The Black Side of the Moon~ Sorrow and Reprieve
People can possess hope
Because our eyes are unable to see death.
~Kuchiki Rukia
It had been two weeks after Kurosaki Ichigo made his trip to the Royal Realm to visit the Soul King. The Gotei 13 had more or less repaired itself from the Wandenreich's first invasion. All of the surviving heads of the divisions had regained their health and were preparing themselves for the next attack.
There was something very odd going on. Rumors about what was happening fluctuated violently throughout the ranks. They eventually made their way to the Captain's themselves. They were centered around two most peculiar turn of events.
There hadn't been another attack.
Kurosaki Ichigo, the hero of the Winter War, had vanished completely.
Kuchiki Rukia was enjoying the peace and tranquility in the garden of the Kuchiki Manor. It was currently the middle of the night, almost early morning. She had trouble sleeping as of late, and found solace wandering the expansive gardens of her Brother's manor. She was in her wheelchair, seeing that she wasn't able to walk anymore. She was accompanied by one of her favorite maids who helped push her across the garden.
The moon shone brightly above, reflecting magnificently off the grand silver fountains of garden. It was Rukia's favorite spot of the manor.
She looked into the glistening waters, eyeing her reflection carefully. Beneath it, were koi fish almost as magnificent as the fountains themselves.
She grimaced at her reflection, and drew her hand across the water, creating a splash that scared the Koi fish away.
On the outside, she had appeared as cool headed and calm as any Kuchiki clan leader should present themselves. However, on the inside, she was nervous, scared even. Ichigo had yet returned from his trip to the Royal Realm. She was growing uneasy, as if something terrible had happened that she had no knowledge of. It wasn't like Ichigo to disappear for this long. He hadn't even told her where he was going.
She knew Ichigo well enough to know that he could handle himself in almost any situation, but that didn't keep her from worrying. She looked up at the night sky, and drew in a large breath.
Exhaling slowly, she thought to herself. 'Maybe Kyoraku-soutaicho knows what has happened to Ichigo. He is the one who sent him off to the Royal Realm anyway.'
She decided she would go see him at the new first division barracks first thing in the morning. She would get this cleared up immediately. She couldn't stand to not know what happened to the one who mattered most to her.
.
o o o
.
It was now early morning in Soul Society. Kyoraku Shunsui walked slowly through the 1st division, making his way to his office. He had made huge strides in restoring the Gotei 13 back to normal, while strengthening the defense of the entire seireitei. He too, had found it odd that the Wandenreich have yet to strike once again. It was a mistake for them to not strike when they had the advantage of a weakened opponent. They had the aspect of surprise before, now the Gotei 13 was more than prepared for another invasion. He would lead the battle himself, if it came to it.
Shunsui whistled quietly to himself, the door to the 1st division office was almost in sight. Nanao was following silently behind him, keeping to herself.
He sensed a familiar presence up by the door to his office. It was Kuchiki Rukia.
He hid his eyes under his hat and sighed deeply to himself.
"Ah, Miss Kuchiki," he waved to her and the maid pushing her. "What brings you out so far from the manor on this lovely morning?"
"Where is Ichigo?" She immediately asked him. Her eyes were big and round, with dark circles gracing them from lack of sleep.
The usual jovial man frowned deeply, and tipped his hat to cover his eyes. He knew this was coming eventually. He could not lie to the face of this kind woman, who has already lost so much. He would tell her the truth even if it cost him his life. He shouldn't have kept it from her in the first place.
"Ichigo-chan…" He paused mid-sentence. He didn't know how to tell her. His face was contorted in pain. Rukia immediately knew something awful had happened to Ichigo, she immediately figured the worst.
Tears began to well up in her eyes before he even began finishing his sentence.
"Ichigo-chan was convicted of treason by the Royal Guard and banished to the shadow realm, to death, for collaborating with Aizen, and a man named Kurosaki Isshin."
Rukia went cold. Time seemingly stood still. Rukia looked up at Shunsui, who was standing over her for almost a minute. It felt like an eternity.
'Ichigo…..'
Tears were freely running down her cheeks now.
Nanao looked in the other direction, not knowing what to do. Shunsui took off his hat and pulled out a handkerchief from his shihakushou. He wiped the tears from her eyes. He then knelt down to the height of the small women seated in her wheelchair. Her body was shaking and she was sobbing freely now.
"There, there, Rukia-chan," he consoled. He wrapped his arms comforting around her and held her tightly, in hopes of stifling the sobs of the emotional girl. "I will do everything in my power to get to the bottom of this, I promise you that."
"How could they do this to Ichigo?" She asked, her words slurring with pain. "Ichigo has done nothing but help and serve Soul Society."
"I can't tell you that, Rukia-chan," he responded solemnly. "I do not know what possessed the Royal Guard to do such a thing to Ichigo-chan."
"W-What can we do to save him?" She asked the man desperately. "We must save Ichigo!"
"I don't know," he replied, lacking answers to questions he too wanted solved. "But what I do know is, that Ichigo will be alright. That boy has gotten out of worse situations, you know this to be true."
In truth, Shunsui didn't think Ichigo would be able to escape the realm of shadows, but it was all he could do to show some comfort to Rukia.
She continued sobbing into the man's chest. Shunsui once again sighed deeply, he didn't quite know what to do to calm Rukia.
He stood up and motioned for the maid to open the door to his office.
"Come, Rukia-chan," He spoke soothingly into the ear of the girl. "Let's go into my office, I have tea and sake. We can talk about this together, and come up with a plan, okay?"
"O-Okay." Rukia stuttered in response. She wiped her eyes of her tears with a cloth, but more tears fell.
Shunsui tenderly pushed the girl into his office, with Nanao following quietly behind him.
.
o o o
.
How long had he been in here?
He asked himself that question over and over. He had lost track of the time a while ago. At this point, he drifted off to sleep occasionally at random intervals. It was a dreamless sleep, which was probably for the best. After what seemed like days of agony, mulling over his apparent betrayal by the hands whom he once served, he was finally coming to terms with himself. His thoughts were calmer now, more logical. He weighed his options here and there, thinking about what he would do once he escaped the hell he was banished to, if he escaped at all.
He was banished from Soul Society.
He was powerless.
But he wasn't alone.
He still had friends up above. He had so many, he would need more than a pair of hands to list them all. He also knew he could never go back to the place he once invaded himself, and eventually risked his life to protect.
What could he do then?
He remembered how it felt to be powerless, he knew how it felt, to be unable to protect the ones he cared so deeply for. He remembered how it felt to be without her.
He wanted the power to crush destiny itself. Now, ironically, he was destined to either rot in this abyss of darkness for all eternity, or to live the mundane life he hated so much.
So much was at stake, and yet he couldn't do anything. He couldn't protect the ones he loved and cared about. He promised himself all those years ago, that he would get stronger. He would get strong enough to never let his friends get hurt. He had failed yet again.
His conflict of thoughts and emotions continued as he drifted where time mattered not. He was growing weak, tired. It wasn't a tired from lack of sleep either. His wounds were affecting him greatly, especially the blood loss. He grew hungry, thirsty. He figured his time was coming to an end, whether he liked it or not.
He was floating still, in which direction he could not tell. His eyes were closed, however it did not matter, because he could not see anything but blackness anyway.
He heard a noise, it sounded like a cracking noise.
It was the first sound he heard in what seemed like weeks.
His eyes shot open.
There was a small light, accompanied by a crack in the blackness.
How far away was it? There was no sense of space or direction in this dimension. He could tell he was moving closer to the crack though. The light that was creeping through the crack was growing ever more. The sound grew louder even, as if someone or something was pushing on it.
A portion surrounding the crack shattered. Ichigo blocked the blinding light which emanated from the newly formed hole with his hands. He could barely make out a figure standing within the light. He was cloaked in black, floating silently.
"Who the hell are you?" he yelled weakly. "Show yourself!"
The light surrounding the hidden figure began to fade at Ichigo's command. It revealed someone who he thought he would never see again.
"Z-Zangetsu?" Ichigo spoke in disbelief, his voice trembling.
"Ichigo." The figure spoke in solemn and deep voice, much like his zanpakutou.
"How?" Ichigo asked.
He was floating closer and closer to Zangetsu. He could make out his face now. It was slightly different. His facial hair had grown out considerably. He didn't have his usual sunglasses on that he wore inside of his inner world. The garb he wore was also slightly different.
"Take my hand, my son." The figure requested, while holding out his hand in a welcoming gesture.
Ichigo gulped, and immediately nodded. He reached out for Zangetsu, hopeful.
Their hands touched. They gripped each other.
And then the blackness was bleached white.