Chapter 3
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"Rukia, Rukia, Rukia…" Renji muttered over and over again as her body lay lifelessly in his arms. Dried blood traced streams from her forehead, her eyes and her lips and as Renji cradled her broken form, memories surged forth to claim his conscious.
Rukia the street child running through the markets of Rukonga with Renji hot on her heels taunting him to beat her in tag. Rukia, clutching desperately on Renji's robe as he carried her swiftly from the execution grounds of Seireite. Rukia and Renji, smacking Ichigo for leaving them behind under the false pretense that they would not be able to join in the rescue of Inoue Orihime from the strong hold of Las Noches.
"RUKIA!!" Renji screamed in contorted anguish and with every last bit of strength he fought the weakness of his body and rose up with her corpse clutched against him. A single tear rolled down the fierce features of Renji's face as he gazed down upon her. Suddenly, a glowing pink petal floated delicately past Renji's bowed head. Renji's breath caught in his throat as a tremendous amount of spiritual pressure came cascading all around him, cracking the walls of Szayel's spiritual restriction chamber.
"Byakuya…"
Inoue, Chad and Ichigo all lifted their heads at the exact same time when Rukia's spiritual energy flared for a moment and then went out.
"NO!!"
"Please no…"
"…"
"Inoue! We have to go!" Ichigo called out as she held her glowing healing hands over him. Tears streamed down her trembling face, but she shook her head.
"I need to heal you Kurosaki. If I don't…We won't be able to save anyone…." Orihime's voice cracked as she continued to bathe Ichigo in her soft golden light.
Carefully she avoided looking at the cracked hollow mask beside her and concentrated instead on the warm weight of Nel Tu's head slumbering on her lap. She didn't want to think about the terror. The monster that Ichigo had unleashed upon Grimmjaw with such ruthless intensity. The hollow within…Hichigo. Grimmjaw cackled in sickening glee as Ichigo appeared in front of Orihime with his creepy hollow mask hiding his familiar features. "That's more like it!" Grimmjaw laughed, his sharp fangs glittering in the artificial sunlight of the desert chamber. Raising his right arm he hurled a crackling cero at Ichigo for the umpteenth time. Ichigo dodged it and with a frightening laugh, came hurling towards him. Grimmjaw dove at him with another cero, the black blade came flying…The desert shook from their collision and Orihime shielded Nel Tu from the ferocious glare of the explosion. When the sand settled and the glare faded, the victor of this bloody battle became all too clear. Grimmjaw lay gasping pathetically with Ichigo's zanpakutō buried through his bleeding throat. "Who… are… you?" the dying Espada choked out on his very last breath. The hollow masked Shinigami tore his blade ruthlessly from his enemy's flesh. "I am the king!" The hollow within announced triumphantly...
"I've should have known it wasn't him," Orihime whispered softly to herself.
The light died in Grimmjaw's eyes and Ichigo turned towards the pale Orihime and the trembling Nel Tu. "Hmph. So this is the damsel in distress that my former king is fighting for," Ichigo sneered in an unfamiliar grating voice which bordered on the edge of insanity. Suddenly, Orihime gasped "Ichigo, your hands are turning white!" Yellow eyes stared amusedly in Inoue's own frightened gray ones. "Who says I am Ichigo-sama…" Nel began to screech. "Run! RRRRRUUUUNNN Orihime-channnn!!" she wailed as the hollow of their former friend began to slowly stalk towards them. The mask began to crack and fall away in sharp thin shards, but the face beneath the mask was not Ichigo's...
At this Orihime closed her eyes, trying to block out the terrifying image, but to no avail. His face and hair were the ghostly white of a skull, now matching his bleached white robes. He looked like a photo negative of Ichigo except the eyes. The whites were as black as night with gleaming yellow rings marking the pupils and they burned with a craving for blood. "Please run. Run!" wept Nel as she pushed urgently against Orihime. "Little pests annoy me," grinned Hichgo, and lifting a pale hand, he sent an orb of sparking yellow energy at Nel. The orb smacked the arrancar child in the back and she collasped in Orihime's arms. Inoue gasped and quickly checked her vitals. "She is taking a nap,"Hichigo sneered as he towered over the kneeling Orihime. A hand shot down and grabbed her chin, forcing Orihime to look up into his malevolent face "You will never be his Queen you pathetic bitch! Though I do admit…" Here he glanced pointedly at her chest. "You do have the assets to send any man running in the heat." Inoue blushed at his vulgar language and the close proximity of his intimidating visage. "You almost got my king killed..." Hichigo's pale hands moved slowly down to her neck. "Please come back Ichigo," Inoue begged as she suddenly seized his wrists. Yanking his hands away Hichigo smirked. "Don't worry. My king is about to return, but I can play with your happy fantasies now!" Swiftly he seized the back of her head with the right hand and wrapped a powerful left arm around her waist drawing her close. "Ichi…"Orihime was suddenly cut off as he bent her back into a deep and breathless kiss. His lips were hard and icy, but her mouth was burning from the contact. It was not sweet and gentle, but bitter and cruel. Inoue desperately tried to push him away, but his grasp tightened possessively. "Kurosaki..."she thought frantically as darkness began to creep into the edge of her vision. He was suffocating her with his lips locked against hers. Suddenly she felt his mouth become soft and warm before it immediately pulled away. Ichigo's sorrowful brown eyes gazed into her own before he dropped face down from the extent of his injuries.
"Inoue," Ichigo's voice broke into her thoughts and she shook her head.
"What…"
"It's Uryuu…" Ichigo's voice trailed off as he concentrated on the Quincy's spiritual aura. Now Inoue could feel it too, dimming and dying slowly. Suddenly the last of Ichigo's injuries vanished and Inoue stood cradling Nel.
"I'm going to save Rukia! You need to save Uryuu…"
Ichigo looked at Orihime in surprise. She had never taken charge like this. Something had change.
"Inoue, I'm not going to let you be taken from us again! I'm coming with you!" Ichigo declared.
"I can defend myself and I can still sense her even if she is...You need her to live Kurosaki!" Orihime stated firmly, though her tears continued to coarse down her face. When Ichigo hesitated, Inoue cried "We don't have time! Please save him!"
Quickly Ichigo lifted Nel from Inoue and gently draped her on his back.
"We will talk when all of this is over," Ichigo said encouragingly before disappearing in a blur of shunpo.
Inoue stared after him for a moment, her eyes now aged with pain and sorrow, the grim knowledge of death which stole away her innocence, but had given her the strength to survive. Gripping on her renewed resolve, Inoue concentrated on the ghostly space where Rukia's spirit had burned once and ran swiftly across the desert floor.