Ichigo considered the ornamental tea service with mild dismay.
He remembered one of his history teachers saying that the upper classes started out pretty much he same as the peons, but then started doing things in a different or more complicated manner to separate themselves from the common herd. In his opinion, this intricate tea ceremony was a perfect example of the phenomenon.
But he was trying to learn, so it was time to cooperate. Ichigo served the tea and scattered the petals into it, offering Rukia the sugar bowl, which she turned down. Then he sipped his tea, looking thoughtfully into the golden liquid. It was green tea, of course. He actually preferred earl grey, with plenty of cream and sugar, but that was not considered acceptable for this sort of thing.
"Ichigo, you're forgetting something." Rukia sounded annoyed, as she usually did, and Ichigo frowned. He didn't mind the dark haired woman at all, but he could tell she didn't like him. He had no idea why and didn't really care, so outside of lessons he just tried to avoid her as much as possible. She seemed to be doing the same, so they didn't cross paths much.
"Um…" He looked over the tea service, trying to determine what he'd left out. It was actually rather obvious. "Would you like a sandwich, dear lady?" He offered her the tray and Rukia took one with a false smile.
"Thank you, dear sir." She mimicked his words with a touch of venom and Ichigo felt his eyes narrowing. Taking a deep breath he attempted to lighten the mood, taking half a cucumber sandwich and eating it whole. "Ichigo!"
"Mrph. Hey, I'm hungry." He said after a few chews and a swallow. She looked like she wanted to throw the tea at him. "When will Renji be coming by? Do you have any idea?" Ichigo asked wistfully. He was really missing his adorable redhead.
"He has duties in the living world." She said sharply and Ichigo abruptly paused. Living world?
"You guys go into the living world? Spirits can do that?" He said, awed, and she looked at him like he was a pure imbecile. Right now he didn't care a bit. "I-I only died three years ago. My family, I'd like to see them…" Tears sprang up in his eyes and Ichigo blinked, trying to hold them back. But he'd been worried about them. He knew they would all have taken his death hard, especially his dad. Rukia's expression softened slightly.
"You could ask Byakuya. Normally we would never take a plus soul into the living world for that." She hesitated a moment. "You do understand they won't be able to see you?" She asked gently and Ichigo nodded.
"Yeah, I get that. It's probably better that way, if they could see me they'd want me to stay. I just want to know that they're okay." That was simply the truth. Ichigo had completely lost any interest in living in the real world. This was his home now, and there was no going back. But he still loved his family and wanted to know that they were making it without him. "I'll ask Byakuya next time I see him." He said positively and Rukia scowled.
"That's Lord Byakuya. Show respect!" She snapped and Ichigo sighed to himself. Clearly they were back to hating each other. The lesson was pretty much over, though, and he was soon able to escape. His next lesson was with kido.
It went much better than any of his earlier lessons, and Ichigo was very pleased. He'd managed to fire off a level ten kido, which was a huge improvement. It lacked the oomph of his earlier efforts, but his instructor praised it nonetheless. In fact, maybe that had been the problem. Had he been forcing too much power into the kido? Maybe, or maybe he was just getting closer to Zangetsu and the shinigami side of his power.
Mmm. Ichigo blinked and made a soft, questioning sound. Zangetsu sounded and felt completely unenthusiastic. That was very strange.
"What, you don't think we're getting closer?" Ichigo asked. He thought they were. He was sparring with Zangetsu all the time now, and he hadn't had one of his dreams in a while. Admittedly, he didn't like that part much. He deeply enjoyed the hollow side of his nature and didn't want to be parted from it. But surely Zangetsu would approve?
We are getting closer, but it is strange. You are… different. Zangetsu sounded calm as always but Ichigo thought he caught a disturbed edge to the thought. I do not know if this is a good thing. Ichigo thought about it for a moment then shrugged.
"We'll just have to find out, eh? I'd really like to see Renji though." He thought wistfully about the sex for a moment. He didn't really know Renji all that well yet, but he wanted that sex like no one's business. And from what little he knew, Ichigo thought that Renji was a great guy and they were probably really compatible. The question was, was Renji that into him? "Well, I won't know until he gets back." He muttered to himself. That might take a while.
As it happened, it took about a week. By the end of that week, Ichigo wasn't feeling good at all and his kido's were failing from lack of power rather than too much. He also wasn't thinking much about sex. It was hard to think about sex when you were struggling to get out of bed every day.
You should go see a healer, Ichigo. There is something wrong. Zangetsu sounded genuinely worried now. Ichigo scowled and rubbed his forehead, blinking several times in an effort to stay awake.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll do that right now." He was just so damn tired. He got lost and almost ran right into Renji without even seeing him. Then he blinked as a big, warm hand gripped his shoulder.
"Ichigo! Hey, you look like shit." Ichigo smiled briefly but he could see the shock in Renji's eyes. Did he really look that bad? Then he blinked as his long neglected hollow senses reared up and informed him of something that made his lip curl. "What's wrong?"
"…Nothing." He didn't have the energy to give Renji the ass kicking he deserved. Or maybe not, it wasn't like they'd agreed to be exclusive yet. But he could smell another person on him, and his hollow side was damned certain it hadn't just been from sparring. He'd deal with that some other time. "Can you show me to the infirmary? Zangetsu says I should go." Although he'd figured it out himself. He was sleeping a solid twelve hours a night yet waking up exhausted, that simply couldn't be normal. Renji nodded, looking concerned.
"Sure, I know the way." Renji talked a bit on the walk and Ichigo tried to listen, but it was hard. Part of him wanted to be pissed as hell but just couldn't find the energy for it, and part of him was hurt. The third, rational part that sounded like Zangetsu kept reminding him they'd never worked out any ground rules. How was Renji to know he was a jealous bastard? How was he to know that the hollow part of Ichigo was inclined to kill anyone who touched his mate?
When they reached the infirmary, Ichigo lay down on a bed and let one of the healers look him over without complaint. They checked him over quickly and found nothing at all alarming.
"His reiatsu is very low, but it's nothing to be concerned about. He's probably just been training hard. Food and sleep should help." Ichigo stirred at that and frowned, propping himself up on one elbow.
"I've been sleeping all day and all night. How can more sleep help me?" He asked, feeling irritated. That was the most useless recommendation he'd ever heard. The healer blinked and frowned at him.
"That could be a form of insomnia. I do have something for that." He went into a back room and came back with several herbal powders sealed in red pouches. "These should compress your sleep back into a normal time. This pouch is herbal tea, take the others mixed with it. A tablespoon with a single cup of tea before you go to bed." Ichigo accepted them, a bit bemused and hopeful. This made a great deal more sense. If he wasn't reaching stage three sleep, perhaps that could explain why his reiatsu was so low and why he felt so bad. It was a sensible diagnosis.
"Let me help you back to your room." Renji offered and Ichigo had to hold back a hot retort. He wasn't an invalid! Still, it felt nice to have the redheaded shinigami there. "I was hoping we could… but I can see you're not up for it." He said and Ichigo grimaced. He wanted to give Renji the kind of sex that would make him completely forget his other friend. But right now, it was simply not happening. If he tried, the sex would suck and that would make the opposite point.
"I wish I could. I was dreaming about you so much a week ago." Ichigo admitted, turning his head to meet Renji's beautiful brown eyes. "I missed you. Rukia sent you went to the Living world?" He hadn't gotten a chance to ask Byakuya about taking him there, and now wouldn't be a good time anyway. "Anything interesting happen?" He wanted to hear about it, though.
"Well, I went to Karakura town and there was this Hollow…" Renji began describing the work he'd been doing and Ichigo tried very hard to concentrate on his words. He really wanted to hear these things. Why was it so hard to concentrate?
Hopefully the powders would help.
Zangetsu stood on the side of a building, looking around in concern. For the past week, Ichigo's inner world had been raining off and on, but that did not concern him. He hated the rain but what was happening now was far more alarming.
The sun had changed. Instead of the illumination of natural daylight, the sun had become cold and harsh, illuminating everything with a paler light. There was no warmth now, and when the rain started again it was not rain, it was snow. Zangetsu held out a hand to catch the flakes and realized that while he disliked rain, he disliked snow even more.
Ha! Zangetsu turned and easily parried the slow and clumsy strike, although his own movements were not swift. A white face grinned at him.
"I see you have begun to separate again." That was no surprise. Without Ichigo's embracing his hollow side, it would naturally begin to regain independence.
Yeah, that whore hasn't been by for a while. I should – hey, what's going on here? The Hollow Ichigo suddenly noticed the state of the inner world. Why is that building looking like that? He pointed and Zangetsu followed the finger to see a building that appeared to be on the verge of collapse. That was not unusual when Ichigo had a status change, since the buildings representing things important to him and such things could change. But right now, it was alarming.
"I don't know, but I believe Ichigo may be dying." He was trying to tell the boy that, but Ichigo had stopped hearing him. There was not enough reiatsu in him now to make contact with his zanpakuto.
What? Bullshit! I'll take over here if he's too much of a pussy to defend himself! Zangetsu's eye twitched in irritation. The hollow was every bit as weak as Kurosaki himself and he hadn't even noticed.
"You cannot. You are dying as well." As the hollow gaped at him, Zangetsu launched an attack. It was weak and slow but the hollow barely parried it and he had the satisfaction of seeing those black and gold eyes widen.
It's like there's no reiatsu here! What's going on? He complained as he leapt back and stumbled. It's never been like this, even before he started drinking from the lake! Zangetsu's eyes widened and hollow eyes met brown for a moment as the two of them stood in stunned realization. Oh fuck. You don't think?
"You have been here longer than me." Zangetsu admitted. He'd always been somewhat present, of course, but until Renji's training had triggered it he'd had no real consciousness. "Do you think so?"
His spiritual pressure increased like WOAH as soon as he started drinking from that thing, so I do think! But what can we do? He'll never get back there in time! The hollow was deeply upset now, and it was easy to understand why. Survival was always the deepest instinct. What do we do?
"Ichigo cannot even hear us now, so there is nothing we can do." Zangetsu watched as the building below let go and began a slow collapse. "We can only hope."
Fuck! The hollow sat down and started mumbling. I at least want to have sex with the little whore one last time… Zangetsu grimaced and tried to tune him out.
If they were all going to die, he wished the company were a bit better.
"Ichigo, stop being a sullen brat!" Rukia snapped. To say she was irritated was an understatement. Ichigo hadn't being paying any attention to her lessons for days, but now he was taking it to an absurd degree. He had arrived late, seated himself and proceeded to stare into his tea and answer her with single syllables, when he answered at all.
"Ichigo!" Rukia looked up with a frown as Danica burst into the gardens. She had as little respect for formality as Ichigo, but with the excuse that she was a child. "Hey Ichigo!" She ran over and hugged him energetically. Ichigo hardly blinked at the sudden burden. "Ichigo?" Danica pulled back her head to look into his face. "You sick?"
"He's not sick, he's just being sullen." Rukia said sharply. "Ichigo, say hello to her!" Ichigo blinked slowly as if he was trying to decipher her words.
"Hello." He finally said and Rukia gritted her teeth at the weariness in his voice. Why was he alarming the child like this?
"He's sick Rukia! Ichigo's sick!" Danica sounded scared now. "Where's Byakuya? Ichigo's sick!"
"Danica, he's not sick." She tried to reassure the girl. "The healers have looked him over three times. He's not sick." She'd checked with them after the last time and they said there was nothing wrong, just low reiatsu. The cure for that was food and rest. Danica's eyes started to fill with tears and her lower lip wobbled.
"The healers are stupid! He doesn't even feel like Ichigo! Way of Destruction One: Stinging Bee!" She fired the little kido before Rukia could stop her and it hit Ichigo in the shoulder. Rukia felt a chill as she saw no reaction at all. It was as if Ichigo didn't even feel the pain. "He should be yelling at me and throwing me in the pond! He's sick, he's really sick!"
"You… may be right. Ichigo, wait here." She told the boy, and Ichigo raised his eyes for a moment, meeting hers. She was struck by how lifeless his looked. "Stay here." She repeated before looking at Danica. "I think nii-san is in his office." She was right about that. Byakuya looked up in surprise as a little girl burst into his office, shot around the desk and began tugging on his arm. He quickly raised his pen, saving his report from a random scrawl.
"Nii-san! Ichigo is sick, really sick, you need to come!" Byakuya frowned at the girl. He hadn't given her permission to address him that way, but then the rest of her words reached him. His frown deepened. He'd been aware of the problems Ichigo was having, since the healers reported to him, but he'd been under the impression they were minor. He looked up at Rukia, who was standing in the doorway looking both frustrated and disturbed.
"Rukia, what has happened?" He asked and Rukia bit her lip before answering.
"I thought he was just being a sullen child, but… Danica used her way of destruction on him, hitting him in the shoulder, and he didn't do anything brother. He didn't even rub the burn." Rukia couldn't help the anxiety in her voice. "I know the healers say he's fine, but Danica knows him better than we do and she says he doesn't even feel like Ichigo."
"Yeah!" Danica piped up. "He doesn't feel as strong as me! He feels like he's not there!" Byakuya frowned and put down his pen, standing up.
"I will see to him." Ichigo was a ward of the clan, so it was his duty. And it would be very poor recompense for the life debt, if he let the boy die. Although it couldn't be anywhere near that serious. "Both of you remain here." He wanted to see Ichigo himself, without any other distractions. Danica tried to follow but Rukia restrained her. When Byakuya reached the classroom, Ichigo was in exactly the same position as when Rukia left. He was staring into his cooling tea and didn't look up as Byakuya settled on the cushion across from him.
Byakuya frowned as he tried to sense the boy's reiatsu. Danica was right, it felt like he wasn't even there. If Byakuya hadn't known he was there, he would never have sensed it. Given how terrible Ichigo was at controlling his reiatsu normally, this could not be a marvelous display of shielding.
"Ichigo, you are worrying everyone. What is wrong?" He asked, as gently as he could. Ichigo did not even raise his eyes. "Ichigo, look at me." It took several seconds for the boy to respond but he finally lifted his head. Brown eyes fixed on grey and Byakuya shivered at the blankness in them. It reminded him of something. But what? It took him a few moments but then he remembered. Once, Renji had taken a bad head injury. The effects had lingered for days, and it had been very frustrating because one moment he would seem to be fine and the next, his gaze would take on a strange vacantness. Byakuya had learned that when he looked like that, he was hearing the words, and understanding the words, but couldn't make the final jump to comprehending the words. Fortunately he'd recovered fully after three days. "Ichigo. Do you understand what I am saying?" Nothing. Byakuya spoke very slowly, clearly enunciating each word. "Do you understand?" It took two more repetitions before a spark of life showed in Ichigo's eyes.
"…No." The boy said softly and Byakuya watched in horror as a single tear slid down one cheek. Ichigo put his face in his hands then, and his shoulders moved as though he was sobbing, but there was no sound. Then his gaze fell on Ichigo's zanpakuto. The sword was propped in the corner of the room. It required a high level kido and it was normally considered a violation, but perhaps the spirit within could tell him what was wrong. Ichigo certainly couldn't. Byakuya took a breath and walked over to the zanpakuto, grasping the hilt.
He expected to spend many minutes, possibly even hours, coaxing the zanpakuto to speak to him. They were usually standoffish with anyone but their bonded owner. He wasn't expecting Zangetsu to practically slap him in the face with fear and desperation.
The buildings are collapsing and he is too weak to hear us. He will die soon. You must do something! Byakuya's eyes widened at the faint, weak voice of the zanpakuto. Zangetsu sounded almost as weak as Ichigo felt. Then he heard another voice, even fainter.
There goes another one! Fuck!And he heard the faintest sound of breaking glass. Ignoring that, he began to question the zanpakuto.
"What is wrong with him? What can I do?" He asked and could feel the spirit's despair.
We believe he is suffering a withdrawal from the lake waters. We only figured it out a few days ago, and Ichigo was too far gone to hear. We do not know how it can be repaired. The lake is too far, he will never survive the trip back. Byakuya's breath caught at the thought.
"But Danica is showing no signs of any problems." And she had surely been drinking the lake water as often as Ichigo.
Danica is a child, and Ichigo is unique. He was a spiritually powerful plus when he arrived, but his power increased a hundredfold when he drank from the lake. How else could he have fought you, with no training and nothing but brute force? Zangetsu said and Byakuya nodded. The zanpakuto had a point. Then that fainter voice spoke again.
I've been around longer than you, I can tell ya none of the others increased like he did. Maybe he was better adapted to the reishi.
"Reishi." Byakuya muttered. He couldn't infuse reishi into water, that was a natural miracle of the lake. But… "I can summon reishi for him." If Ichigo was sensitive to reishi, perhaps he could absorb it in a new form. He felt a flicker of hope from the zanpakuto.
It is worth a try. Hurry, you do not have much longer. Byakuya nodded and set back the zanpakuto. If Ichigo's inner world was collapsing, and it sounded like it was, he was definitely out of time. But this needed to be done outside.
"Ichigo… no, I will carry you." Byakuya pulled the boy to his feet and then lifted him, bridal style. It was surprisingly easy. In addition to his spiritual issues, Ichigo had lost weight. He carried the boy out into the gardens, ignoring the slightly odd looks his guards gave him. There was no time to worry about appearances.
Byakuya gently set Ichigo down, then kneeled on the grass behind him, pulling the boy up and putting an arm over his chest. Ichigo felt like a rag doll, completely unresisting and unresponsive. Then Byakuya closed his eyes and began to meditate.
Calling the reishi was similar to communing with a zanpakuto. It required patience and perseverance. So Byakuya ignored the warmth of the body close to his, and how delicate he felt, how light and breakable. He focused his attention on the reishi, reaching out and inviting it to come. At first the flow was slow, which was normal. But then the reishi touched Ichigo, and vanished instantly, like water being gulped up by the parched earth. The boy stirred and suddenly Byakuya found he was unneeded. The reishi began to flow like a river, then a torrent, as the vacant place in Ichigo's soul called it to him, demanding to be filled.
"Oh…!" Ichigo moaned, arching in a way that accidentally rubbed his body against Byakuya's. "That's… yes…" Byakuya swallowed at that and controlled himself sternly. The boy wasn't trying to seduce him, the sudden sexual tension was a pure accident. They were surrounded by a corona of blue light now, as more reishi than Byakuya had ever seen in his life surrounded them. Where was it all coming from? Not all of it was positive, a great deal of it felt like the lake at night. Was Ichigo pulling it from the very fabric of Soul Society? It was beautiful beyond words, and Byakuya allowed himself to be lost in the beauty as Ichigo took what he needed. Finally the reishi began to disperse and the redheaded boy in his arms stirred.
"What was that? What the hell happened?" Ichigo glanced around then, confused. "When did I get here… why are you holding me?" He sounded very confused and Byakuya couldn't help but smile a bit. He also felt like Ichigo, although his reiatsu was still a bit low. He would probably need to absorb reishi several more times before he would be well again. "We weren't scouting for squirrels, were we?" He asked and Byakuya shook his head.
"No, we were not." He said repressively. "What is the last thing you remember?" From the way Ichigo was acting, he had lost time. The boy thought for a moment, frowning.
"I remember Renji coming to see me. After that, it all gets hazy. Why, what happened?" Ichigo asked and Byakuya nodded. It was as he had expected.
"I will explain." He would also need to teach Ichigo how to summon the reishi. It seemed that they were required for his survival, now. Then he would have to go to the 4th Division and see if there had ever been a similar case to this. And he spared a moment of thankfulness that Renji had not been this affected, although perhaps he should send his lieutenant over to the 4th for a checkup.
Renji would not be pleased, but that was too bad.
