crimsonsun37: I'm so sorry that I forgot to address this in the previous chapter! "kaerichi" is the the name for the blood that comes from a wound - the wound of a victim, not a wound as in accidentally cutting yourself. And the vampire hierarchy works this way: there are two divisions, leader and elder, compromised of five seats each, along with the main seat, which is higher than both divisions. For you Americans out there, think of the main seat as being the presidency, and the elder and leader divisions as the Senate and House of Representatives. Elders are there merely for the long-standing tradition that elders are wise, having lived so long. The leader division has greater authority, though, over the elder division, but the system (as Rukia explained) still has checks and balances so that no one group (main seat, elder, or leader) can monopolize all of the power. Of the leader division, the higher your seat number (1 -5; 1 highest), the more power you have. Kaien was leader division first-seat, meaning he was, technically, second best only to the main seat holder. And when Kaien was defeated by Rukia, she took his place.

Whew. Hope that was understandable.

This fic is rated R because of language, violence, and sensuality. If any of the aforementioned offends you, please do not read.

Review if you like. No flames, please.

kaerichi
Chapter 18

The world blurred and for all the shunpa she was capable of, Rukia thought for one life-defying instant that she wouldn't make it in time.

"No, stop!"

She leapt in front of Ichigo just as the stake swung down; with her aura covering her hand, she struck the stake away so hard that it burst into wooden slivers. And then she was suddenly aware of all eyes on hers, and of Ichigo's sudden whispering in her ear.

"Rukia, don't do it…Rukia, are you listening to me? Don't do it!" he hissed, as she backed up a step until their bodies were practically touching. "Rukia, I'm not worth it, remember? Don't do it!"

Even Kenpachi had backed away at the shock. And it was subtle, but there was a hint of offense in the auras she felt now permeating the room.

"…Kuchiki-san, what are you doing?" Urahara asked in his calm voice, though, from under his hat, his eyes looked slightly menacing.

Coming forward, the sound of his wooden sandals was loud in the deathly silence, against the spotless floor.

Rukia backed away another step until their bodies were touching. Her face turned to the side briefly, feeling his breath mingling with hers, before her courage had enough power to continue on.

It was now or never. And never was a long time. Her tongue licked the lips that had gone dry, and one of her hands grasped the fabric of Ichigo's pants.

"I…" Her voice was soft. "Urahara-san, Zaraki-san, Abarai-san, Hitsugaya-san…to all of you, and to those I did not mention…I won't let you kill this hunter." Fingers grasping his pants harder than ever, she continued, "I…can't."

"Why can't you, Kuchiki-san?"

"That's because…"

"Rukia don't do it…"

"That because I care about this hunter," she said. It was actually easier than she thought it would be. "I love him."

There. It was out.

She might have laughed at Renji and Hitsugaya's faces if she hadn't been feeling so stricken by Urahara's at that one moment. His cane was shaking as an extension of his hand, and both of his eyes were now lifted from the darkness of his hat.

There was only so much of guilt that someone could take when looking in Urahara's eyes. So, Rukia turned away, using a part of her offensive aura to cut Ichigo's bonds that tied him to the post. Unexpectedly, he embraced her, and she stood there for a moment while all the relief and comfort from his touch seeped into her bones.

"Ichigo…don't say anything," she said. "I've done what I've done."

"Rukia, you idiot, you stupid, stupid idiot…"

"Kuchiki Rukia, you do realize that siding with this hunter means that you will be labeled a traitor," Urahara said. His once mellow eyes had turned to steel.

She nodded, turning around in Ichigo's embrace, even though his saying the words hurt more than just thinking them.

"And you do realize that we will have an obligation to take up arms against a traitor."

She nodded.

"And you do realize that we will hunt you and this hunter, should you even think of escaping."

She nodded, and Ichigo's arms tightened around her.

"And the fact that he resembles Shiba Kaien no longer bothers you?"

There, that question again. "No, it doesn't bother me." And it was true. But he seemed to be asking her that an awful lot, wasn't he?

"Are you sure it doesn't bother you?"

And suddenly, Rukia noticed, Hitsugaya turned to Urahara. His hand reached out, slowly, almost as if in an action to hold the taller man back. "Urahara-san…you don't mean that you are going to…"

"You are against this, Hitsugaya-kun?"

He looked stricken. "But Rukia…"

"Who knows," Urahara shrugged lightly, "maybe it'll stop her from leaving."

Rukia had no idea what either of them were talking about, but she was sure that nothing would stop her from leaving this base.

She would get Ichigo out. That had been one of her thoughts as she had used her shunpa to deflect Kenpachi's blow – the thought that she would rather die for him than he for her. And that thought was no weaker now than it was then.

She was going to get him out, no matter what.

"Kuchiki-san, I am sure you remember your old benefactor Shiba Kaien, am I correct?" Urahara said, turning away from Hitsugaya to face her and Ichigo again. He took a step forward, causing her to take an involuntary one back, pressing further into Ichigo. However, at the mention of her old Master, Rukia's eyes hardened.

"He was one impossible to forget," she replied truthfully, voice icy.

"And yet you managed to forget the fact that this orange-haired hunter greatly resembles him, disregarding the fact that he is a hunter and that any form of communication between you is already liable for punishment by execution."

"I knew that."

"And yet," he said, one eye peering at her, "I wonder if you would do the same, Kuchiki-san, if you knew just how much of Kaien he really was."

Suddenly, there was this feeling that Rukia couldn't shake, the fact that Urahara had another ace up his sleeve that he was planning on pulling out right now… "What do you mean, Urahara-san?"

"I'm sure you remember your battle with him that earned you the position of leader division, first-seat," said Urahara. "You escaped his burning house, and you thought that you had killed him.

"However, vampires with a high level of proficiency in aura movement – as one might expect of the leader division's first-seat holder – also have the ability to move their souls. It is a difficult process, but one not entirely unachievable. In any case, as he lay dying, Shiba Kaien utilized this ability to transport his soul to a different body."

It slowly dawned…realization and the horror of it…

"Can you guess where his soul ended up, Kuchiki Rukia-san?"

She turned around in Ichigo's embrace suddenly, looking into his eyes with something akin to dread on her face. And he was looking at her with something of the same. There was no way that he could be…

"Resemblance in physicality can sometimes mean a resemblance of souls, and therefore, Shiba Kaien found this hunter and entered his body. Normally, when this happens, this hunter's soul would "die" from being forced out, and Shiba Kaien would have taken over the body."

He paused, to let his words sink in. Rukia hated him for it.

"But that didn't quite happen. For reasons unknown, Shiba Kaien's soul was unable to take over this hunter's one, and instead, the boy's dominated his, allowing them to merge." He paused, looking at both their faces. Rukia pulled away and Ichigo let her. His hand slowly came up to his heart.

"Why do you think he has such good reflexes? Why do you think he has such a high healing rate? Why do you think he can defeat rank-level vampires with his bare hands, while other hunters must use tools as weapons? Have you never thought of this, Kuchiki Rukia-san?"

She had thought of it before, but then just assumed he was blessed with special abilities for a human…that it was that innate special ability that all humans have, be it whatever it may. Never in her nightmares had she been faced with a reality like this…

"So now that you know the truth, Kuchiki-san, what will you do? Do you still harbor a wish to protect this man?" Urahara asked softly, and his voice stressed the last word a little. His eyes never left her face. "Because you know he is Shiba Kaien, do you still want to love him?"

Ichigo had Kaien's soul in him, just a little bit, but…how many days and nights had she ever suffered under Kaien? That bastard who used her just like she was nothing. The only being, human or vampire, that she had ever, really, truly, completely hated? How could Ichigo be him…?

Rukia shut her eyes.

This couldn't be happening.

This couldn't be happening! She could just see it happening now, the shadow of Kaien overtaking the features of Ichigo's, making her think of her former Master once again…he would take over again, and she would never be able to see Ichigo as Ichigo again, and…

Suddenly she stopped her train of thought.

That was because she suddenly realized she had seen Ichigo as Kaien, so many times, and yet each time she was able to shake off the shadow. Maybe his physical resemblance hadn't been the only reason she'd seen Kaien in him…maybe it was because he also held part of her old Master's soul.

But whatever the case, Rukia had come to see Ichigo as Ichigo. Time and time again the shadow had fallen away to his light…each time the shadow had crept back, Ichigo had beat it away until all that remained was the image of him. Not Kaien.

And that was why, now, even as she looked at him anew, Rukia couldn't see Kaien. There was no shadow, no tracing over the hunter's features, no mismatching of Kaien's face over Ichigo's. Because there was just Ichigo, as she had come to know it, and as it had always been. The most horrible thing had been hearing the truth…but even that, so deep and ugly, could not bring forth any memory of Kaien's face upon someone who looked so similar…

She realized this, and joyous, bubbly laughter, the likes of which Rukia had never felt in decades, was on the tip of her tongue…like sweet things, like strawberries, like something that is to be savored but too wonderful to keep in.

And Urahara was asking her if she still wanted to protect the man she loved? He was thinking that he could turn her against Ichigo?

Rukia laughed.

That startled everyone in the room, most of all Urahara, seeing as to how his aura jumped up a couple of notches. Ichigo was still looking at her with trepidation in her eyes. After all, she had stepped away from him, and he knew of how much she had hated Kaien.

However, to end all fears for good, Rukia stepped forward to embrace him again. "Ichigo…" she said softly, "don't even think for a second that you're Kaien. Because you aren't. You're Kurosaki Ichigo, the person you have been from the day you were born, and…" she smiled a little, "nothing is going to change between you and I."

That was a bit of an ambiguous statement, but Ichigo understood.

"I don't care who Ichigo is or who he resembles," she said, reluctantly leaving his arms so that she could face Urahara once again. "To me he is just who he is. And the fact that he is Kaien…it bothers me that Kaien was able to survive, if even for just a little longer, but the fact that he no longer lives does not bother me at all." Her eyes caught Urahara's, and they were challenging. "You can't scare me away. I know what I want to do, Urahara-san…and this is it."

There was a long, pregnant pause, and no one said a thing. Rukia was sure that they were all thinking the same thing: she must have been out of her mind. What was she thinking, protecting a hunter and turning traitor?

Well, she really wasn't thinking. Not at all. Maybe later, when this reality caught up to her, then she'd think about what was currently happening. But for now, this instance was just flashing in front of her with colored lights, and she was just following wherever they dictated.

"And so…Kuchiki Rukia-san…do you think to escape from here?" Urahara asked her softly.

"I do. And if I know you, Urahara, you'll at least allow us a few seconds head start, to make the chase a little more even." Rukia was not deluding herself with the image of Japan's leading vampire sparing her life or that of the hunter behind her; reality might have been evading her conscious, but it was not completely absent. "And after all, you owe it to Shiba Kaien. He may be in the soul of a hunter, but he is Shiba Kaien nonetheless, and you owe it to him to at least try to live."

"I owe Shiba Kaien nothing," Urahara said quietly. Then he seemed to cough lightly. "Are you ready to fight us, Kuchiki-san? To lay your life for one that is not your own?"

"I am."

"Don't rule out me either," Ichigo said. His voice was strong, and carried no hint of fear from the vampires currently crowding the room. Rukia was glad of it.

"Very well…" Urahara's voice was smooth and laced with deadly composure. "I shall give you ten seconds, Kuchiki Rukia-san. Ten seconds, beginning now."

For one precious second she just stared at him, wondering how things had taken such a fast turn…and then his words sunk in and Rukia whirled around, grabbing Ichigo's wrist as she went, pulling him out and trying to ignore murderous looks from the vampires who – just ten minutes ago – had all been on her side.

They ran down the corridor at their fastest speed, and Rukia tried to control her frantic impatience at his human slowness…the vampire speed he could've had was marred by his human blood. Getting out of this building was going to take some thinking, and she couldn't afford to think wrong.

The ten seconds passed in a blur, and then there was such a sudden flux of vampire aura that Rukia knew they were after them. She pulled Ichigo along until she was at the border of her shunpa, traveling at a blurring speed.

"Found them! They're down this way!"

She and Ichigo cursed simultaneously as they were found out, taking several more twists and turns. Ichigo just had to follow her; he didn't know the layout of their complicated building. She ducked through a door and they found themselves in what seemed to be a long rectangular room, red in color, with doors leading everywhere.

"Ichigo, look, we're never going to get anywhere unless we split up," Rukia said, moving her way along the doors, feeling them with her hands as if that would tell her something. "I know you don't know your way around this building, but you just have to trust me. Ichigo, do you trust me?"

"Rukia, don't ask stupid questions. What do I have to do?"

"Take this door," she said, indicating it, but not pulling it open. "It should open onto the corridor on the 13th floor, and from there, take the red door, go up exactly five flights, get out into the corridor and head straight forward to get to balcony. You'll be outside, and I want you to jump over that steel railing, and point your body straight down. Ichigo, don't even stop to think of where you're going or to doubt these instructions. Do you have them?"

"Red door, fifteen flights, straight forward to balcony, jump over. Got it," he said. "But Rukia, where are you going? You aren't going to do something–"

"The way I just gave you is the least conspicuous route, and you have to go that way because that's the only direction where no one will be able to recognize your human hunter aura. I have to go another route, and having you with me would make it harder."

He nodded.

"Now go, Ichigo! Go!"

He opened the door, and it led into a seemingly endless corridor with the walls painted a sordid black. He'd gone no further than a step when suddenly, he seemed to remember something, and doubled back.

"Ichigo–"

It was no surprise that the thing he forgot was the kiss.

Breaking away, he whispered, "Don't die, all right?"

And then he was off.

She stared at his disappearing back before taking another door seven doors down the corridor. One really had to know these buildings well. It was a shame that getting out, for her, would probably be hell.

Rukia readied herself for the challenge.

Ichigo followed all of her instructions perfectly, and, even as he saw the balcony in front of him, didn't even hesitate to jump over. From far away, he could see the tops of other buildings, but thought that he couldn't be that high up. He'd gone to the 13th floor and up five flights, so wouldn't that put him on the 18th floor?

His heart jumped to his throat as gravity pulled him down.

18 stories, his ass.

This was more like fifty.

But even through all his sudden thoughts, Ichigo remembered what Rukia told him, and angled his body straight down. The wind rushed by his ears and drowned out all the sound; he was barely able to see and falling fast.

If he died today, he wouldn't regret it much.

The roofs of buildings shot past…

He could see people working…

Wow…he could make out individual people on the street now.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he felt someone come up behind him and wrap their arms around his chest from behind; he looked back and saw her.

"Rukia!"

"Point your body straight down, and prepared to take some pressure!" she yelled over the rush of wind. But he already suspected what was to happen then, especially since her black feathered wings were already summoned. Right now, they were just folded for maximum falling acceleration…presumably so that she could catch up with him.

"All right!" he yelled back, and then, just as the street rushed up further and further, Rukia's wings spread out to their full length, jerking his body from the sudden directional change. But she beat her wings desperately, flying up and up and out of the sight of humans, the sound of the beaten air loud against his ear.

And thus, they flew on.

They flew and flew, and soon Ichigo got used to the feeling and even began to enjoy it. However, they flew well out of the city and over many more, never pausing, flying high as so to avoid visibility but low enough so that Ichigo could still breathe the thin air. It seemed almost an hour before Rukia banked forward, coming to land on a deserted street.

Ichigo rolled his head on his neck, stretching his legs and arms, as his feet finally touched ground. He couldn't recognize the surroundings. "Where are we?"

"Saitama."

"Saitama? Why here?"

"I have another small place here that no one knows about…I come here when I want to escape from my duties, and other things." She pulled him along the quiet street, so small that there weren't even any lights. Letting the both of them in through a bamboo door (which looked suspiciously like a side entrance), Ichigo found himself in a small garden with an equally small house just beyond.

"Come on, quickly…we shouldn't stay out."

"Yeah." He followed her inside. The décor and furnishings was traditionally Japanese, complete with wooden and tatami flooring, and it was composed of only a bedroom, an eating room, and a closed room that was most likely the bathroom.

In the foyer, Rukia sat, taking off her shoes. Her back was to him so that he could not see her expression, but the minute shaking of her hand told him all he needed to know.

"Rukia…"

"Don't say it. Don't say what you're thinking. I know you're thinking that it wasn't worth it, but it was, and I don't care what happens now."

"Sure you don't. Rukia, do you realize what just happened?"

"Of course I do."

"You're a traitor now."

"Yes."

"And you know I was trying to avoid this."

"I knew it then, and I know it now. I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"For messing this up."

"How have you done that?"

"I don't know…by…dragging you into this."

"I came voluntarily."

"At least you can go back."

"No, I can't," Ichigo said, coming down to sit next to her. "In case you've forgotten, the camera was still rolling when we played out our little drama, and I…I hugged you back. The hunters will notice. I'm finished, too."

"So what are we now?" Rukia asked, a small smile coming to her face, most likely thinking of all the ironies plaguing the situation. "You are a traitorous hunter, I am a traitorous vampire, together, with no foreseeable future except that in death?" Suddenly her eyes looked overbright. "I didn't want this to happen to you, Ichigo…"

"Rukia, stop it. Don't think of things like that." Ichigo tipped her chin up to look directly into her eyes. "We'll make this okay, Rukia. We've both suffered the hardest times of our lives. As I keep saying, what's done is done. We can just face tomorrow and hope that it'll be better than today."

"Ichigo…"

"No more talking," he said, and suddenly his voice was low, fingers moving down the skin of her arm. She was so close, and for the first time in days, he was free to embrace her back. "Do you realize, Rukia…how long it's been since I last was able to touch you?"

"Haah…" Rukia expelled her breath. "A week?"

"Feels longer than that…"

It wasn't the best place or the best of times, but there in the foyer of Rukia's house, on the hard wood floor, Ichigo gave in to the one desire that had been tugging at him for too long. To have Rukia again. To see her smile, to feel her against him, to know that he was the cause of her happiness. All these things, he had waited and wished…and even if the perfect time did not present itself, well, he would make one.

The darkness was all-enclosing as she pressed her soft body against his, pliant and willing…and even as his hands snaked up her soft skin and his lips descended on hers, there was already so much emotion in him that it could not be expressed by a simple human touch.

Past lust, past passion, past desire. Love. Love in its truest sense, in the one rapacious need of a person beyond the mere physical, to know you can hold a heart and a soul in the palm of your hand…

Their fingers interlaced, palms pressing together, and they were one.

tsuzuku