"Zangetsu?"
'Yes Ichigo?'
"Shiro isn't there anymore, is he?"
'I'm afraid your Hollow is no where to be found,'
"I see. Do you think we made the right choice?"
'At this point, I believe that this is the wisest choice you could have made. Do not worry. Darkness can go only so far before the light can reach it,'
"Thanks, Zangetsu,"
"Hey! Wake up, prisoner. The Captain Commander is going to allow you to think about your sins before you die and let you write to your family for now. Think of it as your final will and last words to everyone that still cares about you," the guard walked away after giving Ichigo the message and handing him a piece of paper and pencil.
After giving it more thought, he considered to be lucky or at least more fortunate than others. He was, in fact, given a window to look out from. From what he heard from Gin, some prisoners aren't even given the luxury of a lamp to use at night. It was about an hour before everything would settle in place. Aizen and his followers were probably already slaughtering the Central Forty-Six. Now that Ichigo thought about it some more, though it made Ichigo sick just thinking anything that did was actually useful, he was glad that Aizen had gotten rid of those lazy politicians. They had no real opinions on cases and made sure their laws kept them safe from harm.
Outside the window, the orange haired teenager could hear the preparations for the executions. He scoffed at the complexity of it all. Soul Society really had to change their ways to more subtle methods. It would be far more simpler if they just had a guillotine or something like that. Sure, a simple sword wound or being burned won't always kill you, but it didn't matter what you were, if your head is cut off, you're dead. Well...
The older Kurosaki sibling shook his head attempting to rid himself from the thought. At times like these Ichigo really felt he was going insane like his Hollow. Already he was thinking of simpler and more easier ways of killing himself. He really needed to just talk to Zangetsu again and regain his sanity. But the only way to do that without your Zanpaktou was if you were asleep or something. Heck, he even wanted to hear his Hollow mocking him for how weak he became and then knock some sense into him. But they took those parts of his soul from him.
The once great Shinigami laughed at that statement.
"They wouldn't even be part of me if I never got into this mess." Ichigo thought lightly.
Aizen, this Shinigami business, everything would have never happened. Sometimes, Ichigo even wanted to let his mother die in that accident with that girl. At least, things would be more simpler. Everyone would have blamed him for her death, but it wouldn't be that heavy of a burden to carry. He would never become a Death God this way. He didn't have care for the worries of Soul Society or for the Winter War. He would just be a normal human who could see ghosts. Nothing worse than a bad grade on a test or someone breaking up with him would happen to him. But a normal life would never happen for him. Not now. Now ever.
"Enjoying your stay here, Ichi-chan?"
The sudden sound of life startled Ichigo but the start soon turned into pity when he saw. His head had turned away from his window to see a familiar fox-eyed captain smiling at him. His more than usual pale face was an obvious sign that they had already killed the men of the laws.
"Yeah, why don't you stay and join me? Maybe they'll mistake you for the traitor and kill you instead. Or even, bring Aizen and Tousen too and let's just cross our fingers that they might die too," Ichigo answered sarcastically.
"That's no way to say farewell to a friend," Gin pouted. The teenager sighed. It must have been his time he spent with the captain, but he could never get mad at the him for some reason. No matter how annoying he became or how much of a traitor he was.
"How did you get here in the first place?" Ichigo asked.
"I thought that I might take a walk and decided to visit you along the way. But you do know that's not the truth, correct?"
"Of course. And I think that it's the only useful thing Aizen did here. Though it doesn't make up for everything else he's done. It is his fault that I'm like this after all," the ex-lieutenant answered as he turned his attention to his execution place.
A strange atmosphere surrounded them. It felt like they wanted to just laugh everything away like really good friends and wished it was just all a bad dream. But inside they knew that this one day was going to happen, and one of them were going to die.
"Makes you kind of wish you never gotten into this in the first place, huh," Gin muttered, his smiling disappearing for the first time today.
"Kind of,"
"Should have expected that answer," Gin sighed.
"But then again, a lot of things would have never happened if I didn't got into this mess," the orange haired added, surprising the third division captain.
"Really? You don't say,"
"Yeah. Like the time when I beat you in that snowball fight when we were just ten seconds in," Ichigo smirked.
"I just don't like cold weather. But I guess you're right. The time when Izuru and I filled one of your birthday presents with worms would have never happened if you never came along," Gin shot back. The two looked at each other in the eyes before laughing like they were old friends. Somehow the tension between the partners in crime had disappeared because of a simple little joke.
But with everything else burdening their minds, they knew that couldn't keep up with their innocent act.
"Well, later, Ichigo Kurosaki," the third division captain said as he turned around. Something had tugged at one of Ichigo's heartstrings when he said that. Almost like the captain was trying to distant himself from him. The captive got the message.
"Yeah. Later, Captain Ichimaru," Ichigo replied. The once cheerful amber eyes suddenly lost that little gleam in them and replaced for mild regret for destroying all ties he had the fox face captain. The captain stopped in his steps to look at his old third seat and friend but found that Ichigo's gaze was already focused on his execution place once more.
With a heavy heart and not another word, the captain left.
"Next time we meet, let's hope we're not enemies," Gin thought and flashed stepped to fifth division barracks to retrieve Hinamori.
Rukia woke up to the burning lights of a medical room. Once she grasped that she was in a fourth division patient room, she began to wonder how she got here, but the reason didn't seem to come up. Sitting up, she saw that her zanpaktou was covered in blood showing that she was in a fight.
"But wasn't I saving Ichigo?" Suddenly the memory of seeing her old friend in the rubble and injured came to mind and she immediately got out of bed much to her body's protest. Her hand grabbed her sword as she passed by it and she limped towards the door.
The door, however, opened before she got the chance to reach for the knob.
"Kuchiki-san! You shouldn't be out right now!" the fourth division lieutenant panicked, "Captain Ichimaru says that you and lieutenant Abarai have been seriously injured by Ichigo himself. For shame him. And to think that the two of you were very close friends." Isane grabbed the wrist of the Kuchiki adoptive and dragged her to her bed.
"You don't understand! I'm perfectly fine! I need to find Renji!" That excuse might have worked in not the second later she began to spit blood onto the ground. The lieutenant brought the young girl up to her feet again and helped her to her bed by putting her arm over her shoulder and crouching down to her small height.
"Rukia!" three minutes later, Renji came by with several fourth division officers attempting to restrain him. He was in better shape than the petite Shinigami and had only a few scratches on his face.
The fourth division lieutenant had already brought the unseated officer to her bed and was currently treating her injuries. The Noble's sheathed zanpaktou was leaning against a nearby wall.
"Lieutenant Abarai! You should be in bed also!" Isane stood up, surprised that the two had healed so quickly and were already able to walk.
"Don't worry about me. I'm fine as of right now. How's Rukia?" Renji's eyes stared at the unhealthy condition of his childhood friend and ran forward as fast as he could, effectively making all of the officers that were physically restraining him fall to the floor.
"Rukia?" the red head asked, scared about losing another one of his old friends.
"She'll be fine. But those wounds Ichigo gave her really did some damage. She should be discharged from here in about a week, if all goes well. For now, she should just rest," the lieutenant explained keeping her voice low so that the raven haired girl could rest. The red head relaxed some and looked at Isane with a confused expression.
"Ichigo? Are you saying he did this to her?" Renji asked in a hushed voice.
"Yes, Captain Ichimaru reported seeing him near you before leaving the two of you unconscious and wounded. It's a sad thing that he already was captured, though. I really hoped that we could have found another way, or something. But after Ichigo attacked on Captain Kyoraku, it doesn't seem like the Captain Commander is going to let Ichigo slide," Isane sighed.
The news hit Renji like rock.
"Th-The execution date. When is it?"
"Today at noon," the lieutenant said with a stoic expression, "You are free to accompany your captain to it if you feel well enough, but Rukia must stay here."
She left the sixth division lieutenant alone with his childhood friend. The red head didn't know what to do at this point. It was impossible for someone to stop the Sokyoku on their own. It was said that the power from the Sokyoku was the equivalent of the power of a million zanpaktou.
"Li-Lieutenant Abarai?"
Behind him was a meek looking officer holding one of the travel packs fourth division normally carried over his chest.
"I-I'm Hana-Hanatarou Yamada. Ichi-Ichigo isn't going to be executed, i-is he?"
"You heard your lieutenant. The captive was finally captured and he's going to die today at noon. There's nothing we can do to stop it either. The word from the Captain Commander is final and there isn't anything changing that," Renji sighed.
"I thought so," the officer frowned. Then, in a moment of bravery, he stated, "Well, I'm going to save him!"
The red head stared at the seventh seat officer for a moment and began to laugh.
"Che. A fourth division officer like you is going to save Ichigo from execution? Do you know how many captain are going to be there, no to mention your own?"
"Ichigo... Ichigo is my friend! I'm going to save him no matter what!" the ordinary officer announced. Renji stared at the resolve burning in the young officer's eyes. It reminded him of Ichigo when he was determined in a fight.
His eyes turned to his childhood friend. Her condition was still weak and it would be a miracle if she could still stand at this point. But it wasn't like that was going to stop her.
"Hey, Hanatarou, what can you do about her?"
"R-Rukia-san? She's in the best possible condition at this point, at least, that what's everyone saying. For some reason, they forgot about Hisagomaru," the medic said and held up his zanpaktou.
He walked over and held the blade over his wounds. It took Renji all of his strength to refrain from crushing the kid for having a sword so close to an already bad wound. But instead of hurting Rukia, it began to heal her. On the side, a meter began to rise as the wound closed. Curious, the red head asked what was happening.
Hanatarou explained that it was his zanpaktou's special ability. Instead of inflicting damage, it heals the wounds of a person. Even though it's only on a physical level, it still can reduce enough pain from Rukia to be able to walk again. The bar on the side meant that it was that much closer to reaching it's Shikai's form.
Soon enough, Rukia's eyes open to see her friend's smiling face and an officer from fourth division smiling sheepishly at her too. She returned the smile and was surprised to feel no pain as she sat up.
"Ho-How are you feeling, Rukia-san?" Hanatarou asked.
"Fine, thank you," the noble replied as she stretched her arms and legs. Her familiar blade landed on her lap sheathed and cleaned.
"Let's go," Renji ordered and began walking towards the door.
"Um, you shouldn't go that way, Lieutenant Abarai," Hantarou walked forward and pressed his ear onto the door. "People are still out there and will get suspicious if you just leave here for no reason."
"He's right. We're going to have to leave by the window," Rukia said.
"Che, like we're going to get there without anyone stopping us anyway," Renji added.
"That may be true, but it's going to give us a little head start before we actually get caught," the petite Shinigami mentally planned their route there and wondered if they would have enough time to get there.
"Um... you might want to hurry. The execution is taking place in an hour," the two childhood friend glanced at the white tower and knew that they will have to hurry if they were ever going to make it before Ichigo is burned into ashes.
"Actually, there's a safer way to get there and I think it's going to be faster too," the fourth division officer added, putting more thought into it. When he saw that his bit of information caught the two's attention, the meek seventh seat officer guided them to sewer system.
"Isshin? Are you there?"
"Yeah. How about you Ganju?"
"Why do I have to do this again?"
"Because I can tell your sister that you did nothing for this entire trip and I don't think that she'll exactly like to hear that bit of news," Ganju could almost hear the smirk the were-cat was putting on at this moment from his end of the transmitter. He sighed and quietly sneaked into the eleventh division's barracks. From what he could remember, Ichigo was a good acquaintance with the people here and the captain himself.
"What do you mean I can't go? I'm the captain's third seat! And besides, when did this thing become a private event?" Ganju froze from hearing the voice and peeked around a corner to see the guy he blew up and his partner arguing with another officer.
"P-Please Ikkaku-san, I'm only repeating what I heard from the captain himself. He doesn't want you to be forcefully retired from this division, or worse, be seen as a traitor like Ichigo. It just might be best for all of us if-"
"Screw this! I'm leaving! Yumichika, come on, bring that woman too!"
"Let go of me! I can walk on my own you know! I'm not useless at all!"
"Ganju? Is that Masaki? My beautiful Masaki! Tell her that Daddy is coming! And that he's very sorry for-"
"Isshin?" Masaki asked out loud to no one in particular and ran over to where Ganju was hiding when currently, the boar rider was trying to mute the doctor as best as he could, but failed. A light hand landed on his shoulder and along with it was a cool touch.
The youngest Shiba brother turned around slowly and found himself being both relieved and horrified at the same time. A feeling he only felt when his sister was around.
"Ganju? Please, may I speak with my husband?" the mother asked. Though asked with her normal calm and collected voice, Ganju could still feel the sick venom in them. He could only wish the best for Isshin and gradually released his grasp on the transmitter.
"Masaki!~ How I missed you so! I thought you have died by that horrible captain, Gin Ichimaru! You don't know all the horrible rumors I heard about him. Especially the rumor about him and the tenth division lieutenant! It was-"
"Shut up you good for nothing goat chin! Compared to you and your inexcusable behavior and keeping secrets from me, the third division captain was quite the gentleman! Why didn't you tell me about Ichigo? There are things you do keep secret, but this isn't one of them! No where are you? I want to slap you and tell you in person what a horrible husband you been to me!"
Yoruichi, who was listening from her end, was surprised at the temper of the lady. All the stories she heard from humble shopkeeper were true. But who would have guessed? She certainly had the Flash Step Goddess's respect. And in order to show it, the were-cat brought out the person the normally peaceful mother requested.
"Y-Y-Y-Yoruichi? Um... I think my son is dying! Allow me to go and save him like the great father I am! Wait for me ICHIIIIIGOOOOOOOOO! I may have nothing to teach you, but I can still-" Isshin stopped when he was met face-to-face with his wife. Her face showed that she was not pleased. Ganju had already disappeared, probably hiding and trying to talk some of the eleventh division's members into saving Ichigo.
"Lucky him," Isshin grunted.
"What was that? Isshin?" his wife asked, still ticked about the goat face leaving her.
The smoker sighed and closed his eyes to prepare for the worse. But when Masaki wrapped her arms around in a tight grip, Isshin could honestly say he was pleasantly surprised.
"Don't do that again, you idiot. Don't keep secrets from me. Don't ever distance your life from mine. We're in this together, and we're going to save our son with all the friends we made," the mother of three cried silently as she spoke. Her tears were on the edge of appearing and her voice breaking down. The father returned the hug and smiled.
"You really couldn't ever compliment me, even when I did it all to protect you from the truth," he whispered and pulled his wife away from him. "How much do you know?"
"All of it. The Hol-" Masaki was cut off due to Isshin's hand covering her mouth.
"Shh. We're already in trouble and so is Ichigo. We don't need anymore of a reason to why he should be executed. So just keep it a secret between you and me, okay?"
The caring woman nodded and slapped her husband. The motion was so quick, that Yoruichi almost didn't it see the attack.
"What was that for?" Isshin asked in pain.
"It's what you get for letting me get kidnapped twice in one day," she answered with a devious smile and beckoned the group to follow her. Behind the corner were the two eleventh division officers waiting patiently while plenty of more officers laid unconscious around their feet.
"You done yet? We're going to have to move if we're going to make it in time," Ikkaku complained.
"Don't worry, Ikkaku. We'll make it, and we'll do it in the most beautiful way. Unless that ugly man is coming with us. Then our entrance will only be half as beautiful,"
"Say that again, pretty boy," Ganju growled.
"Enough. Eleventh Squad, Isshin, and Masaki, you go forward towards the tower. Ganju, you search around for Rukia. I'll flash step ahead. There is something I need to do if this is all going to work," Yoruichi ordered and disappeared a second later. The group nodded in agreement and disappeared also. Ganju, being the slowest of them all, was the last to leave and suddenly felt a strong spiritual force towards where Ichigo was being kept.
"Che, these Kurosaki men have really horrible luck," the Shiba younger brother joked and went out to find the Kuchiki murderer.