Main POV
After what felt like hours of running I finally let up, leaning against a tall brick wall and letting air into my burning lungs. Sweat was running down the back of my neck and the tree overhanging the brick wall was rustling above us, providing just a bit of a breeze. How did my life turn out like this. I was a good big sister, right? How did I end up stuck in an anime world desperately trying to get back to my siblings while a bunch of baby boomers tried to murder me? How was this fair?
I rolled my head around and felt my neck crack a little. My shoulders ached, my lungs ached, my thighs ached. Nothing felt good. I wanted to die. Kon was fine for some reason. Fuck Ichigo and his amazingly fit body. There was slight sweat making his skin glow and with every movement his muscles ripple slightly. Damn him.
"Hey," I said, catching my breath a little. "I know this street."
Running to the end of it I frantically turned left. Was this it? Could it possibly be? I saw a familiar looking apartment building and tore up the stairs. I could hear Kon calling after me as I ran but for the life of me I couldn't stop. This was it. It was finally it. I'd done it, somehow.
"Yes, please," I cried out, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. I got to the door, 3H and knocked frantically. I couldn't believe it.
"Ohayo gozaimasu," an elderly woman answered the door. This wasn't it. This was wrong. Of course it was wrong, this was a different universe. A whole other reality.
"Ohayo gozaimasu," I bowed. "Sorry, I've gotten the wrong apartment by mistake. I'm looking for the Uotani residence. Sorry."
"Hmm, no Uotani's here. You must have the wrong building, not just apartment," she told me.
"I see that, sorry, I'm very sorry," I told her and then rushed back down the stairs before she could say anything else. I was an idiot.
"Uo," Kon called as I ran past.
I ran and I kept running. That was all I ever did. All I could do. I made it to the ally this all started in before I even started to slow down. it had been months, but I still new the spot where my head had hit the ground. It didn't matter that the autumn and winter rain had washed away the bloodstain on the cobbles. My chest and abdomen ached, half because of the running, half because of the crying. Once again, I didn't notice I was sobbing until I was on my knees clutching my stomach. I let out deep wails. This wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. I just wanted them back. Their young faces flashed through my head, the first time I held them all their firsts, first tantrums, first words, first time they learned to tie their shoelaces. Everything. And I'd never see another first again.
I did this to my self. This heart break. I was the one who charged in without thinking, again. I saw the street and I ran. I was the one stupid enough to think I'd found this again. I got my own hopes up only to have them crumbling down again. I tugged at my hair as I lay over my knees tears spilling onto the path beneath me. This wasn't fair. I knew it was my fault but that still wasn't fair.
This had to be some kind of limbo. I died or something back in my world. My brain had thought all this up and it was a way of torturing myself before I die. Those old men, I must have thought them up. They were death. That's what they symbolised. I couldn't decide if I should just let them have me. If I was right, I'd find peace if I finally accepted death. But if if I hadn't died yet, this was me deciding whether to fight or die, then I had to fight. If I ever wanted to see them again. And that's why my brain had conjured up Ichigo. Who better to give me strength than Ichigo, the man I had admired since I was a little girl.
But that was just a theory. I still have to figure what the 'it' that these millennial hating, baby boomers kept demanding back from me. Other than of course the rift I didn't know what it is that they thought I had of theirs. But, if it was, how did I give that back. Surely the only way to get it out of me was death, and that was a sure way to never see my family again. This isn't fair.
"Uo," Kon whispered.
"They weren't there," I told him, same low voice. "I don't know why I thought they would be, but my family wasn't there. It was their apartment, but they weren't there. They couldn't be, but I just hoped. I see now, it was stupid."
"There's nothing stupid about hoping," Kon told me.
"How romantic," I heard and we both looked up. Kon put an arm around me. Another one of those fucking old guys. "Did you really think you could escape? And now there's none of your shinigami friends around to protect you. You really are a stupid girl."
"Maybe," I nodded, moving to stand up. "But I've still got my plucky attitude."
"And how's that going to save you?" He chuckled darkly.
"It'll buy me time," I replied honestly. I didn't know if I needed time for Ichigo to come find and save me or if I just needed time to come up with another stupid, reckless idea. Either way, I'd have to fight him until I got some time.
"Take all the time you need," he told me. He took a step forward. "You know this can only end one way. Accept it. Concede to it. Hand it over."
"What do you mean, you all keep saying that, give it back. Give what back?" I asked.
"You really don't know?" He asked. I shook my head.
"I don't know what you mean," I told him.
"Share your theories," he demanded.
"The thing that brought me here. When I hit that wall, it burst, it hit me so hard it knocked me from my body. I would have died had I not fallen through from that world to this. But I took it in in the process. I absorbed it. And that's what you want, but why, what does it do?"
"The rift, we made it," he told me. "We're from the same place, you and I. A world with no magic, no power. But we created that rift by accident, and we've been using it ever since. To gain power, to feel the magic of this world. This world that has no idea of it's existence. No idea how to harness it, to use it, to feel that power coursing through them."
"The reishi in the air," I said. He nodded.
"Very good, you know more than I thought," he told me.
"This place, I knew it before I came here, I just didn't know getting here was possible," I replied. "Explain the rift, how does it work?"
"Like a black hole, it absorbs all it comes into contact with, which is why we can't keep it open for long, everything that surrounds it becomes unstable. We use it to absorb power and take it to our world. But you've trapped us here. We come through to gather our own power, we have done for year now we have the technology, and the rift gathers it's own. But you broke it. You stole it. And now we're both trapped here until you die."
"So you're going to kill me?" I asked. "Well, I guess this is where the friendliness ends. I don't want to die. So I'm not just going to let you kill me."
"Very well," he nodded. "If you want to go down fighting, then so be it, if that is your wish. I cannot deny you your honour, your pride. I won't go easy on you."
"No one is asking you to," I told him. Boy did I wish I'd had more practice with Ikkaku.
"Uo," Kon wined.
"Be ready," I told him, without looking back. I stepped forward. I was done being weak. I was done being the rescued, being the saved. I was gonna do this myself. It wasn't fair. I was gonna make it fair.
"Je suis prest," the old guy told me, like I was talking to him and not Kon.
I screamed out, charging at him. He threw a hand up and I leapt out of the way just as a torrent of green fire came out where I once was. I ducked again as his hand moved and I slammed my palm hard into his nose. Suddenly all my courage had gone. The fire brought back all the completely rational fear of these guys I had and I squealed. I jabbed a punch into his gut and then I kicked him for good measure. He fell to the ground and I ran like hell.
"Uo!" Kon screamed as he ran after me. He caught up to me easily and then grabbed my hand, running with me for freedom. We ran down the street clinging to each other as I pushed my short legs as fast as they could carry me. Because let's face it, if he wasn't with me, he'd be running a hell of a lot faster. If he wasn't here with me, if I wasn't here, this guy wouldn't even be chasing him. Damn.
I shook my head, I could feel guilty later, if we survived. I looked ahead and saw a bright yellow fold up fence surrounding a spot on the road. There was a sewer opening there. I grinned. We were getting out of here. Well, so long as this opening lead to a large underground sewer and wasn't a hole in the ground we'd get stuck in and the guy would catch up and we'd die.
"Kon," I said. "Run ahead and tell me what's in the sewer entrance."
"What?!" he all but yelled at me.
"Please," I said, letting go of his hand. He sped ahead and leaned over the edge, running back moments later as I kept pushing myself further. Fucking bastard could run faster. Then why had he let me get past him back there? Run faster than him to the alley?
"It's just a hole in the ground Uo. Leads to some kind of tunnel," he told me. I grinned.
"Perfect," I replied. I grabbed his hand again and dragged him to the fence. I climbed up on top of it and grabbed his hand. "Ready? We're gonna jump."
"Uo," he told me seriously. "Let me go first, you can't jump that distance, you'll break your legs. I'll catch you."
He stepped over the fence with relative ease and then hopped into the hole, going straight down. I stood on the barricade, looking down. I took a deep breath. I'm ready. I'm ready. I told myself and then took the plunge. All I needed was a second of bravery, and then Kon would catch me. I'd be okay. I leapt forward and held my hands art my sides, even though everything in me told me to hold them out, to stop myself from falling in. I fought, I fell, I landed in the arms of awaiting Kon instead of hitting the stinking water below.
"Okay, let's get out of here."
"And go where?" He asked. "Do you even know where you're going?"
"Don't need to," I shrugged. "We just have to get away from him, we'll figure the rest out later."
I started walking in a random direction and Kon begrudgingly followed after. The water was cold as it swished around my ankles, soaking my shoes and the bottoms of my pant legs. I could hear Kon grumbling behind me as I lead us far away from the opening in the sewer we'd come in from. At least we didn't have to run. I sighed after a while of walking. I know I complain a lot in my internal monologue, but seriously, why me? What did I do to deserve this, really? I was a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although, I suppose the same could be said for many people. Ichigo even. He would just be an ordinary teenage guy if 1, he wasn't by the river the day him mother died or 2 if Fishbone hadn't followed him home that day when he was 15. But unlike Ichigo who grew strong, cocky and kicked ass, I just kind of spend my time winging and running. When was my badass moment?
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out. Ichigo was calling me. That either meant everything was good and we could come back to the shop or everyone was in trouble and the bad guys were holding him ransom and demanding I sacrifice myself to save them.
"Hey," I said as I answered.
"Hey," he replied. "Where the hell did you go? I can't find you anywhere."
"So you remember that time you went to the seireitei and Hanataro was taking you to the tower Rukia was being held in?" I asked.
"Kind of an important moment in my life, yes," he replied.
"Do you remember how you got there?" I asked, wading through the deeper water.
"Yeah," he agreed.
"Well guess where I am dummy," I told him.
"You're not," he laughed.
"Yep," I agreed. "I'm in the fucking sewers."
"You want me to get someone to track your spiritual pressure so we can find you and get you out?" he asked when he was finished laughing.
"Please," I grumbled.
"Uo," Kon tugged at my sleeve.
"What?" I turned. There was a figure wading through the water off in the distance. From here it looked just like a shadow, but Kon and I both knew it was much more than that.
"I told you you had nowhere to run," the old guy from earlier chuckled.
"Oh shit," I said.
"Uo, what's going on?" Ichigo demanded.
"Guess we didn't managed to out manoeuvre him," I said.
"Yeah and now we're trapped in a confined space and have no idea where we're going!" Kon yelled.
"Yeah but neither does he," I replied.
"A great comfort as he edges ever closer while we stand still," Kon pointed out. Fuck. He was right, we'd just been standing staring at the old git as he approached.
"Uo," Ichigo yelled.
"In a minute honey," I replied as I stared at the guy. Why wasn't I moving? The old guy lifted up his hand and fashioned green flames into existence. "Oh shIIIT!"
I screamed as Kon grabbed me and pulled me out of the way of the blast and ran with me through the sewers. We ran as fast as we could through the water, the tides soaking through our clothes, thundering splashing noises every turn we took.
"UO!" Ichigo screamed.
"You'd better get working on getting that person to find us, baby," I told him as I ran.
"Uo!" Kon screamed and I tugged him round a corner just as another green blast of flame was fired. It just missed us by the skin of our teeth and I was getting the feeling next time we wouldn't be so lucky.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," I whispered as we ran through the tight, concrete tunnels.
"I'm coming, Uo, don't worry," Ichigo assured me.
"I'm counting on it," I relied through gritted teeth. I could hear laboured breathing on the other end of the line as well as my own. Seems we were both running.
Ichigo POV
The last guy in robes dodged my swing and ran round the corner, sliding through the dirt as he headed far away from the shop. Figures he's going now Uo's not here. Everyone else had skedaddled as well. I looked around at all the destruction laying around me. There were pieces of debris from the shop smoking on the ground. The air was thick from the explosion and the nearby fences and walls were disintegrating from all the blasts of green flames. It was a miracle no one was hit by that stuff. Or as Uo would call it, plot armour.
"Why do they always just run away?" Renji grumbled and I groaned in agreement, shaking the blood off my sword.
"Yeah, it's not very warrior like," Ikkaku walked over, sealing his zanpakuto again. Everyone left their positions and wandered over to the shop front again. I leaned back and looked up at the second floor.
"How mad do you reckon Urahara's going to be over what Uo did to his shop?" Renji asked as we stared up at the smoking rooftop, or, what was left of it. I shrugged.
"We know her well enough if she did it, it was the only thing she could do in the situation," I told them. "If hat-n-clogs knows what's good for him, he'll respect that."
"Where'd your girlfriend take off to anyway?" Shuhei asked. "I caught her when she jumped off the roof but after that she was gone."
I felt around for her familiar spiritual pressure. Usually I could find her, no matter how far away she was in this town, because I knew it so well. But I couldn't really feel her. I knew she was alive, around, but it was like something was blocking it.
"You don't think they took her, do you?" Izuru asked.
"Nah," Ikkaku replied. "If they did they'd be way more smug about it."
"That and they seem way more intent on just killing her rather than taking her," Yumichika piped up.
"Wow, I'm so comforted, thanks guys," I replied sarcastically. I was beginning to sound like Uo. "I'll call her, find out where she is."
"Hey," she greeted softly. She was happy to speak to me, that meant she was safe, but she sounded tired.
"Hey," I replied, relieved she was okay. "Where the hell did you go? I can't find you anywhere."
"So you remember that time you went to the seireitei and Hanataro was taking you to the tower Rukia was being held in?" she asked, sounding pretty proud of herself. I could hear her grinning.
"Kind of an important moment in my life, yes," I rolled my eyes. Of course I remembered.
"Do you remember how you got there?" she ignored my snark.
"Yeah," I said.
"Well guess where I am dummy," she told me.
"You're not," I started laughing. Ganju, Hanataro and I managed to sneak around and get as close as we could to the tower because Hanataro had lead us around in the sewers. Uo knew that.
"Yep," she grinned again. "I'm in the fucking sewers."
I started laughing hysterically. The guys around me gave me strange looks, I'd explain later, probably. I ran a hand through my hair, what was I going to do with her?
"You want me to get someone to track your spiritual pressure so we can find you and get you out?" I asked, figuring maybe she was just too far away for me to find her. Or I couldn't because she was underground. Someone more experienced might have better luck.
"Please," she grumbled.
"Uo," I heard Kon whine.
"What?" she demanded before there was a pause. "Oh shit."
"Uo, what's going on?" I demanded. If she was in trouble, I needed to know about it now.
"Guess we didn't managed to out manoeuvre him," she said.
"Yeah and now we're trapped in a confined space and have no idea where we're going!" Kon yelled.
"Yeah but neither does he," she replied.
"A great comfort as he edges ever closer while we stand still," Kon replied. How was he the brains in this situation?
"Uo," I cried out. I needed to know what was happening now.
"In a minute honey," she replied, sounding agitated. Why is she only sweet to me when she's asleep or about to die? "Oh shIIIT!"
I heard a loud scream and frantic breathing along with splashing around in deep water.
"UO!" I yelled.
"You'd better get working on getting that person to find us, baby," she said. Shit. Why hadn't I had Izuru or someone looking this whole time she was on the phone? As soon as I heard her in trouble.
"Uo!" Kon screamed.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," she said through laboured breaths as she ran.
"I'm coming, Uo, don't worry," I told her. I motioned to the guys to start moving with me.
"I'm counting on it," she told me.
"Guys, we gotta find her now, where's her spiritual pressure coming from, she just flared it? Where is she?" I demanded.
"This way," Izuru, Hisagi and Yumichika told me. Ikkaku and Renji ran at my side as he hurried off towards my house. Hopefully she wasn't too close. My dad would kill me if we blew that up too.
"It's never easy with you, is it?" Renji grumbled.
"Somehow every girl you've had a thing for you've had to rescue from imminent death," Ikkau agreed.
"Not every girl," I tried to reply.
"Rukia," Yumichika said.
"Orehime," Ikkaku said.
"Senna," Renji said.
"Nozomi," Izuru added.
"And now Uo," Shuhei chuckled.
"Oh shut up," I rolled my eyes. "So what?"
"Why can't you just pick a nice, not trouble magnet girlfriend?" Renji replied.
"What, you getting tired old man?" I asked. We were a couple of streets over but her spiritual pressure was stronger. We're coming Uo.
"You're dreaming," he yelled back.