Chapter 20: A Broken Heart
Hey everyone! It's me, sakuraphoenix, and I'm back with a new chapter! Well, it's safe to say that my vacation in China is officially over. Now, before I start this chapter, I have a review from an anonymous reviewer that I need to address. And to the person who did review, to be honest, I kinda didn't catch what you caught. Don't worry; you'll see plenty of her personality in this chapter. Anyways, now that that's over with, disclaimer time.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I also do not own Shizuku. He belongs to my good friend Lyokowarrior1994
Enjoy!
I was more than shocked to see Shizuku alive, but a wave of conflicting emotions hit me like a bullet train. I was relieved and happy to see him alive, but when I saw that stern and hardened face, a feeling of worry and loneliness washed over me. What is going on here?
"Okay now, who the hell's this?" asked Ichigo
"Captain of Squad Three, Gin Ichimaru." Said Yoruichi
"Ah. Not good." Said Gin
And with a fast speed, Jidanbo was cut by Gin's zanpaku-to
"Jidanbo! Are you alright?!" I exclaimed
"Unacceptable. Being a guardian of the gate doesn't mean you're supposed to open the gate." Said Gin
"I defended the gate and lost. Once I lost, I had to open the gate. There was nothing else I could do." Said Jidanbo
"What you're saying makes no sense. A gatekeeper who loses isn't supposed to open the gate. When a gatekeeper loses, it means death." Said Gin
Ichigo rushed in to stop Gin and protect Jidanbo! That idiot! Just as I stepped foot into the Sereitei, Shizuku stepped in front of me.
"Shizuku." I said
"Karen. Why did you come here?" asked Shizuku
"I came here to find you, to see if you were okay!" I exclaimed
"Well, now you have, so you can leave." Shizuku said as he turned his back to me
"That's it?! No 'hello' or 'how are you' or 'I've been worried about you'? Why don't you understand that I've been worried sick about you Shizuku? I was worried that you were slated for execution or something, just because you gave me Soul Reaper powers, and this is how you treat me after all this time?!" I exclaimed
"Yes." Said Shizuku
"I get it now. You Soul Reapers think you're so superior than everyone else. I thought I could come here to admit my true feelings to you, but I guess I was wrong. This is who you really are Shizuku Shiba, a cold, heartless person who knows nothing about other people's feelings. San no suteji, Tsuki no Mai." I said
My giant sword turned into two golden fans, and Shizuku was beginning to release his zanpaku-to.
"Blaze, Fenikkusu no Kibo!" Shizuku exclaimed as he released his zanpaku-to
His zanpaku-to was a Chinese Jian, but the blade was surrounded by a fiery aura, and every time he tried to send a fireball at me, I'd swat it away with my fans.
"So you mean to tell me that everything we did back in the human world was nothing but a big fat charade?!" I exclaimed as I swatted another fireball away
"I was only there for a mission, and now that it's been taken care of, I'm here to stay in the Soul Society, despite what my heart has grown accustomed to." Said Shizuku
"You once told me that your heart grew attached to something in the human world. Shizuku, answer this. Was I… what your heart grew attached to?" I asked
"Yes, it was, but when I came back, I realized here, the feelings I had for you was nothing but an illusion." Said Shizuku
I was shocked to hear those words. Shizuku… why don't you understand my heart? Why did you have to smash it into a million tiny pieces?
"Now, time to finish you. Hono Doragon!" Shizuku exclaimed as he summoned a fiery dragon
I was shot out of the Sereitei the same time as Ichigo, except I had a huge burn on my chest, which, well… revealed my… oh whatever! When I finally realized it, I wrapped two arms around my upper body so the boys wouldn't see.
"No! The gate!" exclaimed Yoruichi
"Bye-bye now." Gin said while waving at us before the gate closed
Even though I knew that I was going to live, despite my wounds, I had a wound that no medical treatment could heal… a broken heart. A single tear shed itself as I looked at the gate. Did… did I just really get rejected?
"Ichigo! Karen! Are you two alright?!" exclaimed Orihime
"What happened?" asked Uryu
"Grr… look at the gate! That bastard!" exclaimed Ichigo
"Well, it seems that you're alright, and Karen, are you going to stand there all day revealing your, well, private parts to everyone?" asked Yoruichi
I was confused, until I saw that in my sadness and confusion, my whole upper body was exposed! I covered my, well, as Yoruichi would say 'private parts' so everyone else wouldn't see.
"Keep your eyes to yourself you pervert!" I exclaimed
"Karen! What a terrible burn." Orihime said while looking horrified
"Yeah, with the right medical treatment, I'll be okay, but it does sting a lot." I said
"I'm sorry guys. It's all my fault that the gate closed." Said Ichigo
"It's not your fault. I should've tried harder." I said with a sad look on my face
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ichigo looking shocked. Did I say something wrong?
"No you two. Don't start blaming yourselves. Your opponent was Gin Ichimaru. It couldn't be helped. You two should just be glad you are not hurt, well, I should say more hurt than you already were Karen." Said Yoruichi
Ichigo began pulling up his zanpaku-to.
"Hey, Uryu, do you think you could let me borrow that other cape of yours? I kinda don't want to be exposed like this all day." I admitted sheepishly
Uryu tossed me his cape, the one that was torn in the back, and I immediately put it on. I didn't care how ridiculous it looked as long as it can cover the front of my chest. I'm just glad my breasts are well, normal sized, unlike Orihime's.
"Would you do me a favor? Go over there and help Karen and Jidanbo a few if you can." Ichigo asked Orihime
I started hearing voices, and turned around to see the residents of the Rukon district appear from their hiding spots.
"Well, lookie what we've got here." Said Ichigo
"They must've been hiding until now." Said Uryu
"But why?" asked Orihime
"Well, obviously, we were frightening to them. Souls who come to the Soul Society illegally, without a Soul Reaper escort, are called Ryoga, and are said to be the root cause of all kinds of trouble." Said Yoruichi
"I guess they thought that we were their enemies, and probably still do." I said
Everyone got into a fighting stance, save for me. I was in too much of a wreck right now to do anything right.
"Please stop. Allow me to introduce myself." An elderly man said
That got our surprise and attention.
"I am the elder of this area, which is known as the Rukon District. All of us witnessed the events occurred just now, and we would all like to welcome you as Jidanbo's true saviors. This place is full of Soul Reapers that are rotten and discouraged. But Jidanbo, a native of Rukon District, is not one of them. He's always been so kind to us." Said the elder
"We all witnessed how you fought against Gin Ichimaru and Shizuku Shiba in order to save Jidanbo. You must surely be a good person." A male citizen said while looking at my burn
"I don't know about that." I said while looking at the gate
"We can see that, but still, what a terrible wound you two have." Said the same man
"Right! There's no need to worry. I should be able to heal Jidanbo's wounds." Said Orihime
"Huh?! You're kidding me. You really can heal that wound?" asked Ichigo
"Sure! I can even heal Karen's burn! Just leave it to me! Shun'o. Ayame." Said Orihime
Two fairies then appeared from Orihime's hair pins! Whoa, so she can do this?
"Hi. Do you need some help?" asked the blonde fairy
"Hello!" exclaimed the fairy wearing pink
"Could you lend me your powers?" asked Orihime
"Of course we will. As your power, we are here, awaiting your command. All you have to do is recite the spirit chant, remember?" asked the blonde fairy
"Mm-hmm. Karen, could you stand near Jidanbo's wound?" asked Orihime
"Uh, right here?" I asked
"Perfect! Alright, here we go. Soten Kisshun! I reject!" exclaimed Orihime
The two fairies surrounded Jidanbo's wound, and me, and I felt my burn beginning to heal, along with my clothing being reformed, albeit slowly.
"It's truly amazing. So when exactly did you get that power?" asked Ichigo
"Excuse me!" exclaimed a young male voice
"Please let us through!" exclaimed a young female voice
"Move it!" exclaimed the same boy
A boy with brown hair and grey eyes while a girl with purple hair and red eyes moved through the crowd. I could've sworn I seen the girl somewhere before, but where?
"Hey! Over here! It's me! Yuichi! Don't you remember?" asked Yuichi
"And it's me! Setsuna!" exclaimed Setsuna
"Yuichi Shibata? Setsuna Aono?" asked Sado
"Right! Yuichi and Setsuna, the cockatiels! You remember now, right?" asked Setsuna
"So it's her." I said dumbfounded
"It's really you two." Said Sado
Some of the villagers bandaged up my burn, now that it's been reduced to a sunburn, and my clothing was in one piece again. I found the highest place in the Rukon District, but all I could see were some of the buildings in the Rukon District and the gate. You really know how to hurt a person, you know that Shizuku? I made you that necklace because I couldn't find the courage to say 'I love you' when you were right next to me. I suck at admitting my feelings, so I thought if I made that for you, you'd understand how I feel about you. I guess I was wrong. You really don't care about me, and you never did. I didn't know how long I was up there, but the sun was beginning to set, so I headed back to the elder's place to see if he knew something about Jidanbo's condition.
"A penny for your thoughts?" asked Uryu
"Oh, hey Uryu." I said
"What's wrong with you today? You've been quiet ever since that fight with Shizuku. What's wrong with you?" asked Uryu
"Look, can we talk about this later?" I asked with my hair shading my eyes
"Later?! Listen, I want to know what happened now! What are you not telling us?!" Uryu exclaimed as he grabbed my arm
"Uryu, please, let me go." I said as I struggled against his grip
"No way! Karen, if you don't tell me what's wrong then…" started Uryu
He forced me to look him in the eye, and he saw what I knew, my eyes were bloodshot, from crying so hard.
"Were you… crying?" asked Uryu
"Yeah, go ahead and laugh, that Karen Tsukimori was crying. Go ahead and laugh. I don't care anymore." I said
"Karen, I'm not laughing. You loved Shizuku, didn't you?" asked Uryu
"What makes you think that?" I asked as I was about to start crying again
"Listen, I don't know what feelings you had for Shizuku, but whatever he said in there to make you cry, he's gonna get a taste of my arrows!" Uryu exclaimed with a look of determination on his face
He then took another step and slipped on a rock and fell, and had this hilarious face as he fell into a mud puddle. I couldn't help but laugh as I saw that.
"You're… laughing." Said Uryu
"Sorry, I couldn't help it. And uh, Uryu?" I asked
"Hmm?" asked Uryu
"Thanks for, you know, the pep talk. I think I needed it more than anything." I said
"Well, I wasn't trying to cheer you up and all, I mean, how am I supposed to defeat you if you aren't on your top form?" asked Uryu
"Oh, whatever." I said playfully
"Hey! Don't 'whatever' me!" exclaimed Uryu
"You can be kind and sweet when you wanna be Uryu. Thanks for trying to cheer me up." I said while smiling
"Hey, uh, I don't want to sound like I'm hitting on you or something, but you should smile more often. It makes you look cuter." Said Uryu
"Really?" I asked
"Yeah, but that's just me." Uryu said while walking past me
Uryu, I guess under that hard exterior, you really care about others. You are so much like Ichigo.
Later…
"Are you serious?! You really want us to give up trying to get past the gate?" asked Ichigo
"No, I don't mean give up completely. Once the gate has been opened, it's only logical that the security on the other side becomes that much tighter, which means that continuing with the same strategy is not necessarily the best approach." Said Yoruichi
"I have to agree with you on that." Said Uryu
"So then what about the other gates?" asked Chad
"If I had to guess, it takes time to get from one gate to the next, time we don't have. So what can we do?" I asked
"Isn't it obvious? If we cannot use the gate, then naturally, we must enter another way. Elder, do you know the whereabouts of Kukaku Shiba?" asked Yoruichi
"What?! You can't be serious!
"Shiba? That last name… Yoruichi, Shizuku's from that same family, yeah? I doubt that they'll help us." I said
"Kukaku's different Karen, I guarantee. Elder, as you may know, she is someone who likes to change their residence. I haven't been able to find out where she currently lives." Said Yoruichi
"Kukaku Shiba. Are you sure? Don't tell me you're planning on going through the wall like that!" The elder exclaimed while his hands turned into fists
"Uh, like what?" asked Orihime
I then heard what sounded like horses, or something that had four legs and was fast.
"Uh, what's that noise?" asked Ichigo
"Sounds like a stampede." Said Orihime
Then some guy burst through the door, cannonball style! Orihime screamed while hiding behind me.
"What's happening?!" exclaimed Uryu
"Anyone know who this guy is?" asked Ichigo
"Forget him, check what he was riding! A boar!" I exclaimed as I saw a female boar enter the house
At least, I think it's female. It's wearing a flippin' red bow!
"Huh?! Are you kidding?! What in the? What's a boar doing here?" Ichigo asked out loud
"Well, well, well. What'd ya know? Rumbling in by alpine. There's gotta be a better way to travel. Hey, it's been a long time old man." Said the guy who just busted in
"Ganju, no! What are you doing here? I think you should go home." Said the elder
"What gives? Look, I know it's been a while, but is that any way to greet an old friend? I mean, what are your guests here going to think? Huh?" Ganju wondered as he looked at me and Ichigo
I did not like the way he was looking at us the way he was.
"What do we have here? Would someone explain to me why there are stinkin' Soul Reapers here?" asked Ganju
"What did you just call us?" I asked with a tick mark on my head
"What's the matter? Your ears not working? What I said was 'would someone explain to me why there are stinkin' Soul Reapers here'?" Ganju repeated
"Huh?" Ichigo and I wondered out loud
"Huh? Well, say something, you sniveling dandelions." Ganju said while pinching Ichigo's face
Ichigo punched Ganju across the face. Usually, that's my job. In any case, he sent him flying near the door!
"Hey! Just what are you trying to do?! Are you picking a fight with me?!" exclaimed Ganju
"You started it pig straddler! You walked in and picked on us for no reason! What kind of a moron are you?!" exclaimed Ichigo
"Moron?!" exclaimed Ganju
Honestly, I couldn't care less about their argument.
"Hey, Karen, help me out here!" exclaimed Ichigo
"Why don't you boys take it outside, and leave us out of it?" I asked while sipping tea
"Are you serious?!" exclaimed Ichigo
"For once, I agree with Ichigo! This is no time to sit there drinking tea! We need to figure out who the guy is!" exclaimed Uryu
"Are you kidding me? You really don't know who I am?" asked Ganju
"No, I don't." said Uryu
"Me neither." Said Orihime
"No." said Sado
"I don't wanna know." Said Ichigo
"Me neither." I said
"Heh, then that settles it. Let me introduce myself. My given name is Ganju, the self-proclaimed deep red bullet of West Rukon, and self-proclaimed but universally acknowledged boss man of West Rukon, and finally, the self-proclaimed number one Soul Reaper hater of West Rukon!" exclaimed Ganju
"Self-proclaimed?!" Orihime, Yoruichi, Sado, Uryu, and I exclaimed in unison
"Ha! You forgot to add 'self-proclaimed fool'." Said Ichigo
"Say what?" asked Ganju
"You heard me." Said Ichigo
A furious Ganju tackled Ichigo out of the elder's home.
"Ichigo!" exclaimed Uryu
"No, Ichigo!" exclaimed Orihime
"Hold it right there! We won't let you get in the boss man's way." Said the guy wearing a pink kimono
"But look, if you really wanna fight someone…" started the bald guy
"We will be happy to oblige you." Said the guy with an afro
These are Ganju's henchmen, no doubt.
"Ganju's henchmen." Said Uryu
"What do we do now?" asked Orihime
"For once, I have no idea. Then again, I rarely have ideas." I said
"See that?" asked Sado
What the hell?!
"They're all riding on boars." All four of us said in unison
"You and your friend better get out of here while you still can! Now listen, as long as I'm alive, no Soul Reaper will ever be allowed to step one stinkin' foot inside West Rukon!" exclaimed Ganju
Oh yeah? Well, Ichigo's 'stinkin' foot' as he calls it, just kicked him in the face. That's gonna leave a mark.
"Shut up. Give it a rest, why don't 'cha? Look, if you wanna fight, I'll fight ya." Said Ichigo
"Why you! You punched my ruggedly handsome face, not once but twice!" exclaimed Ganju
"Ruggedly handsome? This guy is crazy. Besides, the second time it was in Ichigo's category." I said
"Ichigo's category?" wondered Uryu
"Well, Ichigo and I always got into these fights because of our hair, but in my case, my hair and eyes, but I was always better with upper body strength than he was, so we made an agreement that whenever we had to team up, he'd do the kicking, and I'd be doing the punching." I said
"Oh." Said Uryu
"You're right about that Karen! The second time around was a kick." Said Ichigo
"That's enough fighting Ichigo. You should not be using up your strength in a meaningless brawl." Said Yoruichi
"Yeah, I'd say. That's like telling a monkey to stop eating bananas because it's gonna have better food later. Once Ichigo's mind is set on a fight, there's no stopping him." I said
"Besides, he started the fight, so if you want this to stop, then tell him." Said Ichigo
That moron! He really can't let this thing go, can he?
"Way I see things, you, me, and eventually that other Soul Reaper friend of yours are destined to fight. We don't have a choice in the matter." Ganju said before unsheathing a broken sword
"Stop this fighting Ganju! Can't you see that this man is a good Soul Reaper?" asked the elder
"That's enough! Look, Soul Reapers are Soul Reapers. To me, there is no good or bad." Said Ganju
"You're wrong Ganju." Said the elder
"Now get ready!" Ganju exclaimed before rushing to fight Ichigo
"Ichigo! Use this!" I exclaimed as I tossed him Zangetsu
"I got it! Thanks Karen!" exclaimed Ichigo
The cloth around Zangetsu's blade unwrapped itself as Ichigo used the blade with a flourish.
"Very impressive! I was wonderin' when you'd use your zanpaku-to! However, don't think that you can win this, just because you wield a bigger weapon." Said Ganju
He drew a circle in the dirt, and suddenly, the tip of Ichigo's zanpaku-to became engulfed in sand!
"Sink!" exclaimed Ganju
"Wha? The ground is gone!" exclaimed Ichigo
"It's like quicksand!" exclaimed Uryu
"Just hang in there Ichigo!" exclaimed Orihime
"Listen, if you can't use your sword, use what you can! It's worked before, who says it can't work now?!" I exclaimed
Ganju tried to kick Ichigo as he tried to pull his sword out of the ground, but failed miserably.
"Using weird tricks won't help you win!" exclaimed Ichigo
Ganju went on the attack, but Ichigo stopped his attack by blocking his arm with his own arm, before punching Ganju in the face.
"All I can say is if that didn't drop you, then you are one tough warrior." Said Ichigo
The two engaged in hand-to-hand combat for a while, until I noticed that they were both planning something big, and I didn't like it one bit.
"What's the matter? It's not over yet." Said Ichigo
The guy then charged in for an attack, and then an alarm clock, which was on the guy who wore the pink kimono's back started ringing, causing Ganju to fall face first into the dirt.
"What time is it now?!" exclaimed Ganju
"It's nine already boss man! This is gonna be bad!" exclaimed the guy in the pink kimono
"What? Nine o'clock? Come on! We gotta go Bonnie!" Ganju exclaimed before whistling
I was wondering who Bonnie was, until I saw the female boar from earlier begin to jump over Ichigo! This is gonna end badly.
How bad will it end? Well, I guess you're gonna have to find out, so until next time, please review. I'm sakuraphoenix, saying I heart you, signing off from America. Kan dao ni!