Hi everybody!
It's 2009!
WOOT!
Lol, I have nothing else to say, so read it!
"Rukia, come downstairs! There's someone here to see you!" Miyako called from outside her room. Rukia rushed to get dressed, hoping that it was Ichigo who had come to see her. She walked down the stairs slowly so as not to trip on the hem of her kimono as she so often did, and found Grimmjow, Aizen's second best samurai, waiting for her along with Renji and Tatsuki.
"What's going on?" Rukia asked nobody in particular. Byakuya nodded towards Grimmjow.
"In two days Kurosaki Ichigo, the main hand in Rukia's kidnapping, is to die by seppuku." Grimmjow said, though there was something deliberate in the way he said it. Her jaw dropped and her heart sank. Renji stepped forward.
"Rukia and I have both been invited to see him brought to justice, and with your permission we'd like to escort her to Aizen's palace." He said.
"Oh...Yes Nii-sama, would it be alright for me to go?" Rukia asked, immediately catching on.
"I suppose you have enough escorts." Byakuya relented. Rukia politely bowed and she, Renji, Tatsuki, and Grimmjow all regrouped outside.
"How the hell do you plan to stop Aizen? There are hundreds of them and four of us? We'll die! And why are you helping, Grimmjow? How am I supposed to believe that Ichigo would just sit by and let this happen? It doesn't make any sense!" Rukia ranted.
"So you would rather sit by and wait to get shipped of again than save you're boy-toy? You're just like the other nobles." Grimmjow scoffed. Rukia turned red with anger and had to refrain from hitting the arrogant man.
"When do we start?" She snapped.
"Now." Grimmjow replied, handing her the reigns of a chestnut colored horse.
Ichigo was very still as the medic bandaged the wounds he had suffered from Aizen's painful interrogations. He hadn't said a word since he had last woken up. This was partly due to his lips cracking from dehydration, and partly due to the fact that he had pretty much lost the will to live.
"I'll ask you again boy, what did Kuchiki tell you?" Aizen spat. Ichigo was silent. Aizen pulled out a jeweled dagger and pointed it at him.
"Answer me, insolent worm!" He ordered. Silence. Aizen growled angrily and swung the dagger at Ichigo's face, leaving a small gash on his cheek. Silence.
"Ignorant child, how dare you disobey me?!" He shouted.
"You won't get the same satisfaction if you kill him now." Gin said. Gin was often very sensible, and quite useful to Aizen when his emotions clouded his judgement.
"It's true, you know. You want to see me suffer for as long as possible." Ichigo finally said.
"Have you finally decided to cooperate?" Aizen asked.
"No. I am only talking to be a thorn in your side." Ichigo answered. "Why, are you afraid it's working?"
"Those are pretty strong words for someone as low as you are right now." Aizen said with a scowl.
"My deepest apologies, my liege, I am so sorry." Ichigo said tauntingly. Gin put a hand on Aizen's shoulder to prevent him from attacking.
"You will be." Was all Aizen said.
"Renji, why did it take us so long to travel away from Aizen's last time, when we're going to him in more or less three days this time?" Rukia asked her friend once they were on the road. Renji shrugged.
"My guess is that it's because you weren't on horseback and you didn't know the short cut." Grimmjow answered.
"Renji...you're a moron." Rukia said, rolling her eyes.
'First my mother, and now Rukia. Everyone dear to me has died because of Aizen.' Ichigo thought to himself darkly. 'How much longer before I can finally be at peace?'
--
Days crept by quickly until the date of the execution came. That morning Ichigo was given clean white robes and led to a fancy room with mirrored walls. The only window in the room was right over the door and was very close to the ceiling. The room itself gave him an eerie feeling in the pit of his stomach. In the middle of the floor was a small table with a ceremonially wrapped tanto placed upon it, and a mat next to the table. Surrounding the mat and table were several other mats, where the people who were filing in were taking their seats. Two guards forced him into sitting position on the mat in the middle of the floor, his hands still restrained by ropes. He watched as peopled walked in and sat down to witness his death as if it were some sort of sporting event. Then Aizen walked in with his menagerie of guards (and Gin) and sat down gracefully on a mat about five yards in front of him. On Aizen's cue the two guards standing next to Ichigo cut the ropes that were holding his hands.
"Are you ready to die, boy?" Aizen asked.
"Nobody is ever really ready sir." Ichigo replied, causing a few audience members to snicker.
"Perhaps 'prepared' is a better word. Have you eaten?" Aizen asked, getting angry with Ichigo's smartass attitude. He didn't particularly like boys sudden politeness either.
"No sir." Ichigo said curtly.
"He's refused food ever since he was brought here." Said Nnoitra, who was standing next to Aizen.
"Well have you written your jisei no ku yet?" Aizen asked with an irritated sigh.
"Not yet sir."
"Well I'm feeling extremely kind today, so I'll give you some time to write something before you die." Aizen told him, earning an applause from the audience. 'Hmm. Seems like he's waiting for something. Not only is he buying himself time, but buying me time as well.' Ichigo mused as he began writing on the parchment.
Rukia fidgeted on the back of her horse and began wringing her hands nervously. It was the date of Ichigo's execution and she was afraid that they'd be too late.
"Will you calm the fuck down? You're scaring the horses!" Grimmjow snapped. Needless to say, his nerves were frayed as well. Suddenly Aizen's large castle came into view just over the hill that they were perched on.
"Here we are. Aizen's house of pain." Grimmjow announced.
"Ichigo." Rukia breathed. "What if we don't get there in time?"
"We will. Aizen always waits until noon exactly. That's because he has the executions done in a room full of mirrors. That way when the sun is just right, the room fills with light right as he gives the order, as if he were a god. The guy's psycho, but that gives us just enough time." He explained. Rukia looked up to see how alarmingly high in the sky the sun was.
"We need to hurry then." She said, nudging the horse. The animal lurched forward and began racing forward. Grimmjow yelped as his horse did the same. Renji and Tatsuki had no trouble getting their horses to follow and they were at the main entrance of the castle in no time.
"Who goes there?" Asked one of the two guards that were guarding the castle gate.
"It's Grimmjow. Kurosaki has some family that wants to be there when he dies." Grimmjow answered, jerking his thumb behind him in order to point to the rest of the rescue squad. Tatsuki dabbed at her eyes, pretending to cry while Renji but his arm around her and pretended to comfort her. The guard nodded and ushered them inside, where Rukia followed Grimmjow's directions to the mirrored room and ran ahead of the group.
"It's time to accept your fate Kurosaki. Do you want to read what you wrote on your jisei no ku?" Aizen asked. Ichigo grinned and handed him the parchment. It read 'I still win' in big, ornate letters.
"You may begin." Aizen said as he threw the paper down angrily. Ichigo gripped the hilt of the tanto with sweaty palms. Just as he was about to plunge the short sword into his abdomen, a burst of bright light filled the room.
-Seppuku: a ritual Suicide that is the most honorable (and common) way for a samurai to be executed. Where the samurai makes a (fatal) diagnol cut on the stomach with a tanto.
-Jisei no ku: Death poem. Samurai traditionally eat their favorite meal and write one before they commit Seppuku.
-Tanto: A short sword that is typically used in battle for stabbing and also used as an instrument in seppuku. It's usually cleaned and placed in front of a samurai so they can use it to cut themselfs and end their own lives.
Next time:
Will Rukia get there in time?
What happened to Ichigo's mother?
Will I ever stop with the cliff-hangers?
Find out in the next chapter!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I'm so happy that it's 2009 already!
And please please please review. I'm beginning to think there's something wrong with me!
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