Hi! It's me again. I'm sorry for my mistake last chapter in calling Tatsuki "Tatski" instead. Thanks for pointing that out !
I don't own Bleach!
Ichigo watched Rukia run out of his house and down the street. It amazed him how nobody ever bothered to look in the garden. He smiled bitterly. His headache hadn't left him all day, despite taking about six painkiller tablets. His eyes hadn't changed either. He didn't know why he wasn't going to go back home, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't where he should be. His heart felt full of glass as he watched Yuzu sobbing and Karin trying to comfort her through the kitchen window. He saw his dad walk over to the girls and talk to them. Yuzu put her head on the table and sobbed harder and Karin began to yell at him. Isshin put his hands up and continued to talk. Karin sat down, petulantly. Isshin went over to Yuzu and put an arm around her. They sat like that for a while before Yuzu got up and went up the stairs. She wouldn't sleep well. Isshin went up after her. Karin stood up and opened the window. Ichigo could see her face was streaked with tears.
"Onee-san," she whispered into the night air, "onee-chan, please come home. Please. Or, if you can't come now, hurry, please."
Ichigo couldn't breathe. He wanted desperately to answer her, to run inside and comfort Yuzu, to fight his dad, but he couldn't move. He hung his head in shame. Karin stared into the sky before shutting the window. He saw her go up the stairs. Ichigo continued to watch the now empty window for a minute, before turning around and jumping the garden wall. He walked down the side street and headed for a place he hadn't seen in years.
Rukia ran past the park, the graveyard, the school, the shops, Urahara's shop and stopped running when she got to the town centre. Where was he? Kon had said Ichigo had black and yellow eyes when he'd seen him, and that could only mean his hollow was active. If Ichigo's inner hollow was acting up, where would he go? Her mobile phone beeped. Ever since she and Byakuya had come to the real world, he'd insisted upon her carrying a phone everywhere just in case something bad happened. Sure enough, Byakuya was calling her. She sighed and accepted the call.
"Onee-sama?"
"Rukia, where are you? You're not home and it's nearly 7."
"I'm sorry, Byakuya-sama. I'm looking for Ichigo. I think his inner hollow is giving him trouble. He hasn't been seen all day. I'm...I'm worried onee-sama." she said, her voice cracking at the end. On the other end, Byakuya sighed. It sounded like a rush of static.
"Rukia, if he hasn't been seen all day, it's unlikely you'll find him now."
"Onee-sama!"
"You have half an hour Rukia, then you come home. If you haven't found him then, I'll help you find him tomorrow. If we can't find him then, it's out of our hands."
"Thank you onee-sama! I'll be home by 7:30! I promise!" Rukia said, relief in her voice.
"Take care, Rukia." Byakuya said as she hung up. Rukia smiled and thought hard. Where would he go? The answer hit her then. The train tracks.