Author's Note: Buahaha! Told you guys I would update today! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! NOW PREPARE FOR LOTS OF GORE! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!
WARNING: Okay so this chapter's gonna get a bit bloody… So be prepared for lots of gore, an emotional Ichigo, and plenty of confusion.
BETA'D (By the lovely Phoenix220!)
Star Brothers
Chapter22 (PART 2): This Isn't a Stupid Fairy Tail
Mugetsu – 21 years old
Shirosaki – 18 years old
Getsuga – 18 years old
Kon – 15 years old
Ichigo – 15 years old
"F-fuck." Shirosaki coughed through the shock.
He'd been lucky enough to jump out of the way of the first bullet, but the second one caught his left shoulder, shredding right through the thick leather jacket like paper, and the third bullet managed to pierce him in the stomach.
There was no real pain at first—just blinding heat and adrenaline. The rush was so intense that Shirosaki's legs shook until he crumpled to his knees. With his good arm, he grabbed at the slimy, bleeding hole in his abdomen and glared up at his attacker. "You son of a bitch!" Shirosaki spat as he tried climbing back to his feet. His efforts were for naught as he wound up collapsing and rolling to his side so he could curl up into a tight ball. "Shit!" He cursed.
"Well, well, well… And here I thought I was gonna have to track you down."
Shirosaki's barely heard him over the combined cacophony of the fire alarm and the gun's ringing in his ears.
He never even made it into Kaien's office.
The fucker met him right by the door and started shooting without any sort of warning; No 'hello.' Or 'hey I'm about to shoot your guts out'. Nothing.
Shirosaki snarled and glanced up, trying to get a good look at the guy's face. He still had no fucking clue who this asshole was—and there was no way he could forget a face like that—all grotesque and mutilated; Half of his face looked like it had been melted off. Shirosaki tore his eyes away so that he could peer passed him. The door to Kaien's office was still open. The whole room was a complete disaster. It looked like a tornado just had a fucking party inside: the desk was turned over, papers were strewn across the floor, chairs toppled over, and there was blood smeared across the floor.
With tremendous effort Shiro shifted so he could see further inside. He let his gaze follow the blood-trail until he finally caught sight of Getsuga's body—which was much too still for his liking.
Shirosaki flinched when he heard the gun being reloaded. He took a deep breath as he reached out mentally for his brothers; Ichigo's presence was the loudest out of all his brothers. Then there was Kon, but his was getting weaker—as if he was moving further and further away. Next was Mugetsu, and he was the opposite—his presence was furthest away but getting closer with each passing second. And last but not least was Getsuga, his presence is what worried Shiro the most. It was so weak, barely even a flicker but at least that meant he was still alive.
"Why?" Shirosaki managed to growl when the trigger-happy asshole shifted closer until he towered over his prey's huddled form.
The stranger smirked while slowly fingering the warm steel of his gun. "Well… To be honest, it isn't 'cause I wanted to…" He paused to kick Shirosaki onto his back and then stomped down on the teen's hand that was still covering his injured stomach. Shirosaki choked on a pain-filled yelp and glared daggers at the asshole.
For someone who didn't want to be doing this—this guy was taking far too much pleasure in causing as much pain as possible.
"Ya see…" the stranger continued. "Father knows about your connection with a certain little brother of yours—real cutie by the way. I kinda prefer your twin Getsuga, but Ichigo is certainly on my 'to-fuck' list." His condescending smile turned sadistic as he watched Shiro growl and squirm.
The teen tried to pull his hand free so he could smash his fist into that smirking face, but his energy was leaking fast, just like the blood that pooled around him. "You leave them alone… you son of a… bitch." Shiro wheezed while trying to ignore the mind-numbing pain.
"Well… I tried to have my way with Getsuga one last time, but he's a stubborn lil' fuck. Sooooo…" The guy sang as he fished something from his jacket. "Since father said I couldn't keep him, I decided to at least take a lil' souvenir." Kokuto took sick satisfaction in watching Shiro's eyes widen in horror when he revealed the small glass jar.
"You… You sick fuck!" Shiro snarled but his gaze never wavered from the jar, because inside was a familiar black-on-gold eye; an eye that once resided inside the head of his twin brother, Gestuga.
"Ya know." the guy said as he knelt down so he could hover over the other's face and lock gazes with him. "You got those pretty eyes too." He said as he pulled out a dagger from his jacket. It was almost completely covered in blood—some of it still wet and Shiro could only guess whose it belonged to. "Hey! Maybe I should start a collection of rare eyes. Or… is that too creepy?" The stranger asked as if he thought Shirosaki would actually hold a conversation with him. "Nah. You're right, one eye is enough." With a satisfied grin, Kokuto stood back up to his full height. He levelled the gun so that it was pointed directly at Shiro's chest. He gave his victim a small wave, grin never leaving his face as he pulled the trigger.
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"What in the world…" Mugetsu whispered in disbelief as Gin drove them towards the school's parking lot.
Both men had just been to lunch at a nice little outdoor restaurant down the street. They'd been enjoying the quiet, peaceful afternoon—until the alarms went off that is.
Even from all the way over there they could hear the faint screeching in the distance.
"I don't see any smoke." Gin pointed out as he shifted the car into 'park'. Mugetsu searched the skies above the School to see that he was right. "So maybe it's just a fire-drill…"
"No," was Mugetsu's immediate reply. "Kaien would have warned us." He quickly unbuckled himself and got out of the car. "And if it isn't a drill then there should be fire-trucks here by now… Something isn't right..."
Both men started towards the crowd of people, gracefully weaving their way through the huddled masses until they finally saw a familiar face.
"Yoruichi?!" Mugetsu called, but said woman didn't seem to hear him.
Gin frowned slightly as he watched Yoruichi spin in frantic circles, eyes wide and shifting through the crowd—almost as if she was looking for something, or rather someone.
"Yoruichi!" Mugetsu tried once again and this time he slightly grasped her shoulder. That seemed to get her attention; she spun and pinned him with wavering eyes.
"Oh, Mugetsu! Thank god one of you is alright!"
He scrunched his brows in confusion and slight worry. "What's going on? Where are Kon and the others?" He demanded and his frown deepened when Yoruichi practically pulled the deep-purple hair from her own skull.
"I DON'T KNOW! I was holding Kon's hand one moment and then the next seco—He's GONE! I… I… I can't seem to get ahold of Soi-fang Either! She's supposed to be guarding Shiro! And I haven't heard from Getsuga's assigned guard since this morning! Everything is falling apart! I warned Aizen to make you boys stay home. I told him! Something is wr—" Yoruichi choked on her next sentence when a hand suddenly met the side of her face.
It wasn't a hard slap—more like a firm tap—but it was enough to shut her up. She looked up at Mugetsu with narrowed golden eyes and the younger merely met her burning gaze with his own simmering onyx eyes.
"Yoruichi. I need you to pull yourself together and tell me where you last saw Kon."
Yoruichi shook her head with a small smirk. "And here I'm supposed to be the strong, responsible adult." she grumbled as she glared at the police badge strapped to her uniform, feeling absolutely disgusted with herself. Shaking off the emotion she looked back up at Mugetsu, face alight with determination. "Follow me."
The small group began making their way back towards the parking lot, only pausing when they noticed that the fire-alarm had stopped. Everyone in the crowd noticed it as well and slowly turned to face the building, wondering if maybe it was okay to go back inside.
Mugetsu blinked when he could hear the soft wailing of Fire-Trucks and Ambulances in the distance.
"Everyone start making your way towards the football field!" Kaien's strong voice shouted over the quiet murmuring of the crowd, but Mugetsu and Gin ignored him as they continued to follow Yoruichi.
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"C'mon, Ichigo…. We shouldn't be in here. We're gonna get in trouble." Renji whined as Ichigo continued to lead them down hallway after hallway, but the orangette ignored him.
"No one asked ya to come, Red." Grimmjow teased with a grin, making Renji bristle.
"I'm not just gonna leave Ichigo to get in trouble by himself! I'm his best friend! You on the other hand… You're just some asshole tryin' to get in his pants."
"That's funny… 'cause I think Iwas the one that had ta persuade Mr Strawberry-Princess over here from the roof… now usually that's the 'Best Friend's' job… How odd."
Renji snarled as he went to clock Grimmjow in the jaw but the bluenette was expecting it. He dodged the balled-up fist with ease and buried his own in poor Renji's gut before the guy could even blink.
Rukia rolled her eyes at the two idiots while Ichigo still did his best to ignore them.
"That all you got, Red?"
"If you don't quit calling me that, I'm gonna start callin' you 'Blue'!"
"Go for it, Red—won't bother me none!"
"You—"
"Would you both knock it off!" Ichigo finally snapped. He spun around to pin both troublesome idiots with a hard glare. "If you two can't shut up and help me look for my brothers, then leave."
Both males blinked at the pure frustration rolling off Ichigo in heated waves.
The orangette didn't relax until he realized that both teens were actually shutting up. He let his shoulders slump but then they tensed once more when a high-pitched gasp echoed through the barren halls.
All eyes turned to see that Rukia had gone on ahead. She was at the end of the hall and looking around the corner, with a hand covering her mouth and large, midnight blue eyes wide with horror.
"Ichigo quick!" She squeaked out, making said orangette jump to life. He bolted towards her and practically skidded around the corner to see what had Rukia so petrified.
It took Ichigo a good, long second to really register what he was seeing.
At first all he saw were three colors lumped together on the floor: Black, White, and Red.
He realized that the black was actually leather, the white belonged to the familiar pale skin of his older brother, Shirosaki, but then the red must be…
"Shiro!" Ichigo was by his brother's side in an instant, not caring if blood soaked through Kon's gray skinny jeans. "Shiro?" Ichigo said in a much softer voice, but it was soaked in desperation and disbelief.
Ichigo felt his breathing was becoming erratic. He quickly leaned forward to press his ear to Shiro's chest, hoping beyond hope that he could still hear his brother's beating heart but his ears were ringing. Ichigo couldn't tell if it was from the adrenaline or the fire-alarms from earlier—all he knew was that he couldn't hear A DAMN THING!
Huffing in frustration, Ichigo slid up closer so he could grasp the other's face in both hands and pressed his fingertips lightly into the skin below his chin.
He was still warm and, thankfully, Ichigo could feel the light beating of a pulse beneath his gentle touch.
"Shiro. Hey… Can you hear me?" Ichigo reached out both verbally and mentally, hoping to get a reaction out of the silent man.
Grimmjow and Renji were meanwhile standing to the side, shell-shocked and having no idea what to do.
As much of a pain in the ass Shirosaki was he was still Grimmjow's brother; foster or no.
"Hey! Listen—get an ambulance here quick!"
Renji and the others turned to see Rukia on her phone.
"We're at Karakura High…" Rukia paused to turn on her heels so she didn't have to look at the gory scene any more. "What do you mean there's already an ambulance here? Look—can you just let them know someone's hurt inside the school. I think he was shot. There's blood everywhere!" Rukia was getting hysterical now, so Renji gently took the phone from her so he could take over the conversation.
Ichigo quickly looked back down when he heard a pained moan come from the once silent body. He quickly released Shiro's face, scared that maybe he was hurting him, but then he felt another pair of hands grab his own.
Ichigo glanced up to see that Grimmjow was now kneeling on Shiro's other side.
"Don't stop…" He urged as he forced Ichigo's hands back onto pale, white skin.
"What? Why?" Ichigo whispered, too scared to really use his voice.
This whole situation seemed so surreal—like a terrible nightmare he couldn't escape.
Grimmjow pursed his lips for a moment but then looked Ichigo directly in the eyes as he said, "I know this is gonna sound crazy… But I think you can heal him."
Ichigo scrunched his brows and frowned but didn't remove his hands from Shiro's face. "You can't be serious!" Ichigo whispered harshly but Grimmjow's expression told him that he was very serious.
Ichigo forced himself to look away from that intense, blue gaze. Instead, he chose to look back down at Shiro's face. If it weren't for the blood sprinkled across his face, contrasting brightly against the white skin, then it would look like the teen was merely asleep…
"I can't…" Ichigo choked. There was just no way! He knew that he, himself, was a very fast healer. He never really got sick, drugs clear from his system in record time, bruises and cuts take minutes to heal while broken bones could take less than 24 hours to heal completely.
The atmosphere became incredibly tense but then Ichigo got distracted when he noticed Renji was pulling Rukia towards the side entrance.
"Rukia, calm down okay! Let's go and call Byakuya. We'll let him know what's going on and we'll tell him that we found Ichigo. Okay? C'mon."
"Ichigo. Look at my face."
Said orangette's focus snapped back to Grimmjow and he did as asked—he let his gaze roam the teen's perfectly clean face.
"You see any bruises?"
Ichigo scrunched his face in confusion.
"No…"
"Exactly!" Grimmjow exclaimed. "This mornin' you popped me good in the jaw! It should be swellin' right now! And I know I had a bruise from the dodgeball yesterday. Also, my nose should look like a clown's right now after Shiro tripped me in Gym. But there's nothin'. Don'tchya see?" Realization was slowly dawning on Ichigo, but there was no way that… "It's 'cause of you."
"I… I don't think—" Ichigo was cut off by a shriek. Both teens snapped their heads up to see that Rukia and Renji had paused while passing Kaien's office.
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!?" Rukia cried and Renji tried to quickly pull her away and shield her eyes.
"What happened? What's going on?!" Ichigo demanded, but they didn't seem to hear him over their own panic.
"I'll go see what's up. Stay here and try to heal Shiro, kay?" Grimmjow didn't wait for a response as he rose to his feet, grimacing when he could feel how much blood had soaked into his jeans. But he didn't say anything as he bolted away, towards the Kuchiki siblings.
Ichigo tried to calm himself by taking in deep breaths but they came out more like tiny gasps. It felt like there was an invisible force wrapping around his chest, constricting it and squeezing on his frantic heart.
"Please wake up Shiro," Ichigo whispered hurriedly. "I'm so sorry I was mad at you before, okay? I promise I won't ever yell at you again. I-I don't care how many people you've slept with, alright? I don't even care that their pictures are on your stupid phone. Please come back…"
Ichigo began to lose hope as he watched Shiro's shallow breaths grow weaker by the second. He let his thumbs smooth across Shiro's high cheek bones, accidentally smearing some of the blood, but it didn't matter; Shirosaki was still as handsome as ever…
Ichigo smiled sadly and then leaned down even further so that his face hovered just above Shiro's own.
"The one time you needed me and I couldn't be there for you… I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me*."
He hesitated for only a second before pressing his lips against Shiro's unresponsive ones.
It was brief and derisory, but Ichigo was able to feel a small spark of happiness before it fluttered away—back to be devoured by reality.
When Ichigo sat back up, he was disappointed when he still received no response from his brother.
Nothing.
'Oh yeah… That's right. This isn't a stupid fairy-tail. A kiss won't bring him back.' Ichigo chuckled to himself humorlessly. He felt his emotions turn stale and sour as he watched another weak gasp pass through Shiro's parted lips and then he went eerily still.
Ichigo let his hands slowly drop from Shiro's face. He let his gaze drop to the crimson puddle of blood that surrounded him. Ichigo paused to stare at his reflection when he noticed his own emotionally-dead eyes staring back at him. And that's when he saw it: The large footprints, soaked in his brother's blood, leading towards the side entrance.
He knew those footprints didn't belong to Grimmjow, since the bluenette's led to Kaien's office and were a little bigger. And neither Renji nor Rukia could have made those.
Ichigo instantly jumped to his feet and started sprinting in that direction, bursting his way through the double doors and nearly toppling the line of emergency care-takers who were making their way inside. But he didn't pay any attention to their gasps/exclamations. He didn't even take notice of the ambulance and police lights flashing. He was so blinded by his own rage that he never even heard Grimmjow's voice calling for him to come back—all of his attention was solely focused on the hooded figure large cement walls surrounding the school. The figure was heading straight for the exit that led towards the football field. Rage flooded Ichigo's limbs and he used that rage to fuel his movements. A snarl made its way to his lips as he took off running.
"Shit…" Grimmjow cursed, torn between staying to make sure Shiro was okay and following the emotionally unstable Ichigo to make sure he didn't get himself killed. "You better not be dead asshole." Grimmjow grumbled as he looked back to see the nurses working on his foster-brother. He then glanced towards Kaien's office to see that Getsuga was also being taken care of.
Unlike Shiro, Getsuga was at least showing signs of life by growling and pushing at the hands, which were only trying to inspect his bleeding eye-socket. Rukia and Renji were trying to soothe him—even though they didn't really know him—but Getsuga refused to listen; He was just too unstable at the moment. Which was understandable: the dude's eye had been carved out, after all**.
With one last mumbled curse, Grimmjow jumped into a full-blown sprint, blue eyes locked on the ball of orange fuzz fading in the distance.
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"And where the hell have you been!?"
Mugetsu raised a brow as he saw Yoruichi stomp her way towards an odd-looking man. He was dressed up in loose, Japanese-styled clothing; complete with wooden clogs and a green striped hat. He was even fanning himself with one of those collapsible, wooden hand-fans.
"Who, me? I was just taking a leisurely walk through town when I noticed the commotion. I thought maybe I should investigate."
Both Mugetsu and Gin looked and saw that Yoruichi didn't believe a word he just said.
"Yeah... Uh-huh. Gimme my gun." She demanded as she held out her hand. The man just smiled before snapping his fan closed and, before Mugetsu could even blink, the item was replaced with a gun.
That had Mugetsu's inner alarms screaming at him. Something isn't right about this guy.
"Oh, and since you're here, you wouldn't happen to have Kon's tracker, would you?" Yoruichi said as she snatched her weapon back and slid it back into the holster at her hip.
The man smiled once more before reaching into one of his sleeves to reveal a small device that resembled a thin cellphone. "Now, honey—you know I never leave home without it!"
Mugetsu raised a brow curiously while Gin just seemed amused by the whole situation.
"Okay wait. Who are you and what is that?" Mugetsu finally seemed to have found his voice.
Mischievous grey eyes snapped up to lock gazes with him before a playful grin spread across his lips.
"Ah yes! You wouldn't remember me. You were so little back then! But my, oh my, you've grown into a handsome young man!" The man cooed while patting his shoulder. Mugetsu immediately cringed away from the contact. His instincts were telling him not to trust this man.
"My name is Urahara Kisuke. Yoruichi here is my wife and I guess you could say I'm Kon's foster-father."
Well duh—Mugetsu had assumed thatmuch but at least he got a straight answer from the man.
"I'm Mugetsu Kurosaki. But I guess you already knew that."
"I did!" Kisuke chuckled as he returned his attention to the device. He didn't look up as he began explaining what it was. "And to answer your second question: This is a tracking-device. When Kon was little, I took the liberty of planting a tracker on him, or rather in him—his blood to be specific—just in case a situation like this ever arose."
Before Mugetsu could question the crazy man, Yoruichi spun around and started dragging Kisuke and Mugetsu towards the parking lot, leaving Gin to follow on his own. "Enough talking; let's use my cruiser and get going. I'm sure that whoever took Kon has a good head-start by now…"
Kisuke pursed his lips as he inspected the device closely. "Not necessarily…" He hummed curiously, seemingly unphazed by the fact that Yoruichi was pretty much carrying him through the parking lot by the back of his coat. Mugetsu, on the other hand, was struggling to break free from her vice-like grip.
"What do you mean, Mr. Kisuke?" Gin said, amused smile still in place.
"I mean, Mr Ichimaru, that Kon isn't too far away and he doesn't seem to be going anywhere…"
"Then let's go get him!" Mugetsu exclaimed and his step instantly picked up speed but he was brought to a stop by Yoruichi's firm grip.
"Actually… I think you should stay here with Gin." She said with a sad, sympathetic smile, and before he could argue, she continued, "You need to relax and take it easy for now…" She urged gently while placing her hand over his chest, just above his fragile heart.
Mugetsu sighed when he finally understood what she was getting at.
"Right…" He nodded. "At least call me if you find him."
"Not 'if', kiddo. When." Kisuke replied, determination laced in his otherwise chipper voice. The confidence he heard behind each word eased Mugetsu's conscience and he nodded once more.
"You're right… So get going. I'll stay here with Gin."
Both husband and wife nodded simultaneously and then disappeared into Yoruichi's police cruiser without another word.
Mugetsu turned to face Gin, but frowned when he noticed the silver-haired man was no longer at his side. He spun until he caught sight of his so-called body-guard and quickly walked up to him. When he saw that Gin was looking at something in the distance, Mugetsu let his gaze follow to where he assumed Gin was looking (the man usually had his eyes closed for some reason).
Mugetsu blinked when he realized there were ambulances and police cars surrounding the school's front entrance. People in uniforms were rushing in and out of the door and, if Mugetsu listened hard enough, he could hear them shouting back and forth at each other urgently but he couldn't make out any words.
"Well that doesn't look good… Wonder if someone got hurt," Gin mumbled with a frown.
Mugetsu felt his gut twist anxiously at that.
There was a very good chance that someone was hurt, and there was an even better chance that one of his brothers were involved.
"Come on. Let's go see." Mugetsu started forward, gaining speed with each step until he was sprinting towards the doors.
By the time they got there, two gurneys were being pushed out of the building.
Mugetsu let out a frightened gasp when he saw that not just one but TWO of his brothers were being carried towards the bed of the ambulance.
Getsuga and Shirosaki.
It was so surreal. Because not even 24 hours ago that role had been reversed—Mugetsu had been the one in the ambulance heading to the hospital.
Oh shit! The hospital!
"No wait!" Mugetsu shouted as he watched two men lift Getsuga's gurney inside the ambulance.
"Sir, please stay back." A random police officer tried pushing the frantic man away.
"Sir, those are his brothers. I suggest you let him pass." Gin explained, both his tone and creepy smile compelling the man to do as he said.
When the officer's arm dropped, Mugetsu immediately pushed passed him and jumped forward before the doors to the vehicle closed.
"WAIT! Please!" That finally got the workers' attention. "Which hospital are you taking them!?"
"The Karakura Hospital. It's the closest one."
"No! You can't take them there. Please! You have to take them somewhere else, anywhere else."
"Sir." One of the workers huffed, irritation clear in his voice. "These kids are dying. I don't have time to argue with you about this. Now, you can either hop in and come with us or just wait here."
"Mu…"
Mugetsu looked up and nearly choked on his gasp as he watched Getsuga turn his head towards him, revealing the gorey mess that covered the right side of his face. The skin there looked raw and tender, covered completely in blood—even though one of the workers inside was trying his best to wipe the mess away.
The most shocking part though, was the gaping hole that peered back at him.
"Oh god… Getsuga." Mugetsu hopped inside the ambulance, followed closely by Gin, but a commotion outside made the man pause.
One of the workers, the one that had snapped at Mugetsu, sighed before jumping out to see what was going on. The other just shrugged and continued sanitizing Getsuga's wound.
"Muge…tsu…" Getsuga whispered and Mugetsu felt a whole range of emotions swell inside him when he realized that this was his first time hearing the other's voice; it was deep, gritty and seemed to have an odd echo to it—almost as if two people were speaking at the same time, but it still sounded like music to his ears.
Mugetsu winced when a tiny voice in the back of his head said that this might be the last time he heard it.
"I'm here, brother. Everything's okay." Mugetsu whispered comfortingly as he knelt down so he could look the other in his one remaining eye.
"Mugetsu…" Getsuga repeated, this time there was a little more urgency in the word. "My pocket…" He said, urging Mugetsu to feel in it until he fished out the item inside, which turned out to be the teen's cell-phone.
"What—" He instantly went quiet when he realized the other was about to speak again.
"Pictures inside… A journal… Zangetsu… You can't trust him." He kept pausing to catch his breath. Even just speaking seemed to be sapping away what little energy he had left.
"I don't understand." Mugetsu whispered back, while glancing down at the phone. After a moment of silence, Mugetsu looked back up to find that Getsuga had gone limp.
Mugetsu felt his chest tighten in panic, but then sighed in relief when he saw the gentle rise and fall of Getsuga's chest.
He was still alive!
"Sir! Please get back on the gurney!"
"Dude, get the fuck off me! You touch me again and I'll break your fuckin' arm, ya got that?" A familiar voice growled and Mugetsu was out of the ambulance in an instant.
"Shiro! Thank god you're alright!" Mugetsu was so happy that his first reaction was to scoop Shirosaki into a bone-crushing hug, but he hesitated when he saw all the blood. "Shit! Are you hurt?"
Shiro seemed confused by the question at first, but then he looked down and blinked with a frown. "Huh… I guess so?" He sounded so unsure. Mugetsu quickly reached out and pulled the teen's shirt up, covering Shiro's face in the process and making him splutter, "The fuck!?"
Muge's sharp eyes inspected every inch of the others pale skin, but he didn't see any wounds.
Cuts? No.
Bruises? No.
Lots of blood? Yes.
But he couldn't find the source of it.
"Shiro, where did the blood come from? Is it someone else's? Is it Getsuga's?" Mugetsu questioned with a hard stare, his older-brother voice coming out in full-force, making Shirosaki cringe.
"Woah, woah! Slow down a sec. Quit interrogatin' me!" Shirosaki stepped back and pushed his shirt down, effectively snatching it from Mugetsu's grip. "And what do you mean…? Oh! Oh shit! Getsuga! FUCK! That trigger-happy sonuva bitch took his fuckin' eye! HIS EYE, MUGE!"
"I know! He's right over—" Mugetsu's jaw snapped shut and his eyes nearly bugged out his head when he saw that the ambulance that he'd just jumped out of, the same one that was carrying his little brother, was gone. "Those assholes! They better not be taking him to the Karakura Hospital!" He snarled.
Just as he turned to continue interrogating Shiro, his pocket started vibrating and chirping obnoxiously. He quickly dug out his cell phone and looked to see that the caller's ID said: Gin.
Mugetsu felt his brow furrow in confusion and he quickly glanced around to see that his silver-haired body-guard was nowhere to be seen. That's odd… And another thing that had goosebumps erupting across Mugetsu's skin was the fact that he didn't remember ever asking for the man's number.
So when did he…?
Mugetsu made a mental note to keep a closer eye on the man in the future.
Letting the phone ring one more time, the brunette sighed before swiping his thumb across the screen. He then brought the device to his ear. "You know… I don't appreciate people snooping through my phone. Especially people I just met that day." He made sure his voice expressed how unamused he was.
He rolled his eyes at the giggle he heard on the other line.
"Mah, mah; so if we become real good buddies then ya'd be okay wit me snoopin'?"
Mugetsu chose to ignore the hidden meaning behind those words and, instead, asked a question of his own. "So where'd you run off to? We're kind of in the middle of a situation over here. Getsuga is on his way to—"
"Dun worry 'bout Getsu." Gin interrupted. "I saw you were busy wit yer other brother, and the ambulance doors were closin', so I hopped in real quick. I'm wit the poor kid right now. I'll make sure he's okay."
Mugetsu let a small smile slip onto his face at that, feeling a little more at ease. He hasn't known Gin for long and besides the guy's flirty and off-putting personality, he seemed like a good person. Mugetsu felt like he could trust him… for now.
"Okay. Thanks. We'll meet you at the hospital in a minute."
Gin didn't even hesitate as he replied, "No."
Mugetsu frowned at that and then looked up to make sure Shirosaki was still around. He watched as the teen lifted his shirt and began inspecting the front of his body, paying special attention to a spot on his chest, right below his collarbone. Then he dropped the shirt to examine his jacket. Shirosaki groaned in frustration when he saw the giant hole in the leather right at his shoulder. "That fucker is so dead!" He hissed.
Mugetsu rolled his eyes once more, but then brought his attention back to Gin. "Wait. What do you mean 'No'?"
"Okay. Listen to me very carefully, Mugetsu." The seriousness in Gin's tone had said man's heart beating against his chest nervously. "When we hang up, I'm gonna text ya an address. You need ta take Shiro and go straight there. Don't stop anywhere, don't talk to anyone,and delete the text as soon as ya get there" He paused to let the information soak into Mugetsu's memory before adding, "Ya get all that?"
Mugetsu blinked as he looked around anxiously at nothing in particular. "Yeah… But what about my brothers? I have no idea where Kon or Ichigo are."
At the mention of their youngest brother, Shirosaki's head snapped up, inverted eyes wide with sudden realization. "Oh shit! Ichi!"
When it looked like Shirosaki was about to bolt away to find said teen, Mugetsu quickly snatched the teen's wrist and pulled him close. He then wrapped an arm around Shiro's chest so that the struggling teen's back was pinned against him.
"Don't worry about 'em right now." Mugetsu was about to snap at him for that, but Gin was quick to add, "Look, I know it's hard, but ya gotta do as I say. Yoruichi n' Urahara're gonna find Kon—I 'ave no doubt 'bout that. And nothin's gonna happen to Ichigo."
Mugetsu felt one brow rise in surprise at that. "Why do you sound so sure…?" He asked as he struggled to keep the struggling mass of white flesh in his grip.
Gin only chuckled in reply before the line suddenly went dead.
Mugetsu sighed at that.
Typical.
Everyone seemed to enjoy keeping him and his brothers in the dark.
…
..
.
..
…
TBC
Sooo… That's it for now!
Will the brothers ever find their way back to one another? Will Ichigo be okay going after Kokuto like that? Will Mugetsu be okay trusting Gin's advice?
Who knows~!
Stay tuned for more exciting adventures of the STAR BROTHERS!
Buahaha~
AGAIN! IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, OR ARE JUST CONFUSED ABOUT SOMETHING, PLEASE PM ME AND I WILL ANSWER TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY!
Thank you for reading!
You're awesome ;D
* - I'm sure you guys realized this by now, but I LOVE putting in references to earlier chapters. This is one is obviously for Ch.21: "Please Don't Hate Me."
**- You know… I was actually debating with myself on whether I should have Getsuga lose an eye or an ear. I did this as a reference for the anime. After all, Getsuga represents Ichigo's Vasto-Lorde form, and that form disappeared when his horn broke off. But I felt an eye would be more… meaningful. Especially after Ch. 19: "Such Pretty Eyes." But that's just my opinion.