A/N: Well, not quite as long as I would've liked, but here it is! XD I apologize for the long delay, but life takes back seat to nothing so I'm just happy to see this finally make it online. Writer's block doesn't help either, especially when you're trying to transition things, you know?
I'm actually thinking of posting some of my initial doodles about this story on deviantart(dot)com, so I'll announce it next chapter whether or not they make it on there, seeing as my scanner isn't in a cooperating mood lately. Other than that, enjoy, and don't forget to drop me a comment or two! ^^
Mon Cœur S'ouvre à Ta Voix
(My heart opens itself to your voice)
When My Heart Is Split Like Rio II
One hit—that was what she had taken so far.
It wasn't particularly nasty, but there was enough blood trailing down her temple that it plastered black tresses to pale skin. The violet of her gaze was hardened into lavender ice, glittering in the light of her reiatsu as she fired a rapid succession of kidou flames at the arrancar and ducked under a wide swipe of a claw, sweeping out a leg in an arcing kick that set a distance between the two opponents.
She knew she was being watched closely.
Toushiro had not let up on their deal, relentlessly following the two as they took to the air and diving easily away from a cheap cero shot aimed at him. Nonetheless, it didn't surprise him at all to see Rukia take advantage of the momentary opening with an attack of her own.
"Some no mae, Tsukishiro!" Using shunpo she dodged a swipe, coming to stand nearly shoulder to shoulder with Ashido before swinging Sode no Shirayuki in a wide arc and preparing to dodge away.
"Rukia!"
Her eyes widened as the arrancar leapt from the glowing circle of tsukishiro and grabbed her by the arm tightly, causing the young woman to wince as she was wrapped in a swift headlock in the crook of his elbow and her arms were pressed behind her by the grip of his other arm, Shirayuki useless in her slackening grip.
"It was so easy to hurt him." The voice carried to her ear sent a shiver down her spine, jerking her head as far away as possible instinctively even in the iron grasp.
"What the hell are you talking about?" She snarled, trying uselessly to struggle.
"Let her go." She glanced up as the captain hissed warningly, suddenly in front of them with sword raised.
There was no fear in the arrancar's eyes as he looked up at the captain subtly, nuzzling into Rukia's hair as she protested vehemently. There was a challenge in the deep of the smoldering gray gaze, lips twisted in a mocking smirk.
"Did you know that shinigami are really easy to break, Rukia?" She was swearing beneath her breath at him now, wincing as he tightened his grip after she tried to kick him. "Did you know that Ashido was so easy to break?"
All the struggling she had been doing ceased immediately, the small chuckle that reverberated in the inky dark of her hair stiffening her spine. "All I had to do was tell him that I would bring him back your body."
A deep trembling began to take over her form, fury coursing through her veins as she tried to speak. Her mouth opened as she gulped in air heavily, anger a brilliant display as she used the only weapon she could in that one moment—her head.
Jerking it to the side and clenching her jaw tightly, she prepared herself for the pain as she screamed, using all the momentum she could to drive her head smashingly into the face of the being holding her.
The sound of bone breaking was loud as she was released, realizing she had broken skin and that new blood poured forth from the pulsing area behind her ear with a dizzying grimace. Stumbling forward, she all but crashed into Toushiro as he raised her up, amazed that she was still standing after the head trauma she surely had taken from the arrancar's tough exterior.
Leaning heavily on him, Rukia visibly stiffened at the sound of the voice behind them.
"You should have seen the look on his face as he tried to desperately make me stay, even though he was hopelessly bleeding his guts out." The little pleasure-filled chuckle made her fingers curl into a fist, nails digging into Hitsugaya's haori and strong to the point where she could almost feel the little lunar arcs forming on her palm through the fabric.
In her other hand, Sode no Shirayuki was shifted testily.
"I'm sure Aaroneiro would've been begging me to be part of his Fraccion if he had been there to see it."
The petite shinigami was trembling in his arms, Toushiro realized—and this wasn't from fear.
Before he could even blink, Rukia shoved him away and Sode no Shirayuki was raised high, reiatsu making her form glow as she gracefully sidestepped a direct claw and jabbed the pure white blade below the final rib as far as it would go.
"Blue Fire, Crash Down!"
A plume of smoke and Rukia came shooting out, rolling once before she regained her footing and dug a hand scrapingly into the reiatsu "floor" under her body to stop the movement. Her fingers were raw from the friction, red and bleeding as she wrapped them without hesitation against the hilt of her fair blade.
"You stupid wench." Ashido hissed, a hand covering the bleeding wound. One eye was half closed from being burned so severely, the corresponding half of his face charred enough to reveal the bony interior of his true self. One shoulder was covered in burns and bleeding openly.
"Fall back, Rukia. We made a deal—let me finish this now!"
But she didn't listen.
A bright red glow surrounded the single pointed finger aimed at her, and suddenly Toushiro couldn't breathe as he watched Rukia fearlessly pushing forth a second dance, ice flowing from the tip of her sword in a flood that glittered ethereally, a blooming blossom that momentarily covered the sun and burned red inside from the encased cero shot.
For a moment he began to doubt his shunpo skills, wondered achingly for a mere second if he would make it even as he wrapped firm arms around the small woman and pushed her out of the way, the ice she had encased both arrancar and shot in exploding into tiny shrapnel in all directions.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?" He yelled behind a kidou shield, shaking her by the shoulders and trying his coldest glare. "Pay attention to me, damn it!"
But even there Toushiro knew that trying to get to her would be a lost cause. She may be bruised and battered, but her friend was the only thing keeping her on her feet at the moment and she wouldn't stop until justice had been served by her own cold hands. Beneath the curtain that was her hair he could barely see the deep pools of violet flickering with so much life, could barely see the way she matched his eyes with a gaze so cold it outdid his frustration but it was more than enough to make him release her.
Another cero aimed at them and she slipped from his grasp easily, sword raised as she took a stance before the arrancar without a word. A smirk and the two were engaged again, the young woman barely able to keep up with her head spinning so much.
"RUKIA!"
She managed to block one punch, but with the weight of Sode no Shirayuki in one hand was unable to time herself well enough to dodge the second blow, eyes widening as she took a direct hit to the stomach. Much like a rag doll she was sent flying through the air, at least mentally capable enough to hold onto the reiatsu concentration under herself so she wouldn't plummet through the skies to the ground many meters below.
But it wasn't necessary.
The sound of sonido ripped through them as the arrancar shot forward towards the figure crashing with a grunt into a small concentration of reiatsu beneath her. So busy was Rukia with recovering that she didn't realize what was going on behind her.
"MOVE!"
The gate ripped open, time slowing down to an aching crawl as he watched her eyes widen at the feeling of the familiar entrance opening behind her like a gaping mouth, her opponent laughing as he used the momentum of his steps to grab her by the collar of her robes and drag the small black haired girl into the opening.
What. . . ?
His heartbeat was loud in his ears.
NO. . . !
When he moved, Toushiro didn't know but it wasn't a moment too soon that he felt the gate close behind him with a resounding thud that shook him to the core, eyes roving urgently past darkness, suffocating darkness and a feeling of urgency that he felt was becoming a little too familiar.
"Juhaku."
There was the acrid smell of burning flesh, the burning sting of sweat and choking, clinging waft of smoke and blood from the previous fire spells. The reiatsu that flared to life before him made the captain wince momentarily, blocking it partially with a raised arm but nonetheless running towards it with Sode no Shirayuki's bell echoing an enticing call in the empty space of the tunnel and the stench ever presently burning his nostrils.
"It's my turn to tell you a little secret." Rukia's voice reverberated in the empty chamber. Here, there, and back again it reverberated much like the stone carelessly dropped into a still pond, teasing and light in its toned finality.
The captain stopped then a few yards away, the feel of her rising reiatsu causing him to gasp in the cool air before watching it escape in a small cloud from his lips. Ahead Rukia stood poised in a low stance with hair whipping furiously, almost in a waltz of misfortune and wrath that made her foot light and movements unhesitant. The length of her white blade was pierced through the arrancar's chin and the sound of cracking ice filled the air with a chill that made his skin crawl.
It was spreading rapidly over the arrancar's trembling body. His one good eye was wide, shock and pain evident in his gaze as it went glassy and then came back, fighting unconsciousness to the last moment as he looked down the length of the white blade into her furious eyes.
The area behind them rippled, and once more the skies tore with a noise that made both shinigami wince.
Somehow the arrancar managed to get the strength to take a step back but Rukia followed with small stubborn hands still wrapped tightly on her blade, unyielding even as they fell backwards and through the gateway in a rapid freefall from the inky sky of the Menos Forest.
Weak claws reached for her face, the ice now covering over half his body and the last of Ashido's mirage fading away from the Hollow's true form. The shinigami yanked herself down to its level, bringing her lips to his ear as he had done to her earlier as they plummeted.
"I killed Aaroneiro."
With one final grunt, she jerked the blade hard, pulling it out and unflinching at the splattering of blood on her hands and face, even as the branches of the forest tore at her clothes, at her pale skin.
Ink black tresses finally settled messily in a dark halo about her features, a single strand falling like a smear across her petite nose as she landed in a puff of white dirt with the sickening thud of a dead body beside her. She didn't move, eyes frozen on her own feet and shoulders trembling with each rattling breath, Sode no Shirayuki loosely in her grip.
Toushiro watched silently as the body burst into a million particles of reiatsu that rose around her like a wave and silently floated to oblivion, toying with her tresses as her mouth settled into a grim line.
The forest was silent.
"Are you happy now? How the hell are we going to get back?"
Violet eyes strayed up to him for a moment as if lost, but then she simply frowned before wiping away some of the blood off of her face with her robes. In her other hand, Sode no Shirayuki took a silent command, the ribbon shrinking and the bell disappearing as the blade went back to a regular katana.
"Ashido knows a way out. Honestly though, I wouldn't have faulted you if you had left me to die here by myself."
"Tcheh. What would I tell your brother?" Was the quick retort.
Not that he was really afraid of her brother . . . really, he was impartial in the matter.
For a moment she seemed to hesitate, eyes blinking suddenly as if she hadn't really come across the thought. Rukia opened her mouth to reply then, but was abruptly cut off by the ear-shattering howl of a hollow that was soon replied by several others around them.
The first had been the closest—it was near enough that when the sound of a heavy foot fell onto the ground, the tremors were felt beneath their sandals and a refreshed sense of urgency flashed between them.
"Shit, we lingered too long in one spot! Come on!" His fingers gripped tightly on her arm but she didn't protest.
There was no way they would make it far without being spotted, especially with such a vast blanket of Menos Grande surrounding them. It had been a wonder they had landed in a clear patch and been left to their own devices for so long, and if he had had the chance he would've taken it to wonder why that had even been possible.
As it was they had little choice but to hide and so when his quick darting gaze caught sight of a little makeshift hole in the weaving roots of a white tree, he didn't hesitate to yank Rukia and shove her forward into it first, diving in after her. Not a moment too soon, a Menos Grande stepped before the tree where they were huddled in the tiny niche, followed by two more that sniffed at the air ripe with their fresh reiatsu scent.
Her body was warm beneath his, her back against the dirty wall of their little hole and knees drawn awkwardly sideways so Toushiro could sit on his haunches before her, Hyourinmaru having long been drawn and ready in his lap as he turned slowly to peer through the opening.
It wasn't until then that he realized that they would only have a few seconds to run once they were (quite literally) sniffed out. Maybe a cloaking spell—
But Rukia was a step ahead of him. He watched silently as the air between the intertwining roots rippled, glowing only momentarily as his partner reinforced the spell with each whispered breath. At the very least now they were invisible—both as a reiatsu signature and visibly. And he would've turned to thank her for her quick thinking but he realized something strange then.
For a moment the gillian stopped—silent, unwavering shadows towering above them.
"—tender paper sun, the bloodhound fang sharpening a thousand moons-"
Toushiro nudged her to be quiet for a moment, but he didn't realize her eyes were closed in concentration.
The Menos were shifting.
Surely they couldn't hear as well as they—
His question was soon answered as the great being began to bend slowly, sniffing as it went. Toushiro shouldn't have been surprised then to see it immediately zero in on their tree, but the curses still rang in his head as he turned to Rukia urgently now, trying to shake her shoulder more directly but being met with a "just a second" gesture of her hand as she continued without hesitation through the cry of the gillian.
"Rukia, shut up!" He hissed urgently, but she wasn't listening.
A few seconds more and the hollow would have them completely cornered.
What the hell should he do?
Shutting her up would be top priority. The kyokko chant had been said enough that even if she were to stop, it would linger a little longer. There had to be a way to get her to pay attention and to—
He had to do something and do it now.
And really, he had no choice, he thought glancing up to see the Menos bending ever lower towards them. If he simply tried clamping a hand over her mouth she might struggle and make more noise—not exactly what they needed now.
Before he could think it over twice, Toushiro turned and hesitated only for a precious second before slipping a hand up to the nape of her neck and yanking her towards him.
And he kissed her.
"You know why I called you in here."
The door clicked silently closed behind the young woman clad in the kimono emblazoned with the Kuchiki crest. She didn't shuffle—made not a single sound as she turned to bow gracefully before Byakuya, everything on her person perfectly in place and not a single wisp of navy blue hair loose from her tight bun.
Deep brown eyes fell to the floor demurely, but Byakuya knew better than to expect fear from the maid (frankly he couldn't remember her name) as she stood before his desk. Small pale hands were clasped politely before her as she looked up at him and smiled serenely.
"No sir," Was the calm reply, "I actually do not."
"Rukia holds you in high regard. As such, your help will be needed."
"In what may I be of use to you, Kuchiki-sama?"
"As soon as Rukia comes home, I need you to start preparing her for an engagement."
A moment of silence, and for the first time Byakuya caught a subtle change in the maid's features. Her brow furrowed slightly, but other than that she controlled her thoughts and hid them well behind a finely tuned smile.
"I see. Please excuse my ignorance, sir, but is this preparation going to be . . . mental or . . . literal?"
For a moment he regarded her in the silence of his study, realizing that she truly did mean her question sincerely and so he found it hard not to take it as such.
"Mentally. The literal we'll deal with later."
"Is there a suitor?"
Well it was no wonder Rukia had requested to keep the young woman! She was equally curious and twice as open mouthed.
"No." He said with a hint of annoyance. "As of this moment, there is none."
If there was any relief in her, the maid didn't show it as she nodded.
"Anything else you need of me, sir?"
"No, you may leave." Thanking him lightly, she turned to depart but suddenly hesitated at the doorway. Her hand was light on the thick expensive frame and if someone were to walk by, it would seem as casual as her asking him whether he would like milk in his tea.
"Do you think. . . that this is what's best for her?"
Her back was turned to him, but her eyes might as well be burning into the master from the other side of the room in the silence. A part of him stirred with annoyance at the question, but the other did feel the sting of truth in her words, somewhere deep in the recesses of his stoic mind where Senbonzakura grew restless.
"What would ever bring you to ask something so foolish?"
It was then that the maid turned, smiling strangely at him.
"Of course sir, my apologies." A polite bow, the emotionless blinking of brown eyes and she was gone, leaving Byakuya to swallow the bitterness in his mouth and stare openly at the hands he had placed on the desk.
How would Rukia take to a suitor? That question had been circling the head of the Kuchiki clan's head for so long that he almost wanted to physically swat it away.
Even Senbonzakura seemed completely at a loss for words at the thought of having to hand the job of protector to some other blade—because surely whoever married Rukia-sama would need to be on par with her abilities, if not surpassing them. . . no?
A suitor outside of Sereitei walls. . .
Would they allow it?
"Of course not, do not waste my time with such useless notions, Senbonzakura." Byakuya answered out loud before turning his attention to the report before him.
Ok, so that narrowed the list down comparably, even among the nobles. The most likely choice would be someone from the house of Shihoun. . . the other two families were powerful but not necessarily someone who the Kuchiki clan really wanted to bother to have ties to. Power was the least of their problems.
Still, if a suitor of those bloodlines came, he couldn't—wouldn't—be turned down.
So someone of noble heritage . . . well not necessarily. If someone were to figure in a shinigami of higher levels, there was quite the spread for Rukia to choose from. The question was, would anyone be interested enough to step up?
Then there was the x-factor:
Would Kurosaki Ichigo try to save her?
Or better yet, take that place beside her?
There was only one person who was able to assuage any possible crazy notions that could pass through the kid's head—and unfortunately, unless Rukia agreed, there was no way to reign in the wild card that was on their hands now.
This whole matter was a lot more unsettling than Byakuya had thought it would be now that he had time to reflect on it. Certainly more so once he hesitated over a blank line on one of the many reports, staring at the previous person responsible of said document: his own vice captain.
The signature was sloppy, a mark of indifference (for the sake of not saying "half assed-ness") marring the perfection of the otherwise impeccable report before him and it caused a subtle frown to slightly twist his lips.
What stunt would Abarai pull once he got word?
Don't worry, my sword is more than ready for him.
If there was one thing that was for certain, it was this:
All hell was going to break loose.
They were nose to nose in the sudden silence.
For a moment it was as if it was just the both of them and Toushiro wondered if Rukia could hear the way his heart pounded furiously in his ears, or felt the breath from his still parted lips on her fair skin.
Both their eyes were wide.
He swallowed.
"I. . ."
Behind him he felt the tremors of the gillian's feet as it shifted, howling in frustration at its inability to find anything. They both grimaced with each movement of the hollow but neither of them dared to move in the small space until finally the quaking beneath them became tiny wavers.
The captain shifted uncomfortably in the silence, eyes flicking to his companion as his sandals scraped at the white dirt beneath them.
"Sorry, I-. . ." It felt as if someone had stuffed cotton balls in his mouth. All he could do was flounder for a moment until he forced himself to swallow. "I. . . didn't mean to do that."
For a moment, all Rukia could do was stare completely dumbfounded at him, nodding slowly. The violet of her eyes slid from his face to her sandals, wide still with shock even as she answered.
"No, it's. . . it's ok. Really, no harm done, it was my fault for not listening. My fault. . ." But at this point whether it was to reassure herself or him, neither was too sure as she lightly shrugged. "Sorry, sir."
Their eyes met again and both froze, unsure of what to do.
"That wasn't. . . your first, was it?"
It took a moment to register in her mind, but when it finally did she shook her head. "Uh, no, it uh, wasn't."
Rukia had enough presence of mind to jerk her face to the side, Toushiro unable to miss the blush that spread on the black haired young woman's cheeks even as she attempted to hide it behind a nervous cough and the raising of a small fist to her face.
And though he nodded as if glad, for some reason the thought bothered the white haired youth. Not that it was any of his business, but still. . . who would have the audacity (the guts) to take something like that from Byakuya's little sister?
"We should get going, sir, we still have a ways to go."
"Right."
Shifting slowly, Toushiro got out first and surveyed their surroundings cautiously as Rukia stretched out her cramped legs.
"How's the wound on your head?" He called to her in a low whisper without turning.
Frankly, she had been trying to ignore the stinging (and pounding, and incessant throbbing and any other word to describe the constant mallet to her head). The, uh, incident had done quite a good job of momentarily distracting her up until now as she gingerly probed, wincing when the pads of her fingers touched the sensitive area where she already felt an angry bump forming under her scalp and trying not to let tears spring to her eyes.
"It stings a little, but it's fine." Quickly Rukia wiped the blood off of her fingers, taking a deep breath as she tried to rein in the pain she was now fully aware of.
A breeze would nearly double her in pain right now, but she wasn't about to tell him that.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Rukia would've rolled her eyes but seeing her current predicament chose to bite her tongue and sigh heavily.
"Three, sir."
"Come on, we have to get out of here. Can you keep the spell going while running?" It didn't surprise him much to note she knew what he was referring to.
"Yeah."
"Do it."
Without hesitation Rukia took the chant up in a whisper, making the symbols with her hands as she ran behind the white haired young man, who felt more than saw the bubble shimmer momentarily around them.
She thought of her brother. She thought of Ichigo, of every person in the eleventh division that she knew, of Ishida and Chad, of everyone who shouldered heavy wound with barely the shrug of a shoulder.
And she became them, if only for a moment.
It was excruciating in a way Rukia couldn't shoulder by herself but instead of giving in she clenched her tiny jaw, forced her will into the spell, and ran forward with head held high in a way that would do her brother proud.
One step, just one more step, just one more step.
They ran a few hundred or so meters before Toushiro realized she was lagging slightly behind him, the exertion already taking a toll on her and revealed through the small beads of perspiration on her temple and hitched breath.
Holding the bakudo around both of them would tax her before they even got to her friend at that rate.
"Come here." He instructed. And without waiting for permission or for her to stop he yanked her towards him and scooped her up mid-stumble before jumping up to the lowest branch of a nearby tree, using it as leverage to get higher.
Teal eyes glanced down at her questioningly for a second before he landed on the next tree. "Keep going."
Cradled in his arms, Rukia could do nothing but obey. It was obvious he had picked up on the only other live reiatsu signature in the forest and for that she was glad. Her body had long ago reached its limit and she marveled at the fact that she could even be conscious of everything going on around her enough to be of use still. (Brother, she was brother and she was strong) Her body wasn't yet done recovering completely from the poisoning, as well as the new wounds that would surely decorate her body for a while—not to mention the nice wet spot on her head to remind her of her own insanity.
And now this.
With the spell quickly sapping her, it took all her will to simply stay awake and keep it going steadily around them, so directing him in the right direction would be near to impossible for her. Having to force her reiatsu to go against its own better judgment and flow out of her body wasn't exactly helping matters either.
With the both of them doing their part (Rukia holding up the kyokko, he being as noiseless and swift as possible) they managed to last for quite a while, having a good speed and making it a relatively decent distance.
It wasn't until they were about a few miles away when Rukia couldn't take it anymore and the bubble began to shimmer in protest, rippling brightly before beginning to crack and finally dissipating around them.
"We're almost there, hold on." He whispered, trying to shake her so she wouldn't pass out on him. "Your friend is very close now."
And alive.
But he momentarily forgot that the spell was gone, and the curses rang loud in Rukia's ear when a cluster of Menos Grande all caught sight of him midair between two trees. He couldn't defend with the young woman in his arms, so he quickly went to option B and aimed to go higher in the tangled limbs of the tree, running as fast as he could in the general direction of Rukia's friend's location.
"You- awake-?" He asked between breaths, ducking them under a branch that would've hit him square in the face before avoiding a cero shot from below.
One shot, that was all she could probably muster at this rate—a single shot of a Sokatsui flame—and even that would be very hard to bring to fruition.
"Yeah." The only option she would have would be to shoot it just as they reached the entrance to the clearing, where hopefully Ashido's own kyokko still had the area covered. If not, then they'd just be cornered rats in a little hole, but at least it was an advantage to know it only had one entrance.
"Is that it?" Turning, Rukia shook her head as she tried to get her vision to focus between the blurring limbs of the trees before them.
Up ahead the forest began thinning out suddenly, coming abruptly to an end at a clearing that became more apparent with each of the captain's steps, the familiar cliff formation she had come to know bringing lightness to her heart that was barely dimmed by the shrieking cries of the many hollows below.
"Yeah, that's the one!"
"Aright."
A few well placed strides later found Toushiro leaping off of the nearest branch and towards the opening of the cave, Rukia noting with growing disdain the lack of barriers around the area. Still as she turned to look at the cave, she realized that these hadn't been completely put out but instead enclosed to a much smaller space—the cave itself.
She didn't wait for him then, but wriggled her way out of his grasp, nearly tripping over her own feet as she dazedly made a dead sprint for the entrance with Toushiro on her heels.
"Ashido? Aishido!" She knew his spells and nearly cried when the barrier-heavy entrance let her through without so much as a ripple.
Even now, probably lying half dead he had prepared for her return.
The inside of the cave was full of inky darkness that startled her into alertness, even as she probed around mentally for her friend's signature of reiatsu. How long had he been lying in the darkness by himself, hoping someone would show up? Even as the pangs from her self-induced head injury sent rods of pain hammering through her, Rukia refused to acknowledge it and instead clenched her jaw, pushing further into the darkness.
Ichigo—she was Ichigo now and she was strong and all heart and no pain.
It was close. . .a little to her right and flickering weakly, but it was there, and that's all that mattered to her.
Even without the kidou spell above to keep the small area lit, Rukia didn't hesitate to stumble forward towards where she was sure was the little area Ashido used for sleeping. It wasn't until she lightly probed with her fingers and found nothing but the soft moss beneath them that she became confused and alarmed once again, tripping and cursing as she caught herself above the strange thing lying beside the bed in her way.
Wait-
Her fingers ran down a familiar tuft of fur and she immediately allowed herself to collapse beside it.
"Ashido!" Somehow her hands found his face and she lifted his chin in one tiny palm while using the other hand to check his breathing. It was light but it was there, and so she shook him gingerly, stopping only when she heard a hissed warning to hurry up from outside the cave and finally remembered sheepishly that she wasn't alone.
The barrier had probably stopped the captain dead in his tracks at the entrance.
"Ashido wake up!" Another light shake and she felt movement, the shuffling abruptly jerking as pain overtook her companion and she felt his jaw clench in her hand.
"R-Ruki . . . a?"
Relief flooded through her tired body and she smiled in the darkness, tears springing to her eyes as she squeezed his shoulder lightly in greeting.
"Where are you hurt?"
A grunt of effort and then, "Is it. . . really you this time?"
The hand that she was trying to use to reach him stopped in the air, fingers curling into a fist and guilt welling within her.
"Y-yeah, it's me." She tried not to let her voice waver, even as she swallowed, forcing herself to concentrate on him and not the dizziness threatening to pull her under. The blood loss from her head injury was probably enough to begin inducing a shutdown of her body, urging her to hurry.
"Come on. . . we have to get you out of here and back home."
"You shouldn't be here." A small helpless chuckle.
"It's a little late for that, don't you-"
"Get out while you still can, Rukia!" The black haired girl scowled then.
"Tell me where he hurt you!"
"I'll be fine."
"I didn't ask if you're fine!" Even in the silence Ashido could feel the heaviness of the glare he was more than positive was aimed directly at him. Sighing heavily in defeat, his large hand searched for hers, bringing it down to his abdomen where her fingers immediately felt the blood. Other than the stiffening at her touch, Ashido offered no protest or complaint of pain.
"I'm just warning you now. . . I might blackout at the end of this so you better carry me."
Even as her fingers began to glow he argued, but her violet eyes were unwavering in the flickering green radiance. It wasn't until she threatened halfheartedly to smack him that Ashido caved, turning to the entrance where the light from outside pooled on the rocky floor.
"You better hurry. Your friend out there is going to have trouble soon, even with the cloaking spell he cast. The trail you two left is thick."
The black haired shinigami winced but otherwise offered no other indication that she had heard.
It was after all, her fault.
Ashido could see her eyes beginning to glaze over long before she finally collapsed in front of him. Still, it amazed him to look down and find the main stab wound quite healed to the point where he could ignore it just long enough to take on another battle, should need be. There would be blood as it was (on top of whatever amount he had already lost), but that was unavoidable. There wasn't a way the wounds wouldn't reopen unless he sat still and that just wasn't going to happen.
So taking one long, drawn out breath, the redhead clenched his jaw and took the unconscious Rukia in his arms, using the "bed" he had been leaning against to slowly get up on his feet. The world spun for a moment and he tipped dangerously, hissing as he practically crashed into the wall for support and tried not to collapse onto his knees again.
One last little effort, one final push was all this needed for him to finally leave this forsaken place.
And that last little push was lying in his arms.
When he came out with an unconscious Rukia, it didn't surprise him to find a blade instantly aimed at his neck and three Gillian already dissipating at their feet.
The blood had caked upon the torn robes of the tall man, hair an unsettling match to its shade falling over sharp silver eyes as they fell to the short captain. If there was any sense of urgency in his mind, he didn't show it, brows drawn and thin lips twisted in a frown that seemed more intuitive than outwardly aggressive.
Nonetheless, Toushiro took less of a liking to him than he thought he would for some reason.
"What the hell did you do to her?"
"She passed out from healing me."
A quick probe proved Rukia alive in his arms, albeit dangerously drained of reiatsu, and that was enough to get the captain moving once more.
"Name?"
"Ashido."
"Rukia said that you know how to leave this place. Lead the way."
"We're going into a very dense part of the forest; be ready." A frown, and teal eyes seemed to glimmer with a simmering challenge.
"Keep Rukia safe, guide the way, and leave the rest to me. The haori isn't just for show." Hyourinmaru was shifted then in his grip as he stared the other man down, waiting for him to go first, which Ashido didn't hesitate to do so.
And he wasn't kidding—that was the first thing Toushiro became aware of.
Leaping off of the right side of the cliff ledge and onto the nearest jagged white branches, they were soon well on their way with hundreds of different hollow signatures shifting towards them. It wasn't long until they were both forced to dive in different directions away from multiple cero shots that things began to go haywire, the white haired captain nearly losing it when Ashido was caught in a side attack.
For a moment the blood froze in his veins and all he could do was stare in shock as the redhead got up again from where he had crouched behind a small hollow skull he had raised, barely uncurling from his crouch before diving once more into a dodge.
Shunpo brought him to Toushiro's side, breath heavy as he took the skull in his one hand and hooked it back with one free arm onto the fur cape before turning to him seriously.
"These aren't just for show either."
The captain stood dumbstruck for a second before his features slid easily back into a familiar scowl and he followed Ashido onto another branch.
"How much farther?"
For a moment Ashido seemed to regard the forest ahead of them, an uneasy grimace marring his features. "Too far."
"Soten ni zase, Hyourinmaru!" Not a moment too soon Ashido turned his back to the sudden onslaught of cool reiatsu, shielding Rukia with his body as the glow died down.
A wide slash by Toushiro brought forth a wave of water that rippled to existence at his command and grew scales, roar thundering through them as a large ice dragon whipped to life with bright ruby eyes and the sound of crackling drawing their attention to the large flexing talons with which it tore into the thick jagged tree. The spirit coiled around it under its master's domination until the head was beside them, breath coming out in cold gusts from flared nostrils as it dug into the trunk and sent spidering cracks in all directions.
"Let me get on first or else it'll freeze you."
It was a mediocre (and totally new) idea, but right now they needed speed and really, Hyourinmaru might be the only way to do so in such a way that the trio could make it without losing anyone.
Stabbing the dragon behind the head with his sword, Toushiro poured his reiatsu into the blade and thus into the dragon, falling into a semi-meditative state as he tried to control the spirit beneath them.
"Get on!"
Ashido settled on behind the captain, Rukia held tightly in his arms as they took off at a speed that was easily double theirs on foot. Silver eyes caught the way the bark of the trees that came into contact with the dragon immediately bloomed icy flowers that spread tendrils hungrily in all directions and twinkled from the strange light of the trees of Menos Forest as they passed. Below them Gillian and smaller ranking hollows fought and killed or were killed themselves as each tried to reach for the coiling serpentine spirit passing above them.
Even when some did manage to hit the dragon, immediately ice spread to cover the wound and leave the area as if nothing had ever happened. In this way they flew past many potential threats with barely a shudder of Hyourinmaru's body or an occasional burst of ice from its massive mouth.
But it wasn't without a price.
Not too long into the trip ice began to crawl slowly up the blade. The captain's hands were trembling, knuckles white and breaths increasingly becoming louder with exertion from keeping the shape of the dragon underneath them. And if his bare hands were any indication, there was a hint of frostbite already on his tanned fingers. His back was tense, from what Ashido could see, but it was the steep dips of his reiatsu that were alarming his fellow shinigami more than anything else.
They wouldn't make it.
Options, options, options! There were none! His mind told him even as he tried to rack through his brain, to search for something, anything of a shortcut—
Maybe it was a sign from above, a pass of sorts from someone who liked them, or maybe it was sheer damn luck but the cry of a hollow below caught his attention, eyes widening as a familiar tearing noise practically ripped through them and struck him with sudden urgency.
"DOWN! GO DOWN!"
Two hollows, small fry by the looks of it were crossing already into the abyss that would lead them to the other side, caught unaware by the sudden appearance of the dragon above them and so not even turning as the gate began to close behind them.
Toushiro, having heard the redhead opened his eyes and without a second thought willed the dragon to turn as he gripped the blade in his hands tighter, yelling from the effort as he poured forth more of his reiatsu. Through sheer determination he pressed it forward stubbornly even as the opening wove even more closed, looking much like a morbidly stitched mouth.
"DUCK!"
He didn't have to tell Ashido twice.
A moment later and the gate's edges would've closed on them, most likely severing limbs as it went. As it was, Ashido felt the vacuum as the gate sealed shut, jerking them back violently before dissipating back into the fabric that separated the different dimension.
It went suddenly quiet.
Having been in Menos Forest for so long, the silence struck Ashido as unsettling and if possible, a lot more forlorn than his small cave had ever been. He wasn't sure if the voices that echoed were in his head or around him, could barely distinguish the grunt of effort from the captain before him from the other cries that he felt resonated almost inside them.
Before he could distinguish anything further, could reason through the possibilities, the hollows they had seen enter came into view as giant shadows (no longer quite small looking at such a direct back angle) through the pooling light of a full moon in a cloudless sky from a rift.
Seeing them seemed to give the white haired youth guiding them the resolve to push forth one last time, pouring a large swallow of power into the spirit that propelled them forward and passing them just inches above the heads of the two beings. A strong whip of the long blue tail and the two were dropped from the skies, ice from the lash of the dragon quickly spreading in tendril-like veins that soon covered the two and left them frozen in desperation until they shattered on the ground many miles below.
Immediately Ashido was overwhelmed by the many reiatsu signatures—living beings—below them, drinking in the lights of Karakura Town with wide, and certainly disbelieving eyes that blinked away the dryness of the wind produced from the speed of the dragon.
There was warmth here.
A sudden shuddering breath from the captain, and then, "You're holding Rukia tightly, right?"
Tearing silver eyes away from the landscape he nodded even though the captain couldn't see.
"Yeah."
For a moment there was silence between them, Ashido feeling the shudder of the spirit and squinting against the whipping wind.
"Good."
Without so much as a warning, the white haired young man suddenly released his hold of the blade, tilting dangerously sideways as the dragon began to crumble to dust beneath them in the span of a single second.
The pull of the dragon's force that had jerked them forward fell away in agonizingly slow time before the jerk of gravity took over gracefully from below, tugging at his stomach and leaving him breathless.
They were freefalling.
Fwap, fwap, fwap, fwap.
His brow twitched.
What the hell was that noise?
Fwap, fwap, fwap, fwap.
If this was another of Matsumoto's little annoying pranks, there would be hell to pay. He was not in the mood—not that he ever really was.
Fwap, fwap, fwap, fwap.
Cracking an eye open in annoyance, it was much to his surprise to realize that it wasn't his ceiling (neither home or office) that he was by now openly staring at, as he figured it would be. Many had been the days he would wake up to find his desk and not his futon beneath him, and so that thought really would've been nothing new. The only problem was, this ceiling was definitely painted a different color than his (and there was no stain from one of Matsumoto's human pen ink explosions), and it took his brain a long moment to think of any singular possibilities that could lead to such a predicament.
"Imagine Afro-san's surprise when he's out on his rounds and then suddenly a captain practically falls into his awaiting arms." Cerulean eyes fell then to his left and Toushiro sighed, rubbing a bandaged hand over his face as Kisuke Urahara once again took up the idle flick of his fan.
Fwap, fwap.
"What happened?"
"You fell from the sky." Was the smirking response. "Quite some height too."
He fell from the sky? What kind of idiot did the shopkeeper—wait. . . he did fall from the sky. In fact, he had fallen quite a distance—
"You're holding Rukia tightly, right?"
-but he hadn't been alone.
Turning to his right, Toushiro half expected to see Rukia lying there, but the futon was empty save for him. A strange feeling crept through him as the unbandaged pads of his fingers curled around the thin blanket.
"Where's Rukia and Ashido?"
"Back in Sereitei. As soon as big brother got word that Kuchiki-san was here, he came to take her with him. Ashido was awake at the time, so he was taken to explain what he could."
A frown. "Neither of them were in any state to be moving around."
For a moment the only sound between them was the fan being flicked methodically, an odd, almost whimsically curious expression on the shopkeeper's tilted face before serious eyes fell to his ward.
"There have been rumors circling Sereitei of late. . . I didn't think they would be of any consequence though. Seems Byakuya-san didn't agree with me and might be doing some damage control."
Toushiro's white brow furrowed.
Damage control? What kind of things could people say that could force a Kuchiki as stoic, as unmovable as Byakuya to make a stir?
"What kind of rumors?"
Could it be possible that maybe Matsumoto had been chattering away about what they had discussed and it had been warped? Or maybe someone just didn't like either of them really much?
There were a few possibilities passing at the speed of light behind his bright gaze as he waited for more than a casual shrug of Kisuke's broad shoulders, picking idly now at the bandages on his hands.
"Well, if you were to believe what all of Soul Society is murmuring-" and here there was an unnerving pause where only the flap of the fan continued in a way that made the young captain scowl, "the Kuchiki princess is being put on the bidding block."
The wrinkles of the white haired youth's brow deepened as he tried to process what the blonde man had just said. After a long moment and sighing somewhat dramatically, Kisuke closed the fan shut with a deft flick of his wrist, bringing it to rest on the palm of his other hand before tilting his head at the captain with a grin.
"My, my, that fall must have done quite a number on you, captain."
He blatantly ignored the scathing glare aimed at him.
"Let me see if I can put it a little more simply for you: Rukia-san, Hitsugaya-taichou, is soon going to be looking for a husband."
Toushiro couldn't speak for a moment, caught unaware and really unsure as to how to react.
It wasn't like she was anything major in his life, was anyone of consequence really. But nonetheless there was something akin to pity for her. Rukia getting married?
And knowing the traditions of such a noble and historical family, she would be wed to someone she didn't even know. So how would she take it? What would she do? By nature she was a hell-raiser, there was no doubt about that, so would there be an uproar worthy of her reputation?
"That wasn't. . . your first, was it?"
"Uh, no, it uh, wasn't."
And what exactly . . . what did she think of what he did?
It wasn't of any consequence to him at all (of course it wouldn't be). Nonetheless, there was a tad bit of curiosity at knowing what exactly had run through her head in that moment. Would it in any way affect her view of him? When she woke up, would she even remember? And if she did, would it be something that made her linger by herself for a moment, lost in thought and blushing, or would she shrug it off and continue as if it wasn't anything worth the indulgence of thought past the time she would put focus on the weather?
Rukia seemed mature enough to take it as it was—he doubted it would be of any effect in her actions or thoughts, the captain reasoned silently.
So then why?
Why did that thought bother him?
Byakuya Kuchiki didn't linger.
He was a man with too much to do and no time to "frolic" (as his grandfather had deemed it during a lecture many years ago) and this time, with Rukia unconscious still would've been no different.
But this time he couldn't exactly refuse to deal with the change in circumstances.
The redhead before him shifted.
Rukia had always struck him as someone who, if left to her own devices, would bring home any and all strays she could find. In fact (he wasn't daft) he knew of the cat, three dogs, and a lizard that now lived in the servants' quarters thanks to her. And if his calculations were correct, there were two very happy rabbits chomping down on her side of the gardens (it didn't matter what the servants said, he knew it wasn't a mole in the house grounds).
Nonetheless, this was-by far- the biggest stray she could possibly ever take in; and it came in the form of a man.
Barefooted, shinigami robes that had obviously seen better years, spiky hair that fell over curiously calm pools of silver and brushed his long nose, skin pale and marred with the scars of war.
Oh—and nice little stains of dried blood decorating his form—couldn't forget those.
"Who are you?" It was a simple question that broke through the silence of the room as the vice captain of the fourth division began her healing ministrations on his sister, a murmured scolding making her assistant jump as his eyes strayed back from the two larger males sheepishly back to Rukia.
"My name is Ashido." No flinching, no cowering, no show of fear with the overbearing presence of the Kuchiki leader. A simple, concise answer, and yet instead of yielding the results he wanted, Byakuya was hard pressed not to let the rest of his query simply spill from his lips.
"How do you know Rukia?"
"When she fell into the Menos Forest, I helped her escape."
This feeling was not reassuring. This "you-saved-my-sister-so-I-might-owe-you" feeling. It made him hesitate if only for a moment, because he remembered Rukia once mentioning the forest in minor detail upon the ending of the winter war.
But she never mentioned a man involved—and for some reason that bothered him a little more than he would like to acknowledge.
"Why is she in this state?" Are you responsible for this?
Ashido wasn't stupid, he could see the dangerous aura a mile away, but the thought of having a conversation was still warming and odd to him and so it didn't bother him in the least like it should've to be insulted so openly by two captains—not that he didn't return the first jab towards the white haired short one earlier . . .that one was kind of hard to resist.
"The captain and her were lured into Menos Forest by a Gillian. By the time they reached me, she was already in a bad state but she didn't fall unconscious until she performed a healing spell."
For a moment it seemed more like a staring contest than anything else, but then Byakuya stirred, getting up and turning his attention back to the pair checking his sister's vitals.
As if sensing their stare, Isane turned then, Hanatarou readjusting the pillow behind Rukia's head before following suit behind the vice captain.
"She'll be fine. There was enough blood loss that it would've been a problem, but it looks like whoever tended to her immediate wounds did a good job and stopped the bleeding. Her reiatsu was really low but that has been taken care of, so the rest of the healing will be slow until her body can stabilize that. As of right now I can do no more until that stability has been reached."
There was a moment of silence, and then the captain of the sixth division nodded to the vce captain before turning on his heel and beginning to head for the door.
"You would do well to follow me." He threw over his shoulder before continuing.
The silver haired lieutenant opened her mouth to protest (Ashido had after all not been tended to yet) but was stopped when the redhead raised a hand to stop her mid rant and instead lightly thanked her for caring so well for Rukia, promptly walking out of the room to follow Byakuya.
For a moment her and Hanatarou listened as his bare feet padded on the wood until it finally faded into the other sounds of the division, the short young man turning to his superior.
"I've never seen him before, have you Kotetsu-fukutaichou?"
His brow was furrowed in worry for the young woman in the bed. This wasn't the first time she had been unconscious under his watch, and certainly her circumstances were always strange, but this. . . this was definitely different than her past incidents. Isane simply shrugged.
"Kuchiki-san seems to keep very strange friends."
And try as he might, Hanatarou couldn't agree more—even if he knew he was included in that bunch.
