Chapter 7
And So It Ends...
Ichigo felt his heart leap to his throat at the vision before him, Orihime, his beautiful Orihime was standing before the man she'd been fighting not two minutes before, her shield up to protect them both, from him, and he felt something in him break.
If he'd been any other man he would have wept, he didn't understand why he felt this sudden ache in his chest, like something was coiling tightly around his heart, but he didn't want to understand, he just wanted the man with the pink hair dead, tortured and ripped to shreds by his own hand, and he wanted Orihime, soft and pliable Orihime underneath him as he drew from her the darkest of pleasures, he wanted her in such a primal way that he nearly fell forward at the brashness of his thoughts. This wasn't the time for any of that, hadn't he just confessed to her that he wanted to try things with her anyway? Slowly? He shook all those other, strange and foreign -but not at all unwelcome- thoughts from his head as he zeroed in on the woman before him, he had reached them first, realizing he'd left his comrades behind and he forced himself to stop a few feet away from where the two stood.
"What the hell is going on here?" He heard himself ask and his voice was colder than he'd anticipated, he noticed Orihime's slight flinch at his tone and he cursed to himself, this was all just going down the shit hole, and fast.
"Kurosaki-kun," She whispered and his eyes narrowed as he finally took in her face, there was a large bruise covering her cheek and he could see the dried blood on the edge of her lip. Ichigo's vision went red and he suddenly found himself flying forward, his hand banging on her shield as he released large amounts of his reiatsu, his eyes glaring at the man behind Orihime, if he wanted him dead before now he wanted him tortured, twitching in agony, begging for death, crying for it, before he killed him. He wanted to make him pay! For touching her, for taking her away from him!
"You're fucking dead." He spat out, his eyes briefly turned to Orihime before his sword collided with her shield, shattering it to pieces with a whispered 'sorry' that the young girl just barely heard, shock coloring her face as her shield fell around her. Her heart was beating in her chest so hard she worried she'd collapse, each throb made her cheek burn and she understood his anger, but something deep inside her was crying for him to listen to what she had to say, listen to what she thought was really happening.
Orihime tried to reach towards Ichigo, to stop him from lunging towards Lepe but in an instant she found herself pinned to the ground, her bruised cheek slamming into the gritty sand sending pain filled shivers down her spine, her hands held behind her back. She couldn't hold in her pained cry and looked up to see said man standing above her, his dull eyes once again staring back at her menacingly.
"Try to keep still." He warned menacingly just low enough for her to hear and she gulped, her eyes darting towards Ichigo who had stopped his attack short to prevent hurting her.
"Thank you for coming Kurosaki." Lepe smiled and Orihime could hear Ichigo growl, the noise was ripping through his throat, clawing to get out of his chest and she closed her eyes, wishing she could undo this entire day.
"Let her go." Ichigo growled through stiff lips and Lepe laughed, his foot digging into Orihime's shoulder blades causing the girl to scream. She wanted to avoid making any noise that could anger Ichigo any further but the breath was pulled out of her when Lepe dug his heel into her shoulder, pushing her further into the sand. She bit her bottom lip and winced at the pain that coursed through her face, remembering that he'd busted her lip when he'd smacked her earlier.
"Lepe," She whispered from beneath his foot and the man above her grunted, shoving his foot down harder to silence her. She forced herself to keep quiet that time, but she knew she needed to get away from him, not just to save herself but to possibly save him as well, if the gentle man that had healed her was still somewhere inside him.
Her chest felt tight, and her breath was coming in soft pants that had nothing to do with the man shoving her into the ground and everything to do with the man that'd come all this way to save her. Ichigo's reiatsu was spiraling dangerously out of control and she struggled to even remain conscious, she knew what happened the last time he was here and she was not about to let something like that happen, never again, especially not to save her.
"Tsubaki." She said into the dirt steeling her resolve, she felt tingles all down her spine before a bright gold light suddenly shot from her hairpins, slicing into Lepe's chest forcing him away from her, landing on the ground behind her with an angry grunt. She struggled to lift herself off the ground, and Ichigo rushed to her side, taking her as far from the man as he could, surprise set on his face. Orihime looked into his eyes for a second and her chest swole at the pride she could see shining in them.
"Are you alright?" He asked her, his hands suddenly on her arms, her hands and then her face as he looked her over, his eyes burning with rage and worry as they settled on her busted lip.
"Yes," she whispered, her hand raising to cover his as he looked over her bruised cheek. "I'm sorry." She said, her face heating up and he looked down at her confused.
"What on Earth for?" He asked, scowling down at her.
"Orihime-chaaaan that really hurt!" Lepe sang from behind him and Ichigo stiffened releasing Orihime's hand as he turned to him, a burning rage dancing behind his eyes as his fist tightened around Zangetsu's hilt.
"Bastard." He spat out, stepping forward only to be stopped by Orihime's hand on his arm.
"Kurosaki-kun, he's not bad." She caught herself saying and Ichigo's eyes snapped over to look at her, Ishida who had been coming closer to help her as well frowned and if Orihime was feeling up to it she would have giggled at both of their faces.
"I mean," She started as Ishida made her sit down "I don't know how to explain but it's like he has a split personality! When I came here he healed my wound and apologized, saying that the human world made him act strange but just as I realized you were here Kurosaki-kun he turned into this different person. He wanted your help, that's why he took me in the first place! He knew you'd come for me and he just wanted you to help save his husband but I think he is his husband!" She explained and took a deep breath, she was feeling light headed from her long winded explanation and she thanked Kami Uryu had made her sit down otherwise she feared she would keel forward.
"What?" Ichigo said confused and Uryu frowned, his eyes settling on the Arrancar before them.
"Kurosaki," He said pushing his glasses up his nose, his blue eyes never leaving the pink haired man who was struggling to stand, yet managed to glare at them, trying to breathe through the slice in his chest. "Look at his eyes."
"What the fuck do I care about his eyes!" Ichigo shouted, a vein in his forehead throbbing, looking over regardless, his eyes meeting Lepe's dull grey ones and his scowled deepened. What the hell?
"Doesn't he look dead already?" Ishida said and Lepe laughed, spitting as he straightened up.
"How insulting coming from such soft, half dead creatures as yourselves. You don't even live long enough to know what life really is." He growled angrily.
"Kurosaki, I seem to remember telling you to come alone." He added, drawing his sword and Ichigo grunted, stepping forward, Zangetsu ready at his side.
"Fuck you." He said bitterly, taking a step forward and one of Lepe's perfectly arched pink eyebrows shot up, his dull eyes remaining emotionless.
"Very well then, let's do this the hard way."
Orihime watched as the two fought, their swords colliding and howling at the emptiness that surrounded them all, like wolves in the night howling for company. Her eyes stayed on Ichigo the entire time, he moved with such agility and grace that sometimes she lost herself in his fights, it was like watching a performance, it seemed to be such second nature to him and she wondered if she would ever tire of watching.
"Inoue-san." Uryu said from beside her and she nearly jumped out of her skin having forgotten he and Chad were there. "Can you explain to me a little better what you meant by 'he is his husband'?"
"Oh," She said, reminding herself not to bit her lip as she thought "I remember during Kurosaki-kun's fight with Grimmjow, he said he had to eat other hollows to become stronger, and after being around Lepe and hearing him talk about his husband I started to think that maybe his husband hadn't been taken at all, maybe he'd," She hesitated for a second. "Maybe he ate his husband to become stronger."
Uryu and Chad both started at that, looking over to Ichigo as he swung his sword forward, cutting the pink haired man across the stomach, the intensity driving the man backwards and colliding through the wall.
"Then why bring you here?" Uryu asked pushing his glasses up his nose, his gaze set on the battle before him.
"And why bring Ichigo here?" Chad added, his gaze on the small woman before him.
"I'm not sure." She added finally, she had to admit she hadn't thought about how she or Ichigo fit into the equation just yet.
"GETSUGA TENSHO!" A deep voice rang out from before them and they all looked up in time to see Ichigo flying backwards, his own attack being held back by Zangetsu as Lepe stepped out of the rubble, a smile on his face.
Ichigo glared at the man before him, his own breath was coming heavy and he knew he had a couple broken ribs; his vision was blurring and his hands would occasionally loosen around Zangetsu's hilt. He had to end this soon, but this man before him was tricky, almost as if he were playing with Ichigo instead of actually trying to fight him.
"I have to admit Orihime's attack caught me completely off guard." He said, his hand trailing over the wound said woman had caused him. "But I wonder, if it can still be of use to me." He smiled and Ichigo's scowl deepened, Lepe's hand coming up before him, palm raised towards Ichigo as his smiled broadened.
"Tsubaki." He said simply and Ichigo tensed, preparing himself for whatever was about to happen, somehow Lepe had managed to reproduce a Getsuga Tensho identical to his own, he'd be a fool to doubt he could reproduce an attack like Orihime's as well.
He frowned for a moment before Orihime's scream reached his ear, and he turned in time to see her double over into the sand, her hands clutching her head. Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention and he just barely dodged a bright blue light that flew past him, before returning to Orihime's side. What the fuck!
Lepe laughed joyously and Ichigo's head snapped to glare at him, soft whimpers were coming from Orihime and he could see Ishida kneel beside her, his chest tightening at the obvious pain she was in.
"It seems that since her powers are connected to her they cause her physical pain if they stray!" He said with a smile as he rose his hand once more. "Shall we try again?" He asked, mouthing something Ichigo could only assume was Tsubaki's name as another scream tore through the quiet that surrounded them, her Rikka once again flying towards Ichigo. He didn't manage to completely dodge this time around and Tsubaki cut deep into his abdomen, forcing Ichigo to hiss as he tried to regain some footing. The pain was scorching, Orihime's powers had always been warm, he knew this first hand but actually being attacked by one was something completely unexpected; it was as if a fire was spreading through his veins, coursing through his body in his veins and for a second his knees bucked beneath him. Was this really her power? Or was this what Lepe's manipulation had done to it? This was incredible, like acid eating at his skin from the inside, it hurt!
He could hear Orihime crying somewhere to the right of him, but the pain in his system was slowly becoming worse and worse, agonizing as it crept onward, slowly.
"And here I was expecting more of a fight." Lepe said stepping towards him as Ichigo struggled to stand. His shoulders heaving with the effort it took to even breathe, the pain in his system was so bad.
"Should I kill you now with her power or with your own attack Kurosaki? You disappoint me, I can't believe he thought you could offer some help." He said disgusted, drawing his sword back to attack him, raising it just over his head before he suddenly faltered, twitching his head to the side before his hand rose to cover an eye, a pained groan escaping through his clenched teeth before suddenly he screamed in agony, falling to his knees.
"Ku-rosaki-kun-" Orihime's faint voice barely reached his ears and Ichigo rested forward heavily on his sword, he felt light headed, his palms were covered in sweat and he could feel the blood from his wound soaking his Shihakusho, and a part of him, the small part that could think through the unbearable pain, wondered if this was all because of Tsubaki's attack; he'd never felt this terrible after any of his battle's before, and this one wasn't even over.
"Fuck." He grunted through clenched teeth, his knees were shaking and he couldn't keep himself from falling forward onto them as his vision started to go white.
"Kurosaki-kun!" Her voice called to him once more, Ichigo could hear her running towards him and every fiber in his being screamed for him to move but he felt completely paralyzed, his fingers were suddenly digging into pale white sand and if his eyes weren't shut tight he was sure he might have shed tears.
He cursed under his breath, his eyes opening for a second just as Orihime's Soten Kisshun surrounded him, warmth he had no idea he could miss so much suddenly surrounded him and all over his body felt more like sunlight was bathing his skin instead of acid running through his veins.
"Are you alright!" Her voice came from beside him, her hands pressed to the dome, urging her powers to work faster, her grey eyes looked him over and he could see she was close to tears. He managed a slight nod, he didn't trust himself to speak yet, he didn't know if it was because of the previous attack or if it'd always been this way -and he just never noticed- but he could feel himself heal. He could feel the wound at his side as it closed, whatever poison had been coursing through his body almost nonexistent now, gone quicker than it had appeared. He turned to look at her and saw something flash behind Orihime's eyes as her face settled in a frown, her eyes blazing with something he'd never seen before and his already dry mouth went drier as she stood.
What the hell?
He watched as she walked towards Lepe, who from what Ichigo could see was still on his knees in what appeared to be clear agony and he sweat dropped, what the hell was she doing!
Lepe looked up at the girl as she approached him, his face contorted in obvious pain and suddenly, before anyone could blink, Orihime's hand reached out and smacked him; the sound echoed in the emptiness, and three pairs of eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
"Wha-" Lepe began, anger and shock evident on his face, clouding his reiatsu, but he made no move to stand.
"How dare you!" Orihime said, she had never felt the anger that was coursing through her in this moment before in her life, Ichigo's face when he had looked at her was ashen, his chocolate brown eyes were filled with pain because of him! Because he wanted to use them both for whatever sick purpose he'd pulled them into that hell for, because he'd used her power to hurt him!
"What do you want with us!" She demanded, and if she'd been outside looking in she would have seen the surprised looks she was receiving, her entire aura was radiating with the heat of her anger and Ichigo could feel her, as if she was next to him touching his skin, her reiatsu reached him even through her barrier, he couldn't help the smirk that came to his lips and he suddenly realized that she was even giving off a faint glow as she stood before the man.
"I told yo-" he started, his eyes downcast.
"A lie!" She cut him off, she was tired of the lies, she was tired of people using her and Ichigo, and she just wanted to go home.
Lepe finally looked up at her, and Orihime forced herself to stop the gasp that threatened to escape her, one of his eyes was back to normal, the other was still dull and lifeless.
"Miss Inoue." He spoke, a small smile coming to his face as he struggled to stand. "You're right, I did lie to you before," He said, falling to his knees, the wound Orihime had inflicted before was bleeding heavily and Orihime could see how pale he was as well, his brow was covered in a light sheen, and despite her anger she felt the concern bubble in her chest.
"The truth is, my husband was nearly dead after a battle with a stray hollow, and he asked me," He sighed deeply, "he asked me to eat him so that I could absorb his energy." He said and Orihime inhaled sharply, she'd had her suspicion but to hear it from the horse's mouth was still surprising.
She opened her mouth to speak but Ichigo's arm was suddenly around her waist, whatever she was going to say dying in her throat as he pulled her into his chest and jumped away just as Lepe bent over backwards, an animalistic howl coming from his lips as powerful reiatsu burst from the wound on his chest, so dark and heavy it almost stung Orihime's exposed flesh when it reached them. He keeled forward into the sand, his hands over the wound as if he were trying to claw his heart out.
"You have to kill me!" Lepe shouted at them, drawing in what seemed like a painful breath. "I wanted your help in maybe separating our bodies, but he insisted on fighting you, I don't know why." He grunted, taking another deep breath to speak again.
"I'm sure you're aware that in situations like this the strongest of the two reiatsu will take over, in this case it's his," a pained look came to his face. "he will become me and I will cease to exist and there will be no stopping him."
"Lepe." Orihime whispered her hand resting over her heart, her eyes watering and Ichigo tightened his hold on her, scowling as he looked at the man before him, this was wrong on so many levels. This didn't sit right with him, he wasn't someone to take an easy way of a fight, just like his fight with Ulquiorra, if they weren't on even footing then he wouldn't, shouldn't do this.
"Please Kurosaki." Lepe grunted his hand still over his wound. Ichigo looked down at Orihime, there had to be another way.
"If she puts me underneath her dome, we'll only prevent the inevitable. What won't happen today will happen soon enough." Lepe said as if reading his mind. "Would it make it easier for you if I attacked you?" He asked, standing in an instant and rushing towards them with speed Ichigo didn't know he was still capable of.
Ichigo grunted, pulling Zangetsu forward as he pushed Orihime away from himself –the sound of her landing roughly on the ground pulling at his heart strings, he'd have to seriously apologize for that- his mouth set in determination, he knew this was most likely Lepe's last attempt to coax him into killing him, and despite his heavy heart Ichigo knew the words he's spoken were true, if they put it off, he'd only come back stronger, and who was to say they would make it out of that alive when he'd barely escaped this time.
"Getsuga Tensho!" He shouted, swinging his sword forward as a giant deep black crescent flew towards his enemy, catching him midair and engulfing him in its destruction.
He caught sight of something, burned and smoking a few yards away and looked away, strapping his sword over his back as he walked over to Orihime and before he could stop himself he pulled her into his arms, engulfing her in a hug. His nose buried in her hair and he inhaled her scent deeply, he could feel the heat of her blush against his neck and he allowed himself a small smile, hidden amongst her full head of hair.
"Why did we even come?" Ishida whispered to Chad and the silent giant just shrugged looking at the scene before him.
A/N: I AM SO DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER! HARDEST 3 HOURS OF MY LIFE! 3 FREAKING HOURS TO WRITE THIS ALL DOWN AND CONVINCE MYSELF IT WASN'T SHIT! Anyway, did you like my little addition of Chad and Ishida since they basically played no role in this entire chapter T.T it's not to say I forgot... I hope I gave this scene with Lepe a decent ending. 50ShadesOfAwkward (great name by the way) I love Orihime, and I love her strong and able to defend herself, especially having seen how much she's grown into her powers so heck yeah, she had to at least defend herself! Thank you for your kind words! Suzaanoelofse01 thank you so much for your kind words and your understanding. I hold this fic really close to my heart and I love you all so sticking by it!
ALSO, I can't fully recall if Grimmjow said the thing about eating stronger hollows with 'Hime around so for the sake of my story we're going to say yes. Cool?
Leave me a nice review please! Tell me what you thought! See you next chapter with some FLUFF XOXO