Disclaimer: I own everything that doesn't already belong to somebody else.
Warning: Language, Violence, Angst (ohnoes :P)
Note: About Ichigo's tattoos - I have...OMFG shitty pics of the shitty sketches. My scanner is being a bitch so I had to use my camera phone. Anywho, (love to ImageShack) http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/408/ichitatshy7.jpg – copy and paste that into your browser. It's the front, back, and side views, as well as the tri-cescent symbol that's only sketched onto his stomach (it's supposed to look like the picture does, though - just an outline). The markings on his arms are solid black, though (like the side view shows). AND I just realized I described the arm markings backwards XD (wow - score one for the dumbass XD) so I've gone back and fixed that, as well as a small tweak in the (technically second-to-)last paragraph for clarity. ALSO - I put up a link in the last chapter to a picture of a kunai (for those who don't know).
Chi Chikai
Of Love and Fruit
Renji stared out the window at the night sky. Life had hit its official low, and all he could feel was numb. Completely and utterly numb. Everything shattered when Kitsure's kunai hit their targets. His right hand had seared with a white-hot pain, and his heart had literally felt like it had broken. His hand and chest were still throbbing with a pain on an entirely different level from the dull pain in his stomach from Kitsure's kunai.
The scar was gone.
He found himself frighteningly close to tears every time he saw – or rather, didn't see it. He had no idea why the bond would be broken. The self-loathing knot in his stomach told him it was his fault because he was the one willing to go completely against their basic principles just to save his lover. Although the timing didn't make sense, it was the only explanation he had. He supposed that the scar wouldn't disappear until the consequences of breaking the bond were carried out. But if that were true…
Then it was Ichigo's fault.
True, they'd both been stabbed in the stomach – a form of symbolic seppuku, he supposed – but Ichigo was the one who died. The pain didn't start until the kunai had landed. And besides that, their promise only included each other – Renji's will to sacrifice Rukia's reincarnation for Ichigo's life shouldn't have had any affect on the Blood Oath.
But what did Ichigo do?
Renji thought back, recalling the conversation. The first defense Ichigo came up with was saying that he hadn't used the Memory Modifier on the human because that human happened to be Rukia. But even if it was Rukia's reincarnation, there wouldn't have been any harm with using the modifier on her at their first encounter. Why hadn't he done that? And why even mention her in the first place? No matter who the human was, it was still illegal not to use the modifier on them if they saw a Hollow or a shinigami. And no matter who the human was, Ichigo would still want to protect them, especially if he'd been seeing them for a month. That was just the kind of guy he was. So why personalize it? Why mention her?
…A guilty conscience?
Renji's heart throbbed painfully at the thought. Why…? Why would you do this? He tore his eyes away from the barred window and buried his face in his hands. A small part of him was glad he was in a jail cell – he wouldn't be able to touch the bed they'd shared for the past sixteen years with that thought torturing him.
Everything…fucking…HURT.
Ichigo didn't want to open his eyes.
I should be dead. I should be dead. GODDAMMIT!
His body twitched reflexively and he winced. Some vague sense of recognition told him that he was in a gigai. He hadn't ever had to use one before, but when they were students, they had learned how to sync themselves enough to enter, and how to disengage the synchronization to exit. His common sense tried to kick in and told him to question how the hell he could get into (or be put into) a gigai without being conscious, but he was in too much pain to care.
"Tenchou, he's awake," a deep, steady voice said.
Ichigo didn't recognize it. Tenchou? Where… Where the hell am I?
"Ichigo!"
He recognized that one! Slowly, he cracked an eye open to see Rukia hunched over him, concern and worry blatantly evident on her face. As his vision focused, her face lit up and she turned behind her, calling. "He's awake!"
"I heard, I heard," another man drawled. Not without some amusement, Ichigo detected a hint of annoyance in the man's voice.
He opened his mouth in an attempt to speak, but found his throat and mouth dry, his voice gone.
Rukia caught the movement, her bright face etched with concern once more. "You're okay, Ichigo. Don't try to move," she said, gently brushing his bangs from his forehead before placing her cool hand against it. He was somewhat grateful for the gesture (though he'd never ever admit to it).
"Tessai, help him sit up," the second man said.
Rukia took her hand away and moved back as the first man's strong hands gently pushed Ichigo upright from the back. Now a little more awake, Ichigo looked over at the man he supposed was who Tessai had called tenchou. He was a thin, wiry man with blond hair tucked under a green-and-white striped hat that shadowed his eyes.
"Can you move your arms, at least?"
Testing, Ichigo flexed his fingers before he lifted his hand and took the cup of water from the man, gratefully downing it in one go. "Arigatou," he said, finally able to speak.
"You have Kuchiki-san to thank," the man said, taking the empty cup back. "Urahara Kisuke, by the way."
"Kurosaki Ichigo," he replied reflexively.
"So I've heard," Urahara replied wryly. "Get into a bit of a scuffle, did we?"
"Bit more than a scuffle. How the hell did you find me?"
"Kuchiki-san found you and called me. You're very lucky to have her for a friend – you could've easily died from those wounds."
Ichigo grimaced, reminded of his current predicament. "I'd rather be dead…"
"Aw, don't be so down – technically, you're already dead," he said happily.
The boy eyed him, not appreciating the joke. "I'm taking the liberty of assuming Rukia's told you what I am – or was, actually."
"No need – I'm already quite aware that you are a Shinigami."
"I was a Shinigami – my spiritual power has been destroyed. I'm a normal, powerless Plus now."
"Not quite. Kuchiki-san did happen to tell me the origin of the old scar on your hand, and if you'll notice, that scar is no longer there."
Ichigo frowned and looked at his right hand. Indeed, the scar was gone without a trace, and the absence of that alone made him cold all over. Once he found his voice again, he asked, "What does the Blood Oath have to do with this?"
"The Blood Oath has everything to do with this. You and your blood brother had an immensely strong bond – one with enough power to protect and bury the bulk of your reiatsu in the depths of your soul just before your hakusui and saketsu were destroyed."
"It…protected me?"
"Technically, yes, your bond saved you. Essentially, your blood brother saved you. His scar is most likely gone as well."
Ichigo took a second to process this before his eyes went wide. "Shit!"
"Something wrong?"
"Yes, something's wrong!" he snapped out of frustration, wincing as the exertion sent a wave of nauseating pain radiating from his injuries. "The scar wasn't supposed to ever go away unless the bond was broken! If his scar's gone… Shit!!" He buried his head in his hands, ready to scream and cry in helpless frustration. Quite frankly, the only things keeping him from doing just that were the company and the pain. If Renji's scar is gone… Death doesn't break the bond and he knows that! If his scar is gone, he probably thinks one of us did something wrong to break it… Fuck – and I just had to mention Rukia, didn't I? Stupid stupid stupid!! Holy fuck… I don't blame him if he accuses me of breaking it – damn me and my big mouth!
"You mean neither of you realized it could be sacrificed?"
Ichigo chuckled grimly. "I don't think either of us realized it was something more than just a symbol…"
"Well, it is quite rare that a blood bond is strong enough to offer that much protection…" When Ichigo didn't respond, he continued. "I suppose you'd like to see him again and explain, correct?"
Ichigo nodded. "There's no chance of doing that anytime soon, though. Even if I still have my power, it'll take at least a decade to become a Shinigami again."
"That is where you are wrong," Urahara said plainly. "There is a way for you to restore your powers once more in three to four days at the most."
Ichigo looked at him, skeptical. "How?"
"Nevermind that now, boy. First we need to get those wounds of yours healed before you can even think about doing anything." Urahara was suddenly all business.
"It'll take weeks at least for these to heal in my state," Ichigo pointed out, "and that's if I'm lucky."
"Luckily for you, then, I have something that should heal you in the matter of half a day," he countered, getting up.
"Half a day?"
Urahara silently walked out, coming back a moment later with a pill bottle marked with a skull and crossbones. "Take one every hour and you should be healed completely by tonight," he instructed, handing it to him.
"Is this supposed to be funny?" Ichigo asked, indicating the label.
"Kuchiki-san, please take care of him while we mind the store," Urahara said, completely ignoring his question.
"Hai, Kisuke-kun!" she said happily, bowing her head.
When Urahara and Tessai left, Ichigo spoke. "What time is it?"
"Nine forty-five," she answered, looking at her watch.
He nodded and took one of the pills, swallowing it dry. "Blech… Disgusting."
"Medicine wouldn't be medicine if it tasted yummy," Rukia said. "That's what nii-san always tells me."
"So how do you know this guy?"
"Kisuke-kun? He and Tessai-san saved me from a car wreck when I was five. I've been coming by here ever since."
"Is that why you called him?"
"Well, I couldn't call for an ambulance – they'd get mad at me again for wasting their time…"
"Again? You've called one for a soul?"
"She was covered in blood and wasn't moving – what was I supposed to think?"
"You can't tell the difference?"
"Well, now I can – but that was when I was like seven."
He chuckled. "You're a weird kid…"
"You're the one cussing over a missing scar," she retorted.
"You'd cuss over it, too, if you knew what kind of situation this creates for me."
"What kind of situation?"
He sighed. "Last night, I was tracking a Hollow, which turned out to just be a lure from Kitsure and Renji—"
"Your friends from Rukongai, right?" Rukia had a mind like a steel trap – that is, if she was paying attention.
"Yeah. They were trying to find me so they could arrest me—"
"Why would your friends want to arrest you?"
"Because I broke the law. When a human being witnesses a Hollow or a Shinigami, no matter what the situation, the Shinigami is required to use a Memory Modifier, which places a random, false memory in the human's head so they forget about the incident. When I first met you, I should've just shut up and used the modifier, but you kind of surprised me, looking like the Rukia I used to know and all. I just completely forgot. And after I spent all that time talking to you that night, it was already too late to do anything about it. The memories were too extensive." He sighed, still bothered by the situation.
"I'm not surprised that I was supposed to be arrested – I would've spent some time in jail and then probably made to help out with the Fourth Division's community service shit and on probation. It wouldn't have been a big deal, and I wouldn't have fought it if the scene didn't feel so damn off. But they not only wanted to arrest me, but they were ordered to kill you. You know too much, I guess. I don't know – I thought Kitsure was just fucking with my head when he told me, but Renji said that the order had come directly from Center 46." He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "It doesn't make any sense…"
"Maybe if you think out loud, you can figure it out," Rukia suggested. Ichigo's agitation and distress was radiating off of him and it was making her uneasy.
Ichigo nodded slightly, not looking at her. "Kitsure's in the Special Ops – if it was purely an arrest, it would've been really odd for him to be there. They get the little grunts to do things like that. But since it involved killing a human, I guess it's not completely strange, though I'd think they'd get a seated officer at the very least to lead the assignment. Of course, Kit could be a seated officer by now – it's not like I keep tabs on him. But that still doesn't explain why Renji was there. The Eleventh doesn't deal with arrests, and the only seek-and-destroy missions we'd ever get would be dealing with high-level, rogue shinigami, and normally, only the captain and vice captain and maybe the third and fourth seats would be allowed to participate. Renji's the seventh seat, and we're not so under-staffed as to have an Eleventh Division officer assist in an arrest and killing a human. The Special Ops is more than capable of carrying that out on their own."
"Maybe…it wasn't just an arrest," Rukia suggested.
Ichigo looked at her, a little surprised. "Huh?"
"Maybe they were ordered to destroy you, too, and they just didn't want to tell you."
He shook his head. "It still doesn't make any sense. I mean, I'd understand not telling me – they both know I'd fight them all out if that was the case. I've got no desire to die anytime soon – especially not by Kit's hands. But like I said, only the first four seats would have a chance to lead a seek-and-destroy mission."
"Maybe there was somebody else and you didn't see them."
"Not likely – even if they dragged lower-ranking officers along for training or whatever, the highest ranking officer would be the one to address me…" He frowned, thinking for a moment. "Unless Kitsure got promoted and I didn't get the memo," he said. It was the only thing that made any sense. "If he's a third or fourth seat, there's a possibility that he requested for Renji to join him on the grounds that they could possibly get me to comply with them, but the brat's trigger-happy and he's hated both of us since the Academy. He knew I wasn't going to come without a fight and so probably requested permission to kill me if I resisted arrest – how the hell he pulled that, I don't know, but they also ordered for a human to be killed. I guess it's relatively believable. He also probably banked on Renji doing anything to keep him from attacking me. He got two birds with one stone – killing me in front of Renji, and accusing Renji of attempting to help a fugitive. And depending on how Kit worded it, Renji could land in jail and…possibly sentenced to death—shit!" Ichigo growled and buried his face in his hands. Besides the nagging feeling that something wasn't right, he was stuck here until he could regain his powers and relocate his Hell Butterfly while Renji was probably rotting away in a jail cell, forced to wait a full thirty days before being executed.
"You still haven't told me why you're cussing over a missing scar…"
He sighed. "When Kitsure read what I was charged with, I kinda panicked. I think he had a crush on the Rukia we knew, so I guess I was hoping that if I mentioned you, he'd screw up or something. I don't know. I honestly can't tell you what was going on through my mind at the time. But the biggest problem with that is that there wasn't any real reason for me to mention you. If the scar hadn't disappeared, it wouldn't be a problem, but those two put together, I can only believe that the only explanation Renji would come to is that I cheated on him…"
"Cheated…?" she echoed. "You mean your brother is your boyfriend?"
"Don't say it like that! We're not related, for God's sakes…"
"But…still…"
"We were only brothers through the bond – through the Blood Oath. We loved each other probably ever since we first met…"
Suddenly, Rukia started giggling.
Ichigo glared at her. "What's so funny?"
"Ichigo is a fruit," she said, still laughing.
"Oh shut up…"
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Yay, second play on Ichigo's name :D
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