Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, Tite Kubo does.
Note: Thanks again for the nice reviews! The apprenticeship has been time consuming, but not as much as I feared, so you can hope for another update in a few days, I guess.
Now enjoy the new chapter!
Chapter 29:
"He was part of my dream, of course--but then I was part of his dream, too!"
(from "Through the looking glass", Lewis Caroll)
The piece of mirror in Gin's hand exploded into countless glittering shards. He touched his hand to his cheek. It came away bloody. His face twisted into a grimace of rage.
"How dare you take what's mine, Abarai?" he growled. "I'll show you pain, I'll show you suffering, I'll show you TRUE DESPAIR!"
The voice echoed down the corridors of Las Noches and scared a few lower Arrancar away.
In a far away hall, Aizen Souzuke smiled.
"Um, may I come in, Shihana-san?", asked Rukia.
When no answer came, she hesitatingly pulled open the door. She froze at what she saw.
A bizarre plateau had been set up in the middle of Shihana's room.
Shihana stood still as a statue, staring blindly ahead, her eyes wide with fear.
Towering over her stood Renji, his left hand clutching her upper arm, his right hand pressed to her chest. He was bleeding from several deep gashes and from his mouth trickled a thin thread of crimson blood.
"What's going on?", whispered Rukia.
While she still watched, another wound opened in Renji's gut. Blood flowed out and splashed to the floor.
Suddenly, Shihana convulsed. Rukia thought she saw some kind of red mist rise from her body and vanish into thin air.
When Shihana came to, the first thing she saw was crimson. Renji's red hair, Renji's red blood.
The grip on her arm slackened and the tall man soundlessly sank to the floor.
"Renji!" Shihana cried. She fell on her knees, hugged the limp body to her chest and began to sob miserably.
"Have I now killed you a second time?" she cried. Then her voice died down to a mere whisper.
"No. Say it isn't true. Please let this be one of the nightmares. No. No. Please, no!"
She was half-aware of a pair of small, gentle hands prying her away from Renji and hugging her back with comforting warmth.
"It'll be all right, Shihana-san", muttered Rukia soothingly. "The healers are already there. And I saw you, you didn't do a thing to Renji. Don't blame yourself. He'll be all right."
In the dark of the night, Shihana lay awake and listened into herself. It felt strangely empty.
The whispering voice and cruel laughter was gone. The feeling of being watched constantly was gone, too.
She touched her hand to the scar on her chest. It was just a scar.
'You who bear my seal are now bound to me forever.' Was the bond truly cut? Would she ever be free of the nightmares and flashes of memory that plagued her? Would she ever be able to live without the fear that he might come for her again? This smiling devil who smelled like blood.
She would never forget the sound of his laughter. It echoed in her head even now.
Would Reki really marry her, maimed as she was? And Renji, saving her yet again. Her eyes grew wet when she thought of him. He had gone through so much pain for her, yet what could she do to make it up to him?
Renji awoke under the soft white covers in the 4th squad barracks.
"What happened?" he moaned, fingering his countless bandaged wounds.
"You cleansed a demon", answered a smooth voice from next to his head.
"Oh, taichou! A demon? I remember there were many mirrors and Ichimaru... That bastard! He escaped again!"
Renji sat up in bed only to be pushed down unceremoniously.
"Rest up, Abarai", said Byakuya. "You succeeded in destroying whatever power he had over my cousin. That is enough for now."
"I did?" Renji muttered. He looked at his hands. Only then did he notice the scar on the palm of his right hand. It had the shape of a marigold. He smiled. "So Shihana-san's save now?"
Byakuya nodded. Then his grey eyes fixed his fukutaichou in a firm gaze. "I am deeply thankful, Abarai. The Kuchiki family will not forget this."
Renji only stared. Not once had he heard this much praise from his taichou. It left him speechless.
"By the way", added Byakuya casually, "you might get visitors soon. Be sure to make a good impression. Though I fear that you already have. I must get going. Get well soon, Abarai, otherwise the piles on your desk will topple over."
He rose gracefully and left the room.
Renji pouted. Deeply thankful, but not signing a few papers for me? How mean, taichou!
Then he started to wonder what kind of visitors Byakuya had spoken of.
He jumped slightly when someone knocked on the door.
"Do come in!" Renji called out.
The door opened to admit a middle-aged man and woman with the familiar black hair of the Kuchiki clan. They wore formal kimonos with the family crest.
To Renji's surprise, both bowed low. His eyes went round as saucers. Who were they? Nobles bowing to him of all people? Had the world turned crazy?
"Please accept our deepest thanks, Abarai Renji", said the man in a deep smooth voice.
They slowly approached his bed and the woman smiled at him sweetly. She looked like she had been very beautiful in her youth. Renji stared at them baffled.
A look of understanding suddenly crossed the woman's face.
"Oh, Shimaru dear, how impolite of us. He doesn't even know who we are!" she said.
"Please excuse our insolence, Abarai-fukutaichou", hurried Shimaru to say. "We are Kuchiki Shimaru and Kuchiki Ayasi, Kuchiki Shihana's parents."
"Oh", Renji exclaimed. "Nice to meet you", he added quickly.
"We wanted to thank you for saving our daughter", continued Shimaru. "And though she might still be engaged to Shihoin Reki, we would now rather see her in the hands of another shinigami."
"We won't ever forget what you did for Shihana", said Ayasi.
"We will let you rest now", announced Shimaru. "Recover soon, Abarai Renji."
A moment later, they were gone.
Renji sat in bed unmoving, wondering whether he had just seen a pair of ghosts in Soul Society. His head spun. First taichou thanking him, now Shihana's parents. Perhaps she would visit him herself? He longed to see her pale face without the stain of sadness that had haunted her ever since her abduction.
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