Wow, guys. It's been a while! I've settled many an affair IRL, and am ready for a nice and easy Saturday release schedule. I really want to just get into it, but I gotta at least throw this in.
I love this arc, a lot, actually, but I also decided to play fast and loose with it in a way that I didn't the others. There will be twists. There will be turns, and many a good time will be had. This chapter is easily the closest to my initial vision I had for this story, but I'd rather not spoil why. Instead, just enjoy. I got about twenty of these in store for you, here.
Part I
There was something nostalgic about walking into class 1-3 again, or at least Rukia thought there was. She could hear everyone talking and laughing, exchanging stories about what happened over the break, and the sigh of relief she felt go through her when she crossed the threshold was as surprising as it was satisfying. For the first time in a while she felt perfectly normal.
(Well, she felt almost normal. She'd brought two major souvenirs back from the Soul Society, after all. There were the scars from her fights, most made nearly invisible thanks to Orihime's excellent healing, and the Combat Pass, now strapped to her hip that she was figuring the functions of as she went along.)
(For example, as strange looking as it was, no one else in class seemed to comment on it, or even notice it. She was pretty sure she could dangle it in their faces, and they wouldn't say a single word.)
Still, being here was comforting. That was certain.
"The training camp was amazing," Mai beamed. "Our Captain took so many photos. I should totally bring them!"
"That sounds so cool," Michuru said wistfully. "My club didn't have anything like that."
"Yeah," Chizuru added with a pout, "all I got to do was work at my uncle's dumb farm."
"What about you, Rukia?" Michuru asked suddenly. "What did you do over summer?"
For a split second Rukia panicked. "Uh…" she stuttered, "nothing special. I mostly just stayed at home."
Michuru's forlorn expression turned into a mischievous smile. "You're a terrible liar, you know that? I know you did something!"
"I'm being honest!" Rukia insisted. Michuru only crowded her further, eyes accusing. Rukia inched back. "Well," she corrected, "I might have helped at my Aunt's shop a bit, but that was it!"
"Oh!" Chizuru said slyly. "You worked at a shop, huh? You meet any cute guys? Any cute girls?"
Rukia paused, brain working quickly. Orihime probably counted, right?
"I guess," she answered with a shrug. Chizuru's smile fell back into a pout at that.
"You're just no fun, are you?"
Michuru let out a chuckle. "I don't think she's going to spill, guys. What about you, Mahana. Did you do anything cool?"
"Well…"
The conversation stayed firmly off Rukia for the time being, something that she was pretty glad for. Besides, she liked just listening to the girls talk about what they did over break. It gave her something to look forward to for when things finally settled down.
Around when the conversation started to peter out, Rukia's attention was taken by a tattooed arm leaning against her desk. She glanced up to see Renji with a crooked smile on his face.
"You sure look happy," he said.
"Most people lead with a 'hello', you know," she said flatly. He shot her a sharp grin. This grin stopped when he looked up, towards the hallway, hearing someone loudly run towards the class. That someone busted the door in, a big dopy smile on his face.
"RENJI!" yelled Keigo. He ran straight towards the boy.
With a bored look on his face Renji took one step to the left, foot outstretched, and Keigo tripped over it crashing loudly to the ground. Rukia had to choke back her laughter.
"We're feeling energetic today," Renji said with a quirked eyebrow. Keigo picked himself up, still smiling.
"You don't even know the half of it!" he nearly squealed. "This might have been the best summer ever!"
This was a bit much, even for Keigo, Rukia thought. Knowing him, he must have met a girl.
"That's good to hear," she said over her own giggles. He didn't seem to notice.
"Oh, if only I could tell you two," he sighed out, finally sitting down. He glanced at her, a flash of curiosity on his face. "Hey, that's a pretty cool charm. Where'd you get it?"
Rukia and Renji stiffened in alarm. They exchanged a meaningful glance.
"Uh…thanks. It…was a gift," she muttered out.
Brrriiing!
"Settle down, everyone," their homeroom teacher droned. The chatter instantly quieted. "I'm sure you all had very interesting summers, but right now, it's time to focus! Am I clear?"
"Yes Ma'am!"
As soothing as it was, at the end of the day, school was just school. Roll was called, Assignments were passed out, and classes happened as normal. The day went by peacefully.
Too peacefully, Rukia thought as she packed her bags. She reached for her math workbook, but just before she could grasp it a loud noise came from her hip, startling her.
"Hollow! Hollow! Hollow!"
She fumbled for her combat pass, nearly dropping it twice. Why exactly didn't Ukitake tell her it could do that?!
"Hollow! Hollow! Hollow!"
Shoving the rest of her desk into her bag with barely a glance, she turned to her friend. "Renji!" she stage-whispered.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard it!" He was already rushing towards the door.
On instinct, she turned to Ishida, just about to order him to get moving, but for some reason he wouldn't even meet her eye.
Something in her heart wrenched at that, but she hardly had time to dwell on it. She ran out of the classroom, whispers in her wake. They ran all the way to the front, dodging the arts teacher that yelled at them for it. The two skidded to a stop only when they reached the shoe lockers.
"You know where it is, right?" Renji asked, fumbling to change out of his uniform shoes.
"I'm still working on that part!"
A deep frown on her face, Rukia multi-tasked changing into her leather shoes and turning the Combat Pass in her hand. It had finally stopped screaming, but now it just seemed like a useless block of wood again. If there was a way to track Hollows with it, in the same way that Ichigo's phone could, she certainly couldn't figure it out.
"Wanna work on it faster?" Renji griped.
"If you wanna try, be my guest!" she yelled, throwing it at him. It seemed she'd just have to do this the old-fashioned way. Rukia closed her eyes tightly, trying to concentrate. Hopefully she'd be able to figure out at least what direction it was in by Reiatsu alone.
It wasn't very far, that much she could tell. In fact, it seemed to be… She ran out the door.
"Found it!" she cried. Renji stumbled behind her, forcing his shoes on the rest of the way.
The second they left the gate Rukia veered left, Renji sprinting behind. She kept her senses open, fine tuning her directions as she went. That wasn't the only thing she was searching for, though.
"I think we're getting close," Renji growled, throwing back her Combat Pass. "You'd better 'Shinigami Up' fast!"
"Paku isn't here to help me with this one!" Rukia bit out, fumbling a catch. "I can't just leave my body lying around anywhere!"
Renji began to snap back at her, but before he could get so much as a word out an ear-splitting roar interrupted them. The two nearly tripped over each other stopping before making a sharp right toward a construction site.
What met them was a three-meter-tall monster on all fours, tearing through the structures as if they had personally offended it. Its long bony limbs stuck out at odd angles.
Then, it drew back, making a sickly sound. It lurched forward a large white mass coming from its mouth and sticking to several beams. It solidified like concrete upon impact.
Great, the ones with gimmicks were always tricky.
Renji activated his spikes, a determined look on his face. "Find somewhere to put your body. I'll hold this bastard off." He charged at it.
Eyes darting around, Rukia quickly considered her options. The area they were in was pretty much abandoned, all workers probably having jumped ship the second a ghost started tearing through everything. In the end she just dragged herself behind a pile of two by fours that seemed relatively untouched, hoping that there were no wandering perverts to worry about here.
With that she slammed her Combat Pass into her chest and "Shinigami'd Up" as Renji had so eloquently put it. She ran into the fray.
Her friend had managed on his own well enough. She saw as he jumped off a nearby pylon, slamming into the creature, and slicing deeply into its arm, drawing out a loud shriek. It batted him away before immediately turning to her, letting out an intimidating growl before trying for another spitting attack.
Rukia dodged left, alarmed as some of it splattered out, a sizable chunk sticking to the side of her face and missing her eye by sheer luck. She resisted the urge to try and wipe it away because dear god was it gross! Renji's luck ended up being even worse, a chunk sticking onto his arm. He let out a curse when he realized the spike it covered wouldn't even budge.
"Dammit!" he huffed. Jumping back, he dodged the second glob of goo a little better, though a bit did still get on his shirt. He grimaced. "You sure took your time!" he yelled at her.
"I'll remember that next time my body ends up in another ambulance," she grumbled back.
They weaved around each other, just starting to understand the Hollow's rhythm. Renji must have seen an opening then, because he darted forward right after.
"I'll keep it distracted!" he yelled back. "Just focus on the mask!"
Rukia nodded, watching as Renji began to engage the thing at close quarters. She charged the tip of her Zanpakuto with just enough Reiryoku to give it an extra boost, and the second its face went up, crying in pain from a sliced-up hand, she sprung forward, stabbing right through its mask.
It and all the goo it left behind dissipated into nothing.
"That could have been a lot worse," Renji said. He flexed his now free arm appreciatively.
Suddenly, a voice yelled behind them, "HEY!" Rukia and Renji turned, more than a little confused.
Running at them was a Shinigami, not very strong by the looks of things. He had the uniform, but no badge to go with, so he was most likely unranked. He came at them, huffing and puffing, sweat going down his heavyset brow, though his afro stayed perfectly in place.
"Stop right there!" he started again. "Who the heck are you?!"
Renji looked at him flatly. "Who are you?"
This had the man stumbling back, startled. For a moment he fumbled for something in his robes, brow furrowed, before he finally pulled out a tightly rolled piece of paper, a smug smile on his face. He presented it to them with a flourish.
"I'm Kurumundi Zennosuke. I'm the Shinigami hand-picked to replace Ichigo Shiba!"
He finished his rant with a rather sparkly grin. This grin wavered when the looks Renji and Rukia gave him refused to change. Instead, she plucked her Combat Pass off her hip, flashing it at him.
"I'm Rukia Orikasa," she clarified, "Substitute Shinigami, here on official business."
Kuronosuke leaned in closer, studying Rukia's Pass, and she had to resist the urge to spring back, or worse, smack him with it. (She would if he invaded her personal space for any longer.)
"See, it's all legit," Renji drawled out. "So, why don't you stop bothering us, already? We took out the Hollow, didn't we, you creepy ba–"
"Nice try," Kuronosuke interjected, hand on his Zanpakuto, "but I've never seen that thing before in my life! Now, tell me who you really are or there will be consequences!"
Rukia rolled her eyes so hard she was surprised they didn't fall right out of her head.
"Hollow! Hollow! Hollow!"
"Ah, great," she groaned, though she was admittedly glad for the diversion. "We do not have time for this! Either help us out or get out of our way!"
The glare she sent the Shinigami was so strong, he seemed to shrink back. Even Renji's eyes widened a bit. When he didn't make another move, she simply growled, grabbing onto Renji's hand and dragging him in the direction of her body.
Part II
"Hollow! Hollow! Hollow!"
Renji could barely even hear that annoying Combat Pass. The only thing that was going through his head was Rukia's holding my hand, Rukia's holding my hand, what do I do Rukia's holding my hand–!
He was freaking out, just a little.
His heart was pounding. Her hand felt so small and soft. Was this the best thing he'd ever felt or the worst? He had no goddamn idea.
For as dense as he knew he could be (no he didn't need Ishida reminding him every five seconds) he realized what was going on, here. The problem was, he had no idea what to do about it. Was this the right time to say something? Did the "right time" even exist, or was that just something they made up for Chick-Flicks? If he ever came across this mythical "right time" what would he even say?
Oh, I know I'm your best friend, but I also have a HUGE crush on you and want to be more than that, but if you don't feel the same please forget I even said anything because I'd probably die on the spot from awkwardness!
Honestly, being in denial felt so much better. He hoped he could at least trick himself back into it for as long as this next fight would take.
(It didn't work, but he did end up getting a few shots at it.)
Three Hollows in one night. That must have been a record. He'd realized Karakura Town was ghost infested, but this was just ridiculous. Exhaustion didn't even begin to cover what he was feeling as the two stumbled home.
God, even sweaty and tired, Rukia still looked cute.
"So!" he yelled suddenly, derailing his own thoughts, "No Paku, huh?"
Rukia let out a long sigh, like she just had to relive something awful. "Something" was probably a conversation with Paku.
"She said she wants to be her 'own human, now,'" she explained with air quotes. "I don't really know what she meant by that, but I think she just wants to be more independent, or something."
"You think she meant, 'her own person?'" he asked, nose wrinkled.
"Maybe." She gave an exaggerated shrug. "Either way, it's not like we can make her get back into the bunny if she doesn't want to. Really, I'm just glad I have Chappy back."
"Dork," he snorted automatically. She punched him in the arm.
"Anyway," she stressed with a glare, "she's staying with Kukaku now, and I couldn't be happier."
Renji frowned at the woman's name. Rukia chewed her lip, unsure.
Kukaku… He didn't like thinking about that woman when he had a choice. Then again, he didn't like anyone who would trick him right into a coup. He avoided the shop when he could but realized not too long ago that Rukia's opinion was a little more complicated.
"She had her reasons," his friend had argued, "and she doesn't owe it to us to explain them all. She maybe owes it to Ichigo."
He understood there was some weird history there between Rukia and Lady Shiba, but he didn't understand her impulse to defend the woman.
"It's weird, right?" she suddenly asked.
"The, uh, Paku wanting freedom bit, or the part where she's staying with Kukaku?"
"No, not that," Rukia said, shaking her head. "It's just…"
She hesitated for a long moment, stopping in her lumbering walk.
Then, she blurted out, "My brother knew Kukaku. That's weird, right?"
He stopped next to her; eyes wide. "Wait, what?"
"He knows her," she repeated. "I can't figure out why, either. He can't see Spirits; I've never sensed anything from him. So, why would he know a Shinigami?"
"…Maybe he helped her with some legal stuff?" He offered. It sounded lame, even to his ears.
"Maybe," she said quietly.
Great, it seemed like the oddities were just piling up, here.
"Well, ask him, then," he tried. "Force an honest answer out of him, if you have to. I'm planning on doing the same with my mom!"
"Please, you couldn't force your mom to do anything if you tried," she said flatly.
She…had a point.
"That's changing today!" he exclaimed, anyway. She let out a chuckle.
It was probably just a coincidence, he told himself. Or at least, he hoped it was, for both of their sakes.
Part III
Uryuu tried not to watch as Orikasa and Abarai ran off to the day's threat. He tried not to listen to the shrill sound of her Combat Pass' alert. He instead quietly put his books into his bag and slowly made his way out of the school, not catching sight of them for the rest of the day.
Really, this wasn't terribly different from last Semester. He used to ignore them all the time, feeling somewhat smug as they scrambled about like chickens with their heads cut off every time a Hollow appeared.
That was before he joined them, though.
He stopped under streetlight, bag swinging beside him. Suddenly, going home to an empty apartment didn't sound very appealing.
The Quincy shook his head at that, glancing down at the street that would lead him there and taking a sharp right. If going home wasn't an option, then his second favorite place in Karakura Town would just have to do.
One short walk later and he was opening the front door to a small shop, an old tinkling bell announcing his presence. The sign read "Karakura Crafting Supplies."
"Uryuu!" a gentle voice called from behind the counter. "I haven't seen you in ages."
"I had a rather hectic summer, Mrs. Hoshino," he explained. "I was out of town for the most of it."
"How exciting! You'll have to tell me all about it. Now, what do you need, dear?"
What he needed was a distraction, but he didn't want to tell her that. Instead, he offered an arbitrary list of things that he knew he could use soon enough.
Mrs. Hoshino was an older lady of about eighty years, though he admittedly wasn't sure. She'd been here running this shop since before he was born, and according to her beleaguered children that lived in main Tokyo, she wasn't planning on stopping any time soon. Luckily, she didn't have to run the shop alone. In fact, her assistant was brushing against Uryuu's leg right that moment.
"Hey, Kaoru," he said softly. Uryuu crouched down, giving the aging pug a thorough scratching behind the ears. It was good to see the old boy still had some energy in him, though the second he'd had enough he still waddled away to plop down at his station, the pet bed behind the desk.
When it wasn't just Kaoru and Mrs. Hoshino, Uryuu would work here part time, usually during breaks. It was just something to do at a place he liked with a person he liked. The bit of spending money he earned from the gig certainly helped, though.
Hell, maybe he needed that right now, something to do.
"Mrs. Hoshino," he started.
She paused in her typing, looking up from the register through her thick glasses. "Hm?"
"Would it be alright if I worked part time here, again?"
Her eyes widened a bit, though the effect was quite odd through her lenses. "Don't you have school?" she asked.
"I do, but my school allows part-time jobs."
She nodded, shooting him an odd look before continuing her typing. He probably needed to explain himself here, at least a little. Letting out a sigh he thought of a way to put this that wouldn't mention Quincy, Shinigami, or Hollows.
"….There's…this club I'm in," he started, "Or, I was in it. I had to quit, but I didn't really want to."
"Couldn't you just rejoin, dear?"
"It's not that easy."
Mrs. Hoshino handed him his receipt, a deep frown on her face. "I do love having you here, but it doesn't sound like you're very sure about this.
"Listen, maybe there is something you can do, but you just haven't thought of it, yet. You should think it over some, at least give it tonight. If you come back tomorrow and tell me the same thing, I'll let you come back, but until then…" She handed him his bag of supplies with a smile. He smiled back.
"Thanks." He took the bag, giving her a bow.
He paid for the items, gave one last goodbye to Kaoru and walked out, very slowly heading home.
Was the woman severely underestimating his problem? Probably, but one thing Uryuu knew about Mrs. Hoshino was that she was always sincere. This wasn't a problem he could just sleep over, but maybe he couldn't do as little as he first assumed. Maybe somewhere there was a solution, but he just hadn't thought of it, yet.
He stopped once again, an idea brewing.
Uryuu walked right past his apartment, not even bothering to drop off his supplies. It was still light out, he reasoned. He could get back before too late. The Quincy training grounds weren't even that far from here.
(Right by the weapons armory was a bookshelf, stacked to the brim with ancient journals, classical texts, even Quincy poetry. It was probably the last reservoir of old Quincy knowledge in Karakura. If there was an answer to his problem, it would be there.)
For the first time in a while, Uryuu could feel hope again. As his pace quickened, he thought that he may just have a chance. He'd get his powers back.
Part IV
Renji practically stormed into his house. He dropped his bag onto the first surface it hit and collapsed face first on the couch before he even had a chance to get around the armrest.
"You have a long day?" his mom asked with a chuckle. She flipped the channel blowing past the news, a nature documentary, and then settling on a gameshow.
He groaned loudly. She laughed louder, patting him on the back with the hand holding the remote.
"It's leftovers today," she said suddenly. "What do you want?"
He thought for a moment, opening one eye and peering up at her. "Curry?"
"Curry it is!" She sprung up with a clap, and he sent her a silent thank you. Now that he was horizontal his legs didn't seem to want to work anymore. Why did that last Hollow have to have goddamn super-speed?
He watched his mom out of the corner of his eye as she heated up just enough curry and rice for the two of them. His mind flashed back to the conversation he had with Rukia and thought hey, it's now or never.
"Hey, Mom?" he asked.
"Yeah?" She closed the microwave door.
"I've been wondering…" He rubbed the back of his neck, completely unsure of how to say this in a way that didn't sound insane. "Did anything strange happen while you were pregnant with me?"
Her eyes widened, and his breathing stopped. Something did.
"Wait, you actually want to hear a pregnancy story?" she asked incredulously. Renji let out a groan.
"Yes, I want to," he said, "about something strange that maybe happened."
She leaned against the counter, and with humor in her voice said, "You're going to have to be more specific, bud. It was a pregnancy. They're all a little 'strange.'"
Biting his lip, Renji tried to think of how he could ask her "did you get attacked by a Hollow" without getting thrown into a psych ward.
He eventually tried, "I mean, like something you couldn't explain." It wasn't the best clarifier, but it was all he had.
She tapped her chin, considering.
"There was that one thing… but first let's get started on this curry before it goes cold."
His mother set the dishes down efficiently, and Renji dragged himself from the couch, sitting cross-legged at the short table. For a moment, she just stared down at her dish, tapping her spoon to the plate. Then, she let out a deep sigh and began.
"I was seventeen," she started with, "and I'd finally swallowed my pride enough to go live at the women's shelter. I was starting to show, and all, and being like that alone in Ikebukuro was not a good idea. Anyway, I had just finished another day of job hunting when suddenly something attacked me."
Renji sucked in a quick breath, but she just grimaced.
"It scratched me up real good. I was scared out of my mind. I ran all the way to the shelter without ever looking back." She let out a humorless laugh. "Adrenaline kept me going, sheer luck kept me from losing you, but I'm pretty sure the fear made me see some things."
"See things?" Renji asked carefully.
She nodded exasperatedly. "When I finally made it to the volunteers at the shelter, I started shrieking about how a monster had attacked me. They probably thought I was drugged out of my mind! Luckily for us, the hospital visit proved them wrong. The doctors decided I was attacked by a feral dog and that was the end of the story."
"…But you weren't."
Miné's eyes widened at that before she looked away, shifting uncomfortably.
"I'm…not sure."
"What did you really see?" he demanded.
His mom's eyes stayed averted for a moment, before suddenly something sparked in them.
"Not long after I had you, I decided to have the scars covered up with my first tattoo. I told the artist exactly what I remembered that day and the piece was made based on that. Here, I can show you!"
She turned around, pulling up the back of her shirt until the image was visible. It wasn't a tattoo that Renji saw often, but now it seemed painfully obvious what it was.
Over four jagged scars was a lizard-like creature with twisted limbs and a bone-white mask.
"Thanks," he said hollowly.
His mom put her shirt back into place, and looked at Renji for a long while, scrutinizing.
"You're welcome."
They continued dinner, Miné asking Renji about his first day back at school. Renji tried to answer as best he could, but he was pretty distracted the whole time.
He had gotten the information he'd wanted all along. He officially knew how it happened, and he really didn't know what to do with that. Knowing felt good, but he belatedly realized that his mom was just that much closer to figuring out what was going on, here.
Still, seeing the creature gave him a few new ideas for some tattoos.
Part V
Weak
Rukia's knuckles burned, but she didn't stop. She kept on hitting over, and over, and over…
Useless
She was straddled over someone, pinning them down under her weight. She didn't need to. They'd stopped struggling a while ago.
Pitiful
She couldn't even see who she was hitting through the slits of her mask.
Pathetic
But she could swear the face she was hitting was familiar, the bloodied dark hair and black eyes that had life slipping from them as she–
Rukia bolted upright in her bed, gasping loudly. She was shaking, thought in the back of her mind that she might be crying, when she forced herself onto her feet. Only then did she realize it was still pitch black out.
"Great…" she whispered shakily. "Now, you won't even leave me alone when I'm sleeping."
She sat back down on her bed, cradling her head in her hands.
Rukia knew she needed more sleep. Her eyes were burning, right now. She needed to be awake for school tomorrow, but she wasn't even sure if she could sleep right now. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to.
Just like how I can't bring up the courage to ask Brother about Kukaku… Pathetic.
She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. She wasn't pathetic. That was just the dream. She was fine.
(She knew she wasn't fine.)
Rukia did the very first thing that popped into her head, then. She grabbed her Combat Pass from her bed stand and pressed it into her chest. She felt that odd sliding sensation as she left her body, and unsheathed Sode no Shirayuki.
She'd been putting off talking to her Zanpakuto since that last big fight, felt guilty about it, too. Sitting on her bed she held it in her hands, hesitating. Already, she could feel something was wrong.
Sode had always felt cool to the touch. She had grown to find it comforting, actually, but now, the hilt was as cold as ice, even sealed. It hadn't registered to her while she was fighting, but now, sitting here alone, it was worrying.
After yet another moment of hesitation Rukia set Sode on her lap and closed her eyes. She tried to meditate.
And tried…
And tried…
And tried…!
"Dammit!" she yelled. She immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, hoping that her brother didn't hear. Then, her brain registered just how ridiculous it was to worry about that while she was in her Shinigami form.
With a sigh her hand fell, and she glared down at the blade accusingly before collapsing back into her bed and into her body.
Maybe she was just too worked up to meditate? Maybe if she tried tomorrow, she would be able to talk with Sode and everything would be fine?
Or maybe, something was really wrong.
Rukia ended up not being able to sleep for the rest of the night.
We're starting slow with this one, but things should ramp up very quickly. I look forward to seeing you next week. Yadda, yadda, yadda, your comments give me life. (And something I don't always say, feel free to point out errors. I want this to be the best for all your sakes.)
