Welcome back one and all to another chapter of Eternal Ballad. I must say that this arc has taken quite the turn in my mind as parts have moved around and this chapter took so long to write. Much longer than the other chapters due to all the moving parts and research that I've had to do, still doing. Like there are at least 5 Google Docs and an Excel doc open at all times during writing.
Well, enough of my writing rant but anyways, how have you all been? Happy holidays and merry Christmas to those that celebrate. Anyways, onto the reviews.
aGnamZer0:
Chapter 4 - Thanks for the review and Tomohiro ain't somebody to sneeze at but I do have a question for you. What do you think his arc(s) is/are? I will say that he plays a big role in Ichigo unlocking his shikai again.
Chapter 5 - Glad you were able to see through Unohana but now Ichigo has a dilemma on his hands. What do you think he is going to do about his now, very tense, relationship with Unohana? How will they recover! Oh the tragedy!
Dragon King Hecht:
Chapter 4 - Glad you enjoyed the chapters and rest assured that the OC's in this story are different from the previous version.
Chapter 5 - Sad days indeed.
DRADX:
-To each their own, my opinion of enjoying the creative freedom of OC's does not have to be shared. Glad you're still with us and reading, that's all I can really ask.
-This arc that really kicks off in this chapter will explain a lot of your questions and boy is it a long one. With the direction that it's going, I expect it to be around 10 chapters long and will cover a lot of ground.
I hope you read till the end and enjoy the chapter. Please review and let me know about all the grammar mistakes that you are likely to find. (Still looking for a Beta reader if anyone is interested)
Onto the story.
Ichigo Kurosaki
Exiting shunpo next to one of the many trees populating the forest, Ichigo pressed his back against the rough bark. Cold rain, pelting him from above as a multitude of emotions bombarded the orangette.
How could he be so wrong? She…she was just using him?! This whole time?!
Raising a hand to his face, he attempted to wipe away the rain as it fell. Succeeding as much as one would think, he slid to the ground and pulled his legs to his chest. He didn't know what to think about the whole situation. He was pissed at Unohana for tricking him and even more so at Tomohiro for being right. He was lost.
Moving to sit with his legs crossed, he attempted to enter his inner world but something prevented him from doing so. Calling out to Kyoka and receiving no response, he stopped and leaned his head back against the tree. At least under the cover of its leaves, the rain was much lighter than outside.
Letting the pitter patter of rainfall soothe his mind. Ichigo closed his eyes and let himself be dragged to unconsciousness. A single tear rolled down the curve of his cheek, resting at the tip of his chin before falling to the ground below.
A blinding light and the smell of pine after a rain filled Ichigo's senses as he woke up under his tree. Groggily rising to his feet and checking his surroundings, he collected himself. Yesterday almost seemed like a fever dream, the only reason to believe it happened at all was the fact that he was sleeping under a tree and not back home.
'Home, che.' Home was where the heart was, that's something that he remembered from his old life. That line. Something about it sent a twinge of guilt and pain through his stomach but he didn't have time to dwell on that. As much as he didn't like Unohana for lying to him, he still didn't want her to die.
With his new mission in mind, Ichigo located Tomohiro's reiatsu and moved with purpose towards his target. He wouldn't let the cycle of violence continue. Vanishing with a small buzz, Ichigo was off.
Ichigo was suspicious when he first searched for Tomohiro's reiatsu, only to find it at the location of his ruined home. Arriving and seeing the scene for himself was another story though. Kicking up dirt as his feet settled on the ground, he didn't know what to think. He searched for Unohana's reiatsu and didn't find it anywhere nearby.
'Did Tomohiro win?' He thought. It didn't seem likely but was he willing to take that risk?
'No.' Shaking his head, Ichigo's hand shifted to Kyoka's handle and he felt a warmth pulse throughout his body. Stepping forward he drew his blade as quickly as possible before the ring of metal scraping against metal filled his ears.
Jumping back, Ichigo eyed Tomohiro, the man in question with his blade out and guarding his back.
"Now Ichigo, let's be civil about this." Tomohiro slowly moved around so that he was facing the pissed orangette. "Let's talk about this before we come to conclusions." Holding his hands up they stared at each other; Ichigo steadied his breathing as he took in Tomohiro's words while the blunette tensed.
"What happened to Unohana, why can't I sense her?" It wasn't the comment that threw Tomohiro off so much as it was the word choice.
"Did something happen between you?" Ichigo's serious expression softened as he recalled their argument before he tensed back up.
"None of your business, now tell me what you know." He wasn't willing to take any crap today.
"Look." Tomohiro locked eyes with Ichigo for a moment before relenting. "It appears that someone else beat me to her."
"Who do you think it was?" Tomohiro shrugged nonchalantly.
"Does it matter at the end of the day?" Vanishing from view, Ichigo jumped as Tomohiro appeared at his side, slipping something into Ichigo's pocket. "Oh, one last thing, kid. If you find the people that took her…give them my regards will you?"
With that, Tomohiro was gone. Reaching into his pocket, Ichigo pulled out a small pendant. Shoving it back into his pocket, he spread his senses across the wreckage of his home.
"What is your plan?" Turning to face the materialized Kyoka, Ichigo's face hardened.
"I'm going to find her."
Yachiru Unohana
She couldn't tell if it was the raging headache or the bright lights shining through her closed eyes, but Unohana had one of the worst headaches she had ever felt.
"Looks like she's waking up. Rika, make sure she doesn't leave until her judgement."
"Of course, Ma'am." As Unohana slowly opened her eyes, she was greeted by a rather short female with remarkably pink hair. She couldn't hardly be more than 5 feet. Inspecting the rest of her surroundings she found that her range of movement was restricted somewhat. A gasp drew her attention back to the woman with pink hair.
"Unohana-san. Glad that you're awake! My name is Rika and I'm pleased to finally make your acquaintance." She reached out a hand to the restraining Unohana for a moment before remembering the situation. Releasing an awkward chuckle Rika dropped her hand.
"You realize you've made quite the mistake, locking me up." Unohana lifted an eyebrow at the chuckle that emanated from Rika.
Shaking her head, Rika motioned towards the older soul's restraints.
"Not really, you see your restraints and, to be fair, this entire section of the compound is made of sekkiseki. You won't be using any of your strength here." Rika hesitantly looked towards the entrance to the room before hastily moving towards Unohana.
The Kenpachi tried to move away, not sure of the intent, but Rika waved away her concerns.
"As much as I agree that your power should be restrained, I don't believe you have to be this restricted." She released a nervous chuckle under her breath as Unohana felt the straps holding her neck in place fall away as she began taking in the details of the room, noting nothing of importance.
"If you don't mind me asking, where is here?" Rika perked up at the question.
"We're not far from north-"
"That's enough Riri." Rika pouted before turning and sticking her tongue out at the new arrival.
"Kenji!" She whined. "You know how much that name irritates me! I said stop it!" Kenji's previous stoic visage faded as he bellowed out a laugh that echoed throughout the chamber.
"You do have a way with words Riri, although you do know what we were told about giving information away to enemies. It's bad for business if everyone knows where we live." Rika seemed to sink at his reminder. Hair filled her face as moments later, Kenji reached out and ruffled her hair. "Speaking of a way with words, can you go check on Akira, she locked herself in the main auditorium again?"
Nodding and making her exit, Kenji watched as Rika left the two alone. Turning towards Unohana, the man's seriousness returned.
"Can I ask you a question, Kenpachi?" She couldn't understand why her captor was asking her for permission but she nodded for him to continue, intrigued as to what he could want.
"What makes someone strong?" She had an answer but after recent events, she had to take a moment to consider. What did she consider, makes a person strong?
"I don't know." Her interaction with Ichigo complicated her answer.
"I see. Thank you." Without another comment, Kenji turned on his heel and exited the room, leaving a very confused Unohana with much to think about.
Ichigo Kurosaki
Ichigo had spent the better part of the day with Kyoka, sifting through the wreckage of his home in order to find any clues and so far nothing had turned up, that was, until now.
"Ichigo! I found something!" Said man turned to look at Kyoka, who stood right next to him, with ire.
"Was that really necessary?" Her giggle did little to placate his irritation. What did however was a torn piece of cloth that they had found half buried in the mud under a piece of fallen scaffolding. The cloth in question had a crest imprinted onto it. A hexagon with a fox curled up in the center.
"It would seem that they were less thorough than we gave them credit for." Ichigo nodded.
"This also proves that there was a fight, which means that they expended reiatsu." Spreading his senses, Ichigo locked onto two foreign reiatsu that lingered in the air. Forming a fist around two red reiraku.
"I only meant to grab one of the spirit ribbons." Kyoka moved to inspect the ribbons herself before Ichigo vanished after the owners of the reiatsu that he was tracking. Huffing slightly, Kyoka vanished as well.
The world around Ichigo was zooming by at speeds that he was starting to get used to. Dodging rogue tree limbs and roots was tricky but he had started to get the hang of it.
Before he had a chance to realize what was happening, Ichigo slammed into the ground, rolling till and smashed into a tree with a crack. Gritting his teeth, the orangette righted himself before rising to his feet, dusting off dirt and debris that had clung to his hakama.
"Great, just great. I jinxed myself!" Throwing his hands into the air, he moved them to his hips as he popped several joints.
"Maybe you should stop doing that." Lifting a finger into the air, Ichigo popped his back one more time with a relieved sigh.
"You…" Materializing Kyoka, he pointed at her. "I don't want to hear it from you right now." Shaking his head, he took a moment to collect himself.
A twig snapping caused Ichigo to freeze. Kyoka vanished back to his inner world as Ichigo moved his eyes methodically from tree to tree, reaching out with his senses. He wasn't alone.
He twisted around after hearing another snap.
"My are you a jumpy one." It was a masculine voice but Ichigo couldn't tell from where.
"To think you came all the way out here for little ol' us." Gritting his teeth, Ichigo raised his reiatsu level slightly as another, feminine, voice joined the first.
"Testy, testy." The feminine voice again.
"Why don't you come out here and show yourselves?" A scowl etched itself into Ichigo's facial features. He was being toyed with.
"Now why would we do that?" The innocence of the voice's threw Ichigo off as they spoke in unison. It sounded like he was talking to children.
"Well, you certainly don't sound like you're leaving soon. You're afraid aren't you?" He could feel the tension rising as hushed whispers echoed from all directions.
"We're not afraid." Ichigo grinned.
"Don't listen to him brother."
"You really want to see us?!" Ichigo grinned as he blocked a strike coming from his right. Shifting his gaze to his assailant, he took note of the blue orbs that shone through the charcoal rats nest that rested atop the younger man's head. Younger being relative since Ichigo did know that age didn't fully reflect in the appearance of souls.
Throwing the kid off of him, Ichigo readied himself for another strike but none came. Instead he found a female lookalike standing over his assailant. She had her foot on his chest as she scolded him for his reckless nature.
"You IDIOT!" She twisted her foot as she applied more pressure with the guy gasping for breath comically while reaching for the sky.
Watching from the sidelines Ichigo could only wonder what was going on but for the life of him, he couldn't connect these two to the kidnapping of Unohana. Raising his spiritual pressure and focusing it on the two, what Ichigo could only see as siblings. Siblings.
Ichigo gripped his head as a sharp pain made itself at home. Falling to his knees, Ichigo failed to see the twins stop their antics and center their attention on the orangette.
Jolting awake in a cold sweat, Ichigo's eyes snapped open for an instant before he closed them tightly.
"Dumbass." Ichigo lazily threw a punch in the direction of the voice but his hand met no resistance before falling limply to his side. His eyes adjusting to the lighting of the room, he steadily opened them again to reveal he was sitting in some kind of hut. It appeared to be a single room building with very little in the way of furnishings. Outside of the futon he was laying on, Ichigo could see a desk and two chairs.
"Careful there big guy, don't try to move just yet." Now that he was slowly regaining his bearing, he remembered those voices. Turning to look at who was holding him up, he saw the same mop of black hair and blue eyes from before while the other was dipping a rag in a bowl of water.
"Who are you?" The two shared a look as Ichigo propped himself up. The girl left the rag to sit in the water while she stood up, dusting off her Yukata.
"I am Hirano Haya and the one assisting you is my brother, Konoka. You took quite the tumble yesterday." Ichigo's eyes widened imperceptibly. He had been out for the night? The image of a blonde and black haired pair flashed in his mind. Holding a hand to his head as the headache from the day prior returned full force.
"Must've hit my head somehow." Removing his hand, he laid back down as Haya laid the rag on his forehead, allowing the coolness of the rag to calm his mind.
"No shit. Really?" Ichigo let the corners of his lips turn up at the sound of pain after Konoka made the comment.
"I'm afraid that this is all we could do for you. Now that you're awake, we have to leave." He heard footsteps lead to the door of the hut but he wasn't done with them.
"Wait!" The twins froze at the doorway before turning to Ichigo, who was now propping himself up again. "Do you know what happened to Unohana?"
The two shared a look before Konoka stepped forward caringly.
"Be at ease, she is in custody and will be served justice for her crimes. There is nothing left to fear concerning her." Narrowing his eyes, Ichigo locked them with Konoka, who now had taken a step back.
"You mistake my intentions. I'm looking to save her." Haya vanished from view and a whisper over his shoulder gave him pause.
"Then you're already too late, now sleep, you have to rest after such a traumatic injury~" Before he had a chance to respond he felt her knee connect with his skull and the darkness quickly took him.
Ichigo's body slumped to the ground unceremoniously with Haya standing over him.
"Was that really necessary?" Konoka had joined his sister's side, over the unconscious Ichigo.
"It was. He would only have tracked us. Now let's get back. The command squad will want to know about this." Haya made her way towards the exit, leaving Konoka standing over the strawberry's body. "You coming Konoka?"
"Che." Turning from Ichigo, Konoka shook his head. He felt like this would end up creating more trouble than the strawberry seemed worth.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Reviews are welcome, if fact they're encouraged. Tell me your thoughts and what you'd like explained or just any random questions. It doesn't always have to deal with the fic. Hope you enjoyed it and see you all next week! Happy holidays everyone!