Rain, Forgive Me
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Vision
It was the after math of the epic battle between the espadas and the soul reapers. There had been many injured during the course of this war, most by the hand of Aizen himself. However, there was one who prevailed over Aizen, Ichigo Kurosaki the human. He had the help of Urahara, Isshin and Yourichi. But after all this chaos there was a mess to be cleaned.
Squad four was dispatched all over Hueco Muendo and the human world for the injuries there. The Humans in the Soul Society were safe for now, so the shinigame began to pick up the broken pieces of their brave troops.
Meanwhile, the few shinigame in Hueco Muendo began to be found and healed.
There was one member of squad four, unnamed and seemingly unknown who found a troop laying in the sand. Knowing what this could possibly mean, the squad four member rushed to the side of the red headed girl. The girl couldn't have been more than five feet tall. She was staring up into the sky.
The weirdest part though was there were light fractures breaking all around her, like a hallow had died by her side. Maybe they had injured each other to the point of death? Curiosity struck the young man's mind but then he knelt down next to the girl. Her eyes were closed peacefully.
He placed his hands on her throat and on her chest. No sign of life, nothing. He tried to see if he could restart her heart and make life come back into her. He placed his hands in a blocking form and placed them hovering above her chest. Light orbed around his crafty hands.
But though he tried his best, the woman was long gone. She had been dead for at least a half hour. That was too long to try and recover her soul. He shook his head lightly. He dealt with death more often then he liked but he was somewhat used to it. He gave himself other things to think about as he grabbed the motionless and bloody body. He had to bring her to the Soul Society for a funeral and identification.
While he walked with her body slung over his shoulder he couldn't help but notice the heavy armor on her chest. He wondered how she could have died or even how the thick armor was penetrated. It must have been a strong opponent that was her undoing.
Crack! The man stopped walking. Had he heard something lightly cracking? He looked under his foot which automatically hovered away. Yes there was something down there mixed in the blood. He bent down carefully as to not drop the body, then grabbed the little item.
It was a green marble.
He wondered what it could be. Maybe it was her property? He shrugged and placed the marble in his pocket. Maybe she had some kin to give this marble to.
Blood and scars, the whole field of vision was like this. So many battles had taken place. Renji closed his eyes, the pain from being healed was almost worse than not being healed up at all. He sat there on the ground while the lieutenant healed his arm. He had just recently seen his Captain with Rukia so he knew they were both safe. He hadn't seen Uryuu in awhile so he could only guess what happened to him.
And Riina. That woman she was battling with high spiritual pressure, she was out of her mind thinking she could actually take her on. He tried not to think of the inevitable outcome but just recently he had lost the feeling of her spiritual pressure. Again he went to thinking about something else.
Until, there was somebody to his left approaching. He looked quickly to see who was there. A small man with dark colored hair. He was carrying someone over his shoulder. A girl? No… it was her. The man walked up a little slowly and placed the body down softly.
"Do either of you know who she is?" He asked almost like it wasn't even a person. More like a possession. Guess that's the kind of coldness you needed to be a part of squad four. Compassion but at the same time deposition.
Renji frowned as his eyes widened. Then he snapped his head around to the other direction. He wasn't going to be all emotional about this. No he was a strong man, he could handle this. He let out a small breath. "She's part of squad six, Riina Asuka."
He heard the small man's reply. "So you do know her, was she close to you? Or did she have any family?"
Renji frowned deeper still looking in the opposite direction. "I'm not sure if she was close to me or whatever that's supposed to mean. She was my friend though. She never talked about any family."
"…" There was a small pause before the man continued, there was a ruffling sound then he heard the man's voice say, "Well seeing as though you're a higher rank of her squad, I'll let you decide what to do with this."
Renji blinked once before looking over to see what he was talking about. A small green ball in his hand. His palm was open and the ball was not much bigger than a pea. Renji grabbed the ball with his index and thumb and examined it. He brought it close to his face to see only his own reflection glaring back at him on the shiny and silky surface.
"What is it?" He decided to ask because he had no clue.
"I was hoping you would know." He said rubbing the back of his head.
Renji clasped his fist around it, "I'll ask the Captain about it later." He mumbled to himself. Then he placed it in his shinigame outfit pocket. He couldn't help but see the girl lying there in his vision. Her face was in the sand and the only thing he could tell it was her was from her red hair. There was a gaping wound in her back where a blade had clearly sliced through.
He didn't like looking at the body… maybe it wasn't her. He had to find out at the very least right? He grabbed her shoulder and twirled her body so she was looking up to the sky. Her red eyes were open widely but hazed a little making them look more grey. Her hair was tangled with blood and sand was stuck to her face from being placed down face first into it.
There were cuts all over her body. It was brutal to look at. And more importantly, her arm was gone. Completely gone, all that was left was some veins that threaded out and the tissue could be seen with it. It was gruesome and barbaric… that woman was now evil to him. Had she lived, or had someone killed her? He wondered briefly before thinking that with all these soul reapers around someone would have killed the woman.
It was Riina, he was sure about it now. It was like she was an empty and hollow shell. No life at all was inside of her. She was…dead. The lieutenant who was healing him suddenly moved away.
"Does that feel a little better? I have to leave now to help others if everything is fine here." She said quietly.
Renji merely nodded and replied with a quick, "Thanks." The other man who was there also said something.
"I've got to go as well, would you like me to carry the body?"
Renji shook his head, "No it's fine. I'll take her back to the Soul Society."
The man nodded and was off in a flash.
He looked away from the body for the second time. He wouldn't let this get to him… he was stronger than this. He rubbed his forehead a little. What were all of them going to do now? Where was Aizen and the traitors? And what was the fate of the rest of the Captains?
Woosh! Renji felt his hair blow from some pressure. He looked up before wiping himself off and standing. "Rukia, Captain!" He announced. He stood up quicker than he should have and felt a pinch of pain in his chest.
They stood there in silence looking at the body.
"What are we going to do now, Captain?" Renji asked curiously wondering if the battles had been won.
"We've just gotten word from the human world, many of the Captains are injured, however Aizen repositioned to the Soul Society where he was stopped by Ichigo Kurosaki and some others." He stated plainly. "The Head Captain has now ordered that everyone go back to the Soul Society to recover."
His coal eyes had quickly shifted to looking at Renji when the question was asked and now he simply turned the other way. "The Senkaimone will be ready within a few minutes." His dark hair moved slightly with his turn. He began to stride away. But before he could get more than a few feet away, "Also, bring her body."
Renji nodded, "Yes sir." Then he remembered quickly what was waiting inside of his pocket. "Sir." He said jogging up to his Captain.
Rukia was an observant on looker and watched the events go by in silence.
Another breeze flew by the group as Renji dug into his pocket. "I'm not sure what this is, it looks familiar but I can't remember what it is." He finally fished out the marble looking item and stuck out his hand.
Kuchiki's eyes widened a little then he grabbed the marble. "It's nothing, I'll take it back to the Soul Society with me." He turned back around swiftly yet again, and walked foreword.
"What was that about?" Renji whispered as his Captain flash stepped away only leaving a pale dust in his wake.
"You mean you didn't recognize what it was?" Rukia asked her taller friend.
"No, should I have?" He peeked down.
"Idiot, how could you forget what a mod soul looks like?" She shook her head abruptly. "But what really puzzles me is why Riina had one." She glanced down.
Renji simply hummed lowly like he was thinking about it though in actuality he was thinking much about that at all.
"Renji, if you want, I can take the body. I know this must be hard for you…" She looked back up at him.
"I'll be fine. Thanks." He said.
Rukia nodded and begin to run away. "Alright then." He heard her voice fade away with her loud steps in the sand.
Renji bent down slowly and glared at the body for a few seconds before picking it up. He slung the woman over his shoulder. No… the body. Blood instantly rubbed against him, though his own kimono was also spotted with his own blood.
Renji was walking forward already when thoughts began to race through his head and he felt a familiar emotion of sadness. He stopped walking. The body was heavier by the second like it was weighing down on his soul.
'Don't think about it.' Was his quick solution and tried to step forward but he couldn't. He gently slid the body forward into a bridal position. He just stared for a moment. She was dead… she wasn't there anymore. This wasn't some sort of sick joke, she was really gone. And never coming back… He wiped the sand that had been plastered to her face, away. Some of the blood on her cheeks also were swept away by his hand.
He frowned and clenched his jaw shut tightly. "You said you wouldn't die…" He reminded the absent being in a quiet voice. He shut his eyes from this reality but it her face wouldn't leave his mind either. The image was stuck inside of him now and there was no avoiding it.
Lastly, he quickly flashed open his brown eyes and used his fingers to close her eye lids… she looked more peaceful that way. He decided though, he'd carry her like this back to Soul Society. She deserved at least that much.
"Riina… you fought well." He whispered before he flash stepped to the upcoming Senkaimone.
"We can't just do that!" One of the younger members of Central 46 opposed the group.
"What are you suggesting we do? Put her through further pain?" An old man said with squinty eyes and his hands folded in his lap. He spoke in a calmer wiser voice.
The young member, who was actually nearing 300 years old, was a male. He frowned. "It won't be fair if she at least doesn't get a second chance at life. You're assuming that she will most likely be executed therefore she doesn't need to be revived!"
An older woman then piped in, as wise and old as the previous old man, "If we go through with your plan and she does end up being executed it will cause an uproar!" She said with a wrinkled face full of age.
"There again you assume she'll be executed. Think if we decided that she wasn't to be executed, by that time it'll be too late to revive her! You have to think of this both ways!" The younger man said.
"Watch your tongue." The man who was the oldest and wisest still said. His white beard was longer than he was tall. "You both are thinking of this one sided. On the chance she should be executed it'll be far easier if she isn't revived…"
"But!" The young man piped in.
"Silence!" The older one said. "Let me finish. However, if we do not revive her she will have no chance of surviving in the body. In which case it'll take us at least a few months to make a new one for her and we'll be hassled the whole time."
"Are you saying that either choice will cause trouble?" The old woman asked.
"So we're screwed." The young man flopped into his chair and crossed his arms.
"Watch what you say!" The oldest man said. "The first option will ruin our reputation for decades to come and the second option might also however, the second option has at least a half chance of working out better."
The old woman nodded a little. "Now that you've said it, it makes more sense."
"I've been saying it for thirty minutes!" The young one frowned.
"Silence." The older one said for the second time. "Now let's vote on this subject."
"That's final." The oldest one with the beard said. "We will decide whether or not the young mod soul will be executed but in the mean time, she will be placed back into the body."
The younger man smiled knowing he had done some justice for the girl.
Red eyes found only the darkness. Were they open or were they closed? Opening. Bright light filled the vision. 'What's happening?' A lowly thought whispered into the nothingness. But the bright light streaming in soon became visible quality…
Life.