Hey all!
I'm sorry it took so long, I'm rather busy at the moment...college and stuff, not even a proper vacation this year Y_Y And I'm pissed about the recent events in Bleach manga Y_Y Not telling any details for those who don't read it, but... *crying*
Anyway, in case someone's wondering, this takes place during yet another studio recess so everyone is still happy and alive before we get back to Hueco Mundo and the Winter War :)
Enjoy, as always :)
First, it was but a soft nudge somewhere in the back of her mind, however as she continued her training its weight increased and it became more and more difficult to ignore. Dark, ominous presence like nothing she had ever felt before. Suddenly a freezing fist gripped her insides and Tatsuki toppled over in the middle of a jump and fell hard onto the tatami. She gasped for breath as the fall knocked all air out of her lungs and rolled over.
"Arisawa!" the teacher came running toward her, concern and confusion mixed on his wrinkled face. "Are you hurt?"
Tatsuki propped herself up on an elbow and shook her head, breathing still shallow and rapid. It felt like something was pressing on her body, making it difficult to even move. But there was no use telling him that. He wouldn't understand. He didn't have the ability she did. There was only one person who might know what's going on.
"I'm sorry, sensei. I don't feel good. May I go home earlier today, please?" she got up swiftly, though it had cost her much more effort than usual.
The teacher nodded, still confused and not convinced.
"Thank you." Tatsuki took up proper posture and bowed.
"Make sure you're not going alone, Arisawa!" she heard him calling after her as she gathered her things and left the dojo.
Tatsuki didn't even bother to go change. Trying to calm herself as much as possible, she ran out of the chool grounds and towards the riverbank, a single name swirling in her mind – Urahara Kisuke. If there was someone who could give a proper explanation of what has been happening these past few days, it was him. That weird guy in striped hat and sandals with aura of tremendous power surrounding him.
Deep within her own thoughts, it wasn't untill she crossed the brigde and turned to run along the peacefully flowing waters bathing in red and gold from the setting sun, when she heard someone calling out her name. She stopped abruptly and whirled around to see a long mane of orange hair flipping behind her as Inoue Orihime tried to catch up with her best friend.
"Tatsuki-chan, you're so quick!" Inoue panted, catching her breath.
Tatsuki stared at her. Why hasn't she noticed her untill now? She could always easily sense Orihime wherever she was, except that strange place Ichigo went to bring her back from. But now...
It must have been that sinister presence overpowering her senses as well as her body.
"Tatsuki-chan?" Inoue's anxious voice brought the black-haired teen back from her reverie and she caught herself staring blankly somewhere beyond her friend's worried grey eyes.
"What?" she snapped a little bit more harshly than she intended and the orange-haired girl backed off with a start. "Oh, I'm sorry, Hime. It's just—„
The bone-crushing presence strengthened again, pressure on Arisawa's body caused her throat to clench painfully, she couldn't breathe. Her sight became hazy and drops of sweat trailed from her forehead down her cheeks, pinching in her eyes. She felt herself dropping to all fours, gasping for air her lungs were so desperately short of.
As if from a great distance, Tatsuki heard -yet again- Orihime calling her, but she couldn't do anything to ease her friend's fear. She was weak and cold and burning at the same time, though unable to scream and she saw images flashing before her closed eyelids. Memories of life long past, life that wasn't hers. And a maniacal laughter rang in her ears, getting louder and louder. Her hands darted up to her temples to make it stop, but it only kept getting worse.
/Hello, my little friend! Pleasure to make your acquaintance. We are going to have soooo much fun together!/
And with another wave of laughter, Tatsuki had at last succumbed to the dark inviting arms of unconsciousness.
o.O.o
Kurosaki Ichigo fell to one knee, wiping a small strip of blood oozing out of the right-hand corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. Bronze eyes rose up to meet his opponents. He could deal with hollows, arrancars, other Shinigami and even the Espada swiftly and without hesitation, however being attacked by street thugs on daily basis was starting to get a little too annoying. He could see it everywhere - unreasonable, violent behaviour of people he knew to be calm and level-headed and his bright, orange hair had never before drawn so much attention. He didn't understand what was happening, but it was not natural. That much he knew.
Ichigo scooped up the remnants of blood within his mouth and spat it out.
"Oh, look! I think we hurt him, boys!" the gang leader rubbed his knuckles and grabbed Ichigo by the collar of his school uniform. "Can't take much, freak, can you?"
"You have no idea." Kurosaki smiled and kicked hard, his knee sinking deep into the thug's stomach.
He growled, letting go of the orange-haired teenager. Ichigo didn't wait for an invitation, his fist shot up to meet the man's chin. He rose up a few inches and fell hard onto the ground. The others cried out and charged at the pesky high-schooler, who dared to fight back only to land on top of their leader, bruised and howling with pain.
A few hits, however, still reached parts of Ichigo's body and he clutched his dislocated arm, spitting more blood as he walked away. This needs to stop. And there was only one man who could tell him how to do it. Urahara Kisuke.
"Kurosaki-kun!" Ichigo spun around at the sound of his name as he climbed up a set of stairs from the riverbank.
Inoue Orihime was waving at him, long hair tied into a ponytail, something hanging limply over her shoulders as she dragged it toward him.
Kurosaki's pupils dilated with shock as he recognized Arisawa Tatsuki, breaking to a run to get to them before Inoue's knees give way.
"Inoue! What happened?" he dropped to his knees, supporting Orihime, who could not after all keep standing under Arisawa's weight any longer.
She shook her head, breathing heavily. "I-I don't know. I saw her running along the river and- and called after her and she was kind of dazed and then she just collapsed!" tears prickled in Orihime's grey eyes. "I can't heal her with Shun Shun Rikka..." she finaly looked at him and gasped.
"It's just few scratches, Inoue, nothing to worry about." Ichigo waved his hand dismissively but a brightly glowing shield had already formed before his eyes and he felt warmth spreading through his bruised aching face and into his arm. When it dissapeared, his injuries were healed.
"Thanks, Inoue." he smiled at his classmate and heaved Arisawa onto his back. "Let's get her to Urahara Shop. Hat n' sandals' gonna have to explain a lot."
o.O.o
It was quite lively at the Urahara Store when they arrived. Too lively considering the usual clientele visiting this tiny back-alley spiritual Candy shop, ran by a Shinigami and former Captain of the Gotei 13.
For a moment Ichigo only stared at the ruckus – people seated along tiny, round table, chattering over one another and he knew each and every single one of them. Apart from the usual staff Ishida was here as well as Rukia and the 10th Division Captain Hitsugaya, who looked like he would rather be anywhere else. Most likely because there really was nobody else willing to take the job, whatever it was. Now, as he looked over the assembled, Ichigo felt hundred percent sure that there's something wrong and it must have been big.
"What the hell's going on here?" he yelled to draw their attention. It worked perfectly; all eyes now fixed on him, Arisawa and Inoue standing at the door frame.
"Kurosaki-san!" Urahara jumped to his feet, waving his fan, however ever-present smile faded as eyes fell upon the unconscious body over the spiky-head's shoulders. "What happened?"
"That's what I want you to tell me." Ichigo said irritably and put Arisawa into Tessai's waiting arms to be carried into the back room. "Somehow she collapsed and Inoue can't heal her."
The shop owner's brows knitted together, dissapearing momentarily under his striped hat.
"And what are all of you doing here anyway?" the teenage Shinigami scanned the people sitting about again with increasing suspicion, bronze eyes narrowed, frown deepening.
Ishida Uryuu was the first to answer with snorting loudly and pushing sqare glassed up his nose. "Figures you'd be the last to notice, Kurosaki."
A blood-red vein appeared on the orange-haired's temple and he took a deep breath to give the smirking Quincy a piece of his mind. However Urahara seemed to have come to at the precise moment Ichigo was opening his mouth.
"Please sit down," he said without any trace of his usual cheerfulness, fan in his hand snapped shut. "Both of you."
They did so without questions, the grim expression on Urahara's face and the serious tone of his voice reasons enough for even Kurosaki to forget all about being pissed.
"Your friend cannot be healed, because there's nothing physically wrong with her." the Shinigami continued, also descending onto the tatami once more. All turned quiet to listen to what he had to say. "Kurosaki-san, have you noticed any strange behaviour from anyone these past few days?"
Ichigo scowled, trying not to look into Urahara's emerald eyes, which made him feel like he was being x-rayed. "Well yeah. It's been a madhouse for some time now. I mean, I've seen people who never raised a hand picking fights over stupidities and my hair color is like a beacon for every shithead in the city! I'm being attacked on sight by punks I've never even seen before." he looked up to overlook the others, all bearing the same grave faces. Only Ishida was hidden behind his glasses, expression unreadable. "I KNOW damn well something's going on, so just spit it out!"
Urahara let out a sigh, lowering his hat into his lap, thumbing its hem. "I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated. You see, before the coming of the Royal Family that now rules over Soul Society, the Universe was writhing in chaos. It was due to a single being, more like power without a form, made of pure evil. A god, if you wish, here in Japan known as Amatsu-Mikaboshi, otherwise Devil, Satan or whatever else you might think of – they are all one and the same. This... power's been sealed when worlds were created and protected by three Guardians, each assigned to one world. However, from time to time, Mikaboshi finds a way out. When the seal grows weak or shatters completely it leaks out of its prison, corrupting everything in its path. The last time this happened, it started the Second World War." he paused to let the information sink in. "Each time the three Guardians are released as well to find a suitable hosts to enable them to use their given powers to seal Mikaboshi again. So far it seems like we have found two of them."
Ichigo's bronze eyes darted from one person to another, looking for a sign of all this being a practical joke, but it didn't come. Inoue only began nervously rubbing the frills on her skirt, eyes wide.
"So let me get this straight," he said finally in an attempt to make sense of it all and trying hard not to laugh. "Right now, there's some kinda evil god on the loose, starting wars and making people jump at each other's throats just for the fun of it?"
"Not just people." Hitsugaya Toushirou shifted, large, aquamarine eyes sinking into Ichigo's. "The whole district of Rukongai, Inuzuri has been anihilated and when we sent Abarai and the 6th Division to investigate, most of them never returned. Even the fuku-taichou himself was considered dead for a while."
Kurosaki's eyes grew wide. Something that could easily massacre a whole squad of shinigami AND a Vice-Captain as well? He couldn't imagine what must have happened. Renji was strong, one of the strongest Shinigami he had ever met and yet... and then it hit him. "How can you consider someone dead 'for a while'? Like brain death or something?"
"Not quite," Urahara took the word. "Abarai-san's lifespan has been prolonged when he became the host of one of the Guardians, the one assigned to Soul Society. It revived him and now it resides within his soul. And if my assuptions are correct, the other Guardian is possessing this human friend of yours you brought."
"Tatsuki-chan?" Inoue let out a gasp. "Is she going to be alright?"
"She's not in any kind of danger, as long as the hollow needs her to fulfill it's duty—"
"Hollow?" Ichigo choked, eyes now the size of saucers, images of his own inner hollow whirling in his mind. He jumped up. "And you're just okay with it? There's no way I let a frickin' bastart like that possess one of my friends!"
"KU-RO-SA-KI!" Hitsugaya's strong voice made Ichigo freeze on the spot. "Shut up and listen!"
"But—"
"As I said," Urahara was watching his fingers playing with the striped hat intently as he spoke. "There is nothing to worry about, the girl is not in danger as long as her Guardian needs her and then," his voice raised to interrupt Kurosaki as he opened his mouth to argue again. "It will be too late. The banishment of Mikaboshi requires all of the Guardian's life force and more, that's why hosts are essential for the Ritual of Banishment. When it is completed, Guardians dissapear and another three take over their duties and the circle repeats itself."
Ichigo slowly sat back on his heels, chewing on what had just been said. Ishida again pushed his glasses up his nose and decided to take the iniciative, looking at Inoue whose face was the battlefield of curiosity, anxiety and hesitation, her eyes darting from Kurosaki to the room where Tatsuki has been taken to and back.
"Urahara-san, you mentioned three Guardians. Where is the third one?" he asked calmly, thinking a few steps ahead, as always.
Kisuke exchanged a fleeting look with Hitsugaya. "Well, there is one for this world, one for Soul Society and one for—"
"Hueco Mundo." Kurosaki nipped in and Urahara nodded. "So we need Aizen to help us, is that it?"
"He doesn't really have a choice. Nor do we." Histugaya said. "If Mikaboshi is not sealed soon, the Universe will get back to what it was before the creation of the worlds. Everything will be destroyed."
"And why don't we just kill the bastard and be done with it? He would never escape again and everything's fine." said Ichigo, unable to understand why everyone makes so much fuss around it.
"It can't be killed." Urahara shook his head, dismissing the idea completely. "Every creation, whether human, konpaku or hollow has two sides – good and evil. Without one there can't be the other."
Ichigo let out an irritated snort and ran his hands through his hair, getting up. "Alright, so let's go talk to Aizen and his buddies and hope he's gonna be smart enough to cooperate or I'll kick him into a pulp."
For the first time since they met, Hitsugaya made a sound suspiciously like a chuckle. "I seriously doubt you would be able to do that, Kurosaki." boyish face went austere again. "And we have already contacted him." he made sure to properly spit the last word. "Now we need to take the second Guardian and its host to Soul Society. There the veil to Mikaboshi's prison is weakened the most and there it must be sealed again."
"I will prepare the Senkai Gate for all of you to make it through. We'll be ready in two days." Kisuke gave each of the high-schoolers confident smile and got to his feet as well.
Right... just for information, after the WW2 Japan collectively agreed upon that what happened during the war was indeed the doing of an evil spirit Mikaboshi. I've made quite an extensive research on the matter to make sure I got it right :)
Also, anybody else wondering who's gonna be the third Guardian? :) Let's make it a guessing game... the winner gets a kiss and can make a request for the next fic (even though you can do that anyway) which will take priority? :) Whaddya say? :)
As usual, reviews are more than welcome :)
