A/N: It's been too long! Forgive me! x_x;
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Chapter 7: The Two Race to Save Them
Night fell.
Exhausted, Ichigo and Momo called it a day and set up camp for the night. They had traveled non-stop since noon, and could barely shunpo anymore. Tiredly Ichigo dragged out their tents and positioned them, while Momo lit a small fire with kido.
Dinner was a small but nourishing meal of rice, salted fish, and pickled eggplant. It brought back enough energy to them that they felt slightly talkative - at least, Momo did.
"Ah, that feels much better!" she sighed, placing her bowl down, scraped clean of food.
"Yeah..." murmured Ichigo, trying to feel enthusiasm as well.
"Ichigo-san," she asked lightheartedly, "tell me about Kuchiki-san. I don't know much about her."
Ichigo put down his bowl slowly. His chopsticks clattered against the bowl's rims. "What do you want to know?" he asked warily.
"Oh, well... Anything, really. Tell me how you met, or... I don't know. Some great thing she did."
"Uh..."
Ichigo stared at the dancing flames for a long while, wondering if he should really tell this girl he barely knew about his connection with Rukia.
Whatever, he thought. Good way to pass the time, and keep my mind off things.
He hesitated and began.
"Rukia... She's the reason why I'm sitting here now, and why my family is still alive."
Momo's eyes widened with curiosity and she leaned forward.
"A little more than 15 years ago... A while before the Winter War... My home was attacked by a hollow. The hollow was tearing up the neighbourhood - now that I think about it, it wasn't a very strong hollow. But back then... I was human. Only human... I could still see ghosts, though. I could see dead people, and hollows, and..."
His golden brown eyes twinkled from the firelight.
"...and shinigami...
"When she came through my bedroom wall that night, curious as to why I had some reiatsu, I could see her. It was the weirdest thing." He laughed with the memory. "You should've seen both our faces. Anyway, my reiatsu had basically lured a hollow towards my home, and so, she had to fight it.
"She was already a good fighter, but the hollow caught her by surprise and dealt her a blow. The hollow was approaching fast - she couldn't fight anymore, and if nothing was done, I and my family would be destroyed. So there was only one thing she could do: transfer some of her powers to me, so that I would be able to kill the hollow.
"Unfortunately, I took all of her powers, so she ended up having to stick with me and teach me about shinigami and everything. She's the one who changed my world and my life, and gave me the power to protect."
He smiled to himself, reminiscing, and then raised his head to look at Momo's captivated face. "So yeah. That's basically it."
"And now?" she asked eagerly. "What's your relationship with her now?"
"Eh?..."
Seeing him hesitate, Momo felt regret. That's a private thing I shouldn't be asking.
Ichigo was caught by surprise, and paused, going through the different answers he had given before. 'Friend'. 'Good friend'. 'Close friend'. 'Precious nakama'...
"She's my best friend," he said, "and she stopped the rain."
"The rain?..."
"Yeah... It still falls sometimes, but it used to be really bad - until she came." He smiled fondly to himself. "That girl..."
"I see," Momo said quietly. She was awed; Ichigo and Rukia sounded very close, with a powerful bond between them. Are they a couple? she wondered briefly, but decided not to ask, seeing how far she had already wandered into private matters.
She noticed with a start that Ichigo was holding onto something - was it... was it a zanpakutou? He already has that huge sword strapped to his back; why does he have another one?
Ichigo noticed her staring and laughed nervously. "Uh... this is Rukia's, not mine."
"Oh..."
"She... she dropped it. I have to give it back."
Momo nodded and smiled, noting how desolate he sounded and how he tried to mask it.
"Well, I'm going to bed," announced Ichigo.
"Oh, all right - I will set up a woven dome of kido protection around us to alert us if someone comes too close."
"Great, thanks. Are we getting up at dawn again tomorrow?"
"Yes, that would be best. We are almost there; the mountain was clearly visible, earlier."
Ichigo muttered a sound of agreement and dipped into his tent.
Momo sighed and quickly set up the wrought alarm system, thoughts full of the one she cared for. She had already accepted the fact that she was... well, "in love" didn't really capture her feelings. But it would do.
Just a little longer, Shiro-chan... I'm coming...
The warm orange light from the dome flickered on her grim little face, still young and naive.
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The old man in tattered black stood alone in a blank, white place. He peered curiously from one way to another, searching for something - or someone.
The white blankness was to be expected, for this was not the Kuchiki girl's inner world. This was the small space inside the sword, where the wielder's inner world would usually meld with and expand.
A smudge of stark charcoal on the bleached paper of this empty space, Zangetsu shook his head and tutted. A flutter of white cloth - a slightly bluer tone to it than the surroundings - caught his dark eyes. He strode over and kneeled, catching the sensations of utter despair emanating from the limp woman sprawled at his feet.
With his one remaining arm, he gently lifted a moon-blue lock of hair to reveal the woman's beautiful face, pale and strained. Her eyes, the lightest slate sky, flickered anxiously towards the grizzled man's face, but she did not move otherwise.
He said nothing. Words were not needed to express his understanding and compassion for the ice lady. He sat there by her side, silent and protective.
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Ichigo, on the other hand, was remembering his meeting with Byakuya yesterday, the night before he left on this journey.
"You will save her, I expect." That cold back turned to him with the kanji of "six" emblazoned, black on white.
"Of course - as if I could leave her."
And as calculating as Kuchiki Byakuya always was, emotionless and cold, Ichigo knew what he was really trying to say: 'Save her and bring her back. Protect her with your life.'
Yes. I swear it.
Ichigo gripped his sheets tightly and closed his eyes, his scowl etched deeper than usual.
Just a little longer, Rukia. I'm coming.
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Rukia woke with a start. What was that?...
She looked around, searching for the familiar white captain's cloak. She found no trace of the white-haired captain in the vast ice cavern.
There was a cry, and a hard thump accompanied with the crack of ice. Rukia whirled around to see Hitsugaya on his knees, flung there by the large rigid figure of Karasu. The raven-man seemed larger than usual, slightly distorted and his body disproportionate; the arms were too long and the back too curved. Blood-red eyes fizzled behind the mask with the sound of burning forests, and he seemed closer to beast than human. But no - she blinked, and he had returned to being perfectly normal.
Without a word, Karasu turned and disappeared.
Confused, she focused on the captain. He had struggled to his feet and was now murderously glaring into space. His sleeves had been ripped off and Rukia noticed long deep scratches down his arms. The blood had quickly frozen and stoppered up the wounds, leaving them livid red and without drips.
"Hitsugaya-taichou, what happened?" she asked hesitantly.
"Oh, nothing," he replied coldly. "I only tried to escape, and was punished. That is all."
Rukia was even more confused now. The light faded from her eyes. "Escape?" She shook her head tiredly. "Why would you wish to escape? Isn't this place fine and comfortable?"
Hitsugaya blinked. His head began to hurt, and there was a strong pressure at the back of it. He rubbed the spot and shrugged. "Ah... You're right. I would never want to leave this place." His eyes were now dull as well, and he droned "this is a good place" without a smile.
Suddenly, as if only realizing now, he glanced down at his arms.
"Oh... How did I get these?"
Rukia shrugged hopelessly at him. "I don't know, sir. I can't imagine what could have done it."
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Ichigo and Momo were rudely awakened by loud cracks and groans, accompanied by various loud chimes. An hour before dawn, they sprang out of their tents to find two hollows lunging through the kido dome, ripping it into fragments and roaring with rage. One was snake-like, lithe with six legs, and the other was a lumbering monstrosity.
Ichigo swore under his breath. "Just had to be at a time like this..."
Momo drew her zanpakutou. "Ichigo-san, please try not use too much energy."
He nodded. "Yeah, let's finish them off quickly." The white bandages unwrapped themselves from his blade in preparation.
With a nod in reply, Momo was up in the air in front of the thin, worm-like hollow, ready to deliver a fatal slice through the white mask. The hollow was unexpectedly swift; it parried her blow with a strong claw and whisked around to her back, coming in to attack. Momo spun around, shunpoeing upwards to escape its blow, and appearing at its defenseless side, cut it clean through the middle. With a roar, the hollow flickered and shattered into a million particles as the soul was freed.
Simultaneously Ichigo clashed with the burly hollow, the mask's keen horns nearly piercing his chest. Growling with annoyance he swept through it twice with sturdy Zangetsu, effectively destroying the hollow.
Ichigo cocked his blade over his shoulder and glanced at Momo, pleasantly surprised. "Hey, you're pretty good."
"Of course," laughed Momo. "I am a lieutenant, after all."
"Yeah..." Oh, that's right. Aizen was her captain...
"Well, here we are, a while before dawn." She sighed. "I suppose it's no use trying to catch some more sleep."
"Right," muttered Ichigo, still distracted. "Let's go, then."
Strong stormy winds began to blow as they set off, ruffling the trees and washing waves across the hills. Unfortunately, the two had to travel against the wind, and progress was slow. As soon as they broke through the forest, they chose to travel on ground as opposed to the sky, for the winds blew stronger with elevation and thick clouds were billowing low enough to obscure their vision.
They attempted some talk at first, but soon gave up, seeing how the gusts would steal away their voices.
The coal-stained swathes deliberately grew and smoldered overhead, no longer able to be called clouds. They were more like heavy quilts, or oil stains, or perhaps dark oceans, ready to drown whoever was caught in their wrath.
A storm was approaching.
Stranded in a vast field and far from shelter behind and beyond, Ichigo and Momo were caught in a large predicament.
"What shall we do?!" shouted Momo, the wind nearly whipping her hair free from her bun.
"Dunno!" hollered Ichigo. "Just keep going... There, that big rock - we can hide at its side."
They struggled against the howling tempest, and gradually made it to the large boulder half buried in the blustering grass. Stringing their tents with great difficulty along one edge of the impassive stone, they formed a quick shelter, strengthened with more of Momo's ingenious kido.
"You can work it like magic," remarked Ichigo, in awe of her abilities. "Me, I can't do kido to save my life."
"Oh - thank you. But can't you do even a little bit, like Sai, or Shakkaho..."
"Pfft, no way. Never learned. Anyway, I never really had to use it. Rukia always took care of the kido."
"If you tried to learn, surely you could do it," objected Momo. "It's a very valuable skill, especially for one with a captain's strength."
Ichigo rubbed his head absentmindedly. "I'm just - I guess I'm not fit for it, like... it's really hard for me to control my reiatsu, so yeah..."
"Yes... Your reiatsu is quite unruly. Well, I'm sure Kuchiki-san wouldn't mind teaching you."
"Oh, yeah, she'd really enjoy it," grimaced Ichigo, imagining her gleeful little face, laughing cruelly at his helpless form, body rendered useless from Sai.
The tent-cloth fluttered wildly, buffeted by the storm, and it began to rain.
Ichigo was used to having Rukia close by whenever it rained for many years. Now, she was not there beside him. It dragged him down, just like the old days when they had not yet met, and just like all the times she faded away. There was no shining moon to drive away the rain, now. It was a strange, accustomed feeling, having the horrid weight and despair pull him down again, so familiar, and so difficult, like a whining, selfish child. Negativity roamed freely through his mind, and worry wrecked him to pieces, falling like the lonely raindrops slipping down the tent-cloth.
All at once, he realized he really needed Rukia to stay above the sea, surging and threatening to swallow him. Why was he so weak, inside?
All right, that's it. I need to get my mind off of this.
"Hey," he began quietly, glancing at the small shinigami beside him, playfully weaving a labyrinthine lamp. "Tell me about Toushirou."
"Eh?" She peered at him curiously. "What about Shiro-chan?"
Shiro-chan?... "Uhh, I dunno. Just tell me a story. I told you about Rukia."
"Oh." She thought for a minute, finishing her lamp and placing it in front of her, watching it dazzle with tropical blue-green and canary yellow.
"Well, then... We grew up together, Shiro-chan and I, in Rukongai, with his grandmother. He was always alone, because the other children were scared of him and his different appearance - Baa-san and I were the only ones not afraid of him."
"That's why he's so cautious and cold all the time," interrupted Ichigo.
She nodded. "He was such a funny thing, always trying to protect me, even though he is younger and smaller. Even now. He always hides his true feelings." Her eyes softened. "It makes me feel bad, knowing he always worked so hard to protect me, and I ignored his efforts and turned towards Aizen..."
She sighed bitterly. "I can't forgive myself. I know I should have paid more attention to him and quiet ways, I know I should have realized how much he was trying to protect me. I can't believe I nearly killed him, for Aizen. I can't ever forgive myself, until it's clear he forgives me."
"But you were under a kind of spell - weren't you?" protested Ichigo.
"...Still."
"I think he forgives you."
She smiled softly and shook her head. "I don't know."
This is funny, thought Ichigo. It's like we're both going to rescue the ones dearest to us. Wait. What? Is Rukia... Woah. Okay. Confused with himself, he slowed down. Rukia couldn't possibly be the one dearest to him! The thought was ridiculous - that noisy midget, always insulting him - but... it was true. He held her more dear than... than anyone. His family, even. Yes, he loved them, Yuzu, Karin, even his stupid, crazy dad (his family, dammit), but Rukia was...
He paused. All right, just stop it there. Stop being silly.
The storm began to wane. The last spatterings of rain smoothed out the creases of the drenched plains, and the wind no longer rushed about with murderous jubilation.
Momo peered outside. "It seems to be letting up," she commented, and turned around, eyes bright with determination and oblivious to his inner disturbances. "Shall we set off again, soon?"
"Uh, yeah."
There was only a last stretch of grass-blown field and a stand of pines before they reached the foot of the mountain. Thrill and anxiety pounded through them both.
Just a little longer...
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A/N: Next chapter will be quite exciting. Hohoho.
