Life's been weird. Found this again. Unedited. Enjoy.
xx
Rukia may have been startled, but she was far from unprepared.
As the hollow flash-stepped away from Ichigo, she twisted her hands toward him and whispered "Bakudou no ichi: Sai!", releasing the reiatsu she'd been building up in her hands into the arm the hollow had wrapped around her. It was instantly jerked behind his back, and she fell from his grasp, rolling across a dark window spiderwebbed with fine cracks. She hadn't noticed until now how broken-down the buildings around here were, her vision having been blocked by the fog and shadows. She pushed herself hurriedly to her feet, thinking furiously.
The windows here seem to hold memories. I wonder, are these the hollow's memories? Or are they memories of Ichigo's that the hollow doesn't want to remember?
She figured it couldn't hurt to check. But first...
From the feel of it, the hollow was beginning to crack through the rope around his wrists, just as Ichigo had on that first memorable encounter. Holding up her palm, she began to whisper a hurried incantation. "Raimei no basha, itoguruma no kangeki, hikari mote, kore wo mutsu ni wakatsu..."
The hollow snapped his bonds and came toward her. "Bakudou no roku-juu-ichi, Rikujoukourou!"
The six bars of light materialised around him and shot into place; he fell to his knees, the look on his face seemingly caught between annoyance at her interference and amusement at her daring.
Taking advantage of the hollow's confusion, she darted behind him, making for another window that was farther from his struggling form. Leaning close, she rubbed hard on the glass with the sleeve of her kosode. Peering through, she thought she saw something move in the darkness, but the window refused to give up its secrets.
She glanced toward the hollow, beginning to get worried, but the spell that had held even the Noveno Espada showed no signs of breaking just yet. Sighing in relief, she turned her attention back to the darkened glass. Carefully, she stepped on it; it held her weight easily. She frowned, moved back to the concrete, and stomped on it.
The glass still held.
Frustrated, she decided on a different tactic. "Hadou no yon: Byakurai!"
The bolt of lightning shot from her finger, bounced off the glass, and shot upward to join the roiling mass of thunderclouds above.
Rukia muttered something that ladies from noble houses generally weren't supposed to know just as Ichigo reached her side.
"I saw your signal," he said breathlessly, casting a disturbed look toward the writhing hollow. "How did you get away?"
"Kidou," she replied distractedly. "Ichigo, do you have any idea how these things work?
He looked down at the window, confused. "Not really," he said. "They show memories, don't they?"
Rukia rolled her eyes. "Yes, they do. Seriously, why don't you know? This is your mind, isn't it?"
His cheeks turned pink, barely visible in the dim light. "Sh-shut up! It's not like I've been here very often-the first time I saw this place was when Zangetsu told me his name! And I'm usually in a fight when he brings me back, so I haven't really had a chance to look around..."
Rukia smacked him in the head. "Well, could you try to get it to work? I think that if we were able to clear some of these memories up, we might be able to make the hollow remember some of the emotions he's been repressing."
Ichigo studied the window below him, surprised. "Huh. That actually might work." He looked up at her with worried eyes. "Wait, what are you going to while I'm..."
She turned back toward the hollow, determinedly not looking at Ichigo. "I'm going to distract him."
He choked. "Wait, Rukia! What are you-no! You can't-"
She cut him off. "Worry about yourself, Ichigo. Just do your part. I'll be fine." She risked a quick glance back at him. "I promise."
Ignoring his protests, she ran to the hollow, grabbed his shoulders, and slid into shun'po.
xx
Ichigo stared after Rukia, worried sick. He knew that her spells wouldn't hold the hollow for long; sooner or later, the fight was bound to end up the same way it had last time. He couldn't stand the thought of what that... thing might do to her while he sat here, staring at a freaking window.
But he knew that he couldn't get up and follow her. Doing that would prove to her that he couldn't trust her to fight for herself. She had shown him firsthand how much that could hurt. And did he have any right to deny her this battle, after all of the hurt he'd caused her?
He remembered, far too vividly, how empty he'd felt upon waking up in the Urahara Shoten for the first time, and realising that his powers were gone. Completely, irrevocably gone, for all that he knew at the time. And he had unknowingly done the same thing to her.
He'd only had his newfound powers for a couple of months
She'd had hers for more than fifty years.
And yet she hadn't complained once about the fact that she could no longer fight, about how powerless she felt when facing enemies she once would have cut down without a second thought. She'd never mentioned to him how sick she must have felt when she realised that her reiatsu wasn't returning, never told him about the fact that she'd committed a crime in saving his life and would likely be imprisoned upon her return. If she was ever able to return. All she did was guide him, making sure that he would still be able to protect those he loved even after she'd left.
How could he repay her, other than by standing by her side when she needed it, and allowing her to fight her own battles when necessary?
He would just have to do a damn good job of protecting her from here, then. And if this was all he could do, he was going to do it well.
With renewed determination, Ichigo turned back to the stupid window.
xx
Rukia had no idea how far she'd gone before she had to stop, gasping from the effort of dragging around someone who was nearly twice her size. How the heck does Kusajishi-fukutaichou manage? she asked herself bemusedly, depositing the hollow on a smudged windowpane and leaping away from him. Taking her stance, she gathered more reiatsu into her hands and crouched, waiting for him to move.
He tilted his head and smirked at her.
"So, looks like we meet again, Rukia-chan," he said, his voice disturbingly amused. "It's been a while, hasn't it? But you smell just as good as I remember."
She merely continued to stare at him, refusing to rise to his bait.
He chucked lightly. "You know, I had a lot of ideas about our next little chat. I've been watching, you see, in hope of finding juuuust the right moment. I think my favourite one was that night you first came back to the King's room to sleep; I could have woken you up, and the two of us could've hade a nice long talk without the King being able to interrupt." He sighed dramatically. "But I was too busy planning it all out, and missed my chance. It was really quite... frustrating." He licked his lips, smirking at her. "But before I can try again, here you are, all ready to see me! And you've even taken us to a nice secluded place, Rukia-chan. I'm rather proud of you!"
Rukia grimaced, trying to ignore the flow of his words. The memory of her latest nightmare was breaking free from the place where she had trapped it. That night... If she had awoken from the vivid, terrifying dream to find him lurking over her, whispering her name...
She shuddered, horrified.
The hollow laughed, pleased, then glanced down suggestively at his body. "And what's all this, Rukia-chan? I wasn't aware you were into bondage..." He grinned wickedly. "What a naughty little girl you are! If only your dear, precious Ichigo knew. I'm sure he'd be quite excited about it, Rukia-chan."
Anger rose within her, but she forced it back. This is just what he wants! she berated herself silently. He's trying to rile you up, get you to stop thinking and let down your guard. Don't do it, don't let him win!
"You'd be quite surprised at how he thinks about you, I'm sure. He's been wanting you for so-very-long, but he just won't stop beating himself up about you. I hurt her so much, she'd be better off without me, why would she ever want to be with such a loser?" he sing-songed in a mocking falsetto. "It's pathetic, really. But then again, so is he."
Rukia couldn't help herself. "At least he doesn't resort to beating up little girls to show how strong he is," she snapped.
The hollow tossed his head back, laughing. "Feisty as always, Rukia-chan! I knew there was something I liked about you." He lowered his gaze, smirking widely. "But you're wrong about one thing. That part wasn't to show off my strength. It was just for fun."
Ichigo, thought Rukia desperately. You'd better hurry up. I don't know how long I'll be able to do this.
xx
Still love you.