AN: So here's chapter 30! Unfortunately this chapter centers kind of around Orihime (X_X) she annoys the crap out of me but I kind of wanted to stick with the plot a little more than I had been so I didn't want to change everything around so I'm stuck with her! Well just be glad that I put writing before by hate for her character and didn't just kill her off or make her a huge bitch like people usually do with characters they don't like in fanfics. Just for a heads up I have my SAT's this weekend so don't be expecting another update this week and be ready for a possible delay in writing since my brain's going to be mush after my SAT test :P. Onwards to the warnings!:
1. Plot Development.
2. Mild Fluff.
Updated for spelling and such on 10/16/13
Chapter 29: Goodbye Halcyon Days
(Karakura High School, 3rd Person POV)
Ichigo yawned loudly as he threw his school bag over his shoulder as he walked along side Rukia as they walked onto the school grounds. She looked up at him rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "You're still tired from last night too huh? That was some party." Rukia said with a tired smile as she recalled yesterday.
"Yeah, we probably shouldn't have stayed for so long though. You remember how my dad yelled at us for like an hour before he let us go to bed." Ichigo commented with an annoyed sigh as he remembered how his father overreacted yesterday when they got home.
Rukia chuckled at the memory of last night as they walked through the hallways towards their classroom. "Oh yeah, you're dad's pretty funny." The dark haired fourth seat commented with a laugh.
"Yeah funny for you! He doesn't chase you around trying to hit you!" He argued as they rounded the corner in the hall, Rukia reached forward to open the door to the classroom her mouth opening to say something when she stopped as she looked inside the class. As they both walked in they noticed they still had a few minutes to spare before the class started but the students in the class were oddly quieter than usual. Ichigo immediately noticed something off with the room but he couldn't put his finger on it right away.
"Hey! Ichigo, Rukia!" A voice yelled to them as they walked in and they both glanced up at the familiar voice to see Renji sitting on his desk talking with Ikkaku and Yumichika.
The two walked over to the small group as Rukia glanced around a little confused before looking at the red haired Lieutenant. "Do you guys know why everyone is acting so…weird? They're all so quiet." The dark haired girl noticed as she looked over the students once more.
Yumichika glanced over at them with a nod. "They're all confused why Orihime isn't here, we just figured that she was sick or something." He explained casually with a shrug of his shoulders. "It's probably nothing."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the statement. "She was fine when Rukia and I walked her home last night. It's not like her to miss school." He told them and glanced over to find her desk empty and he looked over to Tatsuki and the other girls to find them talking among themselves worriedly without Orihime for once.
Abruptly the school bell rang and the teacher walked in and yelled at them all to take their seat but Rukia noticed how two other people weren't there either. "I'm going to text Rangiku and Toshiro, maybe they know something." She told Ichigo as she walked to her seat and she was quick to text under her desk without looking away from the teacher as she took attendance.
The dark haired girl was a little annoyed but more worried than anything when she didn't feel her phone vibrate, knowing that Rangiku was always quick to respond? The teacher called out Hitsugaya's name as she went alphabetically by last name down the attendance sheet. When there was no response she was about to mark him absent and go on when the door opened loudly and everyone glanced over and saw Rangiku and Toshiro half asleep as they walked in. "Do you have a late pass?" The teacher asked in an uncaring voice as they walked in but Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the sight of the two of them. It would have made more sense if Orihime had come in late with the two of them but he was worried when he noticed that they were alone.
Toshiro glared at her, bags obvious under his eyes that made it look like he had been up for hours last night and he obviously didn't have the patience to deal with an annoying teacher.
(Lunchtime, Karakura High School 3rd Person POV)
When the bell rang most of the students scattered off to have fun during their short break for lunch. However all the students were too busy with their own business to notice how Ichigo, Chad, Uryu and the rest of the "new exchange students" all nearly ran up out of their seats and met up at the roof as quickly as possible.
"What the hell is going on?" Ichigo asked as he looked over at Hitsugaya and Rangiku as they all got to the roof to talk. All day it had been so obvious how something was wrong with the two, Rangiku had been nearly silent all day and Toshiro was no better and of course Orihime was still not in school. Everyone including their classmates had been worried about the fact that the bubbly girl wasn't in school for once, it just wasn't adding up the more and more the soul reapers thought about it.
Uryu and Chad watched with interest the scene in front of them, usually they had their own things to worry about and didn't usually come to the soul reaper's little meetings at the rooftop. However even the both of them were worried themselves about Orihime and wondering what happened to her. The white-haired young Captain glanced off to the side with a frown at Ichigo's question. The strawberry blonde woman gave Toshiro a sympathetic look and glanced up at the substitute soul reaper. "When we both walked back to Orihime's house last night…" Rangiku and Toshiro both visibly tensed at the memory and everyone watched on edge as the Lieutenant forced the words out. "We got there as they were taking her, we tried to stop them we really did, we gave it our all but they got away before we could save her."
Ichigo's eyes widened at the statement, too caught off guard to respond at first. He expected her them to say that she was maybe attacked by an arrancar or something at worst but he was completely taken back by what Rangiku said. "When you say they," Rukia started out calmly and everyone glanced over at her to see that she was frowning before she continued on. "You mean Aizen don't you?" She asked in a regretful voice, hoping to hear them say that she had misunderstood or that she was wrong.
The two of them glanced at each other and Rangiku frowned and glanced away but Toshiro nodded to confirm it. Rukia looked a little surprised by it and glanced away in her own thoughts, a tense silence went over the group as they all took in the information. "What about Yamamoto?" Renji blurted out to break the silence as he looked over at Toshiro. "Didn't you two talk to him? Maybe he knows how we can save her." The red haired Lieutenant thought hopefully but Toshiro frowned again, turning most of their hopes to nothing more than that.
Toshiro looked down at the ground in front of him. "Matsumoto and I spent the majority of last night trying to convince Yamamoto to do just that. Even after we told him everything…he said that it would be too risky to risk losing any forces, especially any Lieutenants or Captains when war with Aizen is so close." He explained solemnly and most of the soul reapers gave him surprised looks by the statement.
Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the statement, frustration building up inside of him at every turn everything just seemed to be working against him. "This is so wrong." Ichigo murmured out in anger, glaring down at the ground in front of him as he tried to think of a way to save her. "Now what?" He asked Toshiro, knowing the genius must have thought of something by now.
Toshiro glanced over at Ichigo and sighed in frustration himself. "Now…we'll just have to keep things stable here and hopefully Yamamoto will think of someway for everything to work out." He said lowly knowing that it didn't really help anything. Everyone broke out into murmuring and the Captain took the last opportunity to address everyone before they all started talking. "At least we're all up to date on information, Matsumoto and I have already contacted Mizuki." He informed everyone as they all suddenly started to talk at once about if they could try this or that to maybe save Orihime.
(Karakura Town later that day, 3rd Person POV)
Ichigo sighed as he sat at one of the swings at the park in his neighborhood, trying to sort his thoughts out. For once he was thankful that Karakura was quiet without hollows running around to his knowledge. All day people had been talking about Orihime and he had felt guilty at the mention of her each time, he felt bad since he thought that he should have protected her better. He sat on the swing to try to think of some way to save her but he couldn't think of anything.
"Hey Ichigo, what are you doing?" He heard a familiar voice call and he glanced over his shoulder behind the swing set and noticed her walking over.
"Hey." Ichigo said trying to sound more excited to see her but somehow he couldn't get his mind off of the guilt he felt.
Mizuki didn't ask him what was wrong to his surprise and sat down on the swing next to him, opening the Tupperware container and taking out a pastry before glancing up at him. "Want one?" She asked casually, Ichigo wondered why she didn't make him talk about what was bothering him like everyone else. All day all he could think about or talk about with his friends was how Orihime was gone, to him it felt a little strange to have a normal conversation about anything else but it was enough to take his mind off of it for a few minutes.
"What is it?" He asked curiously.
"It's just some of the strawberry shortcakes Kensei made last night." Mizuki told him, he shrugged.
"Alright." Ichigo agreed and took the pastry when she handed it to him. "Thanks." He told her and saw her nod as she took a bite into her own, glancing out to the dark and empty playground.
"So what are you doing out here all alone anyway? Isn't your family worried about you?" The blonde ex-Lieutenant asked, glancing over at him.
He sighed at the question and took a bite of the small cake before he answered her. "They know where I am, they aren't that worried. I'm just thinking." Ichigo told her calmly.
"If you don't mind me asking, what are you thinking about?" He heard her ask and looked over at her confused when she asked so politely, they were long past formalities. Mizuki seemed to understand the look and shrugged. "It looks like whatever you're thinking about is really bothering you, but if you don't want to talk about it then we can talk about something else." She told him as she finished the tiny cake pastry.
Ichigo wondered if it was that obvious that he was upset and sighed, but was happy that she wasn't going to force him to talk about it. "I'm just worried about Orihime, I should have stopped that Espada from taking her now she's stuck in Heuco Mondo with Aizen." He explained, spitting out Aizen's name with malice.
The blonde girl sighed at his response. "Ichigo, you can't run around and save everyone. You'll just be setting yourself up for disappointment. And you shouldn't worry about Orihime, if Aizen wanted to hurt her then he wouldn't have gone through the trouble of capturing her. Besides, the soul society's not going to just let her stay there, they'll save her." Mizuki told him reassuringly and he wanted desperately to believe her but he still knew it wasn't all that hopeful of a situation.
He was a little confused when she mentioned the soul society helping out, he could have sworn Toshiro said that he told Mizuki what happened but he shrugged it off. "Not really." He said and noticed her look at him with confused green eyes before he sighed and glanced down at the ground. "Toshiro already talked to Yamamoto and he said it was too close to the War for the soul society to risk any of their Captains." Ichigo told her seriously.
For a few moments they were both silent before the orange haired substitute soul reaper glanced over at her, wondering why she got so quiet. However he saw her glancing off thinking hard about something, her hand clenched into a fist at her side making him raise an eyebrow at her. He knew by this point that Toshiro must have neglected to tell her about Yamamoto's lack of help to save Orihime. "Mizuki, are you alright?" Ichigo asked, wondering what he said had caused her to get so serious.
She glanced over at him. "Are you sure?" The ex-Lieutenant asked him, ignoring his question and he wondered what she was talking about. "Yamamoto's not going to change his mind?"
Ichigo frowned and nodded. "I don't think he will." He told her and watched as she gave him a serious look before standing up to her feet.
"I'll see you later Ichigo, you should probably get home." The blonde girl told him as she started to walk off, still obviously thinking really hard which made him raise an eyebrow.
"Where are you going?" He asked her suspiciously before she could take two steps away, she stopped walking and glanced over at him with a calm expression before forcing a small smile.
"I'm going to go see Lisa I'll see you tomorrow." The blonde ex-Lieutenant told him before turning around and walking off, her smile fading away as soon as she turned around and was replaced by a serious expression.
(Mizuki's POV)
I lied back on Lisa's bed, my arms crossed behind my head as I stared up at the ceiling. Even though I didn't look up I could feel Lisa narrowing her eyes at me from behind her glasses, I could feel her giving me a stern stare but my eyes refused to move from the ceiling. The dull sound of her perverted manga hitting the desk in front of her resonated throughout the quiet and still room. "Mizuki, there's nothing more for us to do." She told me and I rolled my eyes at her statement.
"I'm too stubborn for that to work on me Lisa." I shot right back at her, closing my eyes momentarily. It was really late outside and I was tired although since it had gotten to be this late Lisa was probably just going to let me stay over instead of making me leave. When I had come here I had just wanted to talk the situation out and make my decision from there after logically talking it over with the former Lieutenant but that had long since stopped working once our conflicting opinions surfaced.
Her glare held strong at the sight of my wilfulness and she leaned her cheek against her hand, glancing over at me on her bed. "You're not planning what I think your planning are you?" Lisa asked me seriously and I glanced over to the side away from her, my body language enough of an answer for her apparently. "Do you at least understand the consequences of what you're going to do?" She asked in a calm voice.
I sighed out loud before sitting up on her bed and nodding over at her. "Of course I do, I'm not an idiot. I know that this could all be part of Aizen's plan and that I might just be falling for it but I think it's worth it." I told her, running my fingers through my bangs to push them out of my eyes.
"I don't think it's worth the risk. Look at how far you've already made it, no one ever thought you'd be able to get this far why would you risk that all now? You might not have to die Mizuki, and I don't want you to risk whatever you've gained this far by getting a little too headstrong." Lisa replied calmly, giving me a stern look.
I knew that she was right and nodded in agreement. "I get what your trying to tell me, I understand all of that but I still think I'm doing the right thing." I told her in a low voice, hoping that no one would overhear our little disagreement and partly in order to control my frustration. Lisa may have been one of my closest friends but still we were both just about equally matched when it came to being stubborn.
She sighed, rolling her eyes at me as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well it's obvious nothing's going to change your mind." Lisa observed, giving up on trying to convince me otherwise which I was happy about. I half expected her to drop the whole conversation then and there but was mildly annoyed to hear her go on. "I don't even know how you expect to get there, and don't think I won't tell Urahara about this-." She was about to go on when I calmly cut her off.
I smirked at her statement, effectively cutting her off. "Please, I'm a little smarter than that, I'm not relying on Urahara to get me there. The easiest part of it would be getting there." I told her and saw her think for a few moments before glancing off to the side, knowing that I was right.
It took a few moments before she gave me a worried expression and shot me a frown. "You…You've seriously thought about this." She noticed and at the statement I glanced away and slightly narrowed my eyes when I heard the soft but serious tone in her voice. Lisa realized my silence was an answer enough and she frowned even more. "Have you made your decision yet? When?" She asked in a pressing voice and I sighed, looking up at her and shook my head.
"No, I haven't. I know how I feel about all of this and I've thought about both options but still it's not the right time yet. I don't want to act too quickly on something like this, but when I know I'll tell you I promise Lisa." I told her and noticed her expression lighten up a little at the promise as she chuckled and picked up her perverted manga and opened it up to the page she left off on.
"You know what little Mizuki, I wish you wouldn't make me worry so much about you sometimes. I just hope you can make a decision that you can live with, or maybe just live in general." She told me lightheartedly and I managed to smile a little at her joking tone and laughed a little at the joke at my own expense.
AN: I'm sorry that the last scene with Lisa and Mizuki was a little confusing, just wait a little while it'll make more sense with the chapters to come.
Chapter 30 Preview:
"Yachiru," Mizuki said clearly in a calm voice as she got to her feet without looking away from the dark haired Captain. "I want you to go stand by Rukia and everyone." She said clearly and Yachiru pouted in annoyance.
"But Zuki-Zuki-chan! I want to play some more!" The pink haired Lieutenant whined out with a frown but Mizuki glanced over her shoulder and smiled to her before looking forward.
"There'll be plenty of time to play later." She said and waited until she heard the younger girl sigh and flash step over to the sidelines before the blonde ex-Lieutenant drew her zanpakuto.
