The Chemical Reaction

Atagoki: Thanks to everyone for bearing with me. I was kinda disappointed about the amount of reviews I got, but I won't let that discourage me. I must remain leh optimistic! xD Also, I just posted my new fic, Fairytales Are Fiction, and it's going to be hilarious and rife with pairings, be it crack or not. Doesn't matter. It's going to mainly be IchiRuki and any other pairings added will be based on the fandom's opinion and requests. ;) So...enjoy.

Warnings: Language.

Disclaimer: LOL if you think I own Bleach.

Chapter 8:

'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown — Frou Frou

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"The prisoner refuses to eat or drink. She's being stubborn." A young man complained.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. And to think she was one of us. She totally compromised us. God only knows what she gave that young schmuck. Lord. He's probably planning an attack as we speak. We could all be dead in a matter of minutes!" A dramatic voice cried from the trio of the workers.

"Oh, for God's sake; shut the hell up!" Renji spat at the staff in the area. "You're not going to die in a matter of minutes so get your panties out of a twist and go get me some restraining straps so I can force feed her."

"I don't need force feeding, Abarai-san." Rukia spat.

He glared daggers at her cell where she sat, making faces at him. "You shut up."

"No!" her face suddenly changed. "Renji...am I really going to die?"

He scratched his head at a loss for words. As he opened his mouth, her own voice interrupted.

"As I thought."

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"What the hell do you mean I can't go 'cavorting about?' I need to save Rukia and I need to save her now! She's going to die if I don't—"

"And what of yourself? You think you'll be just fine and dandy running about in a place you don't know jack about?" Jinta snapped back.

"Shut up, kid."

"Don't tell me to shut up!"

"All right, all right! That's enough. Let's just stop this nonsense. Kurosaki, you don't know enough about this place to go by yourself without any experience. A lot of the people who work here are experts in their respective fields. So let me break it down for you. Exactly how are you going to get out of there?"

"I'll run."

The blond man nodded, pulling the brim of his hat down and hid behind his fan to stifle a laugh. "You'll run?"

Ichigo nodded.

Urahara burst out laughing and slapped his knee with his now closed fan. "You're a laughing riot, Kurosaki. Anyone ever tell you that?"

"I'm serious!"

"Well you might want to rethink that considering she's a capital offender. Like they're going to let you just waltz out with her. Look. I can help you."

Ichigo folded his arms and eyed the shopkeeper. "And why would you do that?"

"Because I can."

"That's not satisfying enough."

Urahara composed himself and flapped out his fan. "Tough. As far as I'm concerned, you need to be more aware of defense too."

"Defense?"

"Yeah. You ought to plan on fighting when it comes to getting in and getting her out."

Ichigo scratched his head. "Erm...I wasn't planning on it to be honest."

Urahara laughed again. "Kurosaki, you never fail to rush into something headfirst. So, let's see...let's do ten days."

"Ten days? Why ten? And what do you mean by that?"

"Because nine isn't enough and eleven is too risky of Rukia's life. So let's get started. What are your skills?"

"Eh...computers?"

Jinta rolled his eyes and leaned against a paper wall. "God, this is going to take forever."

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"Orihime-san, you've barely touched your dinner. Are you all right?" Tatsuki asked, placing her chopsticks down and dabbing her mouth with the napkin.

"I'm worried about Ku—well...I'm just tired. Yes." Orihime smiled reassuringly at her friend.

"I gather your smile is supposed to be reassuring, but unfortunately, I'm not assured. Why don't you tell me the problem?"

"It's not important."

"If it has you this worked up, I'm sure it is. Just tell me, all right?"

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"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and repeat. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and repeat." Urahara chanted, reading his book. "Have you finished fencing yet?"

"Fencing? I'm poking a sack of flour with a fucking broom handle!"

"Oh? So you're ready for something more advanced?" Urahara asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes!" Ichigo snapped back.

The shopkeeper set his book down and grabbed his cane, stroking the wooden finish on it then smiled and stood up, and lurched forward in a surprising frenzy. His cane came whizzing by Ichigo's head and Ichigo instinctively ducked. Urahara used the handle of his cane to latch onto Ichigo's collar and pulled him forward, sending him sprawling forward on the ground. He used a sandaled foot to step on Ichigo's black and leaned down, grinning. "Obviously, you're not. Continue. And perhaps when you break the sack with one attack, I'll move you onto something else."

"But the sack is impossible to break!"

"No it's not. Just remind yourself why you're fighting. Perhaps that's inspiration enough?" Urahara reminded, whistling as he walked away.

Ichigo rolled over and grabbed the broom stick lying on the ground, and looked to see an exact-o knife of the desk. He could rip this sucker open and move on. But his conscious bothered him. It whispered that cheating would only hurt him so much more later on. And so he gripped the broom stick tighter and looked at it. It wasn't sharp. Perhaps that would help? Or not. Probably not. Urahara would have probably hinted at that...right?

He looked at the bag. It had a tacky bright yellow smiley face on it. It made him want to blow it up just staring at it. And then he suddenly thought of Rukia's smile. The one she had when she talked to Orihime. But that was a fake smile. A kind one you exchanged with friends. But there was one she gave him once. Probably when she heard him make a joke about Renji's hair. She laughed and fell on the ground and grinned. Then she regained composure. A grin tugged at the corners of her lips, but she seemed to resist it strongly.

Ichigo shook his head and whacked the flour. A sifting sound was heard and a puff of white powder slowly sifted down. And then the day he escaped, it was a frown buried underneath a smile. The last time he ever saw her, she was crying. Fucking crying. It was his goddamn fault. It was unfair. Rukia deserved better. So much better. But that fuck Renji did this to her. She didn't know, but he heard the two yelling their brains out at each other outside his holding area over her close association. Renji pushed her to this extreme. And that brother of hers. That man who freaking attacked him from behind. The man that seemed to make Rukia feel as cold as ice. No way was he letting these fucks take her away. Especially from him.

"I'm not letting you die, Rukia!" He shouted to himself, then whacked the sack of flour and a huge puff of powder came out. As it settled, he saw he had only made a tiny hole towards the middle. Ichigo sighed.

"Follow me, Kurosaki. I think you're ready for lesson one."

Atagoki: Hm. It was a so-so chapter IMO. xD Sorry it's taken me so long to update. Hopefully everyone likes this one. There's lots more to come and some more characters to get introduced. Enjoy and while you're reading this, just click that small "Go" button and leave me a lovely review. A small one or a short one, it doesn't matter. Thanks!