First Time- All Over Again
Chapter 7
A/N: AGH! I had one hell of a crazy week. It's close to the end of the marking period for me so I have a bunch of six week tests. I was amazed that I had time today to write this. I probably should have done my hw first…oh well! I want you all to know though that I had one agrivating writers block. Normally, when I write stuff like this, it comes out naturally but today I felt so distracted so to me this came out crappy. I want to spend more time on this but sadly if I don't do this now, I won't have time later in the week. I thank all of those who are still reviewing and keeping up with my story but I also love the people who favorite me and this story. It means a lot.
This chapter is named after Justice and Mercy by Flyleaf. This is a shout out to a friend who gave me the song as a suggestion and I hope you all like it. This is a short chapter so it shouldn't make your brain hurt!
Disclaimer: Soh Cah Toa, hehe math thingy. It's what you get after 3 hours of math review
The skies darkened and turned a pastel blackish gray color. Following that was pellets of rain that fell for hours and hours. Parents ushered their kids who were playing happily outside in the rain, inside. Soon, the streets were almost dead silent.
We can't be oblivious
We are not ignorant
Blood in our hearts
Blood on our hands
We're human, we reason, we're breathing, protecting
The living and dying, surviving, we're trying
To breathe in safety
Come home safely
By the time Ishida, Inoue, Chad and Renji arrived to the scene, they were too late. Rukia had been taken away yet again from them. They looked to Ichigo who was helplessly sprawled out on the dampened cement. The only sign he was still alive was that his body was shaking in the cold.
Orihime rushed to her friend's side, worried deeply about him. "Kurosaki-kun! What are you still doing out here? You could catch a cold!" Ichigo's face looked pale and his eyes were shut. Just how long had their rash companion been lying here in the rain?
Ichigo mumbled something along the lines of, "she..protected….again." It was obviously a struggle for him to speak and his breathing was slow.
Mercy screams it's violent love
Justice and mercy
Justice and mercy
The depth of us created for
Justice and mercy
Justice and mercy
This is where they kiss
"Ishida! Help me get Kurosaki-kun up. We aren't that far from his father's clinic." Ishida nodded and ran to Orihime's side.
"Renji, Chad, go alert Isshin that we will be coming shortly," Orhime ordered them both.
"Right!" Chad and Renji ran together to the kurosaki house, almost sprinting due to the circumstances.
Orihime looked at ichigo's face, which was contorted in sadness and pain and felt her heart break. She wanted to heal him, but all she could do is make him physically healthy. She could not mend his broken heart and the only one that could do that, disappeared.
Life he sacrificed
Someone who paid the price
Blood in our hearts
Blood on our hands
We're crying, we're fighting, it's warfare, we're dying
Believing we're winning, it's ending, we're singing
It's already done
We've overcome
Ishida looked down on Inoue and couldn't find the right words to comfort her. His eyes narrowed in frustration. Finally working up the courage to speak to the strawberry blond, Ishida scratched the back of his head.
"Orihime, we should hurry. I'm sure Chad and Renji are already there by now." Inoue looked up at Ishida, looking startled at being awoken from her deep thinking.
"Oh, yeah, you're right." Inoue took Ichigo's left arm while Ishida took the right and they both walked Ichigo up to his house. Obviously, Ichigo was long expected because Yuzu flung open the door, and Isshin rushed in to take his son from Ishida and Orihime.
The father for once was serious as he led Ichigo into a patient's room and rested him on a bed.
Yuzu and Karin looked up at Isshin anxiously, waiting to be called upon. "Karin, Yuzu, you can up to bed, we'll be ok here." The little sisters sighed and left the room to Ichigo's friends and Isshin.
Once they were both out of sight, Isshin turned to Renji and Ishida.
"So, now that we are alone, mind telling me what happened to my son?" His voice was laced with a seriousness that frightened them all. They were used to his cartoonish and perverted personality.
None of them wanted to talk. "Rukia was taken away by shinigami, that we believe were here for Ichigo instead of her. Knowing Rukia, she wanted Ichigo to not face the ultimate punishment for his actions." Isshin raised an eyebrow, meaning he wanted Renji to continue.
Mercy screams it's violent love
Justice and mercy
Justice and mercy
The depth of us created for
Justice and mercy
Justice and mercy
This is where they kiss
"Ichigo transferred some of his powers into Rukia. In spite of that she has a history of being a shinigami, she is still a mortal now and it is the capital crime to give shinigami powers to a human." Orihime waited anxiously by Ichigo's side, trying to will him awake.
Ishida tensed up as he watched Orihime tenderly brush away strands of hair from Ichigo's face. "Orihime, let's go, we should let ichigo rest." The quincy was anxious to get out of the room, feeling all his friend's anxieties and worries for their berryhead attack him from all fronts.
Orihime said nothing and walked over to Uryuu and everyone else and exited the room. Isshin took one last glance at Ichigo before turning off the lights and closed the door.
"He'll be alright won't he?" Chad spoke for everyone, knowing that they all must want to know the same thing.
Isshin for the first time bore a wild grin on his face. "Of course, it's just a cold. Nothing like a good old cold, to sharpen your mind. It will remind him next time before going outside without a jacket." They all sweatdropped, at his seemingly blunt and careless attitude when only moments ago, he was totally concerned at how Ichigo was faring.
Finally after a long excrutiating moment of silence, Isshin's face softened. "I'll call Urahura and I will tell him to be ready when my son wishes to go save Rukia once more." Even though they all knew the chances of Rukia surviving now and retaining her memory of being with Ichigo are slim with time slipping, it all gave them a sparkle of hope.
The gate closed behind them and Rukia was forced to follow the strange men in front of her. It was only then that she started worrying about the consequences of her actions, what if Ichigo still got killed and what if the Soul Society decided to rid of her in Ichigo's place?
With a life on the line (fire)
That consumes or refines (fire)
To ascend or decline
To retreat or to climb
Out of sight out of mind
'Til attacked from behind
Will this fire consume or refine
The rest of the walk was carried out quietly but that didn't stop the shinigami officers off duty to look in her direction and stare questioningly. Rukia suddenly knew what it felt like to have hundreds of people's eyes all on her. It was like she was their prey and they were waiting for the first instance she would be weakened. She looked away and noticed for the first time just how pretty and tranquil Seireretei looked. It was as if after Japan modernized, the samurai moved there. The place looked like it had came straight out of feudal Japan.
"Miss, follow us. We have arrived in the first division barracks and you are going to speak to head Captain Yamamoto." Rukia emptily nodded, interrupted from her thoughts.
She was led into a rather large room where and old man sat at the very end. He was cloaked in the captains robe that covered the shinigami uniform that everyone wore. At his side was a cane as well. Even though his eyes appeared closed, Rukia could have sworn she saw his eyes expand from the distance between them.
Ichigo blinked his eyes open. It was hard though, it was as if his face was being weighed down by a few hundred tons. When was fully awake, he sat up in the bed and looked around. It was then he realized that he wasn't even in his room.
'where am I?' On cue though, Isshin walked into the room and kicked Ichigo out of the bed.
"Looks like you are awake my son. It's about time, you don't want to sleep your after-life away now do ya?" Isshin was as animated as usual and Ichigo scowled. He had though no energy to retaliate.
"Your friends found you like roadkill in the streets when it was downpouring out there. Looks like my boy is having some love troubles, I said you should have used condom-" Ichigo did an uppercut to Isshin's gut. He went flying down the stairs.
'Wait! That's right…Rukia left with the secret mobile corps to represent me in front of head captain yamamoto.' Ichigo's eyes narrowed intensely, causing frown lines to appear above his eyebrows.
Ichigo grumbled and only got out of the patients room to go to his own. No one stopped him either, well until that was he opened the door was literally punched in the face by a spiky red-haired lieutenant.
"Wenji?! What the hell?!" his nose was still stuffed and he felt lousy overall. Ichigo covered his now bloody nose and felt soft bruised skin around his right eye.
"You dumbass. Rukia leaves and saves your sorry hide and you don't do a damn thing about it. You just curl up in your bed like a dog and whimper about how life sucks. All of your friends are here for you and you do some stupid stunt like sleeping out in the cold!"
Ichigo smirked. "Din you stay up all night thinking od thad Wenji?" This only caused Renji to get more mad.
"I can't believe you. Rukia could die you know and you are acting as if you couldn't care less. You selfish punk! You know, I once thought that you really loved her and I was happy because she was. But now, I guess I was wrong!" Ichigo's face scrunched up.
"SHUN UP WENJI!" Ichigo's eyes darkened instantly and he shoved Renji aside to slam the door shut.
Ichigo slumped down on the other side and buried his head into his knees. It had been three days at best since Rukia left and all he had been doing was sleeping. Renji was right, he was a wimp. When Rukia was taken away from him the first time, he trained his body to death to be able to save her and now he was doing nothing, nothing at all.
'I thought I only had to go through losing you once, I don't know what I'd do if I had to see you stop breathing again.' Ichigo raised his head to see a familiar black cat peeking in from his window.
"Yowuichi?" He sat up and walked over to his window to open it.
"We have to talk Ichigo."
"Yamamoto-taicho! I-Im here for Ichigo..." Rukia felt his spiritual pressure paralyze her and just talking was a struggle enough.
The head captain got up from his seat, clearly disturbed at the idea of Rukia upsetting the balance of life and death by being there.
"Why are you here?" It was like he didn't hear her talk a second before.
"I know t-that for s-some reason, you are skeptical of I-Ichigo, s-sir. I w-want to clear his name!" Rukia bowed deeply, feeling the old man's previous question burn into her skin
"That's all very well but I'd much rather see him myself. However, seeing you here is another matter in itself. Care to tell me how you still retain your Soul form?"
Rukia felt her legs tremble a bit more. What was she supposed to do? Lie to protect ichigo or tell the truth to protect herself?
She looked up at him for the first time and looked him straight in the eye.
Mercy screams it's violent love
Justice and mercy
Justice and mercy
The depth of us created for
Justice and mercy
Justice and mercy
This is where they kiss
"Ichigo, Rukia is in grave danger as we speak. Even if nobody knows yet, it does not mean somebody won't. Yamamoto won't waste a second setting your execution date if we don't work fast. From my recourses, Rukia has recovered some of her memories yes?" Yoruichi was in her cat form so she wouldn't freak him out and Ichigo was most appreciated.
"Yeah, she told me that right before I took care of a hollow."
"That's good so in case she runs into Ukitake, Rukia will be ok for the time being." Yoruichi stated confidently.
"Now, the question is Ichigo, are you willing to go and save Rukia or will you wallow in self-pity until it's too late?" Yoruichi's yellow eyes pierced through Ichigo's flesh and doubt was racing in his mind.
"I want to save her, Yoruichi."
"Ichigo gave me his powers Yamamoto-taicho."
A/N: wow, is Rukia evil or what?…well she was being honest but still that was too cruel. Poor Ichigo.