Disclaimer: guess what? yeah, I don't own Bleach. Kubo Tite does and although I think he's great and all, he could give Tatsuki a more important role in the story. I feels like he's been hinting it for so long and still nothing happens.
Second Edition (Nov2011)
Himitsu
By
Marie Darkholme
Chapter Nine: Realization
"TATSUKI!"
Ichigo fell on his knees. The final glimpse of white light from the Negácion field had disappeared and the four slits, like smiling mouths of clowns mocking him, had disappeared as well, leaving the sky as dark as it had been before. The only sound left was that of the rain that kept pounding down over the city and its inhabitants.
Three pairs of eyes mirrored the fallen shinigami. Renji crouched and stretched his hand to touch Ichigo's shoulder in a reassuring gesture, but stopped midway when he realised the vizard was crying. Although it was raining, the threads made by the salty water trailing down the orange headed boy's cheeks were clear as he approached. Sighing, he backed a few steps.
Clenching his fists tightly, Ichigo banged them on the floor a couple of times until they started bleeding. He bit his lip trying to keep himself from screaming his anger out, but the hurricane of feelings inside was just too strong. Rising his head to the sky, the cry came from deep within him; a raged yell he had kept inside for way too long escaped from his lips, loud, almost deafening; an hurtful and angry cry that startled his three friends, followed by a burst of spiritual energy so strong that even Renji gasped for air for a few seconds. An aura of red and black surrounded the vizard as if Getsuga Tenshou was poring through him.
Then the reiatsu died as suddenly as it had appeared and Ichigo disappeared in a shunpo way too long for the red haired shinigami to know where he had gone to.
Renji exhaled the air kept inside his lungs and took several short breaths before his breathing returned to normal. Keigo and Mizuiro were simply glued to the floor unconscious. The shinigami's bankai dissolved and Zabimaru was returned to its usual spot on Renji's waist. "Shit!" was the only word he was able to mutter.
Not a minute had passed when Rukia stopped in front of him, Inoue following seconds later. Both of them had felt Ichigo's reiatsu and were obviously worried about him. In fact, he wondered, there mustn't have been anyone with the smallest amount of spiritual awareness that hadn't felt the orange haired vizard's spiritual energy.
"What the fuck was that? Where is Ichigo?" the short black haired shinigami blurted as soon as she arrived. Then it occurred to her that Renji was injured and probably in need of medical attention. "Are you alright?" she kneeled beside him and tried to take a look at his wounds.
Meanwhile, Orihime had noticed her classmates lying on the floor a couple of steps behind Renji and had run towards them. She was relieved to see that both were breathing and were not beyond her help.
"Ayame, Shun'ou, Souten Kisshum! Watashi wa kyozetsu suru!" ((Twin Sacred Return Shield. I reject!)) She quietly recited the incantation and the two flowers of the Hibiscus Shield quickly formed the familiar pod that involved Mizuiro and swiftly reversed the time so that none of his injuries had happened. Then, Orihime did the same with Keigo. When both boys regained their consciousness, the orange haired princess was already finishing healing Renji's wounds.
When the job was done, Ayame and Shun'ou turned back into two of the petals of Orihime's hairpins. Both her and Rukia watched Renji quietly with a mix of curiosity and anxiety.
"So, what happened?" the black haired shinigami asked.
Renji scratched the back of his head. That bastard Ichigo just had to leave the explanations to me, didn't he? He thought bitterly. But then he remembered. "Don't tell Orihime." Tatsuki had said. And he certainly wouldn't be the one breaking the news to Inoue about her best friend turning into a sort of mix between hollow and shinigami, much like Ichigo was.
"I…I don't know, really. They just ran away for some reason." He started walking back to the place where Keigo and Mizuiro were sitting, looking at each other. He quickly motioned them with a finger over his lips to be quiet and the two gave him an understanding look before standing up. Orihime watched his back with a distrusted look.
Rukia took out her memory eraser and was about to flash it at them, when Renji took it from her. "No need to do that. They already know everything about us. Besides, they're spiritually aware. It wouldn't do much erasing their memories. You know they would eventually remember everything again." He argued before tossing the eraser back at her. Rukia shrugged and stuck the thing in her hakama's pocket again.
"Anyway, what are they doing here? They could've gotten killed!" she complained wanting to punch the boys for their stupidity. Keigo cowered behind Mizuiro as the group walked away from the smashed pavement before someone arrived.
"We were following Ichigo-san." Mizuiro replied as he pushed Keigo off him. Rukia sighed. Some people were just beyond any kind of help.
"Where are we going?" she asked as they continued to walk apparently without destination.
"To Urahara Shouten." Renji quickly replied. Something told him that was where Ichigo had disappeared to.
"What about Kurosaki-kun?" Inoue asked shyly, her cheeks quickly turning a soft shade of pink.
"Ichigo's probably there already, judging by the rush in which he left." Renji informed. "And I can feel Sado's and Ishida's reiatsu. They're probably heading that way too, so we'll just meet there."
Orihime stopped briefly to reach out to everyone's reiatsu. She was unsettled. Ichigo's spiritual energy was still flaring. Still, it wasn't Ichigo's usual reiatsu. Instead, it felt like the one she had felt the first time the arrancar had appeared. It felt hollow-like. She was worried. She distrusted there was something she wasn't being told. The looks Renji and her two classmates exchanged only contributed to increase her suspicious.
"Abarai-kun, are you sure there is nothing else you need to tell us?" she inquired, feeling slightly bad about it. The red haired shinigami quickly said "no" without even looking back.
A large hole opened up in a large room in Las Noches. An arrancar was thrown down the several steps that led to the Garganta. She coughed some blood before trying to stand up and failing miserably. With her right foot and left knee on the ground, Tatsuki tried to steady her vision. Everything around her was in a blurry shade of black and white. That could only mean she was back at Hueco Mundo.
A loud cry was heard and Yammy fell down on the floor the moment he passed through the gate. An emergency arrancar team quickly transported him out of the room. The three remaining arrancar bowed respectfully.
"Aizen-sama, the mission was successful." The Quarto Espada informed as he looked up to see Aizen's smiling face as he entered the room, followed by Gin. Apparently Tousen was absent, probably spending some time with his arrancar pet, Wonderweiss.
"Apparently." The shinigami replied as he looked down to the girl kneeling on the floor at his feet. "What happened?" he inquired as he motioned the Espada to approach.
"She was found out." Ulquiorra simply said as he slowly made his way down the stairs.
"Hmm. I see." Aizen's face was a mix of amusement and curiosity. He approached the fallen arrancar. Crouching in front of her, he raised her face with a finger under her chin. Her breathing was elaborated. Ulquiorra flinched.
"Aizen-sama, you should not dirty your hands with such a specimen." He replied as he bowed respectfully again. Gin smiled wider. Nnoitra rolled his eyes and Zommari gave an approving nod.
Tatsuki tried to gather her strengths. But it was useless. As soon as Aizen touched her, she was left frozen, unable to move or speak. He looked into her eyes and she gulped. Once again, she felt utterly exposed in front of him and she hated it. He leaned in and she felt his breath on her ear.
"You look pretty battered, Arisawa-san." He whispered. "Did Kurosaki did this to you?"
She wanted to yell at him. Go to Hell! Yeah, go to Hell. When the rest of the Espada entered the room she was partially aware of it. Again, she gulped as she tried to break eye contact with Aizen.
"What the fuck is going on?" she heard Grimmjow's voice coming from the entrance. The Sexta Espada had followed his orders and met the rest of the Espada in the exiting room. He wasn't surprised to see Yammy being carried out on his way. He was surprised, though, when he found Tatsuki kneeling on the ground, Aizen holding her chin. Something inside him was outraged. What the hell is he touching her like that for? He didn't know why, but the simple gesture was fucking annoying.
Nnoitra smiled. The moment he had waited for had arrived sooner than he had expected. And in a much more dramatic point as well. He took a step forward to face his fellow Espada. "What's going on is that this bitch not only has shinigami powers as she's also friends with our enemies." He shouted pointing his blade at Tatsuki's motionless form.
Aizen stood up and climbed some of the stairs so he could get a better view of all of his Espada. He studied them. The reactions around the room were various from outrage to disbelieve, surprise and even untroubled looks.
Tatsuki rose shakily and faced the stares directed at her. She had never thought it would be possible, but amongst the Espada there was actually someone whose reaction she cared about.
Grimmjow watched her in disbelieve. "Is it true?" he asked as he took a step towards her. But a part of him already knew it was true, even if he didn't want it to be. No one moved. The girl nodded briefly.
"I wanted to tell you."
Gin looked away for the brief moment that took Grimmjow to raise his fist and slam it into the girl's face, sending her back to the ground. Again, Tatsuki spit some blood. "I deserved that." She replied with a sad smile as she watched the Sexta Espada walking out of the room.
She had expected more. She had expected him to kill her right there.
Nnoitra's laughter was loud and annoying. Rising up to her feet she shot a bala against him, knowing perfectly well he would easily block it, which he did. Before he could move, Gin was standing in front of her. His blood red eyes warned everyone to remain in a safe distance.
"So what, she's also a shinigami…" a voice from between the group of Espada replied lazily. "As long as she's on our side, I don't really care." Stark replied.
"But Nnoitra said she's friends with Kurosaki Ichigo. He's our enemy." Barragan contested. "Shouldn't we kill her?"
"Don't go killing her so soon. There's much I would like to investigate about her transformation." Szayel licked his lips in anticipation. "Then, you can kill her."
"We could just throw her out of Las Noches." Aaroniero said dismissively, the conversation boring him.
Halibel was quiet. Being the only female Espada, she didn't want to mix in such a discussion. For her, it really didn't matter what they did to the girl. But she had to admit she was slightly interested in her. After all, she possessed similar powers to Kurosaki Ichigo. Having her around could turn out to be educative.
"As far as I know, Arisawa Tatsuki has yet to show any sign of disloyalty to us." Aizen interrupted the discussion. "Gin, she needs medical treatment. Attend to it." the brown haired shinigami ordered.
Picking Tatsuki's body in his skinny arms, the shinigami disappeared with her.
"Arisawa was indeed friends with Kurosaki Ichigo." Aizen smiled. "However, that relationship ended the moment she was brought here. She knows that. Did she attack you, Nnoitra?" the leader of the Espada asked serenely, knowing perfectly well the answer.
"No, but she protected two humans and was abo..." He complained, his face contracting in anger. Ulquiorra remained emotionless, but inside him, fury was boiling.
"She did it to prevent you from killing them. I do remember giving orders that no one could be killed." Aizen interrupted in an amused tone of voice. "So, if you look at it from her perspective, she was merely protecting you from the punishment you would serve later from disobeying orders."
Everyone was quiet. Nnoitra clenched his fists tightly. "Of course, Aizen-sama."
"In conclusion, Arisawa is staying and I forbid you to touch her and I mean it. SHE'S NOT TO BE TOUCHED." He emphasized the fact. "I have important plans that require her alive." He smiled before dispersing the Espada. "Ulquiorra, inform Yammy. Nnoitra, you inform Grimmjow. This is my decision. Anyone defying me will face severe consequences." And he retrieved.
Ichimaru Gin had yet to know how was it possible that he had gained some kind of affection for this human girl he now carried unconscious in his arms. Had it been during her training, or even before, the first time he had seen her fighting? He had been the one locking her up in that room and watch day in day out as she fought, as she won, as she lost, as she slowly turned into what she was. Not once had her strength faltered. She was determined, stubborn and in despair she was even stronger.
He remembered her in those last five days of her humanity. From the monitors set across the room he could see her standing up and taking in her surroundings. Even when she realised where she was and what had happened, she didn't panic. He had been surprised by that. And then, he had been utterly amazed by her physical strength when the first hollow charged at her. Even without shinigami powers, she had managed to beat the hollow to a pulp in a few seconds.
As he reminisced of those first days, another memory started replacing Tatsuki's image. A suppressed memory of a blond young woman. He wondered shortly if things could have been different if she had hold on. A sad sigh escaped his thin lips.
Gently, he lied down Tatsuki's body on the mattress in that forgotten room she had been previously. Her clothes were ragged and soaked in blood. There were several cuts spread all over her body, in her head, arms and legs; but the most prominent was the large slash across her abdomen. Undoubtedly it had been made by the attack of Kurosaki Ichigo. His ability in healing kidou wasn't that of Unohana-taichou or even of Kuchiki Rukia who was said to have had top grades in demon magic. Still he was the only one there at the moment.
Removing the trashed keikogi carefully, he exposed the wound. It was worse than he had expected.
At first, Aizen had given him the task of taking care of the girl's medical necessities because he didn't want any of the Espada finding out about her strange reiatsu which might have happened if a normal arrancar was to take care of her wounds. But now she had been discovered, Gin didn't want to take the risk of getting the female shinigami killed by taking her to the arrancar so he did the best he could to heal her wounds and covered the remaining with bandages.
It was during the procedure of having her abdomen wrapped up that Tatsuki slowly opened her eyes. Everything around looked strangely bright and unfocused, even though the room was dimly illuminated.
"Gin-san?" she asked as she noticed the shinigami attending to her injuries. He looked up with a truthfully relieved face that managed to get Tatsuki confused.
"Arisawa-chan, ya're awake!" he quickly finished wrapping the bandages while the girl watched him.
"I thought for sure Aizen would dispose of me now that I've been discovered." She replied when Gin was finished. The shinigami slid his hands in the spaces between his sleeves crossing them over his chest as he stood looking down on her. The girl sat up with a small wince. He didn't bother telling her she shouldn't move knowing perfectly well that wouldn't stop her from doing so.
"Aizen-san still has plans for ya. His orders are to keep ya alive." He informed her. She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, well, I suppose he knows that I won't be a puppet in his hands. Just because I agreed coming here and being under his command, doesn't mean I have forgotten who my friends are." She stiffly replied.
"I can see that." Ichimaru motioned to her abdomen. "Ya're still willing to protect them, even after they deserted ya." His face acquired a slightly disapproving frown.
Tatsuki looked away. It was kind of true that they had deserted her. Still, they were her friends and she had promised to herself she wouldn't hold a grudge against them when she realised she was being left behind. You might be able to lie to yourself, but you can't fool me.The hollow quickly retorted. She sighed. Well, she was slightly bitter because of what they had done. Still there was no way she was going to turn her back on them. She knew they cared. She had felt it. A shiver ran through her body as she recalled Ichigo's strong grip around her.
"Even if they did, they're still my friends." She replied standing up unsteadily. This time Gin couldn't let it pass. Taking his hands from his sleeves he pressed her shoulders and forced her to sit down again.
"Where do ya think ya're going?" he asked with his usual grin. "Ya can't leave this place until yar injuries are completely healed. Now stay here and lie down." He made her lie down on the bed and left, closing the door behind him.
Tatsuki sighed. Does he really think that locking the door will keep me from leaving? He must be out of his mind. Her hollow replied. Shut the fuck up. Nobody asked you anything. She was about to put on her gi when she realised it was completely ragged, so instead she torn a large piece of it that she tied around her chest. It feels damn weird walking around with only bandages covering your boobs.
Once Ichimaru's reiatsu was far enough she used her skills to open the door with a smile. She just loved destroying Aizen's property. Glancing around, she found herself in the medical wing once again. Still, there was not one arrancar at view. Unbothered by the fact, the dragon walked away in a quick pace. She had pressing matters that needed to be addressed. As she walked, she couldn't help thinking back at everything that had happened.
If you had let me have Nnoitra, you could have just stayed in that other world. The hollow was getting more and more annoying. Would you just shut up? It's not like I had only Nnoitra to worry about. Besides, why would I want to stay there? I'm dead. I don't belong to the Living World anymore. As much as I don't like it, this is where I belong now. Why not in Soul Society? Tatsuki was about to lose it with her hollow. She was clearly mocking her so the girl just didn't bother to reply.
She was nearing her destination when she suddenly stopped. The killing intent in the reiatsu that surrounded her was so thick it actually felt like there was a blade pressing against her neck. She sighed. Even though Aizen had forbidden the Espada to kill her, she doubted he had put any restrictions on playing around with her.
She made the corner already knowing she would look at a familiar figure leaning against the opposite wall. The Quinto Espada was eyeing her with the same sadistic grin he had at the time they had first met.
"Arisawa!" he pulled away from the wall. "I knew you would stop by around here sooner or later. But before you have your little shit chat with the shitty kitten, we need to talk." Nnoitra approached her. "Let's step outside."
"When you say outside, you mean to say it like a date outside Las Noches?" she smirked. "I'm sorry, but I feel indulged to decline your kind offer."
"Bitch!" The Espada's short patience was quickly fading. "You're afraid of stepping out of Aizen's protection?" he taunted her. Tatsuki clenched her fists. It was a clear provocation but she knew she couldn't just let him get to her.
"But of course." She admitted openly with a smile. "Why would I expose myself to getting killed by going outside Las Noches with you? I think I'll just ignore you and go talk to Grimmjow." She started walking towards the corridor that led to the Sexta Espada's wing. Her path was blocked by Nnoitra scythe as he quickly shoved her against the wall.
"Are you that afraid to fight me? Don't tell me you can't handle it." he put a finger over her lips. "Don't say anything. I have an idea. If you don't fight me now, I'll tell ya what I'm going to do to your little shinigami friends the next time we fight them." His smirk was obvious as he leaned closer. "I'll start off with the human, you know, the one we brought here. I'll be sure to make her scream with every bone I break before I kill her." He licked his lips, imagining the scene.
Tatsuki clenched her fists. You're not going to live long enough to do that. Yes, that's it, Tatsuki-chan. Let me kill him. Just this one time, let me take control.
"And then I'll deal with that shinigami show off, Kurosaki. It was such a pity that Aizen called us out before I had the chance to fight him last time. He looked pretty strong and I'm sure it would be fun tearing him apart, limb by limb. You know, that's what I'm going to do if you don't comply. All I want is to talk."
"Don't worry, you won't live long enough to do any of those things." Tatsuki's eyes were slowly but surely turning black as she struggled against both hers and the hollow's urge to rip out Nnoitra throat.
"That sounds like an empty threat to me." He approached her ear. "Maybe I'll enjoy torturing him before I tear apart his limbs."
A claw clutched his throat as Tatsuki's mask started to complete itself joining spirit particles from the environment with the broken mask in her head. Her left eye was now completely black and her right one was more than halfway. She struggled against the urge to smash him. She fought against her bloodlust. And then, Nnoitra hit her making her release her grip.
"Guess you'll fight with me, after all." The Espada grinned.
Tatsuki took deep breaths, her eyes returning to normal. "No, I won't." she replied.
"Too late, bitch!" he yelled back as he punched her, pushing her through the wall. The strength had been such that they went through four walls before falling down from Las Noches into the sand of Hueco Mundo's desert.
"We're outside now." He lunged his scythe and Tatsuki rolled over to avoid it. A cero forced her the other way and before she knew it, they had gotten sufficiently away from Las Noches even thought the huge palace was still in plain sight.
"Seems I have no choice but to fight you now." The girl acknowledged. Once he had gotten her distant enough from Las Noches, it was impossible for her to simply ignore the challenge. Of course Aizen could feel them there just as he could inside Las Noches, but it would be more difficult to intervene.
But that was exactly Nnoitra's objective. He wanted to force Tatsuki into an all out fight in a place where he could beat her senseless into an inert mass of reiatsu. He had never been more humiliated than when she had stopped his cero and then Aizen had prohibited them from touching her.
"INORE, SANTA TERESA!" he cried out. His four extra arms appeared carrying each a similar blade to the one he used in his unreleased form. "Do your resurrection." He ordered
Tatsuki shook her head. "If you wanna fight, I'll fight. But I'll fight you as a shinigami. BANKAI!" her long sleeveless haori appeared. Don't be such a sport spoiler, Tatsuki-chan. I'll eventually have to come out and when I do…a loud laugh exploded in her head. …I'll eat you up. Shut up and stay back. I can handle him by myself. We'll just see about that, won't we?
"Tsh! Looks like that's all I get for now." Nnoitra complained.
Ichigo made an abrupt stop in front of the familiar shouten. It had taken him three shunpo to get there and that was a personal record. Not that he had noticed the fact. He slid the door and entered the shop, stepping outside the rain that kept coming down. As he slid the door behind him close he noticed he was literally dripping water. A small puddle had already formed at his feet. He cursed and tried to squeeze his hakama as he waited for someone. But Urahara's Shouten looked empty. Ururu and Jinta were nowhere to be seen and even Tessai's enormous figure was out from sight. Usually one of the three was on lookout at the door. Not that Urahara would need someone to do it. Ichigo was sure the shinigami already knew of his arrival.
"You can come in, Kurosaki-kun!" the blond shinigami's voice reached Ichigo from the corridor.
The vizard decided to ignore his drenched uniform and quickly made his way inside the shop towards the origin of the voice. He slid the door to their usual meeting room to see both Urahara and Yoruichi sitting there. The blond took a sip of his tea without even looking at him. Ichigo didn't bother sitting. There was no point in doing so as he was planning on getting out as soon as possible.
"I need to go to Hueco Mundo, Urahara-san!" he burst out.
"Sit down, Ichigo." Yoruichi replied in a calm tone of voice without ever uncrossing her arms. It caught the vizard's eyes that both were very serious and stiff on their spots.
"I don't have time to sit down, Yoruichi-san. I need to go to Hueco Mundo!" he said exasperated, his hands clenching tightly at his sides. "Could you just open the Garganta for me? Please?"
The final word caught both Yoruichi and Urahara out of guard for a second. The situation could turn out to be more disturbing for Ichigo than they had anticipated.
"What makes you think it's still open?" Urahara quietly asked as he put down his cup of tea and looked up, his eyes covered by his hat.
Ichigo bit his bottom lip. Of course, they could have just closed it again after retrieving. Still…Are you that eager to follow that arrancar, Ichigo? His hollow taunted him. "We wouldn't know until we've tried it!" he replied, still refusing to sit.
Yoruichi gave a deep sigh and massaged her temporal lobe. Sometimes her pupil could be so hard-headed. But then again, she could understand how he was feeling. She had been utterly surprised by the turn of events as well. Once they had discovered that Tatsuki's soul had disappeared, it had never been a question whom had took her. The timing had just been too perfect for it to be a mere coincidence. Still, when they had felt something similar to her previous spiritual energy among the invading arrancar, they couldn't believe it.
"And what exactly are you planning to do?" she asked forcing his eyes to mirror hers. He quickly avoided her gaze, finding it too piercing and didn't reply. What could he possibly say? "Are you just going to barge in there and get yourself killed? You barely made it out alive the last time. Do you think Arisawa-san would want that?"
Ichigo's face perked up surprised. "You knew?" he asked confused. Then, anger quickly took over. "For how long? Were you planning to tell us at all? Or were you planning to wait until she appeared like she did?" he slammed his fist over the small table. Both shinigami were unbothered by the gesture. It was a normal reaction after all. Specially for the hot headed vizard.
"We've just recently discovered, Ichigo." Yoruichi said. "But we weren't sure if she had been taken or not. We just noticed that she had had a gikongan replacing her soul in her body."
"A gikongan?" he was sitting now. "I didn't know about that." He quickly dismissed it. It should have been obvious to him that something was replacing her soul in her body for it to still be alive. But that was beside the point at that moment. What really mattered was that she had been taken back to Hueco Mundo and he needed to get her back, no matter what. "Well, I don't care either way. What I really need right now is to get to Hueco Mundo. I have to save her. I have to. I can't just leave her there."
Can't or won't? You know, King, she's an arrancar, so she doesn't quite belong with the shinigami. Do you actually think anyone would accept her as she is right now? They can barely accept the me inside you.. How do you plan to make them accept an arrancar? Or are you planning to take her to your stupid associates, the vizard?
She's not just an arrancar. She's a shinigami too. And above it all, she's our friend. They would never shun her.
"Kurosaki-san, you have to consider the fact that she's an arrancar. She might not even recognize you anymore." Urahara quietly said.
Ichigo smiled. "You're wrong. She's not an arrancar. Well, not as the rest of them, at least. She had shinigami powers as well. She mastered bankai."
"You mean to say she's a vizard?" Yoruichi inquired surprised. Tatsuki's reiatsu had certainly felt different from the usual arrancar but she had just dismissed it. But now that she thought about it, there had been a moment during the battles when her spiritual energy had mostly resembled that of a shinigami. Still, the arrancar in it had never disappeared.
"Not quite…" Ichigo tried to search for the right expression but he found none. "It's as if she's a mix between vizard and arrancar. She kept her hollow mask the entire time she was in bankai, but not like vizards do. She kept it as arrancar do." He explained. Both of the shinigami were confused. This was something new that not even Urahara had known about.
"An arrancar that can perform bankai?" he scratched his chin absently.
"Kisuke, how could that happen?" the woman asked. Urahara shook his head.
"I haven't the sliest idea."
"Still, she fought you. She wouldn't have done it if she still had her memories." Yoruichi continued.
"No. She's still Tatsuki." Ichigo replied confidently.
"Ichigo, you can't a…"
"Believe me Yoruichi-san. She's still Tatsuki. She risked her own life to protect Mizuiro and Keigo. The whole time we were fighting I always felt like she was holding back. Her moves were planned as to not make much damage, like she did when we were kids. She said she was sorry." Even though I should have been the one saying it. "Apparently not all the Espada knew who she was. One of them was stupefied when she blocked out his cero. That's why I have to go get her back. Now that they know she's with us, they're going to kill her. I have to go save her." His face was a mask of guilt and pain. "You have to let me go save her."
"Kurosaki-kun, there has not been one single time in which I haven't helped you. However, this time I cannot comply with your wishes. Hueco Mundo is not Soul Society. Even if you went after her right now, you wouldn't have a single guarantee that she wouldn't be dead already. If they want her dead, she's already is. On the other hand, I don't believe Aizen would allow anyone to kill her so easily after going to such trouble to keep her abduction hidden. He must have plans for her, so the chances are that she's still alive. Either way, you're not going to Hueco Mundo by yourself. We need to think of a plan. We need to anticipate Aizen's next move so we can be ready." Having finished his speech, Urahara Kisuke took his fan from a compartment inside his keikogi and started to open and close it repeatedly. He was nervous.
Ichigo clenched his fists tightly over his legs. His head was facing down. He had heard it all in silence and he understood. But the fact he understood it, didn't mean he could stand it. "Then am I supposed to just sit here and do nothing?" he shouted.
"No." was Yoruichi peremptory reply. "You're supposed to be training so when you go save her you don't get your ass handed out to you."
And so it was. Knowing perfectly well he wouldn't get to chase Tatsuki to Hueco Mundo without Geta-boushi's help, he could only hope she would stay alive long enough for him to save her. What they would do after it didn't really matter. He didn't care if she was an arrancar or a vizard, a hollow or a shinigami, and neither did he care about the others' reaction. All he wanted was to have her wrapped in his arms again where he could protect her; where she belonged.
It had taken him long enough to realize that. Everything he had done until then, even lying to her had been to protect Tatsuki. But not because she needed it. He was the one who subconsciously wanted her to need his protection. He had just realized that keeping her out of the loop was only a way to be sure he would protect her. She belonged in his arms where he could keep her safe.
Exiting Urahara Shouten, he flash-stepped away minutes before his friends arrived. Before heading over to the vizard's usual training space, he made a short stop. Jumping through the familiar window, he entered the cold room. In there, time had come to a halt somewhere. Tatsuki's features were just like he remembered them to be: her short black hair framing her petit face that sometimes bared a scowl of her own. But what he missed most was her wannabe serious yet mocking grin that she always showed him.
Even knowing it wasn't really Tatsuki there he took her hand in his and pushed away a lock of hair that had fallen over her eyes. "I'll save you no matter what, so…just hang in there."
It wasn't really fair what he did. She was asleep; damn, she wasn't even in herself. He lowered his head, not quite sure of what he was going to do before mistaking her lips for her forehead and placing a small kiss on them before jumping off the window again.
I hate the rain! His hollow complained as the water started to fall down in Ichigo's inner world.
Yay, another chapter up. I haven't replied every one of the reviewers but I will. Hope you've enjoyed this chapter, specialy the last paragraph. I thought it was rather sweet of him, but let me hear what you thought about it.
Going on, thanks to the previous chapter reviewers. I will answer you briefly.
Ja ne, minna.
