eyes were wide with shock and awe. Yamamoto was not pleased. "You are lucky, Akira Yoshi. You are lucky in which you didn't have to be brought in front of the central 46 yourself. By my request you were brought to me to be told of your decision only because you have served faithfully all these years."
He seemed to want to sigh, but he couldn't show weakness in front of his subordinates. Head captain Yamamoto was a proud man. Akira closed her eyes and took deep breaths to calm her rapidly beating heart. "As decided by the central 46, you are to be executed by this time tomorrow." Akira's eyes opened wide as she gaped at Yamamoto.
"E…Executed… She whispered softly."
"Take her Zanpakutou and bring her to the holding cells!" Akira was backed into a corner, so she did the only thing she wanted to do since coming back to the Soul Society. She had nothing else to loose. She confronted the demon.
Hikaru was furious, but she couldn't use him now. She couldn't fight with her zanpakutou, her hands were tied. Her spirit raged.
Akira flung herself at Aizen. "You traitor! What have you done? I trusted you!" Tears flew down her face as she yelled at Aizen who just stared at her calmly. "I called you a friend!"
"Bakudo number nine, Geki." Akira crumpled to the ground, to upset to actually fight the low level spell. Aizen calmly looked down at her from behind his glasses. "Take the traitor away!" Yamamoto calmly looked on. Akira was dragged away with SoiFon at the lead as Aizen softly smiled. The doors closed with a loud bang.
"You're dismissed!"
xXxxxxxXx
Akira sat in her cell, her Zanpakutou missing. She missed his calming voice. She looked out of the small window at the sky. "What will happen… Oh yeah, execution. Is this what he was planning when I got here? Did he know that I was going to survive? Why didn't he kill me in the first place then?"
She punched the hard surface she was sitting on with her fist. "I don't have answers! This isn't the guy I grew up with!" She shook her head sadly.
"Akira." She looked up and walked over to the bars to meet her captain, Ukitake.
"Forgive me. I… I didn't do anything." Akira said softly as she stared at him. Ukitake nodded.
"I believe you." Akira smiled softly.
"I knew you would, Captain." Akira chuckled. It was a grimace of a laugh. "Now's the time to tell him."
"Captain I… Have something to say-" Akira started to speak, but before she could finish a man interrupted them.
"By all means, go ahead, Akira." Akira froze, her eyes widening as her heart raced. A cold tremor ran through her as Aizen came into view. Her nerves felt as if they were on fire.
Ukitake frowned upon seeing the reaction Akira had. "Why is she scared of him? What was with that outburst at the trial earlier?" Things were not what they seemed. "Weren't they best friends?" Something wasn't adding up right. Ukitake stared at Aizen, then Akira.
"If they're best friends, why is she so scared?" Ukitake stayed by Akira's side and waited for Aizen to make his next move. Aizen looked at Ukitake as Akira scrambled away to stand by the window in the back, the sunlight casting shadows over her face.
"Captain, Ukitake." Aizen nodded at Ukitake. Aizen played the role of a perfect shinigami captain well. "Could you give us a little time to chat?" Ukitake nodded.
"Of course. Don't take too long, we have limited time to visit after all." Ukitake turned to leave. A voice called out to Ukitake. He froze. "Don't leave me here with him! Don't leave me here with that monster!" Ukitake was shocked.
"Aizen, why is Akira telling me to not leave her alone with you?" Ukitake questioned, wondering if he could make sense of what was going on. Aizen shook his head as he walked away. As he walked past Ukitake he paused to look back at him.
"The ramblings of a traitor maybe? Who knows?" Aizen walked out of the cell calmly, leaving a confused Ukitake in his wake.
Akira ran up to the bars and stared at Ukitake. "Thanks for –"
"Your time is up; leave before the crazy lady bites you or something." Ukitake frowned
"They think she's crazy?" He wondered as he slowly walked away from a silent Akira. As the doors closed behind him, He paused and looked back to where Akira was being held.
"What is going on?"
xXxxxxXx
Sometime later, Akira sat on the small hard surface near the window again. She was deep in thought when a whisper came to her right. She looked and outside of the cell sat a black cat. Yoruichi set down Akira's Zanpakutou. "Akira."
Akira couldn't believe that Yoruichi came to save her. "Yes, I'm here to rescue you, let's go! When you didn't respond on the communicator we decided something was wrong and we came to get you! Let's go home. Standing, Akira walked over to the bars.
"Okay."
xxXxxxxXxx
After arriving back in the real world, Akira explained what happened with drab detail and went to go rest. Urahara sighed and sat down next to Yoruichi. "She's been asleep for a while now."
"It's understandable Kisuke. She was ordered to be executed by the place that was her home. Also, she was betrayed by her supposed best friend." Urahara sighed.
"I guess this means that she will want answers."
"Damn right I do! Explain what happened. I deserve at least that much!" Akira sat down across from Kisuke and Yoruichi. "Please." Akira added silently while staring at the tabletop. She was back in her gigai, dressed in a casual black tank top and black shorts with gold stars.
"I went to the soul society to warn them. They captured and imprisoned me with the intent to kill based on the existence of your exile and I am just a little confused. What is this whole experiment thing and what happened?"
Urahara stared back at her, his mood solemn. "You do deserve some answers Akira. And for everything that has happened, I am truly sorry. This is why I ran away from the soul society all those years ago and never told you about it." Urahara took a deep breath and continued.
"I was working on a new device back when I was captain of the 12th division. What I was working on was called the Hogyoku. This device could push a shinigami past his limits. A shinigami could then reach a new form of power. It was never fully tested. There was an outbreak of shinigami disappearances. What was different about all this was that only their clothes remained, but the people were gone."
Urahara took a sip of his tea before continuing. "When there were people sent out to investigate, multiple shinigami were sent. When they arrived, they were attacked. Aizen inflicted them with holofication, turning them against each other with the Hogyoku. I arrived too late with Tessai; they were already undergoing the process of holofication. When I confronted Aizen, he got away. I took them to the 12th division barracks, where I tried to save them using the Hogyoku, but it failed." Urahara paused, looking over to Yoruichi. She nodded, and he continued.
"The next day, we were arrested under orders from the central 46. Like you, we had clearly been set up by Aizen, who was trying to get rid of us. We were sentenced. As you know Akira, I was exiled to the real world. Tessai was sentenced to imprisonment. Before anything could happen, we were rescued by Yoruichi here."
"We were then brought to a secret underground area where there waited the hollowfied shinigami, along with my prototype gigai. I then resolved to take them to the real world, where we could find a way to undo the holofication process." Urahara sighed.
"And there you have it."
Akira frowned, looking at the table top, her eyes clouded and stormy as if in thought. "Thank you for telling me Kisuke." She stood up, heading to the door. "I'm going to need some time alone. I hope you can understand." Akira pulled on her sneakers and headed out the door.
Urahara sighed and looked at Yoruichi. "Now we will see what happens next, eh Yoruichi?"
She snorted. "You didn't exactly tell her the whole story Kisuke."
"Yep."
xXxxXxx
Akira sat on the roof of Urahara's shop, absorbed in her thoughts. "So this whole time… He was evil?" She whispered softly. "Don't let it bother you too much Akira. It is done and over with. He will pay with his life soon enough."
Akira sighed and played with her shoelace. Akira looked up at the sky as a raindrop hit her in the face. "It's going to rain? Well that's fan-tabulous."
Suddenly, Akira paused from her thoughts, her eyes widening in shock as she felt a spike in spiritual pressure from more than one person. "Hikaru, do you feel that? I think Rukia and Ichigo are in danger!" Hikaru was silent, as if assessing the situation.
"It feels like there are two others with them. One seems to be of captain level, the other seems to be a Lieutenant level." Akira jumped off the building and ran inside the shop.
"Kisuke! Ichigo and Rukia are in trouble! I need to go and see if everything is okay.
Urahara casually walked into the room. "You have your candy yes?" Akira nodded.
He got his fan out and hid his face behind it. "Then be carefuuulll!"
Akira raised an eyebrow as she popped the candy into her mouth and the artificial soul took over. Akira adjusted her shihakusho. "Be carreefuull Akkiirraa!" The artificial soul that inhabited her body winked at her. Akira shuddered and pointed at her gigai.
"Will you please come up with better artificial souls? That thing is creepy!"
xXxxxXx
Akira jumped along the rooftops of Karakura town, heading towards the direction of Ichigo, Rukia, and the two other shinigami. "Be careful Akira, something feels off here. Rukia's spiritual pressure has been weak ever since we've been back in contact with her. Something smells very fishy."
Akira crinkled her nose. "I didn't know Zanpakutou spirits could smell." Hikaru laughed.
"You'd be surprised at a lot of things we can do Akira."
Akira found what she was looking for and landed in front of Rukia. "Rukia, are you alright?" Akira looked at her friend with concerned eyes. Rukia's eyes widened before watering up. "Y…Yeah."
"It seems we have a traitor in our midst. So this is where you've run off to? You're a disgrace to the 12th squad Akira Yoshi." Akira slowly turned to face the speaker.
"It's nice to see you again, Byakuya Kutchiki. It's rather too bad that we've met again und- "Akira froze upon seeing Ichigo's battered body on the ground, his broken Zanpakutou accompanying him. "What have you done?" Akira took her stance.
"I merely severed his soul chain and soul sleep. He won't be a shinigami any longer." Byakuya looked down at the injured struggling body of Ichigo as Ichigo grabbed Byakuya's leg.
"You… Can't… Take her! I will protect Rukia!" Byakuya's eyes widened in shock.
"You shouldn't be able to move. How dare you touch me with your filthy hands." Byakuya stepped on Ichigo's head."
"Stop now Byakuya if you know what is good for you." Akira growled, placing a hand on her Zanpakutou. "I will not hesitate to cut down even a captain like you." Rukia placed a hand over Akira's hand that was on her sword.
"Please Akira… Don't hurt my brother. I will go back with my brother and Renji to the Soul Society to await my judgment." Renji appeared beside Rukia and grabbed Rukia's arm, flash stepping them next to Byakuya, whose foot was still on Ichigo's head. Akira growled, irritated beyond belief.
"What the hell Rukia! This isn't like you to give up! And you!" Akira pointed at Byakuya. "Get your big ass foot off of Ichigo!" Akira drew her sword and attacked Byakuya. He flash stepped with Renji and Rukia away from the face down Ichigo, whom of which was still trying to struggle to get up.
"That's enough Akira! Let me go with them! You'll get hurt!" Rukia cried out. Akira froze and sighed and sheathed her sword.
"Fine. You'll go with them for now. But don't expect me to sit here after you go back." Akira motioned to Ichigo. "And especially when they've hurt one of my friends, and you." Akira snorted as the gate behind Byakuya and Renji opened. Renji looked at Akira.
"I'm sorry Akira, but orders are orders." Akira narrowed her eyes at Renji's comment.
"But are you sure that those orders are where they are coming from?" Akira said as they went through the gate. Right before the door closed, Rukia looked back one last time, her mouth forming the words, I'm sorry.
Almost immediately Ichigo cried out Rukia's name as Akira tried to calm him down. "Ichigo, stop! You've lost a lot of blood! You'll hurt yourself further!" Ichigo slapped Akira's hand away. "I don't care! You could have saved her!" His voice trailed off as Akira punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow, what the hell was that for!" Ichigo cried out in pain. "It's hard enough to breathe without you hurting me!"
"Don't you think I would have saved her if I had the chance to?" Akira whispered as Ichigo grew silent at her words. He started to cough up blood. Akira grimaced as she rolled Ichigo over so he could breathe better.
"I'm sorry, Ichigo. I don't know much first aid." Ichigo coughed some more as his eyes started to unfocus more. "Damnit Ichigo! Hold on, I don't need you to die on me! Rukia would murder me!" Ichigo grimaced as Akira stood up. "You might be a little heavy, but I could carry your sorry ass."
Ichigo gave a grunt in reply. "I don't think that is necessary Akira." Akira turned around and nodded at Urahara.
"He needs help Kisuke. I don't think he will make it much longer." Kisuke walked over to Ichigo's unconscious body. "Let's get him to the shop; we can treat his wounds there." Akira nodded.
Ichigo needed help, she would worry about Rukia later.
XXxXX ENDCHAPTER XXxXX
Thank you to you guys who reviewed, you all made my day. Like... Really. And for you guys who have read and, (some of you who have reviewed,) I cranked this one out as soon as I could with school being a huge behind. Lucky day right? I hope you guys enjoyed it! It's a little longer then my last chapter too!
-Becky-