Chapter 4
AN: ...I couldn't resist the Friday joke, sorry.
"Rukia is where?" Shi screeched "That bastard! We can't let her die at the hands, or legs, claws, and stinger that is, of that scum!"
"I wasn't dreaming of it." Ichigo said.
"But first, we've got to get your powers back." Shi stated
"And how do you propose to do that?" Ichigo asked calmly
"A technique of my own." Shi answered "I need to gather the masks from Hollows, which means I have to remove them by force before killing them. Once I gather ten, I'll be able to restore your powers without using too much of mine."
"Sounds good." Ichigo said "And it's Friday, Friday, we have the day off so we gotta get down on Friday. And tomorrow is Saturday, and Sunday comes after, so we've got time to collect those without being interrupted by school." Shi nodded. Just then, a distant howl was heard.
"Sounds like Hollow number one." Ichigo said "Good luck, Shi." Shi nodded, and jumped out of the window to find the Hollow.
In the cave of Yellow Jacket, Rukia lay on her side, having regained enough strength to move her arms and eat the food Yellow Jacket brought. Rukia, however, refused to eat what the Hollow brought. Disgusting as it was to eat them, insects were the only things she had to eat that wasn't brought by a Hollow, and the cave was full of them.
By Monday, when Shi had collected six masks, Rukia had enough strength to sit up and look around the cave, but not enough to explore the cave. It was dim, and full of mold. An invisible stream trickled through the cave, the sound of running water echoing off the cave walls. Rukia had already discovered it was close enough and clean enough to drink from. She now sat, looking around, wondering, watching for Yellow Jacket's return.
"Ichigo..." Rukia murmured "Where are you? Are you okay? Are you going to rescue me, or have you given up, like the rest of the Soul Society? I know you wouldn't do that Ichigo... please help me..."
"Heehee!" Yellow Jacket chuckled as he flew in "Ichigo can't save you! He isn't a Soul Reaper anymore! In fact, he isn't even among the living anymore! Heehee! And it's all your fault! He died trying to find you, but found me instead! So I killed him and ate his soul! I would have taken him back here if a Soul Reaper wasn't about to try in vain to save him. But I brought you something to ease your pain for your late boyfriend. Heeheehee!" Yellow Jacket dropped a doll with spiky orange hair next to the silent, stone-faced Rukia and flew off deeper into the cave.
The doll had been changed to look more like Ichigo, Rukia noticed. Its hair had been dyed orange, and its kimono dyed black. It had obviously originally been a female, judging from the existence of breasts, small as they were. But it still bore a striking resemblance to Ichigo.
"Is it true?" Rukia said to the doll "Are you really dead? Is it really all my fault?" Tears began to flow from Rukia's eyes, running down her cheeks, dropping onto the dusty ground.
"Ichigo..." Rukia whispered "I caused it... It's all my fault..."