Hello everyone, we are here with another chapter! A huge thank you to everyone who commented/reviewed on the last chapter it really means a lot. I hope you all enjoy, read on!
Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo
X
Orihime was babbling about something as they stood in the shade of the school building, her chatter drifted through Tatsuki's head like the lyrics of a song and she leaned against the cool brick behind her with her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at a group of idiots who were ogling Orihime. Part of Tatsuki was sorely tempted to stomp forward and confront the boys, see the way they turned away or listen to their rebuttal and feel her fist meet their faces. But then Orihime would give her that sad look, the whole expected better kind of deal and Tatsuki couldn't.
She tapped her fingers against her arm again and her eyes drifted to the gates of the school, Ichigo always waited there for Ishida and Sado, glaring at everyone in sight. Sometimes she stood with them waiting for Orihime to shuffle out of the school with too many books in her arms and a bounce to her step. But school had let out half an hour ago and Tatsuki was content to listen to Orihime talk about a new recipe she wanted to try out instead of wondering where Ichigo was.
The moment it happened was something tangible, like sticking a rod of iron through her spine or sticking your finger in an electrical socket. Tatsuki's fingers dug into her pocket as she glanced around at their surroundings, students were milling about unaware as the ground shook beneath her feet. Orihime beside Tatsuki paused in the middle of a debate with herself over the merit of tabasco sauce over wasabi and cocked her head as if sensing it as well. Tatsuki had no idea what was going to happen only that something was.
The first hollow lumbered through the gates, large, too large, like something out of a horror movie with pale skin and beady yellow eyes. Tatsuki hated the way their eyes looked, so inhuman, not even animalistic, just wrong. Orihime gasped and her hands flew over mouth as she stared at the hollow with wide eyes. That was new.
Tatsuki crinkled her brow and somehow knew everything was Ichigo's fault as she tugged on the gloves he had given her. The material was like silk over her knuckles where it cut off at the second joint and the red was almost garish in the pleasant sunlight above. Tatsuki flexed her fingers and turned to Orihime as the hollow took another lumbering step forward and students milled about unaware.
"Stay back Orihime, I'll deal with the hollow okay?"
"But you could get hurt Tatsuki!"
Orihime protested staring at her with those big brown eyes. The hollow roared at the gates and Tatsuki shook her head with a forced grin at Orihime as she focused on channelling her reaitsu, she didn't have anything close to what Ichigo had (or Ishida, or even Sado) but the gloves concentrated it and amplified it, or at least that was what Ichigo had said.
"I'll be fine. Try to get the other students to safety, they can't see it."
Orihime nodded her hands clenched into fists at her sides as she stared at Tatsuki, in the sunlight she seemed radiant. Tatsuki turned and ran forward towards the hollow, it towered over her and she could feel fear like a beat in her head and sweat beading on her brow.
The hollow noticed her when she was within a few feet of it and one large arm rose into the air before it hurtled towards her. Tatsuki darted to the side and kept running as she pulled back a fist and when she was close enough punched the hollow's leg. Reaitsu exploded from her gloves in a mini-wave of power forcing the hollow back a step but failing to knock it onto its back.
Tatsuki cursed and jumped back as the hollow regained its balance and roared, its tail lashed out behind it as the hollow raised another fist. The pavement shattered into splinters of concrete as the hollow's fist landed where she had once stood, she darted backwards at the hit of another punch and cursed as she stared up at the hollow. She needed to end it as quickly as possible while there were students around, but she was still too shaky at solidifying reaitsu beneath her feet to try and step into the air. One hit to the hollow's mask would probably be enough to end it.
She ran behind the hollow knowing its large size would slow its movements and considered how she could knock it to the ground. Tripping it wouldn't work, she was too small and there was nothing to trip it on. She couldn't throw it over her shoulder like she could with a particularly large opponent either. For a moment she wished Ichigo was there, or even Ishida with his fancy arrows that could take a hollow out at the knee.
At the knee. Right. Tatsuki pivoted and ducked under the hollow's swing and stepped forward, the back of its knee was unprotected as the hollow twisted over and Tatsuki grinned as she pulled back her fist and channelled her reaitsu into her fist through the glove, it felt almost like trying to hold water in the cup of your hands. The punch connected with a vicious crack that resounded through the courtyard and the hollow roared as it stumbled to its knees.
Tatsuki panted and grabbed the hollow's shoulder, ignoring the sharp plates there as she pulled it into the ground and with a rough inhale punched the pale mask. She stepped back and shook out her fist, her knuckles were stinging but she stood still as the hollow dissipated and the courtyard echoed suddenly quiet and all she could hear was the blood rushing through her veins and the pounding of her heart.
She turned around, the courtyard was empty, deserted in the ensuing quiet and Tatsuki frowned and tilted her head as her eyes swept over the grey stone. A crash echoed in the distance and Tatsuki tensed suddenly worried, she had left Orihime alone, Orihime who attracted danger and calamity of any kind like honey for flies. Cursing, Tatsuki tilted her head back for a moment to catch her breath and broke into a run trying to find her friend.
As her feet pounded against the pavement, she cursed Ichigo again, and just for good measure, she cursed Sado and Ishida. Part of her wished that she had never seen Ichigo covered in blood (a head wound) fighting against a creature twice his size almost three years ago. She almost wished that she had kept walking, that maybe they would never have reconnected and there would be vague respect and acknowledgement in place of their close friendship.
But she hadn't. Instead, she had run forward and punched the hollow before it could hit Ichigo with its weird long arms. Maybe she didn't regret it. Didn't regret learning about the spirit world, how to control her reaitsu, sitting on the roof with Ichigo after a patrol talking about nothing and everything. She couldn't regret it when it allowed her to protect those around her, to protect Orihime. Or at least she should be able to.
Tatsuki rounded the corner of the school, her shoes slapped against the pavement and her breath rocked in her lungs as her arms pumped by her sides and the sound of an explosion echoed and rebounded off the walls. The small section at the back of the school opened up before her and Tatsuki grounded to a halt as her eyes swung around wildly until they found what she had been looking for.
Orihime was golden, literally glowing with yellow light and Tatsuki couldn't help but stare at her. Then a student slammed up against the barrier surrounding her and Tatsuki shook away the shock about Orihime having powers and ran forward with a cry of her name.
She whirled around, the fall of her hair following the motion and her eyes lit up in a way that settled like liquid warmth in Tatsuki's chest even as she noticed the fear in Orihime's eyes. Her eyes swept over the pavement, there were five students all staring at them with blank eyes. A hollow, probably something with mind-control, which was just freaky. Tatsuki cursed under her breath as she ran forward until she was in front of Orihime. There was a bruise blossoming on her cheek and Tatsuki resisted the urge to reach out and brush her fingers over the injury.
"Are you okay Orihime?!"
Tatsuki demanded staring warily at the students who were watching them with empty eyes. Orihime smiled, weak and fragile, like the wings of a butterfly and Tatsuki was certain for a moment that she was going to flap her hands and babble about it as if nothing was happening.
"There's a hollow and its been controlling the students!"
Tatsuki nodded and stared at the students for a tense moment, it felt like she was standing on the wire of a tight rope as she asked, "Do you know how the hollow is controlling them?"
Laughter, harsh and crooked like static sprung out from the shadows of the school and Tatsuki's eyes darted towards the building only to catch a glimpse of the too white skin of the hollow. Then the students as one rushed forward.
"Protect yourself Orihime, I'll incapacitate the students."
She called out over her shoulder as she ducked under the clumsy punch of a student and flipped them over her shoulder before whirling and landing a kick in the solar plexus of another. Tatsuki panted through the slight exhaustion tugging at her limbs and ducked under a punch and responded with an elbow to the gut as she rolled away from a kick and tripped the student over her leg. They stayed down for a moment before clambering to their feet in exactly the same manner as zombies from a cheap horror movie. It was definitely more terrifying in real life.
"Got any offensive stuff Orihime?"
Tatsuki threw over her shoulder as she ducked under a clumsy punch and thrust her foot into the student's stomach with a silent apology. There was no solid way to incapacitate the students, they would just rise to their feet, the only solution was probably to go after the hollow.
"I think so!"
"Okay, do you think you can handle the students?"
Tatsuki questioned as she rolled across the ground and flipped another student to the ground before darting back towards Orihime. She shook her head at the question and for a moment Tatsuki was distracted and a punch connected. Tatsuki gasped and dropped to her knees for a moment as she tried to breathe and ignore the pain in her chest.
"I-I think I can deal with the hollow."
"Are you certain Orihime? I don't want you to get hurt."
Tatsuki questioned as she rose somewhat shakily to her feet. Fighting mind-controlled students was officially a bitch. Orihime stared at her for a long moment before her hands clenched into fists at her sides and she nodded with a determined slant to her brows. It stole Tatsuki's breath for a whole moment. Orihime turned and ran towards the school, Tatsuki scowled and turned to face the students who charged her once more.
She fell into the rhythm of fighting, ducking and trying to conserve her energy turning one motion into the next. As she tripped one student and elbowed another Orihime lingered on the back of her mind, part of her was worried, so worried that she had sent her to her death. That she would never see Orihime again except maybe as a spirit (which would probably be worse). But she couldn't consider it, she needed to focus on keeping herself alive.
The students collapsed suddenly, falling boneless to the pavement. Tatsuki paused to stare at them, her breath was loud as it rushed from her lips and her chest was heaving. Every muscle in her body was burning and her limbs felt heavy. It felt a bit strange to feel so tired when she could patrol all night, but she had also used a lot of reaitsu so maybe it made sense.
Orihime. Right. Tatsuki took a shaky breath followed by a shaky step towards the school, she needed to find Orihime. Before Tatsuki could take another wobbly step Orihime limped out from the shadows of the school, and in the suddenly fading sunlight, she was golden. When Orihime saw her she smiled, that brilliant smile and her pace quickened until her arms were wrapped around Tatsuki and all she could feel was her warmth and the faint smell of something sweet.
"Are you okay?"
Tatsuki questioned tilting her head to study Orihime for visible wounds. Orihime hesitated for a moment before she nodded with a small smile and tilted her head her brown eyes staring at Tatsuki.
"That was totally scary! But you were amazing Tatsuki, all Pow! And bam!"
"You were really cool too Orihime."
Tatsuki responded and bumped her shoulder against Orihime's and then immediately regretted the movement as her body complained. Orihime tilted her head with wide eyes and then suddenly there was a glowing yellow sphere around them. Tatsuki stared at the sphere and ran her fingers lightly over the edge as she questioned, "Is this your powers?"
"Yep! I have these spirits and they're in my hair pins and…"
Tatsuki leaned against Orihime and listened to her ramble as she felt the ache in her muscles fade, she was still exhausted, but it seemed distant now. Footsteps sounded as the students around them began to groan and maybe resurface to the horrible world of the living. Tatsuki only felt a little sorry for them.
It was Ichigo, his hair bright and outrageous in the fading sunlight as he rounded the corner, there was blood on his forehead and she could see his zanpaktou in his hands, glinting black. The others followed behind him, Rukia had her zanpaktou unsheathed, Ishida was walking with Sado and they looked like a team, like a unit, like something that could stop the end of the world.
"Tatsuki, Orihime are you okay?"
Ichigo questioned as he stopped in front of them staring at Orihime's barrier-thing with wide eyes. Tatsuki nodded and crossed her arms over her chest playing with the cool material of her gloves as Orihime bounced and began to detail everything that had happened along with aliens and the occasional robot.
"What happened?"
Tatsuki demanded as she pinned Ichigo with a hard stare because hollows did not just randomly appear in large groups and everything was usually his fault anyway. Ichigo blushed for a moment and tilted his head to stare at the pavement below before he responded, "There was an accident and… Uryū crushed the hollow bait!"
"I did not! That was your fault Kurosaki!"
Ishida responded turning on his heel to pin Ichigo with a glare that was as sharp as a knife. Tatsuki raised an unimpressed brow even as she noticed Rukia crouching over the students with a device of some kind, probably Soul Society oriented.
"How does something like that happen accidentally?"
"Was there an earthquake and the ground split in two and Ishida was holding the bait, but Kurosaki caught him, and he dropped it?"
Orihime questioned with a tilt of her head and a clap of her hands. They stared at her for a moment in amazed confusion and Tatsuki couldn't help but grin at Orihime's imagination even as she tapped a foot against the pavement and thought about going home.
"Ishida was showing the bait and we were sort of fighting and then he accidentally crushed it because I may have accidentally punched him?"
Ichigo responded staring at the ground with an embarrassed expression, Ishida was staring resolutely into the distance as if it would allow him to escape the situation. Tatsuki's eyes drifted to Sado and he nodded once in a manner that managed to convey an apology for his idiot friends.
Rukia drifted to stand beside Ichigo and bowed to Tatsuki and Orihime as she said, "I'm sorry this happened because of some idiots but I'm glad you're both okay."
"It was kind of awesome!"
Orihime responded with a giggle as her hands flapped in the air, Tatsuki rolled her eyes and responded, "It's over now at least."
Ichigo grinned and like that Tatsuki's anger dissipated and all she felt was tired and maybe a bit giddy in the afterglow of the adrenaline in her veins. Orihime pressed her body into Tatsuki's side and all she could feel was her warmth before it was disrupted by the sound of Orihime's stomach rumbling. She blushed and Tatsuki stared at her with amused eyes even as Ichigo stared at the rest of them and said, "How about dinner?"
Tatsuki laughed at the absurdity of the situation but seeing the light behind Orihime's eyes she nodded, Ishida looked sullen, like he wished to be anywhere but with them but Tatsuki could tell it was kind of fake. Rukia grinned and Sado nodded once in agreement and that was that they called the paramedics for the students and then left the school. All around them the sun was golden as it touched the horizon and Rukia talked to Orihime with wide eyes. Orihime had powers and they had just fought for their lives, but they had survived, they were okay.
X
Music, an old cd that used to belong to his mom, drifted lazily in the background as Ichigo flipped the page between his homework and the textbook, it was history and the words were blurring on the page in front of him but Ichigo didn't particularly care. Outside the window, the sun had finished setting and night had draped itself over Karakura in soft shades of evening. Rukia shifted on his bed, she was peering at her cellphone, the one from Soul Society, with a troubled expression but that wasn't unusual. Soul Society was kind of fucked up from what Ichigo had gathered.
"I'm leaving."
The words fell, quiet and just there, like they couldn't be erased, thrust into existence and forced to stay. Ichigo put his pencil down and turned in his chair to stare at Rukia, the phone rested beside her on the bed, the screen glowed blue in the warmth of his room. Her expression was blank, the perfect noble mask, but it was too transparent now and it couldn't fool Ichigo anymore.
"Tonight?"
He questioned and the words felt like they came out wrong, like someone else had spoken. Rukia nodded and her arms wrapped around her chest for a moment before she forcibly moved them to rest casually at her side. She was leaving. The thought fluttered through his brain in a frenzied panic that drowned him like static.
"Why?"
It felt like he was speaking in broken sentences. Rukia frowned the expression twisting her features as her gaze dropped away from Ichigo to stare at his bed sheets as if they held all the answers in the world. She inhaled, softly, and looked up at Ichigo pinning him with those piercing eyes and replied, "I had an extension to investigate the strange reaitsu presences in Karakura, but I've been recalled as they have all the data they need."
Ichigo stared at her as if it would stop this conversation as if it would erase her (impersonal, too formal) words, the reason that made sense. Ichigo had always known that Rukia couldn't stay, she was dead, and he was alive, she was an official Shinigami with responsibilities, a division, subordinates, and Ichigo was a teenager with a bunch of reaitsu. It made sense. He had known it was inevitable but that hadn't stopped him from trying to make friends with her. Maybe he was kind of an idiot, but he couldn't say he regretted it.
"Okay."
"Okay? You're not angry, you don't want me to stay?"
Rukia responded and Ichigo was suddenly suspended at the fraying end of a rope where if he said the wrong thing they would part on the wrong words. Ichigo shook his head and carefully considered his answer as his fingers rolled the pencil in his palm, Zangetsu was a comforting hum at the back of his mind and he could almost see his spirit rolling his eyes.
"I am angry that you're only telling me tonight, or if you only found out tonight because I would have liked to spend our time together doing something interesting. And of course, I want you to stay Rukia! You've… in the short time I've known you, you've become family to me. And if anything, anything ever happened I wouldn't hesitate to come and help you. But you're a Shinigami, you have responsibilities just like I do."
"That's very mature of you Ichigo."
Rukia responded tentatively in the silence that lingered for a moment with a small smile that was almost sharp, almost a grin. Ichigo rolled his eyes, he was very mature thank you. Silence lingered for a moment and Rukia's eyes darted to her phone.
"Do you have to leave now?"
Ichigo questioned with a tilt of his head at the phone that he suddenly felt a visceral hate for. Rukia slumped and nodded, she bit her lip and Ichigo suddenly understood that Rukia also wasn't quite ready to go yet.
"Can I come with you? Not to Soul Society, but like to your drop off point?"
Ichigo questioned as he stared at Rukia, her head whipped up and she stared at him with wide eyes before a smile slipped slowly across her features and she nodded as she replied, "I would like that Ichigo."
He nodded and rose to his feet, tugging on a sweater as Rukia mimicked the motion, grabbing her supplies and the cell phone before tucking it into her pockets. She paused in the middle of the motion and said, "I guess I don't need my gigai?"
"You can leave it here, I'll bring it to Kisuke, he'll recycle it or put it in storage."
Ichigo replied and watched somewhat distractedly as Rukia stepped out of her gigai and stood there awkwardly for a moment holding the fake body. Ichigo blinked and tilted his head at the closet, it would do for the moment and Yuzu wouldn't do laundry until Tuesday. What was he supposed to tell his family? Probably the truth. They would understand after all, even if Yuzu would mope a bit.
"Ready?"
He asked with a shake of his head at the door. Rukia glanced around his room, took in everything with sad eyes before she inhaled and nodded stepping out the doorway and into the hallway. They left the house in silence, Yuzu and Karin were curled together on the couch watching a horror movie and their dad was in the clinic with an emergency patient. It felt wrong like they should have had a celebration and bid Rukia goodbye to the warmth of their home with food and good cheer or whatever.
The air outside was cool, biting at his skin and ruffling through his hair as they paused for a moment under the glow of a streetlight in the shadows of the suburbs. Rukia turned to Ichigo, and to his home behind him and smiled, small and tentative like she had forgotten how as she said, "I'm going to miss your family Ichigo."
"Our family."
Ichigo replied and the words felt right. Rukia blinked and her mouth dropped open for a moment and Ichigo swore he could see tears like crystals in her eyes as Rukia nodded. Ichigo stepped forward and opened his arms, felt Rukia press against him with her always too cold skin.
They broke apart a moment later and Rukia wiped at her cheeks as she turned and began to walk down the street. Ichigo followed beside her in the silence between them, it felt as if they couldn't speak, like everything that needed to be said had already been said; even if it hadn't.
They stopped at the park nearby, the grass was damp and squishy beneath the soles of his sneakers, the playground was different in the evening, the plastic tubing and everything seemed misshapen and vaguely terrifying. When he glanced at Rukia, she was tucking away her phone, in the pale light of the evening, she seemed like a ghost, something intangible that he soon wouldn't even be able to see.
"I guess this is goodbye."
"For now.
Ichigo replied with a touch of a smile that felt too fragile. He shrugged as if to clean away the tenseness that hung between them before he sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face and into his hair.
"If you ever need anything, anything Rukia I'll always be there okay?"
Ichigo said and the words felt tight in his chest, too vulnerable like they should've remained unspoken. Rukia blinked up at Ichigo before she nodded with a grin and replied, "The same goes for you Ichigo. If you need anything I'll always be there."
The shoji doors creaked into existence behind Rukia, illuminating her in a pale washed out light. Ichigo resisted the urge to frown and instead smiled at her, Rukia grinned up at him and there wasn't time for everything, all the unsaid things, and it was mostly okay.
She turned and walked through the doors, white light surrounded her and then she was gone and so were the doors and Ichigo was alone. He stared for a long moment at the space where Rukia had stood it felt weird, surreal, like it all hadn't happened, like any minute she would walk out from behind a tree and berate him for getting lost in his own head. But she wouldn't.
Ichigo turned and felt the sudden weight of Zangetsu's arms over his shoulders, a line of warmth in the chill of the night around him as he began to walk home. Or at least to walk in that direction. It still felt unreal and Ichigo wondered at how much she had changed his life in a month, how she had barged in and slotted herself into her life as if it was totally natural. He would miss her, miss her laughter, her bad drawing skills, her bossy tendencies, her amazement at the human world, probably everything about her.
But it wasn't the end. Ichigo knew that much. He didn't know when he would see her again, it could be someday long in the future when he was on his death bed or in the next week. But he would see her again.
Ichigo paused at the sound of a particularly intrusive cough and glanced over his shoulder. Shinji was leaning casually against the side of a convenience store; his hair was muddled in the light and his teeth glinted pale like a hollow, he could see Sakande curled around her wielder floating in all the wrong directions.
"Head in the clouds Ichi?"
He questioned his voice distorted slightly, a side effect from the renewed bond, it also made Shinji's eyes look like liquid gold in the right light. Ichigo nodded and walked over silently to press against the cold brick beside Shinji. He and Kisuke had probably been plotting, they liked to do that.
"You want to talk about it?"
Shinji questioned with a tilt of his head as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. Ichigo wrinkled his nose at the smell and shook his head at the very parent manual question as he stared at the dark streets of Karakura town.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. If ya had tried to ask us that question even as a kid, we probably wouldn't have talked much. But you're smarter than that huh Ichigo."
Shinji commented and Ichigo rolled his eyes at the man because Shinji could be horrible at subtly most of the time; he had his moments though. Shinji dropped his cigarette and stubbed it beneath his toes as he pushed away from the wall and glanced at Ichigo with eyes that practically glowed.
"Come on, Hachi is making hot chocolate and Love chose the movie so it's probably some masterpiece or something."
Ichigo considered the offer for what it was for a long moment, he had homework, and his sisters were at home. But Ichigo kind of wanted to escape and it probably wasn't the best coping mechanism, but it definitely wasn't the worst. Ichigo pushed off the wall, Zangetsu's arms warm around his shoulders as he sent his sisters a text and caught up to Shinji. It wasn't over, he would see her again, but for now, he would go on living.
X
Thank you all for reading! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it was really fun to write Tatsuki and Orihime's relationship (I lowkey ship them but it shall remain subtext) and yes Tatsuki will have a larger presence in this series. Reviews/comments are always appreciated, till next time!