Breakdown of the Sphere
I do not own Bleach.
Chapter 14: No, It's Not a New Beginning
…
"Gin Ichimaru!"
Kenpachi's hearty laugh did not cover the shock of everyone else. Both human and Shinigami alike looked on with curiosity, shock and blatant stupidity.
"What… the… hell?" this time no one stopped Ichigo from talking. He summed up what was on everyone's minds.
Rangiku moved in closer to Toshiro, and he didn't object. To see your lover come back from the dead was enough to creep anyone out. Rukia did the same with Byakuya. She and Gin weren't exactly the best of friends.
Silence engulfed them. They stood there, a staring contest between Gin and the fighters.
Finally Kana couldn't take anymore. "He is standing in front of you! What, do you not believe he's there?" As to prove her point, she slapped Gin in the face. As he went down, Kana kicked him in his guts.
"He's real." She turned on her heel, but not before stepping on his stomach. Everyone viewed the quiet girl with semi-awe and semi-horror.
"Uhh… Kana-chan…" Gin groaned.
"We don't doubt he was real," Kenpachi, who was the only who seemed happy to see Gin. "It's what he's doing here we don't understand."
"Perhaps I can paint a clearer picture for you all," the new addition to the group gave as much shock to them all as Gin did. Yoruichi Shihoin, in her cat form had just walked up.
"Yoruichi… what… are you doing here?" Byakuya annoyance was made clear through his tone. The black cat grinned.
"Yoruichi was 'kind' enough to escort me here," Gin smirked, his regular demeanor still showing even now in the "afterlife".
"Fine then. What are YOU doing here?" Byakuya looked more then royally pissed. Yes, Gin was supposed to be a dead man. But two of his least favorite people were here in front of him. He had a right to be angry.
"Wait, aren't you suppose to be dead?" Hitsugaya croaked. Realization hit them all when the sudden showing of Gin-Gin-processed in their brain.
"How?"
Kenpachi's surprisingly smart question was the same going through everyone's brains. How did he survive as well?
"Umm, everyone? I can explain if you give me a chance?" Isshin cautiously approached the group. Finally they gave him their attention.
Isshin turned the ex-3rd captain. "How did you get it?" Isshin asked quietly. Gin merely nodded. Sighing, Isshin face the rest of his group.
He wants to seal away the Hogyoku forever."
No one understood. Isshin sighed again.
"What the girls told you was not true. At least parts of it weren't." The 4 ex-enemies turned sharply to their ringleader.
"Yes, the reason they gained their powers was because of their unresolved desires. However, I am not trying to take down the Soul Society. Something far from that."
"Nearly 100 years ago, Kisukie Urahara created the Hogyoku, but tried to seal it. The Hogyoku's power was too powerful to exist in this world. However, the sealing method fell through, and through a series of events this power made its way to Aizen."
"I manage to steal it away from Aizen before I 'died'. However, in order to seal it again I needed your power Ichigo. You and your fathers. Your powers were given to you because of the Hogyoku. If you return them, the Hogyoku will then grant us access into the reincarnation process, allowing us to be reborn."
"My powers are… what?" Isshin cut in at Ichigo's question.
"I was the failed sealing method those many years back." He explained sadly. "Kisuke originally developed the Hogyoku because I asked him too. When it became too powerful to be in use, I took it into my own hands to seal it. However, it… it didn't work. The Hogyoku was semi-sealed, and as you can see Aizen was able to unseal it."
"This time around though, I want to finish the job. No one more should suffer because my mistake. I can't do it by myself though. I don't have enough power. I ask for you're help."
"There's one thing though," he continued, his face down casted. "You will lose you're powers."
Everyone froze. Ichigo would lose his powers again?
"Ichigo, it's your choice," Isshin looked at his son. He was in deep though, contemplating this new information.
Lose his powers… but save the world. Didn't he already do that? Was fate messing with him again?
Looking at his friends, he avoided eye contact with Rukia, who was not looking at him either. He couldn't bear not seeing her again. And what about Renji? Byakuya? And the rest of his friends in the Soul Society? If he were to forfeit his powers, he would most likely not see them until the day he died.
But then… he turned to the four girls and Gin. They couldn't die and reincarnate peacefully with the Hogyoku power. They were unhappy with their current state. He hated to see unhappiness.
"I'll do it," Picking himself up, he gave a reassuring smile to the girls. The Shinigami looked to protest, but Ichigo held his hand up.
"On one proposition," he continued. "You guys have to visit. I want to help them, but I don't want to lose my friends, dead or alive." Grinning at Rukia, the Shinigami understood his decision. Helping them was his top priority. He would never forgive himself if he didn't.
"I will," Rukia whispered, and the rest nodded. For the second time in her Shinigami life, tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn't care though. Matsumoto was wiping her face, and even Yachiru wasn't smiling, her pink eyes wide as she realized the proximity of the situation.
"So what do I do?" Ichigo stepped forward, but Isshin held him back.
"Nothing yet," Isshin whispered. They watched as Gin inserted the last piece. It fit perfectly.
The Hogyoku began to light up. It casted a soft glow across the sky that lit up part of the night.
"Wait!" Kannichi turned to look Chad in the eye. She ripped off the right sleeve of her suit, to reveal her love and death tattoo. Everyone looked between Chad and Kannichi, stunned but not saying a word.
"I got this the first day I came to Mexico," Kannichi held Chad's hand, who stared down at her stoically. "I ran away from the Soul Society, because I was angry at how they treated me. But then, Gekisen found me, and ordered me back. I couldn't leave, because of you. But I had too, and it has eaten me away for all these years."
"I cannot love you as a lover, but I don't love you as a friend. You are my… hermano." She walked away, tears rolling from her eyes but a smile on her face. "Te quiero para mi muerte." She touched the Hogyoku, and her body began to glow. There was a flash, and her body disappeared.
"What… What happened?" Chad choked out, quivering with sadness. Orihime put her arms around him, and Uryu patted his shoulder.
"Here," Hisana handed Chad a key, "Yoruichi sama can show you the way to our warehouse. Her room is the first on the second floor. Under her bed… there are some picture's that I'm sure Kannichi would want to give you." She made to the Hogyoku, but Byakuya stopped her path.
"I just… found you again…" he murmured. The drama was intense. Byakuya himself had water in his eyes, struggling against letting go.
Hisana smiled that sad smile, the same one she smiled on her deathbed. The same one she smiled everyday of there precious five years together. Only for him.
"The plum blossoms were beautiful that day," she whispered. Without knowing, she too touched the Hogyoku, and in a flash she disappeared, leaving only the simplest touch and the softest kiss behind.
The tear broke, and the waterfalls came down. Byakuya Kuchiki made no sound as he turned his back to the rest, tears slowly falling down his eyes.
"What, am I suppose ta make a speech now?" Kana groaned, as she hopped off the rock she had sat upon. "I'm no good at that stuff." She flicked her now short hair behind her shoulders, only for it to come back to the front.
"Guess I'll have ta get used to that," she muttered, pushing it behind her ear. "Oi, Isshin!" The tall father looked quizzically at her. She beckoned him forward.
Slap!
"This is for Yachi," she smiled prettily at him as she stomped on his foot. "This is for me." Her gaze turned serious.
"And this," she leaned upwards, and was face to face with Isshin, "is thank you." Slightly kissing him on the cheek, she flounder happily away and left Isshin there shell-shocked.
"Hey there, lil' captain," she tossed her head toward his direction. "You're such a happy light, it's irritating. But thanks for the hair cut anyway."
Giving a peace sign in his direction, she winked at Gin. "You and me get a rematch, kay Ginny?" Without waiting for an answer, she too disappeared in a flash, leaving question in the faces at her "big speech".
All that was left was Gin and Yachiru. Neither said a word.
"Gin," Rangiku was openly crying now. "Why? Will you leave me again?" The silver haired man did not respond.
"Little boy," Yachiru murmured, and Kenpachi looked up. "You've grown. Nice time we meet, perhaps you will be saving me from a hollow."
Gin still did not answer Rangiku, instead turning to Isshin.
"Ya know what ta do right?" he grinned at Isshin, who nodded. He turned again, ruffled Hitsugaya on the head, and finally looked at his former lover.
"Goodbye Ran-chan."
As soon as Gin touched the Hogyoku, he too disappeared. Yachiru followed suit without a word.
"Okay!" Isshin moved into action, facing the growing light of the Hogyoku. Ichigo startled, following his dad.
"What do I have to do?" Isshin didn't answer at first, focusing on the light.
"Touch the Hogyoku." Ichigo did so, but pulled back at the searing hot feel.
"What the hell? It's boiling!" Ichigo yelled, but Isshin put his hand on it calmly, only slightly wincing.
"What does this do?" Ichigo inched toward the glowing sphere. Isshin turned to him, his face glowing from the brightening Hogyoku.
"When something is reborn, they start a new life, a new chapter in life, a new day. Here, the Hogyoku represents the new day; its glowing sphere is the sun. However, it has been asleep because the moon has not gone down yet." Ichigo nodded, completely understanding what he meant now.
"We are the moon that has to go in order for the sun to rise," Ichigo whispered. Isshin nodded.
"It's nothing, the Hogyoku knows what to do when you put your hand on it. The last time though, when I tried to seal the Hogyoku with my powers, I was afraid, and at the last second I backed out. This time though, I will fight." Ichigo wasted no time; he placed his hand on the glowing sphere, which had cooled slightly.
They waited, the Hogyoku absorbing the moons power. Ichigo saw 5 small black swirls in there, and realized it was the five children of the Hogyoku. With this, they would all be reincarnated, able to finally move on.
And he would too.
This was truly the end of his Shinigami journey. There would be no turning back after this, no way to regain his powers again.
I'm not Shinigami. I'm Kuchiki Rukia.
I'm… Kurosaki Ichigo.
It was the beginning, the start of it all. It started with a stab of the sword, a simple transformation.
A life changing experience.
"Rukia," he croaked. "Look at me."
The petite shinigami stared intently into her friend's eyes. In them she saw the pain of losing his powers, but the determination to make things right.
They had been through so much together, and life wouldn't be the same without her Shinigami partner. She didn't care.
"Good-bye Rukia," the light from the Hogyoku engulfed him, and only his bright annoying orange hair stood out. She grinned.
"Thank you, Rukia." Brown kind eyes smiled at her. She smiled back, the tears coming out in greater amounts.
"Thank you… Ichigo. See you soon."
…
Awww…
Hope the whole thing is explained. Most likely won't be though. Whatever, my consciousness was getting to me to get this out. It's a crappy chapter, but whatever. Just take in the heart warmth and forget the explanation!
One more chapter!
~~~EeLgIrL (^.^)