We stepped through the Senkaimon, Hisagi supporting my weight; all of the strength had left me when I collapsed next to Kira. I took his Lieutenant's badge from off of his arm to take back with us before we dug his grave in the living world – it was the least he deserved.
We headed directly to the 4th squad barracks for treatment, noticing that Soul Society was in absolute chaos, people were scurrying around the streets everywhere I looked. As we walked through the door, Captain Unohana was already in the lobby of the building and dropped her clipboard when she saw us.
"Vice Captain Shuuhei! Ariswana! What happened?" she asked as she rushed over. I put a hand up and shook my head gently.
"Not my blood." I whispered. She stopped and looked us over again and realized the wounds we did have had already begun to scab over.
"Then who…?"
"Vice Captain Izuru." Hisagi replied as tears silently streamed down my cheeks.
I was hooked up to an IV drip while Shuuhei was medically cleared and took the chair across the room. He looked at the shnigami treating me and threw his hands up in frustration.
"So where the hell is Ichimaru? He sent us down there and he's nowhere to be found now?"
"Well, the last he was seen, he was headed toward the gate to handle the situation with the Ryoka. Though why he would take it upon himself at his level is beyond any of us." She trailed off as she finished the last stitch in my right shoulder.
We'd been briefed about the breach, but none of it made any sense. The fact that Rukia was even on trial to this extent was insane, never mind the situation in the world of the living. What was a Menos doing in Karakura town?!
When I was cleared to leave, we set out to gather additional information; we headed to the squad 3 barracks first. I opened the door and saw everyone was busy repairing some damage to the north wall and roof. When I stepped in and everyone saw the state of me, it grew so quiet that not even the wind made a sound. I smiled softly and cleared my throat.
"Hey everyone, I have some unfortunate news." I spoke in barely a whisper, but the small smile never left my face. "Our Fukutaicho is dead. He was killed in action, trying to save our lives. His death was a quick as it was honorable. When things settle down, we will give him the ceremony he so deserves, but in the meantime the most important thing to do is keep our heads and figure out what the Hell is actually going on around here." I glanced around the room, and everyone was in somber agreement. Through everything, my squad had always had my back and never questioned my judgment; I appreciated them even more now. "Now, please continue. I need to find the captain."
It took me 3 days to actually find Gin. He saw me and immediately rushed to my side, but I stopped him with a hand.
"Where have you been?" he looked confused and laughed uncomfortably.
"What do you mean? I would have come to you immediately if I'd known you had returned."
"No, you were busy with the Ryoka. I know you felt my spiritual pressure, I released it so you would come. But you didn't. Why is that?" I asked. His expression was serious, but I couldn't read him.
"Things have been a bit out of control around here, in case you couldn't tell."
"Kira is dead." I cut him off. He stopped before retorting when it actually sank in.
"What? How?"
"He was cut in half by a Menos that was controlling the Hollow you sent us down to destroy. He died saving Shuuhei and myself." I said. My expression was hard and my demeanor cold. Why did he send us down there? I highly doubted that he didn't have some idea of what was down there, he had felt the spiritual pressure that was masked from the rest of us, it's how he knew where to send us.
"You seem to distrust me, Ariswana."
"You're the one who sent us down there. You're the one who couldn't face me upon my return. You're the one playing with Ryoka lives to kill time. I've got a squad who needs a vice captain waiting for some answers, Ichimaru." He smirked.
"Sounds like you're breaking up with me over this, is that so?" Gin asked. I turned my back to him and started to exit the room.
"That's up to you, Gin. Your actions henceforth will determine the outcome."
"Well, then it looks like you're my new vice-captain. Talk about a conflict of interest." He said. I stopped and turned to face him.
"Don't make that call unless you absolutely mean it."
"I mean it." He said. I locked eyes with him and he opened them fully, something he rarely did. "I didn't think anyone would die, and I'm sorry for how things went. Kira was a good man, and I owe him for saving your life." I inhaled slowly and dropped my eyes. I still didn't feel right, but it didn't change the fact that I was in love with him. I turned on my heel to leave and he called my name softly one more time.
"Did you achieve your Bankai after all?" my hands clenched into fists at my sides.
"Yes. I successfully defeated the enemy and achieved Bankai. So your goal was achieved, but it cost Kira's life. I didn't get to see my sister. I feel different than before I left, Gin. It isn't the same anymore." I said coldly before finally exiting the room.
I stepped outside into the fresh air and shuddered; the way he asked chilled me to the bone. It wasn't normal.
Back at the barracks I appointed my good friend Aida as my 3rd seat; he had shown exceptional strength in the academy but was also someone I could truly trust with my life. We'd been focused on trying to keep things together as the higher ranking officers went to find the Ryoka. I couldn't believe wartime rues had been enacted; how strong were these Ryoka anyway?
As I was heading to rendezvous with my squad, a blood curdling scream rang through the air. My eyes widened and I shun-po'd as fast as I possibly could towards the source.
I spotted Hisagi running towards the eastern wall and followed suit. Momo was gazing upward and stabbed through the top of the building was captain Aizen's lifeless body. All of us were frozen in shock as Momo continued to scream. I ran to her side and shook her gently.
"Get ahold of yourself, Momo! We have to get him down from there." My voice shook as I spoke; he'd absolutely been murdered. Momo stepped forward and then fell to her knees. I heard Gin approach from behind and was shocked to hear his uncaring tone as he made a cutting remark about Captain Aizen's body. I stared at him in horror, but acted quickly as Momo lunged to attack Gin.
I blocked her sword with my own and struggled under the force of her attack.
"Stand down, Momo."
"Ariswana, stand aside." She plead. I looked down at her sadly.
"I can't do that. I am the Fukutaicho of Squad 3 now, and no matter what the reason may be, I cannot allow anyone to raise a sword to my Captain."
Gin, pleased with how the situation had turned out, spun on his heel and turned to leave us there, the grin never leaving his face. Was this the reason he made me Vice-Captain? To protect him situations like this now that Kira was gone?
Without warning, Momo released her Zanpakutou and nearly took my head off.
"Have you lost your goddamn mind?!" I cried out under rubble from the building she took out. Hisagi jumped to my side and helped me up before turning to face Momo
"I implore you to stop this Momo! We are not the enemy here, Ariswana is simply doing her duty." He glanced at the Fukutaicho badge wrapped around my bicep as he said the last portion.
"What would you do differently if I had been Kira? Would you still fight someone this intensely who was your good friend, Momo? I don't think he would have wanted this for us." I said. She lowered her sword as Toshiro joined the scene, talking additional sense into her. I released the breath I didn't realize I was holding and turned in the direction Gin had departed in.
"Ariswana…" Hisagi started before I jumped away at rapid speed to find him. I landed gently behind him and followed in-step.
"I knew you were the right choice for my co-captain, Ariswana. Thank you for following your duty." He said smugly. I didn't reply and he stopped to face me, expecting one from me. Before he could face me fully, I punched him square in the jaw without holding back any of my strength. He flew into the nearby abandoned building and took the wall down with him; within an instant he was in front of me, clutching my wrist, licking the blood that dripped from his lip.
"What the hell was that?" I broke free from his grip and jumped a few feet back from him.
"I did my duty as your Vice-Captain, Gin, but I hadn't done my duty as your lover just yet. What the Hell was that back there?" he smirked at me again and shrugged.
"Just playing the part I'm supposed to play, Ariswana. It will all make sense in due time." He placed a hand on the top of my head and leaned in towards my face. "I feel as though we're running out of time here, I should do a better job of taking advantage of time with you." He whispered before kissing my lips gently. Despite how angry I was, my resolve melted immediately.
Before I could even process what had happened, he was gone. But what did he mean by time was running out?
Nothing was right anymore and I felt as if I were going crazy; who could I even trust anymore? My blood ran cold as an exceptional amount of spiritual pressure was released near where Rukia was being kept; she was set to be executed any day now. I moved as quickly as I could towards the source.
I rounded a corner and recognized Ikkaku's pressure moving in front of me; I decided to follow it and caught up quickly.
"Ikkaku! Glad to see you up and moving again; where are we off to?" I asked. He smiled and before he could reply, I noticed someone else riding on Kenpachi's back and sped up. "No way! Orihime?!" she looked down and when she saw it was me, she fell from his back and took me out with her.
"Oh my goodness, Ariswana?! You're here?" she hugged me tight and I pulled away to get a good look at her.
"You've got to be kidding me, you're the Ryoka?" I asked. A shadow sprawled across the two of us and I was suddenly flying through the air and landing on Kenpachi's back. "Ah, hey Kenpachi." He continued running at full speed.
"A lovely reunion, but you're slowing me down, Thompson." He growled. I let out a nervous laugh and glanced at Orihime again.
"There's more of us here, that's where were headed." We both cried out as we fell through the ceiling. I stood and brushed off my robes in annoyance when I heard a familiar voice call my name. I spun around and smiled widely.
"Uryu! You're here too!" I pulled him into a tight hug and could tell he had turned beat red. "What is the reason for this beautiful reunion, my friends?"
"We're here to stop an execution."
And just like that, I'd formed a new squad alongside my own. Siritei was sin a state of constant disagreement, so half of my squad wanted to rescue Rukia while the other half wanted to kill her themselves. After hitting another dead end, we were about to turn around when an enormous amount of spiritual pressure released once Kenpachi called them all out for hiding. My stomach dropped to see Hisagi among our opponents. As Kenpachi stepped forward, Hisagi faced me directly.
"What are you doing, Ariswana? Why are you with these Ryoka?" he asked. I smiled slightly at him and shut my eyes.
"Well, Hisagi, these are some of my friends from the living world. They've come to save Rukia's life and I believe in their cause. If you choose to try and stop me, so be it, but I've made my choice. I choose what's right."
"Don't do this! I can't stomach the thought of having to fight against you. I swore to protect you and to never hurt you." Hisagi pleaded. I thought back to that day near the river, when he just comfortably spent time by my side, and had sworn to always protect me no matter the circumstances.
I shun-po'd directly in front of him, taking him by surprise and put a hand to the side of his face before drawing him into a tight embrace. He was hesitant at first, but then quickly returned the tightness of my hold. I could feel his heart beating practically out of his chest and in that moment, I finally realized.
I understood completely; and think that I always knew.
I released him, but kept our foreheads together. Slowly, I brought my lips to his ear.
"I already forgive you, and you can pay me back later when you finally realize that I had been right all along." I could tell he was confused by the way his body stiffened. I pulled back enough to look him in the eyes; they looked torn to pieces. To my own surprise, I pulled him in for a deep kiss on the lips that lasted far longer than it should have.
The group led by Yahiru took off and I held Hisagi's gaze a few moments longer before joining them. Did I really just do that? Deep in my heart, I felt that it belonged to Gin, but my trust had been shaken with him; Hisagi was always there, whether I needed him to be or not. Maybe I'd always felt this way, but jumped at the idea of being with Gin, who initially appeared to believe in me.
Maybe it always should have been Shuuhei.
Things had escalated quite a bit; if I didn't know who to trust before, I really didn't know now. Captains were helping our cause and getting punished henceforth. Captains were trying to kill us, and relentlessly never letting up.
After Renji took off with Rukia, I followed as backup. He looked at me bewildered and I just laughed.
"Think of this as repayment for taking such good care of me as I confronted death!" I said.
Our journey ended at Sokyoku Hill. Renji looked around wide-eyed.
"Why are we here, though?"
"Put Rukia down where you stand and walk away." A familiar voice crooned from behind. I whipped around, shocked, and looked in the face of Captain Aizen as Isume made her announced report to all in the 13 Court Guard about what she'd found. I locked eyes with Gin, mine were filled with the pain I felt in my heart; his were emotionless. I thought of Hisagi and how he must be handling the news about Tousen.
Shuuhei…
"I refuse to let her go." Renji said as Gin put a hand to his hilt. I stepped in front of both of them as Aizen slowly approached. As he struck, his attack hit me directly, but still got a good chunk of Renji too.
"Bastard." I coughed from the ground. I noticed Gin took a step forward, looking conflicted. That was surprising. Aizen put a low hand toward Gin, which stopped him in his tracks. I looked him directly in the eyes and spat with venom and more blood. "You fucking coward."
I was smacked away as Renji was cut down. I reached a hand toward him and tried to gather my strength. As Aizen was about to strike him down, Ichigo stood before us.
"Ichigo!" I cried out. He glanced down at me and laughed.
"Why am I not surprised that you're mixed up in all this?" he said before grabbing me and jumping back to safety with Renji and Rukia.
Being that there were 3 of us and 3 of them, I had faith - though not much. I was only promoted to Fukutaicho to support Gin's horrific plans and doubted I could control my Bankai well enough to do much good. I took a fighting stance as Renji unleashed his attack. Ichigo went straight for Aizen as I went for Gin. Before I made it a full 3 steps, Aizen was able to stop Ichigo almost immediately. In the blink of an eye, he cut down Renji and then approached me as I took a defensive crouch in front of Rukia.
"Wait!" Gin cried out when Aizen raised his sword to me. He faltered for a moment and I was able to grab Rukia in another futile attempt to get her away from there just as Aizen's blade connected with my spine. He jumped into his explanation of the events that occurred as I struggled to breathe in my bloody heap. I coughed up more blood and wheezed. I could vaguely make out Gin in my field of vision, being restrained by Tousen.
Interesting.
The world began to go dark as I started to give into the pain of my physical wounds, but also the emotional ones. I thought of the night Gin came to my window and made love to me for the first time. I thought of the times he stopped me in the middle of a rant to kiss me into submission. I thought of the way his fingertips would gently trace my cheekbone as he told me he loved me. Tears began to leak from my slowly drooping eyes and soak the dirt beneath my face. I turned sleepy eyes upward and met Gin's worried gaze. Standing over me was the only man who could back me into the tightest corner and still make me pine for him.
Gin.
I rolled onto my back with the last of my strength and started let the darkness overtake me; Hisagi gently fell from the sky and landed beside my fallen form. He sounded as if he were under water.
Ariswana, answer me! I'm here. I'm right here. I'm keeping my promise, I'm not going to let anything else happen to you. Just hold on!
Unohana arrived just in time, as warmer memories of Hisagi flooded my mind before seeing only the darkness.