Heart and Soul — VI
"Oh wonderful." Renji hissed as he pulled his head back in. Sentarou and Ukitake were standing behind him, waiting. "There's a couple out there. We're going to be stuck here for awhile."
Ukitake sighed. "We still have enough from our last raid to keep for a couple of weeks, but…" He looked down the long cave hall. "She really needs medicine. Isane's trying her best, but if we could find some medicine — anything — it would help so much."
"Well we won't get anything walking into the hands of the Seekers." Sentarou spoke gruffly, folding his arms. "We're just going to have to wait until they clear off. If I found out Kenpachi and his group have anything to do with this…"
"You know they do." Kiyone spoke up from behind Sentarou. "Those guys are a bunch of idiots. They're going to get us all killed."
"I hope Shunsui and his group are all right." Ukitake said, his voice troubled. "I know Urahara and them are fine, but Shunsui never sits still for too long…I wish they'd just give it up and come stay down here with us."
"They like wandering." Sentarou said simply. "Gotta say, I envy them in a way. I'd love to get out in the open more."
"That wandering is going to get them killed though."
"They won't get caught. They're too smart for that."
"I hope so."
Everybody sighed and leaned against the wall, feeling slightly downcast. "So did Rukia-san mention if she was with anybody?" Kiyone asked Renji after a minute. He nodded.
"Yeah, somebody named Ichigo. They were separated by the Seekers, she doesn't know what happened to him."
And again Renji's mind went back to the tone of Rukia's voice when she'd spoken of Ichigo. She hated that he was out of her sight. He'd figured out that much. She'd said they'd been together for two years. Two years alone with a person left a lot of time for certain feelings to develop, didn't it?
Renji shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and turned to walk away. "Where are you going?" Kiyone asked, surprised.
"Going to see how Rukia's doing." He said shortly. The fuse that was his temper suddenly felt dangerously short. Better to get away from Kiyone and Sentarou, who could aggravate even the most patient person.
"Ah damn." Kyoraku swore under his breath, looking thoroughly aggravated for the first time.
"They're probably keeping an eye on caves and stuff, places where people might hide." Hitsugaya reasoned. "Kenpachi's group really screwed us over this time."
Ichigo stayed silent, glaring at the Seekers who were standing in front of the cave entrance, talking in low voices. "So now what?" Rangiku hissed.
"Walk away quietly." Kyoraku responded. "We're obviously not getting into the cave—"
"There's another one coming!" Hinamori breathed, her voice high with stress. The way they were positioned behind the trees, this new Seeker couldn't see them — yet.
"Crap." Hitsugaya moaned. If they moved together, they were screwed.
"Who's there?" The newcomer had spotted them. They froze, feeling ridiculously like deer caught in headlights. He drew a gun, leveling it with them. "Who are you?" He demanded. The other two Seekers joined him.
"What now?" He asked, his voice barely making a sound. There was a blur of movement from beside him, and the next second gunshots rang through the air. Hitsugaya and the Seeker had both fired. Both missed, but Hitsugaya's shot had it's desired effect — the Seekers were forced to scatter.
"Run!" Kyoraku snapped. It was the only instruction any of them needed.
"Did you hear that?" Isane asked, her voice racked with fear. Renji nodded, not taking his eyes off Rukia's sleeping figure. He'd heard all right. Gunshots. The Seekers had found somebody.
Kiyone rushed in, obviously scared. "Sentarou and Ukitake-san went up to see what's going on." She said, wringing her hands together. "The Seekers aren't in front of the cave anymore — Ukitake-san thinks they might have found Kyoraku-kun's group."
"If they take anyone we're screwed." Renji said, his voice hard. Kiyone bit her lip, her worries obviously focused more on Sentarou than anyone else. She sat down next to her sister, who pulled her into a quick, one-armed hug.
"Evacuating won't be easy." Kiyone said in a low voice. "Not with Rukia-san. We're going to have to get out of here fast — and obviously we can't just leave her behind. What are we going to do?"
"Cross that bridge when we get there." Isane responded, rubbing a cool cloth over Rukia's forehead. She didn't like that the raven-haired girl seemed to be getting worse. "There's nothing else we can do right now Kiyone, worrying won't help."
Renji scowled, hearing the stress in Isane's voice. She was as worried as anyone. He looked back at Rukia, and again saw Hisana's face in his mind. She died after the invasion, when she came down sick…
Don't die on me Rukia. Don't you dare die.
The Seekers didn't shoot again. No doubt they wanted to take the rebel humans alive. Ichigo would make sure that, for him at least, being taken alive wasn't an option. He wouldn't betray Rukia. Dying for her would be a noble death.
"Stop, please!" One of the Seekers shouted. Hitsugaya responded by twisting his gun over his shoulder and shooting it.
"Stop shooting Shirou-chan." Hinamori gasped, still running. "Don't give them a reason to shoot us."
The Seekers were far back now, though not a far enough that they were easy to shake off; all anybody had to do was look back and the Seekers would be visible, though tiny dots. Ichigo scowled, trying to force his feet to go faster. They seemed intent on betraying him though.
Bang!
It wasn't Toushirou that fired the gun this time. Ichigo's blood ran cold as Kyoraku disappeared from his side. "Shunsui!" Nanao seemed to stop and run back to him in one movement. Kyoraku was gripping his shoulder, a pained look on his face.
"I'm all right." He tried to reassure the distressed woman. The Seekers were quickly gaining now. "Get out of here, I'll be fine."
"No." She insisted. Ichigo saw tears in her eyes. Kyoraku winced, his grip on his shoulder tightening.
"Nanao-chan—"
Hitsugaya raised his gun at the pursuing Seekers. "Sorry Nanao." He muttered, looking troubled. Kyoraku scowled.
"No, all of you get out of here. I mean it. There's no reason we should all be taken." His eyes met Nanao's fearful ones. "Hey, don't give me that look." He ran his free hand over her cheek. "Go on. Get out of here."
She shook her head. Kyoraku sighed and looked up at Rangiku, who nodded. The conflict in her face was obvious, but she already knew the right answer. She grabbed Nanao's hand, dragging her up. "Come on." She muttered, pulling her away.
"No—!"
The Seekers were closer now. Hinamori reached up and rubbed the tears from her eyes before turning away. "Shirou-chan—"
"I'm staying." His voice was flat, gun still raised. Hinamori let a shuddery breath before following Nanao and Rangiku.
Ichigo was torn. Follow the women? Stay and die with the men? "Hey Ichigo." He looked around, just in time to catch the gun Kyoraku had tossed with his good arm. "Protect the three of them. Try not to use that too often though, it bothers Nanao-chan."
Ichigo nodded, amazed to find that his throat had closed up. He would mourn for them, for these two he'd known a mere few hours.
"Get going."
He turned and ran after Rangiku, Hinamori, and Nanao. He felt like a coward. But it was what Kyoraku wanted.
The Seekers slowed to a walk when they saw Hitsugaya's raised gun. "Come on now." One of them said, trying to reasonable. "There's no need for that, we don't want to hurt you—"
"Tell it to my friend." Hitsugaya snapped, his voice thick. His hands trembled slightly. He was only fourteen, he didn't want to die…
The Seekers looked at Kyoraku, who was still on the ground holding his shoulder. His face was almost…serene. "We can have that healed—"
"And put one of yours in my head while you're at it, no doubt." Kyoraku shook his head. "Sorry, I like my mind the way it is. I don't want any visitors. Hey Shirou?"
Hitsugaya scowled at the much hated nickname. "What's up?"
"You willing to grant an old man a wish?"
"Old man." Hitsugaya scoffed. "Please, you're barely in your thirties."
The Seekers looked between the two, confused. But Hitsugaya knew what Kyoraku meant. They'd sworn if they were ever cornered by Seekers, and there was absolutely no way to escape, they would not allow themselves to be taken. Death first. Hitsugaya trembled a little harder. Fourteen and he'd be a murderer. This world really sucked.
Gunshots reverberated through the forest air.
Nanao stopped running, which forced Rangiku to stop as well (the latter was still holding the former's hand, trying to keep from escaping and going back to Kyoraku). Hinamori and Ichigo stopped as well. They weren't sure how much distance they'd put between them and the Seekers. Enough? Would they be safe?
"Come on." Hinamori said finally. There were tears running down her cheeks, but her voice was steady. She walked over to what looked like a moss covered rock, then grabbed an edge of the moss blanket and lifted it up, revealing a cave entrance. She allowed Nanao and Rangiku to go in before her, then forced Ichigo to go in before she crawled in last, letting the blanket drop in front of the entrance, bathing them in darkness. It didn't last long — Rangiku pulled a flashlight from her bag, turning it on and setting it light up in the middle of their circle.
The place was small and cramped. Ichigo had to double over to make himself fit. But they were safe from the Seekers. That was all that mattered.
Hinamori curled herself against the cave wall, her arms looped around her legs, her forehead resting against her knees, hiding her face. Her body heaved with silent sobs. Rangiku wrapped an arm around Nanao's shaking figure, pulling her closer. Tears ran fast and thick down the small woman's face, and her breathing was hitched, labored. Rangiku met Ichigo's eyes; they stared at each other for a long time. Nobody made any noise other than breathing.
"They're gone." Hinamori said finally, her voice muffled. "They're…gone. The gunshots…Shirou-chan would have…"
Rangiku swallowed hard, and Ichigo saw tears spring into her eyes. She tried to push them down. "We had this…deal, I guess you could call it." She explained to Ichigo. "There are still so many humans in the forest, and we all know about each other. If the souls ever took any of us, or even just one of us, we'd betray everyone. So we have a deal. If we're ever cornered by Seekers…we can't be taken. If there's no other way to escape, then you use the only thing that's left."
"Death." Ichigo guessed. He already knew he was right. Nanao cried harder. Rangiku nodded. They lapsed back into silence. Ichigo wasn't sure how long they sat like that before he finally fell asleep.
Ichigo didn't know when he opened his eyes. Oh sure, he felt the cold, stagnant air hit his eyeballs. But it was so dark, he could have closed his eyes again and not seen the difference. Someone had turned off the flashlight. Ichigo's hand reached out, trying to find the plastic handle. He finally did, to his relief, and clicked the flashlight on.
Bright silver beams hit his eyes, blinding him momentarily. The flashlight slipped from his hands as he tried to cover his dazzled eyes. "Sorry." Nanao muttered as he blinked, trying to regain his sight.
"S'All right." He muttered awkwardly, setting the flashlight the way Rangiku had it earlier. He could mostly see again, other than the silver dots that clouded his vision. "Just surprised me, is all."
"Sorry." Nanao muttered again. Ichigo rolled his eyes.
"I said it's all right."
They sat in silence for a minute. Ichigo took the moment to look her over. Her face was still red from crying, and he could see tear tracks running down her cheeks. Her eyes were still slightly water. Ichigo guessed she had still been crying before he had interrupted.
"You really loved him, didn't you?" Ichigo asked finally. Nanao nodded, looking a little surprised. "Amazing. Never thought I'd see the day where an alien falls in love with a human."
Nanao winced. And for some reason, Ichigo felt guilty. "Sorry. I didn't mean it as an insult."
He let the silence fall again. "You're…friend." Nanao said finally, her voice hesitant. "Rukia, right? Do you miss her?"
The question surprised Ichigo. "Y-Yeah. Of course I do. We've been together for two years. Before I met her I was completely alone."
A small smile tugged at Nanao's lips for the first time. "I hear something in your voice when you talk about her. You sound sad. Not like she left you, or you were separated. It's almost as if she…died."
Ichigo blinked, confused. "What do you mean? You think I think she's dead?"
"No, not at all. I mean you don't like being separated from her." Nanao explained. "You sound like…Shunsui. When he talks about Nanao — his Nanao, I mean, not me. The person I erased." Her voice sounded amazingly bitter. "He misses her. I know he does. I wonder, sometimes, if maybe he really loves me, or just the memories I brought back."
Ichigo thought about that for a moment, thought about the protective way Kyoraku stood around Nanao, how closely he'd held her, taking her hand, wrapping his arm around her shoulders…
"I think he loved you." Ichigo muttered finally, embarrassed. Nanao smiled despite herself.
"Maybe he did."
And finally, what Nanao had been implying hit Ichigo. "Wait!" He said, struggling to keep his voice quiet so he wouldn't wake Rangiku and Hinamori. "Are you trying to say I love Rukia?!"
"Finally got there?"
"Unh." Ichigo groaned. "No. No way, no. I mean, Rukia is…I don't think of her like that!"
"Oh you don't?" Nanao asked, her voice slightly mocking now.
"No!" Ichigo insisted. "I mean…we're living past the end of the world — our world. What's the point of love still existing?"
"You tell me." Nanao responded. "Nanao's love for Shunsui lived past the end of her existence — it still lives now, past the end of his life. Does there need to be a point?"
"Would you two shut up?" Rangiku grumbled suddenly, surprising them.
"Sorry." Nanao reached over and shut off the flashlight, effectively ending the conversation. Ichigo laid back down, curled into a tight ball, his mind racing.
Does their need to be a point?
Ichigo saw Rukia's face in his head again. He heard Nanao's words. Nanao's love for Shunsui lived past the end of her existence — it still lives now, past the end of his life…
Could love still exist in the post end-of-the-world hell?
Author's Note: No excuses for the suckiness of this chapter...just review...please. Check my profile for update information -- Sam
