A/N: Well here is the next chapter. This is the first chapter of Fade to Black, so beware spoilers if you haven't seen it yet. That being said, please R&R, and I can hopefully keep up this update pace. I also have a new story Interview: Bleach Authors, so if you have a favorite author review it.
Ichigo: Promoting your stories?
AN: Yes, your point?
Rukia: Don't you have better things to do?
Ayumi: Like working on this?
AN: Sure, gang up on me...
Nami: Skywalker does not own Bleach.
A few days later, Kurosaki Clinic~
"About time you came Ichigo. Nice to see you Rukia," Ayumi said, looking at her brother carrying his daughter with Rukia carrying her son.
"Oh shut up Ayumi, at least I came," Ichigo shot back, adjusting his arms to set his bag down.
"ICHIGO!" Isshin yelled, jumping at his son, only for Ayumi to punch him over into the wall.
"You moron! He's holding a kid!" the female Kurosaki yelled, her fist smoking from punching her father.
Ichigo handed Saki over to Rukia before kicking his father into the other room. He then carried both Rukia's luggage and his own up to their room, leaving his wife to talk with Masaki and the newly arrived Karin and Yuzu. When he came back down, it was to see his mother holding both Saki and Kai with Rukia sitting on the couch with his younger sisters.
"How are you holding up Rukia? I remember what it was like after I had Karin and Yuzu and it wasn't easy," Masaki asked, fondly staring down on her grandchildren.
"It's been hard sometimes. I'm tired all the time now since they keep waking up in the middle of the night. But I wouldn't exchange them for anything," Rukia answered, smiling over at her twins.
"Come on, I want to hold them too…" Isshin pitifully whined from where he was sitting in the floor.
"Not going to happen old man. I don't trust you with them, just like I don't trust Kisuke," Ichigo said, making a reference to the fact that he hadn't visited the resident scientist yet.
"You are so mean Ichigo…I just want to hold my beautiful grandchildren! Rukia, will you let me hold them?" Isshin asked, turning to the sleepy Kuchiki.
"Not going to happen," was all that Rukia said.
Isshin frowned before going to pout in the corner. Karin and Yuzu had both been given one of the twins by this point, and were smiling down on them while the twins smiled up at them.
"So who's making dinner tonight?" Ichigo asked once he took a seat next to Rukia…or more appropriately with Rukia in his lap.
"Yuzu and I are both making it. And it's your favorite food too," Masaki said.
"Aren't you lucky Strawberry, they are so nice," Rukia said, earning a light punch to her arm from Ichigo.
Masaki just smiled at the two, before getting up and patting Isshin on the shoulder. After the elder Kurosaki left the room she started to cook their meal, leaving the rest of them to adore the twins.
A while later~
"Man that was some good food!" Ichigo said, sitting on his bed with Rukia.
"I agree with you there, your mother and sisters cooking continues to impress me," Rukia added, looking very tired.
"You look more tired than anything else Rukia. You might want to get some sleep, I'll keep an eye on Saki and Kai for you," Ichigo said, which Rukia tiredly nodded to.
But out of nowhere Rukia's phone started ringing, and when she answered it she gave a tired sigh. She then stood up and hugged Ichigo before moving for the door.
"What's wrong Rukia? Don't they know we are on vacation right now?" Ichigo asked, wondering what was going on.
Rukia just sighed, "They called me back for some reason."
Ichigo sighed himself, "I shouldn't be surprised, they never give us a break do they?"
Rukia nodded before jumping out the window and opening a Senkaimon…leaving Ichigo behind to watch his restless kids.
Back in the Sereitai, Mayuri Kurosutchi was working on some sort of project in his barracks. After typing on his keyboard, the less than sane scientist went to the other room to grab a weird plant that had sprouted out of his floor. But the moment he touched it, Mayuri felt some strange reiatsu.
"Who's there! Show yourselves!" Mayuri yelled.
He kept feeling the reiatsu jump around, and so Mayuri spun around trying to find it. But the last time he turned was to see a man cloaked in shadow swing a scythe at him. It didn't kill Mayuri…but he suddenly didn't remember who he was or where he was. The man with the scythe had vanished, but Nemu came running into the room, making Mayuri recoil in terror.
"Master Mayuri, what's wrong?" Nemu asked, wondering what was going on.
"Stay away from me!" Mayuri yelled, running into his computer room. Nemu followed him, trying to get her father to stop running, but it was to no avail, the man refused to hold still. Finally Nemu cornered him next to the computer, but Mayuri just drew his Zanpaku-to, automatically releasing it. Meanwhile, the man with the scythe had attached the plant-like thing to his blade, and wore a sinister smile as he twisted it. That led to the large device in Mayuri's lab starting up, which freaked out the Captain even more, leading to him swinging his Zanpaku-to around wildly.
"Master Mayuri please stop!" Nemu called out trying to rip her father's Zanpaku-to out of his hands.
"LET GO OF ME!" Mayuri yelled back, throwing Nemu off and bringing his blade down into his computer.
While he did that, a massive white…blob… for lack of a better word shot out of the tower. It started sprouting white snake-like objects, which shot all over the Sereitai. Several Reapers tried to stop the things, but every time they cut one it just split into two separate entities, engulfing the Reapers. As these things shot out over the Sereitai and engulfed Soul Reapers left and right, Mayuri was trying to fight off his own men who were trying to reason with the insane Captain. But when he swung his sword it collided with Kenpachi's blade.
"So you finally lost it eh?" Kenpachi asked, looking down on Mayuri who just shouted and swung wildly at the taller Captain.
Kenpachi almost lazily blocked the blows until Mayuri jumped back to his computer and swung his blade around wildly, somehow managing to summon his Bankai. The massive 'baby' launched at Kenpachi, it's blades colliding with his Zanpaku-to and pushing the Captain back. Naturally Kenpachi just thought the whole thing was fun. But as soon as they left the building the white things engulfed Mayuri's Bankai, knocking it and Kenpachi down to the ground. The battle-crazed Captain tried to leap out of his predicament, but his legs were fused to the ground.
"What a pain," Kenpachi said, before he looked up and saw a 'snake' flying down on him, consuming the Captain.
All over the Sereitai, Soul Reapers who had reached high ground watched the flood swallow up their friends. Thankfully for some of them, Kusaka's 'fortress' still stood and it gave them a place to take refuge. All around the bottom of it and Sokyoku Hill, the white fluid swarmed out over the Sereitai, but the tops of the hills were safe. As for the newly arrived Rukia, she had run to an area that the message told her to, only to see this devastation all around her.
"What could be causing this?" she thought aloud, only to feel someone approaching her from behind. When Rukia looked she saw a young woman floating towards her.
"Hello Rukia, we are here to shear your memories," the woman said.
On hearing that Rukia reached for Shirayuki, but before she could the man from earlier swung his scythe at Rukia. Again it didn't draw any blood, but the weapon did make Rukia fall to her knees and forget everything. She saw all the important people in her life flash before her eyes before fading from her memory. Renji, Kaien, Sumi, Jushiro, Byakuya, Ayumi, Kai, Saki, and finally Ichigo…all erased from Rukia's mind.
Karakura Town~
Ichigo had just gotten to sleep when he heard crying erupt from the other end of his room. The young Captain jumped up, seeing Kon trying to calm a pair of babies he didn't recognize.
"Kon, who are those kids and why are they in my room?" Ichigo asked.
Kon looked at Ichigo like he was crazy before going back to trying to comfort Saki and Kai, "These are your kids Ichigo! What is wrong with you, and where is Rukia when you need her?"
It was Ichigo's turn to look at Kon like he was crazy as Ayumi walked into the room, holding her ears and looking like she had just been woken up.
"What is with all the crying in here Ichigo? And who are the kids?" Ayumi asked.
"You think I know? I just woke up to here them crying and Kon said they are mine and some 'Rukia' persons kids," Ichigo said, not knowing anyone by that name.
"Rukia? Why does that name sound familiar…" Ayumi thought aloud, looking at the crying twins.
Ichigo was confused too, before he heard Shiro yelling in his head, "Rukia is your wife and the Queen you moron! I can't believe you forgot that, it's been forty years after all!"
"I agree with Shiro, how could you forget someone so important to you Ichigo?" Zangetsu asked.
Ichigo just shook his head, before he got a sudden headache, Ayumi in a similar situation. The two Kurosaki's had a flash of memories go through their minds…all of a short dark-haired woman. The last ones ended with the last few hours, including the dinner they had just had.
"RUKIA!" the two Reapers yelled, before Ichigo ran over to Saki and Kai, launching Kon out of the way. He did his best to comfort the twins, but it seemed that not being able to feel Rukia's reiatsu was too much for them. So Ichigo sent Ayumi to wake up his parents, who had somehow slept through the whole thing. When Isshin and Masaki entered the room, Ichigo quickly explained what was going on. The two elder Kurosaki's nodded their heads at the end, and took Saki and Kai, allowing Ichigo and Ayumi to run off to Kisuke's shop.
"Rukia Kuchiki? I'm sorry I don't know anyone of that name Mr. Kurosaki," Kisuke said.
"But how couldn't you? She is one of your best customers! Not to mention you stuck the Hogyoku in her soul!" Ichigo yelled.
"Still doesn't ring a bell, but I'll look at my customer list real quick," Kisuke said, pulling a list out of his sleeve, "Oh what do you know, I do have a Kuchiki listed on here."
"Told you! I can't believe you forgot about her!" Ichigo said angrily.
Kon looked up at Ichigo before saying, "Don't forget, you two didn't remember her at first either, and she is your wife Ichigo."
Kisuke looked up at that, "Oh that explains why you are so anxious to find this person. Well I don't know if it is related to this or not, but a massive attack happened in Sereitai last night."
"WHAT! You need to get us a Senkaimon now Kisuke! I don't want to risk opening one myself if no one remembers Rukia…they might not know me or Ayumi," Ichigo said.
Kisuke nodded and headed to his basement to open the portal.
Soul Society~
As the two Kurosaki's ran out the portal, it was only to find themselves floating in mid-air. Thus they both fell screaming to the ground. Once they impacted, Ichigo stood up and dusted off his Haori, while Ayumi picked up Kon. But they both noticed the massive block of gray matter in front of their face. Including the Soul Reapers incased in it.
"What happened here?" Kon asked, somewhat terrified of what he was seeing.
"I don't know, but we need to find someone who does. Let's split up Ayumi, I'll head to my barracks, you head that way," Ichigo said, pointing off into the distance while he headed for Squad 3.
Ayumi nodded, and soon found a large group of Reapers working in the distance, including one she recognized from the Bount incident.
"Hey Shuhei! What happened here?" Ayumi shouted, getting the attention of the Squad 9 Lieutenant.
Shuhei just stared at the unfamiliar woman in front of him before they both felt a massive surge of reiatsu as another snake shot out from the tower.
"Stand firm men, we have to stop this thing!" Shuhei yelled, before Ayumi jumped out front, holding Togetsu in front of her. Right before the snake reached the orange-haired teen, she released her Bankai and launched a Getsuga, cutting the monster in two. Unfortunately that didn't stop it, the now two-headed snake continuing on to the gate. All the Reapers guarding the gate ran out of the way, allowing the snake to hit it head on, sending the massive wooden gate flying out into the Rukon, only narrowly avoiding crushing anyone. That allowed the man and women who caused this to flee into the slums with Rukia.
Back with Ayumi, she found herself surrounded by the Reapers, all of them having drawn their blades.
"Hey, what are you all doing?" Ayumi questioned.
"Drop your blade Ryoka, and we might spare your life," Shuhei answered.
Ayumi frowned and yelled, "But how come you don't recognize me? It's me, Ayumi Kurosaki!"
Shuhei just frowned and ordered his men to attack, leading to Ayumi knocking them out with the flat of her blade. The Lieutenant soon charged at Ayumi himself, clashing blades with the Substitute who yelled, "Come on Shuhei…don't you recognize me?"
"I've never seen you before in my life!" the Lieutenant yelled, pushing Ayumi back.
Darn it…they don't remember me! Ayumi thought, before running off.
"Roar, Zabimaru!" a voice yelled off to the side, forcing Ayumi to dodge the blade.
"Renji! Come on, if anyone will recognize me it must be you!" Ayumi yelled, knowing full well that the redhead had a crush on her.
Renji just frowned and yelled, "I have never seen you in my life Ryoka!"
Ayumi frowned herself and jumped out of the way of Zabimaru, while Shuhei and his group arrived.
"Stop Ryoka!" Renji yelled.
"Come on Renji, don't tell me you don't remember me? And what about Rukia?" Ayumi yelled, once again blocking Zabimaru.
"Rukia? Who is that?" Renji asked, pushing against Ayumi.
"You don't remember Rukia? Come on Renji think!" Ayumi yelled.
"Shut up Ryoka!" Renji yelled back, before pushing Ayumi away.
Darn it…I need to get out of here and find Ichigo! Ayumi thought, running away from the group only for a certain Captain to block her way. "Stop Ryoka, you can't escape," Komamura said.
Ayumi just jumped into the air, trying to get away from the massive Captain.
"Bankai! Kokujo Tengen Myo-oh!" Komamura yelled, angry at his enemy trying to escape.
"GETSUGA TENSHO!" Ayumi yelled back, sending multiple white blasts at the giant, each one that hit coating it in an ever-larger ice sheet. But one last blow knocked the young Reaper aside, as the giant collapsed to the ground. Ayumi flew into the sewers, leading Ichigo to wonder what had happened to his sister, and speed up his run to Squad 3, hoping people there remembered him.
Squad 3 Barracks
"Captain Shiba! Where have you been, and where is Lieutenant Kira?" Sumi yelled.
"I've been busy Sumi…and what do you mean 'Lieutenant Kira'? Rukia is your Lieutenant!" Ichigo yelled panting slightly from how much running he had done.
"Rukia? Who is that Captain?" Sumi asked, frowning at the unfamiliar name.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me…keep the Squad here Sumi, they are safer that way!" Ichigo yelled, before running off again and leaving a bemused Third Seat behind him.
AN: Well there it is. Again, not much to say...though I am not completely satisfied with this chapter...
Nami: Why? It is plenty good in my opinion.
AN: You have to like it though...
Ichigo: Oh stop being a baby...and where is Rukia!
Rukia: Where am I? *looks around*
Woman: With us Rukia...to stay forever.
Man: And no Soul Reapers.
Rukia: Okay then...
AN: Please leave a review on the way out.
