Short chappie cos im already working on 11 ^^
Was thinking of putting it all in one chapter, but was taking way too long
Nuff talking! read on!
Disclaimer : I do not own bleach
"Rukia… you can't just sit there and do nothing, I mean, its already been two days…"
A warm hand rested on her shoulder and she looked up to see her brother standing above her
"Nii-sama… but…I can't leave him…"
Byakuya said nothing, but his hand slid off her shoulder as he turned around and stepped out of the room
The others looked at him, but he only closed his eyes, and shook his head
Two days had passed since the fight, two days since Ichigo had fallen unconscious
Two days ago,
The door slammed open and Urahara tilted his head up to look at the small figure standing at the door
Rukia was breathing heavily with a recognizable orange-haired boy over her shoulder
Urahara ran forward and caught her, just as she collapsed
By the time the rest arrived, he had already put them on beds and was examining the extent of damage to their bodies
A white figure stood by the door, looking very tired
Ukitake and Shunsui stared at the Ichigo look-alike and pulled out their blades
Hichigo raised up his hands
"Hold up, I'm not your enemy"
Neither captain lowered their weapon
Hichigo sighed
"Please lower your weapons…"
Both captains did, but realized a split second later and did not hesitate to attack the white figure
Hichigo leaned against the wall, Zangetsu prompted up next to him
Urahara closed his newspaper
"40 houses destroyed, 30 dead and 5 seriously injured, with others yet to be found in a freak earthquake across Karakura town"
He chuckled and hid his mouth behind his fan
Ukitake and Sunsui turned to the pale figure
Ukitake was the first to break the silence
"So he's Ichigo's hollow and he's on our side?"
The elder Kuchiki took a sip of tea before replying
"It would seem so, and while we are at it, would you mind explaining what happened?"
His body, like Toushiro's was wrapped in bandages after their fight with the fake Lords
His glared slightly at the hollow, who merely shrugged
"The move which I taught Ichigo was an incredibly complex hollow move. He was only able to pull it off because he had done so once before, when fighting the 4th Espada during the winter war"
He nodded towards Inoue and Ishida, the two who had witnessed the form before
"It is called 'Instinct' and like its name suggests, one reaches down into his subconscious and relies purely on his primary instincts to fight. Everyone is born with the capability to do it, including shinigami, but so far only hollows have been able to do so, and even amongst us, it is rare
However, Ichigo is a different. Hollows which posses a human carrier are usual on poor terms with each other and the Vizards had hollows born in them, not possessing them"
Hichigo looked towards the shinigami captain lying unconscious on the bed
"Using the skill will not only increase the user's power temporarily, but even after its duration is over, the person permanently gains a vast knowledge of his own abilities, which would have normally taken much training to obtain
But, like I said, few have used it and its side effects are mostly unknown, but one which is definitely on the list for first time users, is an overstrain of the muscles and a brain re-boot"
"So Ichigo is going to be fine?"
Hichigo looked at the girl who was healing Rukia
Despite the resemblance to her hollow counterpart, Hichigo could tell that Inoue meant no harm
"Yeah, that thick skull of his will be just fine, you may want to concentrate on healing that white haired captain and Rukia though"
Ukitake looked confused by that statement
"What do you mean?"
"I told you that Ichigo's abilities would increase while he was in his instinctive form, so do you think the slash he aimed at you was a mere regular slash? His wrist twisted over a thousand times in that split second, you may have blocked the main blast, but what about the others?"
As if on cue, a crack started appearing on Ukitake's blade
The captain turned around and watched as the crack grew
Small cuts started appearing on his haori and they began to grow larger
Wounds started opening all over his body and blood flowed out of them, staining his robes
He managed to stay conscious as Shunsui transferred reiatsu to him, in an attempt to heal him
Inoue tried to seal up all the cuts that were appearing on Rukia, but for every one she sealed, more appeared
Byakuya and Toushiro were able to see that the casualties in this fight were severe
"At least, with Emihiro dead, its over, isn't it?"
Hichigo lowered his head and shook it, letting out a sigh
"Wish it were that simple…"
"What do you mean?" Byakuya's eyebrow raised slightly
"I mean, when I was looking in Emihiro's mind, something was amiss, as though someone expected I would check her mind and removed something. The only clue we have is a shadow in the dark that she called master"
Shunsui turned around and stood up
"Well, it is better then nothing. I will head back to Soul Society and inform the Captain-Commander of these events"
The 6th squad captain and the hollow nodded
Rukia stirred slightly and tossed around moaning
"Ichigo…"
Byakuya sighed and Hichigo chuckled
"She's a brave one, I can see why Ichigo loves her so much. But you need to watch over her"
His face was suddenly serious and the elder Kuchiki turned to face the hollow
"What do you mean?" His voice was dangerously cold
"When she was carrying Ichigo, she was trying her best to heal him, which I can understand, but subconsciously in doing so, she was absorbing any excess hollow reiatsu off him"
Byakuya's eyes widened when he grasped the hollow's meaning
He turned back and stared at his sister
Some of her wounds had a thin white layer covering them, emitting reiatsu similar to a hollow's
A hell butterfly flew through the Senkaimon that Shunsui opened and landed on Hichigo's shoulder
"Everything that you know, use your thoughts to put them in the butterfly. I will deliver it to the Captain-commander and the other captains"
Hichigo nodded and stepped outside
Rukia tossed again and opened her eyes slightly and asked in a barely audible whisper
"Ichigo… Is he okay?..."
Inoue looked up and saw her trying to reach for the shinigami next to her
Slightly annoyed and jealous by the sight, she pulled the younger Kuchiki's hand back down
"Kuchiki-san, your injuries are still healing, it'd be best if you don't move, and don't worry, Ichigo is fine"
She waited until she was fully healed and then sat beside Ichigo whenever she was free, but refusing to eat anything or sleep
But he remained unconscious
Present day
"She's going to faint if she doesn't eat, ya' know"
Byakuya sighed and turned to the sandal hat wearing shop owner
"I know, but she's stubborn when it comes to that kid"
Urahara grinned
"But you trust him, and, you like the fact that he will take care of her"
The sixth squad captain scowled
"I know they both love each other and I approve, but that doesn't mean I like the boy. When he told me he was going to break up with her to protect her, I admit, I was taken aback, because it was the first selfless act I have seen him do for her, so if he does wake up, I won't like it, but I will approve of it"
It was the first time Byakuya had ever made a long speech commenting anyone and they all knew it
Kisuke's grin widened
"I hope you heard all of that Kuchiki-chan"
Byakuya turned around and saw Rukia standing behind him
"Nii-sama, is what you said true? The part about why Ichigo broke up with me?"
Byukuya turned around and gave the shop owner a I'm-gonna-kill-you-later glare, before facing his sister
"Rukia listen to me, he knew what he was doing. He knew that if anyone told you the reason behind the breakup, you'd never give up. He wanted to put you out of harm's way"
He rested his hands on her shoulder, and unlike the cold hands she remembered from before, they suddenly seemed warmer
"If he saw you like this, what would he think?"
Rukia said nothing and nodded, grabbing her schoolbag
"I'll eat in school and be back later, alright?"
She smiled slightly before waving her hand at them and running after Renji
The others sighed slightly after she left
It had been so long since they saw her smile
Rukia clutched her forehead as another wave of headaches hit her
After she woke up, headaches seemed to come and go as they pleased
She laid her hands on top of Ichigo's
"You should have seen Keigo's face when Tatsuki punched him today, it was almost as if he was caught between being happy and being shocked"
She smiled slightly
"They all miss you Ichi… so when are you coming back?..."
"He'll be fine… now come, I've already asked Tessai to cook some food for you"
Kisuke placed his hand on her head
"Ya' don't want Ichigo to call you a midget when he wakes up do y- Opf! "
Rukia's fist had landed on his chest, causing the ex-captain to cough for awhile before grinning
In spite of herself, Rukia couldn't help but giggle too
She stood up, turned around and walked out, not noticing that Ichigo's fingers twitched slightly
A raven-haired girl?... A town?...
"C'mon strawberry! Come catch me!"
Rukia…her name was Rukia…
He chased after her, quickening his pace
"Hey! Wait up!"
He lifted his hand up and reached for her
But she kept barely out of his reach
She darted around the corner and he followed suit, jogging slightly now
When he turned around the corner, she wasn't there
"That's weird… "
He scratched his head and looked down, only to find that he was sinking into the floor
He shouted out loud and flailed his arms helplessly
A white figure dropped down in front of him, holding a giant sword
"C'mon, you can't keep your friends waiting for you, that ain't right"
He extended his pale hand
Hichigo…. This guy's name is Hichigo….
He reached for the hand and grabbed it
Memories flashed in his mind, the fights with hollows, the adventures he had, followed by a blinding light
His opened his eyes slightly and blinked multiple times before bolting upright
Every muscle in his body ached, but he put that aside
He slid open the door and ran out, looking around wildly
There she is!...
He ran towards her with his hands stretched out
"Rukia!"
The younger Kuchiki was surprised to see a orange flash charging towards her and was even more surprised when he hugged her, especially in front of everyone else
She could feel her brother's cold gaze on her back
"Ichigo! Let go! You're squeezing too hard!"
The boy's eyebrows tightened
"Ichigo? Who's that? Rukia, where is this? Who are they?" He pointed to the other shinigamis before scratching his head
"Rukia…. Who am I?..."
After calming Ichigo down and assuring that they were all friendly people, they started questioning him
"I don't remember anything except nee-chan and a creepy white guy called Hichigo"
He would scratch his head while replying with a wide grin, after which, he would give Rukia a hug
Rukia's eyebrow twitched in annoyance once again
It was like dealing with a six year old child… a really large, orange headed six year old…
"Rukia nee-cha-" She cut him off by lifting up her hand, blocking his face yet again
The others giggled slightly, but were silenced when she glared at them, her face fully reddened
Even Byakuya could not resist as the edge of his lips curved up slightly
They were all relieved that he had come back, despite his memory loss
"Well if we're done here, lets go down"
The shopkeeper chuckled slightly seeing the look on their faces
Rukia spoke first
"What for?"
Kisuke lowered his hat, giving a very sly smile
"To test Kurosaki's new abilities of course"
The trapdoor opened to reveal a staircase, unlike the previous times when there was a staircase
All the shinigami raised their eyebrows at the sandal hat, who simply shrugged
"I can change what this room looks like anytime I want" was his simple answer
Ichigo, in contrast, was fascinated by the sight and dashed down the stairway, tripping and landing at the bottom with a thud
"You fool!"
As usual, she was the first one to run over and help him up, as well as smack him on the head
"Ahh… the power of youthful lovers"
Urahara walked past the other shinigamis, chuckling as he always did
The basement had become an endless patch of open field, with a light breeze
Renji whistled
"How did you manage all of this?"
"You forget that I used to be the head of the development beau? I simple morphed the reiatsu structure of this place to my liking, and the breeze are just random bursts of reiatsu"
The glint in his eyes sent a slight chill down the other shinigami's spines
"Now! Let us begin!"
Without any hesitation, he let loose a bloodmist blast in Ichigo's direction
"AAAAAAAHHHHH! NEE-CHAN! SAVE ME!"
The orange haired boy ran and ran, doing a comical jump at the end to barely avoiding the attack
The ex-captain did not let up, firing blast after blast, till Ichigo decided to hide behind Rukia
"Nee-chan! I thought you said they weren't enemies! So why is Urahara-san attacking me!"
A pale hand rested on his shoulder as Hichigo emerged from his shadows
"You guys are aiming at the wrong target"
Ichigo turned around and saw his hollow leap over him, landing next to the shop owner
The hollow lifted his large blade above his head
"Since I'm in his head, I know exactly what Ichigo remembers, so let me tell you guys 2 mistakes u made"
His grin broadened
"One, he's still human, a hit like that would kill him.
And two, you guys are focusing on the wrong thing"
He caught the representative badge that Hitsugaya was throwing to Ichigo and brought his blade down
"Getsuga Tenshou!"
The other shinigami understood and reacted too late
Ichigo turned to run, but saw the blast headed for Rukia instead
Flashes of images appeared in his mind
A dark night… a crazy laughter… overwhelming power… a scream…
He clutched his head as it throbbed in pain
Her scream broke his trance and he dashed forward
"Are you crazy Hichigo! She hasn't healed yet!"
The other shinigami held Byakuya back from attacking the white figure
"No…. I was right"
As the dust cleared, a black blade similar to his own stood in the ground, held by the orange-haired captain
He tilted up his head and only the more experienced people caught the sudden blue aura which appeared in his eyes
Ichigo lifted up the blade and rested it on his shoulders
"No one can hurt her"
First of all, i'd like to address the guy called TJ who commented : Yes, i have this chapter planned out already, no i cannot tell you what is going to happen, BUT i want to thank you for your kind comment and suggestion ^^ they weren't out of line. in fact, when im having a writer's block, i sometimes need these kind of comments ^^
Seeing as how i released this chappie halfway, these are what the 3 "judges" have to say ^^"
SickMind: wish rukia could have taken advantage of his unconsciousness and wish ichi made use of his amnesia...if u get what i mean ;D (we literally punched him in school after this comment, dont worry, nothing was broken...yet ;) )
Player: wont spoil it for u guys here, but this first half was the more "boring" bit ^^
KempachiThe2nd: why'd u change my nickname? (cos i felt like it =P) i have to agree with player on this one, stay tuned for chapter 11 =D it gonna b a blast. literally xD
So yeah, no spoilers here, if i take too long, its cos im lazy + im mugging really hard (the 3 of them can support this statement) + i got addicted to a new manga (GE-Good Ending, the girl looks JUST LIKE RUKIA =DD)
AS ALWAYS PLLLLLSSSSSSS REVIEW ^^ mostly cause i get blocks frequently =(
Oh yea and guys(and gals) my 3 friends actually have some stories to post on FF, but as usual they are lazy, so its probably going to be on my account. I have seen all their work, and personally i'd say Sick's has too many lemons and Kempach's has too much gore, but Player's is fluffy ^^