Gekkouha
Moonlight flower
Written by: Maru de Kusanagi
Beta read by: Persistence
Started: November 2, 2009
Ended: ¿?
Disclaimer: Bleach it's not mine. I wish it was.
WARNINGS: yaoi, weird pairings, crazy writer.
PAIRINGS: mainly Renji/Ichigo, but there's also some Byakuya/Ishida, some Grimjow/Ulquiorra, Gin/Rangiku (mention), Aizen/Toushirou and I'm still deciding on the Gin/Hitsugaya.
RATING: M
-Terminology for this story-
DEMI-HUMAN: a half animal person, like the nekobito.
NEKO: 'cat' in Japanese.
NEKOBITO: it means 'cat person', and I made up this one. It's the conjunction of "neko" and "hito" (person). The Japanese grammar makes the 'h' change to a 'b' in this.
INUBITO: Dog + person… I don't like how it sounds, so, I don't think I'll be using it too much.
KITSUNE: fox
****
Well, nobody asked for my head yet, so I suppose I'm safe for now. I've downloaded lots of new doujins!!!! So I have more inspiration now, but I'm sorry this chapter is crappy and short. The memories are starting to be show.
CHAPTER 10
Rain. The rain he had desired for was now falling in the sideway world of his mind where only he and his other half existed.
Rain.
This rain didn't give any physical sensation: cold or wetness. However, it gave such uneasiness to the heart and pain to the soul that he would have been better with the cold or anything else.
Didn't I tell you this was going to happen?
Ichigo didn't react to the mocking voice; he was so tired of everything. Rukia and Toushirou were probably dead. Ulquiorra and Grimmjow too.
Renji was not dead, but he was hurt because of him. All the people that he loved and tried to protect ended up that way.
The rain fell harder, and in front of the him and his reflection a door appeared. Without a sound, it opened slowly. Shirosaki looked at the door and knew what came from there. It was the door to his memories and Ichigo began to remember.
It was raining that day and they were confined to a room to do some practicing. Toushirou was taken from his side around mid morning and he didn't see him until lunch. Rangiku appeared with a strange expression on her face, and when he asked for the white cat, he only got silence as response.
When they ate lunch, Ichigo felt like something was wrong. It was like… as if something terrible had happened. Moreover, when he was going to finally taste his food, a sound came to his ears. It was like a scream, muted by the distance. Toushirou's voice.
"Ran-nee! I heard something!" he stated.
"Yes, you're yelling" she said.
"No! It was Toushirou!"
She grew silent and the smile she had showed a second before disappeared. She wrapped her arms around the kitten and whispered:
"I'm sorry…"
Ichigo wanted to ask more but he stayed silent. In a way, Ran-nee reminded him of his mom, with long orange hair and the big smile. He didn't want to see her sad, so he let her hug him and stayed still.
When the sun went down, the rain had already stopped a few hours ago.
Ichigo walked through the halls looking for Toushirou. He reached the costumer's dining room and it smelled of the white cat's essence, so he went inside.
The place was disordered and smelled strange. There were traces of a meal on the table and he could see a door in the back. Ichigo pushed it and found a dormitory. On the floor laid Toushirou, naked and bruised with a few cuts and blood on his legs. The earlier smell grew stronger.
"Toushirou? Toushirou?"
Ichigo approached the motionless nekobito. He was alive because he could see movement in his chest, indicating he was still breathing. What happened there?
"Toushirou!"
The white cat moved his ears and with great effort opened his eyes. He looked at Ichigo with his big green eyes, which lacked of his usual energy. Ichigo didn't know why, but started to cry.
"Ichigo? Are you okay? Did he… did he hurt you too…?" whispered the white one, caressing his head. Ichigo shook his head in denial.
"That's… good."
Toushirou stopped his caress and looked at his body in disgust. His appearance was the reason for what happened. He closed his eyes and his form changed into a white cat. Ichigo was surprised.
"I never showed this form before, right? I can transform into this."
The cat went to Ichigo and climbed on his shoulder.
"I wish to never be like that again."
"Ichigo? Toushirou? Are you in here?"
It was Rangiku's voice.
"Ran-nee!"
Rangiku saw them and then hugged the two.
"I'm sorry. I didn't expect that he was going to do something like this…," she whispered and they could smell the alcohol on her breath. Toushirou wanted to yell at her, to push her away, but he couldn't. He finally saw the mark on her neck, just behind the ear. She was a prisoner, just like them. "Toushirou… I… you don't want to be in your human form again, right? I can seal you in this form, is you let me."
"Yes."
Rangiku took the white cat in her arms and kissed his head.
"There."
"Just like that?"
"There's only one way to take that seal from you, and I don't think you will like to know it, right?"
The cat didn't respond. After a moment, he jumped from her arms again and onto Ichigo's shoulders.
"I'll set you free, my children. Let's go."
"What are you doing?"
The voice of Grand Fisher roared at their backs. The nekobitos trembled.
"I'm letting them go. You and your master have no right to do what you are doing to them!"
"Shut up, whore!" Grand Fisher kicked her away "Since when have you had the right to questioning my business? Do you want me to sell you to some prostitute's house?"
"Ran-nee!" yelled Ichigo and went to her side.
"Master, I've never gone against your orders, but this… this is too much!" yelled Rangiku and got up. "Ichigo, your mom is waiting for you outside. Go."
"But Ran…"
Rangiku jumped at Grand Fisher and bit him.
"Go!"
"Let's go, Ichigo!" said Toushirou and Ichigo started to run.
"Bitch!"
Rangiku screamed. The mark on her body burned and Grand Fisher kicked her repeatedly, and the sound of broken bones reached the ears of the small cats. Ichigo turned to see the horrendous scene and then blindly ran at Grand Fisher.
"Let her go!" he yelled, digging his nail into Grand Fisher's leg. Toushirou launched a rain of icicles at Grand Fisher, but the man was barely hurt by the attack.
"Rats!" Grand Fisher grabbed Ichigo by the hair and threw him to the ground. Toushirou jumped and scratched the man's face, but one of his hands pulled him off and threw him at the wall. Ichigo got up with difficultly and again attacked the man who was after Rangiku.
"Little piece of shit," Grand Fisher grabbed Ichigo by the neck this time and started to choke him. "I'm going to kill you! Nobody needs a pet that bites his master's hand!"
Grand Fisher was going to hit Ichigo when Rangiku covered him with her body; Grand Fisher punched her repeatedly, yelling at her to get out of the way, to let him kill the little bastard. Finally, the man got tired and stopped. Ichigo felt the dead weight over him and realized that Rangiku was dead.
"Ran-nee?"
Something inside of Ichigo broke then, the crimson blood that painted his robes was all that he could see. Ichigo found himself on four legs and hissing at Grand Fisher. He felt his body burn with hatred, pain, with the necessity to feed his sorrow and silence the cry of his soul.
"Oh, now you think you have enough balls to face me? Come on, then."
He never moved so fast. Everything was moving slowly around him, like in a slow motion movie. He could see Grand Fisher movements and avoid them. His claws were sharper before, and with easy movement, he cut the skin, scarred the muscles, pull apart pieces of the man's body. Grand Fisher screamed at this and fell due to having his tendons cut. When he looked up, he saw the nekobito again, but it wasn't the orange cat with brown eyes, instead a white one with yellow eyes looking at him with hatred and killer intent. Ichigo jumped at him and dug his teeth's into his throat, puncturing an artery. He ripped off a piece of meat and spit it away while crimson blood bathed his fur.
***
Crimson. Even when those eyelids were closed, he still remembered that color.
The form of this man was thin and graceful, and easily hid the strength. He remembered how Rangiku sealed his form and wondered: was it really so easy to break that spell? Only to be touched by another kitsune?
Toushirou arranged the cloth over his naked form that Gin gave him the night before. He watched as the fox touched it and it changed into a yukata. Toushirou was surprised how easy the kitsune used his powers. He looked again at Gin with mistrust, that eternal grin was annoying him. He didn't like him, and again, why did he help him last night? Why did he feel this odd sensation when he was near him?
"The shinigami was looking for you," said Gin and Toushirou was brought out of his thoughts.
Rukia, he forgot about her…
Toushirou ran to the shrine and found Rukia next to Renji's wounded body, wiping tears out of her eyes. She looked at him and for a moment and she was alarmed. Then his face relaxed.
"Shirou-chan…? Is that you?"
"Yes…" almost hissed and went close to her "What happened?"
"I don't know… I found him like this after I came out of the shrine and I thought it was a hollow's attack, but this wound isn't like that. I also found that blue haired nekobito almost dead with an inu that was already gone."
Toushirou saw the motionless body of Grimmjow lying not far from where Renji and Rukia stayed.
"And Ichigo? Where is he?"
"He was taken by him," replied the kitsune "Aizen is your owner, right? You escaped from him, but he finally found you…"
"I'm owned by nobody," Toushirou said sharply while looking at the kitsune. For some reason, that creature unnerved him and felt him uncomfortable, but oddly enough, something inside him wanted to stay near to the kitsune. Those closed eyelids now were fixed on the markings on his wrist wrist.
Toushirou covered the marks. So, the past was finally catching up with them.
"I need to save him." He finally said.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'll go and confront him!"
"Wait, Toushirou!" called Rukia. "Are you talking about Sosuke Aizen, the expelled shinigami that tried to overthrown the Soul King? You must be crazy! Even the captains couldn't defeat him and only sealed away his Zanpakutou, but his power is still great. You can't leave me with this mess here! The Fourth Squad is about to show up, I think we should wait and go back to Urahara's to see what we can do. Even if Ichigo wasn't expected to be here, Aizen nearly killed Renji for no reason, so Soul Society won't stay arms crossed on this matter, I'm sure."
"This is not a Soul Society matter, Rukia-san. It has always been ours. We need to take care of it," said Toushirou "Ichigo always protected me when we were on the streets and when Urahara-san took us in. I'm sorry about Abarai-san, I never really wanted something to happen to him because Ichigo loves him. I'm really thankful of the times we shared."
Toushirou bowed to his head and ran away.
"Toushirou!"
The white cat ran until his legs gave out again. The green forest started to move in circles around him and he needed to lay down and close his eyes. The sounds of the birds were far, like faded by the beat of his heart.
"Always running like that?" asked the playful tone of the fox over him. How did he get to him that fast? Was he following him? Why?
"Why? Why do you insist on chasing me?"
Toushirou fixed his emerald orbs on Gin's face. The grin faded a little and the kitsune got closer.
"You know that I'm a very annoyed person when my domain is trespassed on? You entered my home, attacked me, and brought trouble. Now you think you can leave just like that, without even paying me for the trouble you caused?"
Gin grabbed Toushirou's marked wrist. He was so dizzy that he only realized what the fox had done when he did other thing.
The kitsune bit the mark and the blood flowed. If he weren't so surprised, Toushirou would have screamed. He simply… stared.
Gin licked the blood that flowed, erasing the numbers made by Aizen. Gin could never be tamed by anyone and no mark or chain could be placed on him.
This little white cat now was going to be his because, even as Rangiku said, this child wasn't the one who died. This one was very alive. (1)
He's just like him, Gin. Like the baby that died... I saw him in a dream...
I can't leave him like that, Gin.
The voice of Ran was drowsy by the alcohol. She always liked to drink, and Gin did also, but this time she just tried to go into a coma by alcohol poisoning. It wasn't like he didn't feel bad for the child, or didn't even want to get his revenge on the man who caused him so much pain. However, that man was too strong and knew all his tricks, and Ran was too tired from running.
"I could see him in that dream… when you held me in your arms just like now, after we made love. He had your silver hair… was so beautiful…."
Rangiku cried in his chest, ashamed of herself.
"Those kid's… I can't leave them alone… they need somebody to love them…"
They kept silent for a while. Then, Ran kissed him for the last time.
"You're free, Gin. Go to your beloved forest, because now my only home is that place."
***
Vermilion.
Everything was a red color, furious and painful.
The flames were licking the walls, eating them without difficulty, erasing everything that happened there. Yellow and red flames, covered the area and lit up the night like a darkly day.
Ichigo was covered in wet vermilion, looking with empty eyes at the destruction of the place. Toushirou's cat form had snuck onto his shoulder and the blue cat and the stoic dog were watching him and waiting for his decision. Fresh tears ran down the orange cat's cheeks, cleaning the vermilion of his face.
"Brother…"
Ichigo looked at the neon lights of Karakura and walked in that direction.
They clung to life with all the might they had left. They didn't have a reason; they just wanted to live and feel the world and see things that were denied to them. However, they only found rejection, fear or disgust in the eyes of the people they crossed. They became hungry and started to fight for a piece of rotten bread that they found in the garbage, and then Grimmjow yelled at Ichigo that they would be better off as pets to Grand Fisher than dying on the streets.
"If you two had given them what they wanted, we wouldn't be in this shit!"
Ichigo gave him a hard hit with his fist. In his usual calm brown eyes, a yellow glow burned.
"Shut the hell up! You don't even know…!"
"I know that he wanted you two for his personal taste. What's the problem? Suck him and he gives you a warm place to stay. At least we weren't wanted, we could have managed."
Ichigo jumped at him and they started to fight again. The people from nearby yelled at them to keep quiet, but they didn't care. They scratched, bit, and ripped the skin off.
Then, a group of drug addicts appeared, angry with them for ruining the place they obtained with their "taxes" from the people they crossed and got wasted.
The cats stopped their quarrel only to get rid of them. Ichigo, Toushirou, and Ulquiorra had let them go with some minor injuries, but Grimmjow was so pissed that he killed a poor bastard without having any trouble. A red color had drenched his hands, but it wasn't as beautiful like the one that covered Ichigo that day. The kid had glowed then, and Grimmjow was sure that nothing he could ever see can be better than that.
That didn't change the fact that he was angry at the orange cat for putting them on that situation.
Grimmjow searched around the place and found a pipe with drugs. The first time he tried it, he felt his senses go wild, like when having the best orgasm. And the fierce image of Ichigo covered by the vermilion was again in front of him.
Then the hunter came and they got separated. Aizen took them in and he went deeper in his necessity of the drug. He was high for days and would forget what he did during that time. Ulquiorra was always after their master approval and doing everything he asked. He hated that. He hated the dog superior look and the look of pity that sometimes shined in those eyes at him. That dog could never be like Ichigo. He wanted the other cat, not only for a fight, but also for pining him down and make him yell in pleasure, to see the yellows eyes delighted from the blood drenching in his hands, or even see him die in his hands. Something that would show the other cat covered in vermilion again.
Then, he saw the orange cat in the red-head shinigami's arms and he wanted to chop that hand off. It wasn't jealousy; Grimmjow never knew how to feel that way. It was the fact that the cat in the shinigami's arms was not the real one he saw. The real one was inside Ichigo and was the only reason he stayed under Aizen's control. He wanted to touch, see, bite, devour, or be devoured by that creature.
He opened his eyes.
"Oh, he's up! Ken-chan!!!!"
Yachiru was happy. Finally, the pretty blue cat was up! She liked the cat since the first time he was brought to the Seiretei. He smelled like Ichi, like blood, dead and man. She knew that Ken-chan could have a fun time with this one if he tried.
"Blue kitty!"
Yachiru pulled on the cat's ears and Grimmjow slapped the hand away. Who the fuck was this girl? The pink haired child's big eyes looked at him with curiosity. She wasn't annoyed at his aggressive reaction, it was as if she was… happy?
"You smell like Ichi!"
"What the hell are you talking about? Where am I?"
"Soul Society! Ken-chan!!!!"
The enormous frame of Zaraki appeared. Grimmjow didn't flinch at the scary appearance of the bigger man.
"Can I keep him? Can I? I'm sure I can!!!"
Kenpachi Zaraki was a man of simple behavior. He loved to fight, show his strength and let himself be overpowered by the joy of battle. In his own way, he loved the small form of Yachiru. However, having this creature… he couldn't find a reason.
"We don't need this sissy cat."
Grimmjow glared at the man without fear.
"Who the hell are you calling a sissy, freak? I'm sure you are all talk!"
"Oh…" said Yachiru.
"Is that a threat, cat?"
"Of course," Grimmjow flinched at the sudden pain of his injuries.
"Heh. When you recover, we'll see… meanwhile, you can keep him."
"Yay!" squealed Yachiru and hugged the nekobito, who tried to get her away. What had he gotten himself into this time?
1-short chapter, I know… I had many things to deal… well; I don't think this couple will get any lemon. 'Cos was already damn hard to deal with the rape scene in the last chapter (I ended crying over my keyboard!) to do something like that again-but it's depends on my mood actually, I know, i'm very volatile-. I think a platonic thing will go well, meanwhile I deal will the rest of the story. I think the end is near, I just need to fix the things up.
2-I looooooooooooove Yachiru! I think I ws just like that in my childhoo (and, think iy, is SCARY!)