AN: Ya'll are funny! "This is good, where's HitsuRuki?" eheheh… I've got three in the works and I had the hardest time choosing one to publish first. I decided (and changed the title) to go with one that's a bit different from the action type stuff. It's pure romance on a cruise ship. So if you want an ooey gooey HitsuRuki, look for "On the Way to Alaska". I'm publishing chapter 1 the same time I'm publishing this chapter. Happy?
I also have two others I've been working on that has been taking my attention away from posting regularly. My apologies. I've set them aside and will do my best to keep one of the two stories going at least weekly.
Thank you all for your kind reviews! You are wonderful! I also want to thank those of you who are reading! No pressure for reviews as sometimes I just read for the sake of reading and that's ok. :0 Yeah, I said that was ok.
Chapter 4
"Aizen," Ichigo said.
The man smiled. Inoue stood up quickly and bowed before him.
"Good evening, Aizen-sama," she said.
He looked at her and his eyes narrowed. "What are you doing out here?"
"We-we were having dinner out here, Sir," she replied.
"And why was Kurosaki unaccompanied roaming the building?" he asked, still smiling.
"He-we forgot the drinks, sir. He said he would get them, sir."
"So you just let him walk into the building by himself?"
"Y-yes sir," she said. She nervously looked at Ichigo before looking at the ground.
"So, Kurosaki, did you enjoy your tour?"
"I-I just got a little lost, no big deal."
Aizen looked intently at him. His eyes roaming over the young man, his smile never leaving his face. "Well then, would you mind telling me why you felt it necessary to go into someone else's room if you're looking for a vending machine?"
Inoue looked sharply at Ichigo. "You didn't go to the cafeteria, did you?" She demanded.
"I told you, I got a little lost."
"All the way to Kuchiki-san's room?" Aizen asked, his eye brow raised, "I'm sorry she wasn't in a better condition to talk to you more. Maybe fill your head with more Shinigami talk, but you see…she's been very bad lately. Trying to get out of her room and talk to you seems to be her biggest priority. Considering you've only met her twice, I'm amazed at how tender you were with your visit."
Ichigo's eyes widened for a minute before he mentally slapped himself for not thinking the place would have security cameras. He sighed deeply.
"Fine, you caught me. I went to see Rukia." Inoue gasped before she narrowed her eyes.
"So you did use me!" She wailed. Ichigo glanced at her before concentrating back to Aizen.
"And why was that?" Aizen asked.
"I don't know. I just had to make sure she was ok. The way Chad hauled her off and then Tatsuki said someone escaped their room the other day and they were caught and severely punished. I just knew it was her. They wouldn't tell me if she was ok or what her punishment was so I had to see for myself."
"And?"
"Whatever she's done, she didn't deserve to be hurt like that!" He said as anger kicked in.
Aizen smiled. "Oh, I agree with you. Kuchiki-san is very special to us. What if I told you we didn't have anything to do with it? What if I told you that it was her that escaped the other night and she ran out into the street and got hit by a car?"
Ichigo was shocked. That was an outright lie as she was with him until they found her that night. He couldn't let that bit of info out though.
"She…she got hit by a car?"
"Her body was thrown hundreds of feet, that is why she's all scratched and banged up. She snapped her arm in two when she finally landed." He was still looking intently, waiting for something. Ichigo knew he was dancing around a trap. A trap placed by this smiling man and he was very close to getting caught.
Ichigo was furious but he couldn't do anything. If he called Aizen's bluff, he would lose his advantage, but if he didn't, who knows what else they would do to Rukia. He closed his eyes.
"That's too bad. She looked pretty banged up. I know she's pretty crazy with those Shinigami stories of hers and I believe that she believes them. I thought that since I understood where she was coming from and now realize how delusional I was that maybe I could help her."
Aizen looked at him as if he were weighing his words.
"Do you want to see her again?"
"Yes. I think I can help her." Ichigo countered.
"Hnmph. Interesting." His eyes narrowed as he looked at Inoue. "I want you to report to my office after your shift. Understood?"
"Y-yes, Aizen-sama."
"Good, now get Kurosaki back in his room." He looked back to Ichigo, "I trust you've seen all you needed to see this evening." He turned and headed back inside.
"Hey! Wait!" Ichigo called out after him, "Do I get to see Rukia?"
Aizen stopped and spent several minutes considering his request. Ichigo was about to say something, thinking the guy fell asleep on his feet when he replied.
"I don't see why not. In fact, it just might make things happen a little faster." Ichigo could sense the smile in the man's words although his back was still turned towards him.
"What do you mean by that?" But his words fell on deaf ears as Aizen was already at the entrance to the building.
He felt a tight grip on his arm as Inoue led him back to his room. She didn't say anything to him. She didn't have to, as she pushed and pulled him through the halls, he knew she wasn't pleased with him at all.
It wasn't until they reached his room that he spoke up.
"Inoue, please listen to me."
"NO!" she said as she whirled around on him. Her hair flew around her gracefully as she spun. "You used me!" Hurt was clearly visible in her grey eyes.
Ichigo stood there and sighed. He ran a hand through his orange locks and looked at her. "Yes," he admitted. "Yes I did and I'm sorry."
"How could you?" She asked as tears started to well up in her eyes.
"Look, it's not like I set out to use you. Something happened to Rukia and no one would tell me what was going on so I had to see. I had to make sure she was ok."
"And is she?"
"No." He sighed again. "She's hurt." And it's all my fault…again. He sat down on his bed. Inoue's eyes softened.
"You like her, huh?"
"What? I only met her a few times and even when I did she was out of her mind." Even as he said those words, they felt false. He knew Rukia and he knew Rukia knew him. Their relationship went beyond friendship, beyond love. He was her sun, she was his moon and that's how it was. There were no words to describe what they had, what they felt for each other and it was right then at that moment he knew. Something was terribly wrong. Something happened to his memories. The fact he felt something so deep for someone he only met a few times just wasn't true. He believed her. He believed in her. The fact that she faced torture just so she could protect him, protect their advantage proved to him even more there was something bigger going on.
"Ichigo?" Inoue asked.
"Huh?"
"You were distracted, are you ok?"
"Yeah, I-I just need to get some sleep. I'm very sorry for what happened Inoue, and I promise I will never do anything like that to you again." He said.
"You probably won't get the chance," she said quietly as she left leaving Ichigo more confused than before.
"I thought the whole idea was to keep the bitch away from him?" Grimmjow said. "Now you want them together?" They were seated in one of the executive meeting rooms. A long mahogany table sat in the center of the room. Grimmjow, Gin and a few other lowly Arrancar sat around the table. Aizen was at the head but not seated.
"Yes. It doesn't matter how long we separate them for. He will eventually remember her."
"Why couldn't you put her in the illusion?"
Aizen shot him a glare as he frowned. "Because apparently after being a host for the Hogyoku for so long, it left her with the power of resistance."
"Resistance?" Gin asked.
"She's immune to any sensory type Zanpaktou."
"I thought…"
"Yes, well. No matter. We'll just use it to our advantage. Starting tomorrow, we will put them together for a while. And then we'll break him by destroying what he cares about. One…by…one…"
A soft knock on the door was heard.
"A-Aizen-sama?"
"Ah, yes, come on in." The door opened and "Inoue" came in. Outside of the illusion, "Inoue" was nothing more than a female Arrancar of no rank as were most of the people Ichigo came in contact with. The female came in and sat down as Aizen motioned for everyone to leave except Grimmjow.
The female eyed the blue haired man nervously.
"Why were you on the grounds eating dinner with the prisoner?"
"He-he invited me, sir. I thought the best course of action would be to see if he was planning anything."
"Then why did you let him out of your sight?"
"I-I don't know. He said he forgot the drinks and that he knew the way. I trusted him."
Aizen said nothing and his expression was blank. He paced the floor in front of her. Back and forth. Back and forth.
"You trusted him," he said as he stopped his pacing and looked at her.
"Y-yes." She was on the floor before she heard the smack sound that sent her there. Her head landed with a sickening crack and a thud as it bounced twice before stopping. She opened her eyes only to find she couldn't focus.
"You TRUSTED him! You trusted HIM!" Aizen spit out. "WHO do you work for?"
"Y-you, Aizen-sama."
"Do you now understand the problem we have here?"
"Y-yes."
"Then you will understand why I have to do what I have to do," he looked at Grimmjow and gave him a nod. The female's eyes grew wide as she opened her mouth to protest.
Ichigo woke up to a huge BOOM sound as the building shook a bit. Not being able to go back to sleep he sat up in his bed. A different alarm sounded. He was about to get up when Tatsuki came in.
"What's going on?" He asked her. She didn't reply, she took a needle out and jabbed Ichigo's arm with it. "What's that for?"
"It's time for you to wake up!"
Ichigo's vision blurred before he passed out.
"Ichigo!"
He heard her voice through a cloud of fog. He couldn't see anything, he couldn't feel anything.
Am I dead? He thought.
"Ichigo!"
His eyes fluttered open as he slowly regained control over his body. His mind was still foggy, his limbs still heavy.
""Ichigo!"
Ichigo opened his eyes and blinked a few times. His mouth was dry. He was lying on a makeshift futon on the floor. He felt something restraining his neck. He tried to bring his arm up to feel what it was, but they were too heavy. He tried to turn his head towards the voice, but that was hard to do. So he just laid there until the shot wore off more.
"Ichigo!"
"Hng," his tongue seemed to be ten times too big and stuck to the roof of his mouth. He opened his eyes again and looked at the white ceiling. He moved his eyes, but could only see the ceiling. He closed them again.
"Are you ok?"
"Hng."
"Can you move?"
"Hng."
A small laugh, "I guess the effects haven't worn off yet. Don't worry you'll be able to move soon."
"Hng."
Darkness surrounded him as he passed back out.
"Kurosaki!" Ichigo opened his eyes. His arms were being held behind him, someone was supporting him.
"Nice to have you with us again."
"Ai-zen," Ichigo said. The fog was clearing and he felt better than before. He was in a white room with one window. As he looked outside into the endless night and the familiar crescent moon he knew exactly where he was. Los Noches, Hueco Mundo.
"It's 'bout time you fucking woke up!" his inner hollow yelled. "You're pathetic!"
As he became more aware of his surroundings, he realized he was being held up. His arms and legs were loosely tied. As he turned, he found himself looking in to the smiling eyes of Yammi.
"You so much as struggle and I'll pop your head off like a dandelion!" he gruffed.
"Ichigo!" A familiar voice called from across the room. She was bandaged and bruised. What was left of her Shinigami uniform was tattered and torn. She had a collar around her neck. It was like the one she wore before her execution, the reiatsu suppression collar. She looked like hell, but she was alive. She was tied up with Grimmjow standing behind her and holding her in place.
"Rukia…"
"Ah now that this little reunion has taken place, let me welcome you to my humble abode, Kurosaki." Aizen stood in front of Rukia, facing her. He softly brushed her hair from her dirty face. She flinched at his touch earning him a smile.
"What the hell happened?
"It's not what happened that's important as what will happen, "Aizen responded as his attention never left Rukia's face. He caressed her cheek and moved his thumb over her lips. Rukia drew back and spit on him.
Aizen let out a partial laugh, took out a cloth and wiped his face.
"Leave her alone!" Ichigo said as he tried to pull away.
Aizen turned and smiled at him before turning around and slapping Rukia across her face. Hard. Her bottom lip caught on her teeth and ripped open. Her head turned so fast, she thought she was going to pass out. As she started to fall, Grimmjow held her firm.
"No! Let her go!" Ichigo yelled.
"You don't seem to understand your place, Kurosaki. You do not tell me what I can and can't do." He cupped Rukia's face with his hand and brought it up. Blood dripped from her mouth onto his hand and rolled down before falling to the floor with a plink. "You do not tell me who I can or cannot be…with" he said as he bent down and kissed her.
Ichigo struggled against the huge Arrancar. "No! Don't you dare touch her!"
Rukia was bordering consciousness. Her eyes widened as she realized what was going on. She struggled as best as she could which only led to Grimmjow tightening his hold. She could no longer feel her arms or legs. Considering how he was holding her up, it didn't really matter. She tried to move her head, but even that met with resistance with Aizen's own hand.
He finally moved his mouth off of hers. Ichigo closed his eyes as he heard her gasp for air. He couldn't watch as Aizen placed kisses down the side of her bloodied face to her neck.
"Pl-please…s-st-op," she managed to croak out. It came out as a whisper but it reverberated louder and louder inside Ichigo's head.
"Even now, you're pathetic. Letting him do this to her? Her of all people? You're killing me! You hear me you pathetic fuck! Stand there if you want, but let me out so I can put these bastards in their place!"
"What do you want from me?" Ichigo screamed at Aizen.
"What do I want?" He laughed, "My dear boy, I already have what I want because you're going to give me the rest. You're going to fight with me, side by side."
"What!"
"You're going to help me take down the Shinigami and the Visards one by one, and then you're going to help me kill everyone in Karakura so that we can open the gates of heaven together!"
"I will never fight alongside you!" Ichigo seethed.
"Oh? But I think you will," he said.
A small Arrancar came into the room and whispered something only Aizen could hear. He motioned for Grimmjow to drop Rukia who had lost consciousness. She fell ungracefully to the floor as Grimmjow stepped over her on his way out of the room. Aizen left next and motioned to Yammi.
Yammi pushed Ichigo and let him go at the same time, making him fall to the floor also.
Once outside, Aizen set up a barrier so they could not leave the room.
"I have some business to attend to but I will be back," he said with mild annoyance.
Ichigo was instantly by Rukia's side as soon as he was able to move. He pulled her onto his lap and held her.
