1A/N: Another somewhat slow chapter but the first few kind of have to be to build of plot, have some exposition, and all that other junk that I guess makes up a story. Things will get moving soon enough...I think at least. Doing my best on a tight schedule for the moment, things should get cleared up in a week or two and give me a little bit more time to write. Just have to wait and see. Thanks to all those who reviewed, its always appreciated and pretty much puts this story at the top of my priority list...should stay there I imagine.
Perpetual Twilight
Chapter 3: What Stirs Within
By: Finalitylife
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Bleach or its characters. That's all I got..
Ichigo truly wished it was nothing but some horrific nightmare, but he knew what he was seeing was only a terrifying memory that kept eating away at his sanity. The memory of when he has lost control, the memories of what he had done to her.
Ichigo could see, but he could do nothing, just exactly as it had been when that bastard had taken over, forced to replay it all over again in such helplessness. He had tried with every fiber of his being to make it stop, but his body would just not respond...would not listen to his screams. Rukia...Rukia was in danger, and he couldn't do anything to stop it because he was the one hurting her. It all played out before him once more...
He watched as her already bleeding body tripped, her body falling hard to the hard ground, the sound of something clearly breaking underneath her small weight. As she fought back to her feet, her wrist could be clearly seen to be that which had broken as she cradled the impossibly bent appendage with her other arm to her chest. She turned back to look directly at him as he jumped down from the rooftops, her eyes going wide in fear as she started running again. He only laughed at her futile little attempt to get away from him.
His footsteps moved slowly forward, an occasional clank of metal against the ground as the tip of his blade hit against it.
"Hahaha...do you see her Ichigo? She claims to be so tough, always fighting with us, pushing us around. Do you see how easily she falls away from who she claims to be when faced with terror? She is just a weak little girl...no one worth caring about. I'm doing both of us a favor..."
Ichigo screamed again, trying to force his will again back into his actions, and this time he felt it grow stronger, the monster within stopping his footsteps for a few seconds as he growled.
"Nice try Ichigo, but I won't let you back so soon. I have come back stronger than last time. You sure you will win eventually, but really it won't matter. In the end, no matter what happens, I will still be back, stronger and stronger each time until I am the only one left. Until then, let's just try and enjoy the hunt. I can smell her blood in the air, and it does smell so good."
Laughter again filled the night as in a flash, Rukia was back within striking distance, Zangestu slashing into her abdomen and then across her face. She inevitably fell backwards from the sudden strikes, landing on her back, a splash of blood landing on the Hollow's mask which only made him smile wider.
"There you are little rabbit. It was very rude of you to run away. Care to apologize?"
Ichigo watched as Rukia tried to stare back with strength and defiance, but it was a failing effort, her gaze breaking contact as she tried to get up.
"Please Ichigo...please stop this. Please go back to normal. This isn't you...this isn't you." Rather than use his sword, the Hollow resorted to a vicious backhand to the slowy rising Rukia, knocking her several feet down the deserted road, a trail of blood left on the dirty ground where she rolled on it.
"Foolish little girl...this is more me than you can even imagine. It is a pity you have to die though. You look like the type of girl who would like me more than him."
Ichigo could feel the disgusting lecherous and sick thoughts racing through his mind...its mind, and again tried to reassert his will before he could lay another hand on her. All he managed do was gain control for a brief second where all he could force out was 'run Rukia' in his own voice, not in the twisted tone that was the Hollow's.
His small victory was quickly beat back down by the raging Hollow within as his quiet plea was replaced with dark laugher. Again Rukia tried to run away though far slower than before, the Hollow again allowing it. Ichigo could feel what it wanted, and it wanted this to last as long as possible, his blade to taste as much of her blood as it could without killing her.
The chase went on and one, Rukia only further losing strength and blood, the begging beginning for him to stop...or at least to just kill her and end the suffering. The Hollow would grant neither to her, and Ichigo could feel tears forming in his eyes...his human eyes underneath the mask as he watched Rukia trying to crawl away. This time when he screamed, it was a scream born purely of her pain, not his.
It was at this moment, that Ichigo woke up, shooting up into a sitting position, clutching his head as remnants of the nightmarish memory lingered within his vision. Rukia...oh, god...what had he done? All he could do was ask that question over and over again, and the fact was he knew exactly what he had done. He just couldn't deal with it...
As his vision settled in, he scanned the dark surrounding recognizing one of the rooms he had stayed in before at Urahara's shop. The last thing he remembered was the phone call, and the monster's voice returning to his head, and then only blackness. He must have lost consciousness.
As he sat there, trying to pull his mind back into some sense of normalcy, he could hear two voices in another room, one female and one male, both he could recognize.
"Damn it Kisuke. I won't say this is the worst thing you've ever done, but you should have said something to at least Ichigo. He had a right to know what had awakened within him. You know he wouldn't have been able to truly understand it on his own."
"Yes Yoruichi I know but remember, everything was in such a rush back then. There was such little time to get him ready. Had I not done what I did, he would have never even awoken his own shinigami powers and the rescue mission would never even have started let alone succeeded. It just was a most unfortunate side effect that the Hollow awoke as well...and stayed awake."
Ichigo could hear Yoruichi let out a deep sigh.
"I know you didn't do anything with malice in your heart Kisuke, you never do, its just that, do you truly understand what this all means?"
"Ichigo has a Hollow slowly growing inside of him, Rukia was just tortured and nearly killed by the guy she's probably in love with, and if Soul Society figures out that there is a Hollow in Ichigo that he can't control, they will destroy him without batting an eye, and not the mention who knows what Aizen might think about all of this. Does that sound about right?"
"You don't have to make it sound so damn casual Kisuke. These people are not toys or one of your experiments, they are our friends. Sometimes you can just be so...so...damn, you know what I mean."
"I know...I am sorry though. I do care what's happened to them, but honestly, I'm just more relieved nothing happened to you." There was a brief silence before Yoruichi responded with a single word.
"Kisuke..." Ichigo could hear something going on in the other room, but he hadn't even registered the last few sentences. Ringing in his head were the words 'Rukia' and 'guy she's in love with'. He wasn't completely sure why but hearing that made him feel better and even worse at exactly the same time. It was just another set of feelings that made him feel sick on the inside, easily overriding any confusion those words stirred within.
Refusing to even truly acknowledge what all of that meant truly to him, he simply dwelled within the cold, harsh truth of his own creation. In the end, it really didn't matter what Rukia felt because whether she had feelings beyond friendship for him or simply wanted to be his friend, she would be feeling nothing but disgust and hate for him now after what he had allowed himself to do to her. He had failed her on so many levels, and knew he would never be forgiven...didn't deserve to ever be forgiven. Fate would pay him back for all of this...he definitely knew that. Again voices could be heard in the next room.
"So what do we do Kisuke?"
"Not exactly sure. I'll think of something to help him, but I think its best we just let him rest for now. You need to find out exactly what's going on with Rukia in Soul Society. Unohana is probably the best person in existence to be watching over her right now, but I think its best we keep up on what's happening to her for Ichigo...I think it will help him to know she's alright. Also, you need to keep an eye out for Byakuya. The last thing we need is him coming after Ichigo and that thing awakening during the battle...this city could be in danger with that type of energy unleashed here."
Ichigo could hear some type of agreement, but really, a small bit of him couldn't help but hope for Byakuya to come cut him down for his crimes, avenge his sister's pain. It would protect her...would save her from anymore pain, and Rukia did not deserve to ever hurt again because of him. All he ever did was bring her pain...
--
Byakuya stood tall next to the bed, his face and eyes betraying absolutely nothing of even the barest flicker of emotion within his heart, but deep inside, a mess of confusion was working its way through him. He had 'suggested' to Rukia that it be best for her to come back to Soul Society for awhile, to stop spending so much time in the real world with that...that boy. He knew she wanted to protest, but she had bowed her head lightly as she often did with him and told him she would be returning.
He had told her he would be back in two days to retrieve her, and that was exactly what he had done, only not finding Rukia where he had told her to be. It had only taken a few seconds of concentration to locate the very familiar spiritual presence of his adopted sister that was not being hidden like last time he had come to retrieve her. However, when he went to where she was, he did not find what he expected to find at all.
When he had confronted Yoruichi, she had the smallest hint of guilt in her eyes, and all the years he had known the now disgraced noble woman, she had never once shown guilt for any of her actions toward him or anyone. She was playful and mischievous, two things he did not enjoy seeing coming from the head of a noble family, but never guilt from the games she played. This fact is what told him something very wrong had occurred, and his adopted sister had been the one who had felt the brunt of whatever happened.
When Yoruichi had refused to tell him what happened at the time, and the human girl with the unusual healing powers clearly had no idea what was going on, he simply took it upon himself to take Rukia away to where she would be in the best care, with the Fourth Division's captain.
Rukia's life had been nothing but problematic since she had met that boy, his associates, and those who had broken the rules of Soul Society, and again her life was in danger. However, nipping at the back of his mind was the undeniable truth that Rukia was only alive because of that reckless human boy who had managed to defeat him. How could one be angry at yet hold gratitude toward the same person, especially when that person stood against almost everything he himself stood for. Things had never made sense since that day Rukia didn't come back from the human world all those months ago.
He glanced his eyes over at Captain Unohana who sat next to Rukia's bed, a strange glowing coming from her hands as they hovered over Rukia's body. Byakuya had requested that nobody know that Rukia was here, and the only two who actually knew were Captain Unohana and her Vice-Captain, and Captain Unohana had assured him it would stay that way. He watched his fellow captain carefully, as she suddenly had a slightly uncertain look on her face, her gaze moving up to the his taller stature.
"It seems that the human girl Orihime has done an effective job of healing most of the severe cuts as well as a few broken bones. Are you sure you don't want to inform me of what has happened to her?"
"Again, I do not believe it is any of your business Captain." Unohana held his narrowed gaze for a few seconds before breaking away with the smallest of smiles on her face. Of course the real reason Byakuya would not tell her what happened was because he didn't know, and he refused to admit that something he didn't know about had happened to some one under his authority and care. The last incident had been difficult enough to deal with. He somehow sensed that Captain Unohana knew his reasoning for withholding information.
"Of course Captain Kuchiki. My apologies for asking again." A brief silence formed between the two captains, before Byakuya spoke.
"She will be alright then. When can I take her back to my home?" Again the uncertain look crossed Captain Unohana's face.
"Her body will heal Captain Kuchiki, but there is something else still...unsettled within her that I can't quite identify...something that isn't physical. I ask that she stay her so that I may run a few more tests to try and determine what it is that seems to be 'interfering' with the stability of her spiritual presence." Again Byakuya studied the healer in front of him carefully.
"You have my permission. Do what you need to help her." On this Byakuya turned around, moving toward the door when he was stopped by Captain Unohana's voice.
"Captain Kuchiki, I know it might be known of my business, but to treat her most effectively, it would be helpful to know how she sustained wounds that have the residual presence of a Hollow yet were clearly made by the blade of a sword."
Byakuya stopped in mid motion, a flash of a memory of twisted laughter, black energy, and an orange-haired young man with half his face covered in a white mask. He glanced back at Captain Unohana with a cold gaze, before simply walking forward again without saying a word, him having every intention of getting some answers.
The captain of the Fourth Division watched the noble Captain leave the room, letting out a quiet sigh as her attention turned back to the small, unconscious body of the young woman who had nearly been executed what felt only to be a short time ago. She hadn't said anything to Byakuya but she knew exactly what type of being was capable of inflicting such wounds on a body, though she had never encountered one, and that was always for the best. Either way, she knew trouble was coming again, and only hoped she would be able to save more lives than would be lost.
--
The small but powerful Arrancar moved soundlessly down the seemingly never-ending corridor. His revealed face showing no emotion though one would think he was sad from his unique facial appearance. He was returning from his mission to the human world, a mission to only observe a particular human boy, but to not interfere...for the moment at least.
What he had encountered had been interesting to say the least, and perhaps a potential ally had been found. Of course a dangerous enemy could as easily describe the ruthless and twisted being he watched 'hunt' the previous night. In the end it was not for him to decide but rather the decision of Aizen-sama. Ulquiorra would simply follow with respect the orders given to him by his present form's creator. However, Ulquiorra still couldn't help but feel slightly unsettled by the raging, chaotic power that was that human boy, a power that at times was even greater than his own vaunted strength. The power felt...uncontrollable, and he did not like things that were out of control.
Ulquiorra blinked slightly longer than usual, the only sign from his being that he was deeply thinking about something...that a small bit of uncertainty existed within his calm exterior. Only time would tell the outcome of it all.
