Chapter 2: Despair in the Rain
A.N.: I know, I'm horrible…. I cranked the angst to ten and then removed the knob for this story, so if you don't like, don't read then.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
Warning: Angst!
Days Later….
Soul Society; Squad Six
Byakuya stared out the window, watching the rain. It'd been raining ever since the fighting stop, as if the world was trying to cleanse itself of the carnage that had unfolded. The stoic man let out a sigh as he watched the deluge continue. So many were dead or missing….
The door opened behind him and he heard Renji walk in. "Captain, are you alright?" his lieutenant asked.
Turning around, Byakuya shook his head. "No, Renji. After everything that's happened, I don't think most of us will be alright for a long time. How go the rebuilding efforts?" he asked, sitting down at his desk and scribbling on some papers.
Renji scratched the back of his head. "Well, we've been digging through the rubble and we've been pulling out survivors but mostly everyone's been treated. For now, we're still trying to get a head count of the casualties. The other lieutenants are resting at Squad Four right now. Lieutenants Hisagi, Kotetsu, Omaeda and Third-Seats Kiyone and Sentarou are all being treated but…they're still listed as in critical condition. Lieutenants Hinamori and Matsumoto are recuperating at their barracks along with Captain Hitsugaya. We've received word that Captain Kurotsuchi has returned to the R&D department as well and has secluded himself in his lab."
Scowling, Byakuya nodded. "And the remaining captains?"
"All recuperating at Squad Four, sir. Although…Captain Komamura is gone, sir. Lieutenant Iba reported that he left the Seireitei after the fighting."
Setting down his pen, Byakuya looked up and noticed how worn out his lieutenant was. "And what of Rukia?"
Silence filled the room before he spoke, "She's in Karakura Town, sir. She went to go to Orihime Inoue's funeral." He looked away when he remembered the sight of Ichigo crying his eyes out over his friend's fallen form. "Ichigo…we haven't gotten word from him yet. He seems to have taken her death harder than anyone expected."
Byakuya nodded. "Words left unsaid can leave wounds deeper than any blade can carve." He suspected that the two had feelings for one another, or at least that Orihime had feelings for Ichigo, so for things to end as tragically as they did made the matter all the more painful. Byakuya knew this better than Renji, remembering how Hisana died. "For the time being, we should let him grieve." He stood up and headed for the door. "We've work to do."
"Yes, Captain…." Renji followed his captain out the door, hoping that Ichigo would be alright….
Meanwhile….
Karakura Town
The rain came down in buckets as Tatsuki shambled down the street. She felt like her heart had been gouged out of her chest. She had been happy when Uryu and Chad called her, telling Tatsuki and her friends to meet them at Urahara Shop. But her happiness turned into utter horror when they'd informed her of all that'd happened. "Orihime! Where's Orihime?!" she demanded to know when she noticed that she was absent.
All Chad and Uryu could do was turn away.
After that, they'd let everyone know that Orihime had passed away, giving their school and the bakery that she worked at the excuse that she'd been killed in a car crash. Nobody had taken the news well, especially Tatsuki, Keigo and Chizuru. The redhead had become a sobbing mess when she heard of Orihime's death, running out of the shop screaming for her 'Hime. Tatsuki was no better, punching the wall so many times that her hand bled. Because she'd died in the Soul Society, they couldn't bring her body back to the World of the Living, leaving them to mourn over a tombstone with her name on it next to her brother's.
She noticed during Orihime's funeral that Ichigo had been notably absent and her anger grew like a raging fire. 'Why didn't he protect her? How could he just let her die?' she thought miserably as she walked in the rain, not caring that she was getting soaked. Her best friend was dead and she knew who to blame.
Walking along a bridge, she stared down at the raging river. 'I wonder…is she in the Soul Society now?' She had the Soul Ticket that Ichigo's friend had given her so she could see if maybe her friend had passed on, but that hope died when she reminded herself of what Uryu had told her; when a spiritual being dies, their body turns to Reishi to be reincarnated in the World of the Living and since Orihime had been in the Soul Society when she died, that meant she couldn't pass over when she was already there. 'I'll never see her again,' she thought, tears dripping down her face.
Her despair was momentarily broken when she saw something on the edge of the riverbank, remembering that this was the exact same spot that Ichigo's mother died. She peered closer and realized who it was. "Ichigo!" Her teeth clenched as she ran across the bridge, her anger building with each step.
Anger which quickly evaporated when Tatsuki got close to the boy, who was still in his torn Soul Reaper clothes. She saw that he was hunched over, sobbing while being drenched in the rain. "Ichigo…." She sat down next to him and waited. For minutes, Ichigo didn't seem to acknowledge her presence. Then, finally, he spoke two words.
"I'm sorry…."
Tatsuki stared at him, knowing that nothing she said could match what Ichigo was telling himself. In more ways than one, Ichigo was hurting much more than anyone else. Uryu had told her that Orihime had fought alongside him during the final fight and that Ichigo had been powerless to stop her from being mortally wounded. Finally, she put a hand on Ichigo's back in a soothing, comforting gesture.
Ichigo finally broke from his hunched position and threw his arms around Tatsuki, crying into her shoulder. All Tatsuki could do was hold her friend, remembering how years ago, she'd helped him do the same thing when his mom died; it was only natural to do it again when he'd lost someone else he cared about. "I'm here, Ichigo…I'm here for you…."
She didn't stop holding him until he'd calmed down. By then the rain had stopped and night had fallen. Getting to her feet, she helped Ichigo to his feet and walked next to him as he shambled off home. "You loved Orihime, didn't you?" she asked as they walked. She had to know, for Orihime's sake, since she never got the chance to express her feelings. "She loved you, you know that, right?"
Ichigo nodded, his eyes glued to the ground as more thunder boomed above them. "I did…I was planning on telling her when this was done. I thought…I thought…." He hung his head in shame. Tatsuki merely took hold of his hand and squeezed it as she led Ichigo to his door. Before she turned around to leave she gave him another warm hug. "I'm sorry, Tatsuki."
"I know. I'm here for you if you need me," she said. She watched Ichigo enter the darkened house and sighed, looking up at the night sky and wondering if any of them would ever be okay again before heading home….
Ichigo walked through the house, not caring that he was soaking wet or still in his Soul Reaper form. His father had taken his sisters out for the day, figuring that Ichigo needed to be alone right now. Ichigo shambled up the steps to his room, eyeing his human body still in bed. Even though he'd been brought back from the Soul King's Palace along with everyone else, Kon refused to speak to Ichigo after learning of Orihime's fate, opting to hang with Uryu for a while. He, like Tatsuki, had blamed Ichigo for Orihime's death.
Sitting down on his bed, Ichigo sighed before looking down at his Zangetsu blades. He'd been so happy when he reforged his zanpakuto, knowing that no matter what he'd fight with his full strength from now on. When he stepped into Yhwach's throne room, he'd been confident that he could take the Quincy King.
Now he was no longer sure his zanpakuto had a name anymore….
Yhwach had stripped Ichigo of both his Hollow and Quincy powers, so his inner hollow and Zangetsu were no longer a part of him. He had his Soul Reaper powers and he knew from the fact that he still had his blades that he could perform Bankai, though he didn't know what shape it'd be in anymore, but the facts were laid bare.
He was a shell of his former self now.
Getting back into his human body, Ichigo sat up and looked out the window, seeing the flashes of lightning light up the dark sky. He looked away, tired of the dreariness around him and looked instead at his nightstand, where Orihime's hairpins lay. Rukia had given them to him shortly after Ichigo had returned home, saying that she wanted him to have them. Ichigo stared at the hairpins, wondering if her Shun Shun Rikka still resided inside them but then dismissed the notion. The Shun Shun Rikka were Orihime's version of a zanpakuto; and a zanpakuto dies with its wielder.
Looking at the hairpins reminded of all the times he spent with Orihime, seeing her smiling, happy face. It dawned on Ichigo that during training, whenever his mind would wander it would be thoughts of Orihime that would cause him brief moments of happiness and comfort. Though he never came around to saying it, Ichigo truly did love Orihime.
And now she was gone. Like Zangetsu. Like his mother. Like so many other things Yhwach had taken from Ichigo. In death, he'd robbed the boy of perhaps the one person who mattered most to him.
Shaking his head, Ichigo reached for his combat pass and pressed it against him, popping back into his Soul Reaper form. Removing his zanpakutos, Ichigo affixed a hairpin into the pommel of each blade, wanting to carry this last piece of Orihime with him wherever he went. Returning to his human body, Ichigo laid down in bed and rested his head on the pillow, letting sleep overcome him. "Orihime…why?" he muttered before falling into the depths of sleep, letting himself dream of what might have been….
Meanwhile….
Soul Society: Squad 12 R&D Department
Kisuke limped down the hallways, still recovering from his ordeal after Nel had rescued him, Yoruichi, Grimmjow and Yushiro from Askin and his poison deathtrap. He would've returned to the World of the Living but Mayuri had asked that he stay to assist with analyzing the Vandenreich's technology, which surprised him. But then again, with Nemu dead and gone his old third-seat was in need of a new assistant so for the time being he'd indulged him.
He walked into a room that led into Mayuri's lab when he saw something lying on the examination table and came to a dead stop.
"What…How can this be?" he gaped.
To be continued
A.N.: No, Mayuri isn't bringing Orihime back to life. I will get to what Kisuke was looking at in due time.