A/N: So first off, thank you to everyone, for reviews and well wishes. We laid my Grandfather to rest yesterday, rest his soul. A lightening moment I wanted to share with you all was he was a Vietnam Veteran, and the army was scheduled to give him a 21 gun salute that day. Well... they gave him a 22 gun salute instead. They had seven men, and they all fired three times, and then bent down to pick up the shells; one of the guns went off again. It was a small thing, but that actually meant a lot for me, since he always went the extra mile for everyone. The army gave him an extra shot. But enough of that. This chapter might not be as long as I'd hoped it would be, but I've tried to work on it off and on for you, since I didn't want you all to wait too long for the next chapter. Please, enjoy, and thank you again for all your support.
~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~ (Ichigo's POV)
He couldn't think. His mind was racing all over the place, and here Orihime was, expecting some kind of an answer but unable to give one, either. He knew, knew he should explain everything, but his eyes kept darting to where Uryuu had disappeared off to, knowing with every second he was slipping further and further away. He had to do something.
Just as Orihime had closed her lips only to open them again, ready to say something, he gave her the most apologetic look he could muster, and placed a hand on her shoulder. Then took off around her, yelling over his shoulder at her,
"Call my cell later, I promise I'll tell you everything then!"
He heard no responce from behind him, but he couldn't and wouldn't let that slow him down. It was too late at night, and even though Uryuu's body was healed, he had run from Orihime of all people. That in itself was a warning bell if nothing else was. He needed to catch him before something horrible happened.
~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~ (Uryuu's POV)
The ground seemed to fly beneath his feet, far quicker and easier than before, even though the cold of the night was chilling him to the bone, and he stumbled every other step. Moving seemed to keep his brain functioning, and somehow, it also seemed to keep the shadows at bay; for now. Still, he half believed that somehow he had died just a little while ago, but other parts of his mind chided him for his stupidity. Obviously he'd run away from someone who had healed him. Someone who could have helped him.
A flash of orange from his memory argued against that fact. Ichigo didn't have any healing powers, nor if he had them, would he use them on him.
Unless he wanted a round two.
The sudden, frightful thought send a deeper chill trembling down his spine, and for a second, his gait faltered, but he managed to catch himself before he fell. A round two? As in, start this entire ordeal over again?
He did say in the hospital, how he loved to torture him.
Oh god. If the running hadn't already made Uryuu's breathing heavy, he could feel the dizziness coming on from lack of oxygen. He was never going to be rid of this ordeal. Ichigo would always be there in the shadows that haunted him, destroying and healing his body until there was nothing left of him to heal OR destroy. He was going to kill him without killing him. This was to be his life.
Already, he could feel tears flooding to his eyes, and very slowly, his stride lessened along with his speed until he had come to a stand-still on the streets, standing under a street lamp just like that first night. It wasn't the lamp, or the inevitable 'swish' sound that took hold of his mind, however. It wasn't the darkness around him bluring the edges of normal objects and morphing them into ominous, looming threats. It wasn't even the thought of dying that his entire body was rejecting at the moment.
It was the thought of living this way that seemed to tear through his entire body, tightening in on his chest and churning in his gut. He couldn't keep running away like a coward; he'd never allowed himself to do that before, so why had he started...? He had actively avoided Ichigo as much as humanly possible, and where had that gotten him? Bruised, battered, bloody and broken. Well, Ichigo had made the mistake of healing him, and even though he still was no closer to regaining his Quincy powers, he was now back in fighting shape.
But he's stronger than you.
Uryuu shook his head, trying to quiet the nagging voice that kept trying to run cold fingers down his spine. He tried to ignore the way the shadows curled in on themselves in the edges of his vision, or the sinking feeling that Ichigo was coming up on him from behind; tried to forget the sweat dripping from his brow and palms, or the dangerously quickened pace of his heart.
Even if you fight, there's nothing you can do. You've tried before, and it didn't work.
Deep breaths. Inhale, exhale. Uryuu closed his eyes for a moment, trying desperately to slow his climbing heart beat. He was okay. He would make it.
You're going to be his play-thing forever.
Re-opening his eyes, it was all Uryuu could do to grit his teeth together and clench his fists. He forced him to take a measured step forward, at least pleased that his legs weren't trembling as bad as he felt they should. Still, the shadows continued to dance in his vision, and he could feel shadowy fingers winding their way around his ankles, trying to steal what little will he was mustering away from him again.
Scream. Struggle. Hide, if you must.
Uryuu froze midstep, hearing the words in Ichigo's voice. His throat closed over even as the memory of the first night flooded his veins, the horror of the first time hitting him all over again.
Round Two.
Don't run. Don't make a noise. Uryuu winced as the cold breeze flipped a strand of his hair into his face, but rather than flick it off, he forced himself to take another slow, agonizing step forward. He wouldn't run away. But where was he going? What could he do?
No one can save you now.
This time, when Uryuu shivered, it shook his entire body with its force. The fingers at his ankles were crawling into his skin, cold and slimy and tainted with Ichigo's own evil, sadistic plans, and Uryuu had to bite his lip hard enough to draw blood to stop a whimper from escaping. He needed to do something, and that something had to be now. But what was he to do? Where could he go that Ichigo couldn't reach him, and what would that even accomplish?
And why was he still thinking of running away?
The sudden sound of footsteps behind him reminded Uryuu exactly why he was running, and in a second, his body seized up and his muscles contracted, pushing him into a dead run, but the shadows already had their grip on him. His legs went weak beneath him, and he found himself crumbling head first into the road. Pain bloomed in his cheek, shoulder and knees as he skidded, feeling every jagged edge of the road digging painfully into his flesh. Just as painful were the ever creeping shadows, taking advantage of his vulnerable state and coiling around him, tight and freezing. It was almost enough to make him forget the footsteps.
Almost.
What did start to drown out the footsteps was the thrumming of blood in his ears, building from nothing to a steadily climbing roar that seemed to be louder in the ear pressed to the road than the one pointed skyward. He'd waited too long, and now Ichigo had caught up with him, ready to begin the torture all over again. Part of him wanted to claw his way up from the road and keep running until he couldn't stand another step, no matter where he went or ended up; and part of him just wanted to burst into hysterical tears. He couldn't take this anymore, and it was driving him mad.
He was becoming crazy; even starting to see things, like moving lights that shouldn't be there, fastening on him and growing over his body like the shadows attempted to do. Hearing things, like the sudden, startling blare of a car horn...
His eyes snapped to the side, widening as his body struggled to move, to get up, do anything that would get him out of the way of the oncoming car, but every movement he made only made his muscles spasm weakly, doing nothing to help him up.
So it wasn't Ichigo who would kill him after all. He would meet a messy death under the tread of a renegade automobile, unable to even pick himself up off the road after stumbling into it in the first place. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping at least it would be quick, if not painless, and seconds later he felt the shadows wrap their sticky arms around him, but the sensation that came next was perhaps worse than being run over. His stomach lifted into his throat before dropping heavily, and the car horn that was blaring its death call to him passed by his ears a small distance away.
Uryuu felt himself stiffen even as he chanced a glance upward, only to have orange bleed into his vision. So Ichigo did have control of the shadows, winding their way through his entire body, sinking underneath the skin and blocking him from any kind of movement. His breath hitched for a single second before it cut off; this was it. This would start the torture all over again that would kill him from the inside out.
The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.
"Just kill me already..."
~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~ (Ichigo's POV)
He rounded the corner, the only way Uryuu could have gone, only to hear the rumbling of a car. It was late at night, but it wasn't uncommon to still have people driving at night. What was uncommon was right in front of him, several yards away, he watched as Uryuu tripped into the road, falling face first and not getting up.
The car never started to slow down.
"Uryuu!" the cry was wrenched from his throat, competing in volume with the car horn as he forced his legs faster, but even still, it didn't look like he would make it in time.
After all this, he was going to lose Uryuu to something as stupid as a car! Grinding his teeth, his body acted upon impulse, his hand shoving into his pocket to grab the Shinigami badge he always wore on his body, slamming it into his chest without a care for the body he left behind. He heard his body slam into the ground behind him, but his mind was already on the necessary effort to Flash Step. Within a second, he was beside Uryuu, gripping his body as tightly as possible to his chest as he Flash Stepped again, out of the way of the car.
As soon as he made it to the sidewalk, he heard the blare of the car horn whiz past, and though a fraction of his mind was busy murdering the driver that COULD have slammed on the breaks but didn't, he found his attention drawn to the suddenly stiff and breathless man in his arms. He tried to hold Uryuu tight to his chest, but as soon as he started to, he heard the tiniest whisper, half begging and half pleading,
"Just kill me already..."
Ichigo was pretty sure his heart broke right there. It was his fault that Uryuu was this way. His fault things had happened to him, and his fault that he hadn't seen it or stopped it sooner. It had been his hollow that had hurt Uryuu, and now, he had to find a way to make it right. Gripping Uryuu tighter, flinching at the way Uryuu whimpered softly, he gathered the energy for his Flash Step again with a destination in mind: Uryuu's house.
~.X.~ ~.X.~ ~.X.~
The window was locked. Ichigo frowned at Uryuu's bedroom window, wondering why it might be locked, even as a flash of the dream in school came back to him. It had been Uryuu's bedroom he had been in. So now the window was locked: to keep him out. Fighting off rogue tears, Ichigo jumped down from the branch he was balancing on, making sure Uryuu was fastened in his arms as he hit the ground, and tried the door. This one swung in without any resistance, and darkness met his eyes. It didn't seem like anyone was home.
Uryuu still hadn't opened his eyes, and for a moment, Ichigo wondered if he had passed out on him again, but the quiet whimper from the man when Ichigo sat him down on the couch spoke otherwise. Then Ichigo just crouched at the side of the couch, watching Uryuu with a pained expression. What could he say to make up for what he'd done? For what he'd allowed to be done? How could he tell him he was sorry, and how could anything he said be good enough?
When Uryuu finally cracked an eyelid open, he flinched and recoiled into himself on the couch, away from Ichigo, his eyes wide and watching him carefully, and that made his decision for him. Standing up, Ichigo fished in his pocket for the amulet that Urahara had given him.
'Tell Isshin.' his warning was still fresh in his head, but oh well.
He was ready to be done with his hollow anyway. With a deep breath, he yanked the chain over his head and the amulet swung against his chest cavity with the weight of a bull dozer behind it, knocking his breath from him. He felt his entire body constricting and collapsing, his breathing faltering even as the ground rose quickly to meet his vision.
He never felt the pain of impact, he only felt the weight as he blinked, looking out over the sideways building.
He was within his own mind, and ready to give his hollow a fight to the death if he had to.