Well, it's only been six months this time... At least that's better than seven...
And here we are with another birthday update, for both the real Ichigo and my own Ichigo, who has been feeling rather left out lately, as I spent our last convention flirting with Renji and Hanatarou. (Not to mention Hitsugaya...) But she says that this fic is now "100 percent Ichigo-approved. Or was it Hichigo-approved? I can't remember now... :3"
I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Abra Cadaverous, for dedicating a chapter of Bleached Love to me, writing a lot of good Hichiruki, then asking politely if I was planning on updating soon. Thanks for kicking my brain back into gear!
Again, sorry for my extreme lateness. I'm trying to kick my procrastination habit, but I just keep putting it off...
(I'm also trying to kick the habit of ending everything in ellipses, but failing...)
xx
"Rukia, please. I'm begging you... Kill me. It's the only way you can stop him for good."
xx
Rukia is stunned, staring blankly at Ichigo as he gasps in pain, hand flying to his temple, fingernails digging into his flesh. For a moment, his words are incomprehensible to her, washing across her as if they are nothing more than noise. But then he speaks again, and sickness rises within her with every word she hears.
"If I stay like this, he'll just take control again. He'll just hurt you again... Rukia, I couldn't stand that! Knowing that he's torturing you, and I can't stop him..." His voice breaks, and he looks away from her.
"Rukia-"
"I can't," she whispers, the words almost inaudible, even to her own ears.
He drops Zangetsu as his hands slide up her arms to her shoulders, and she gasps in pain as he brushes past the still-bleeding wound. He breathes in sharply, whispering an apology as his hands come to rest on her collarbone, wonderfully warm and comforting even now. She can't stand to look at him, to see the despair in his eyes.
"You have to, Rukia! You're the only one who can do it..."
"I can't!" she whispers again, the words choking her. She takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself, but for a moment she can smell rain and leaves, and the weight on her shoulder is that of another man she once loved, and the blood trickling down her arm is his, warm and wet...
She gasps, forcing her mind back to the present, trying to ignore the voice she remembers so clearly, even now. Especially now.
"Come on, Rukia, I know you can..."
"No, Ichigo..." she says, her voice slightly louder as she raises her head. "Ichigo, I can't kill you, I could never kill you, I'd rather die..."
Her voice cuts off as her eyes meet his; as his hands tighten, sliding closer to her neck; as his mouth curves upward into a smirk, and he leans in to whisper in her ear.
"After all, it wouldn't be the first time you killed the man you loved, would it, Rukia-chan?"
xx
Ichigo screams in frustration, in fear, in hatred as the hollow overpowers him again, shoving him back into his own inner world. He lands hard on the side of a building but hardly feels the pain, furious at himself for not being able to stay in control of his own body. For being so weak.
He gets to his feet, trying to figure out where he is, and spots the flagpole a few buildings away. Cursing, he runs over to it; without the pool, he has no idea what is going on outside, what it might be doing to Rukia in his absence.
And then he hears the hollow's laughter echoing across the buildings.
"Ain't you watching this, King? After all, Rukia-chan's been tryin' to talk to you..."
He jumps, lands on the next building and runs to the edge. And as he turns toward the final building, the pool comes into view, and he gasps in horror.
The hollow is swinging his blade toward Rukia's neck, and Rukia is making no move to block it.
Lunging for the barrier, Ichigo presses himself against it, trying with all his might to force himself back into control, but he knows it won't be enough. This time, he won't be able to stop the blow...
The scene in front of him has stilled, and he looks up, dreading what he's about to see.
For a moment, all he can focus on is the blood trickling down Rukia's pale throat, but then a movement across from her catches his eye, and he turns.
The hollow's mask is dissolving.
All Ichigo can do is stare at it. He knows that he didn't make it in time to stop the attack, so why...
The answer comes in a flash of horrified realization, as the hollow drops to its knees and Rukia pulls herself toward it, sickening laughter echoing in Ichigo's ears.
He is doing this to get to her.
And right now, there's nothing Ichigo can do about it.
He walks closer to the pool, a sick feeling rising in him as the hollow's words reach his ears. "He'll just hurt you again... and I can't stop him..."
Ichigo hadn't really realized before now just how closely he and his hollow are connected. But now, as he hears the hollow speak the words Ichigo himself has been dying to say to Rukia, the point is driven painfully home. He and the hollow had once been one and the same, and so the hollow knows Ichigo better even than Ichigo knows himself...
However, Ichigo has only moments to contemplate this new insight before something else catches his attention. The hollow is leaning closer to Rukia, whispering to her, and Ichigo is stunned by the despair on her face. Rukia doesn't show emotion; it's just a part of who she is, the Kuchiki mask she shares with her noble brother. And as he watches her whisper to "Ichigo", he feels a momentary, irrational jealousy at his hollow, who has gotten Rukia to show more of herself than she's ever shown to him...
A moment later he looks down, utterly disgusted with himself. It's no wonder I can't defeat him, if I'm this weak...
And then the hollow's next words, laced with vile amusement, echo loudly into the silence.
"After all, it wouldn't be the first time you killed the man you loved..."
A wave of sudden rage fills Ichigo as he hears this. How dare the hollow mention Shiba Kaien! Ichigo knows very well that this is the one piece of Rukia he's never been able to reach; the reason she still blames herself for twisting Ichigo's destiny; the reason she was willing to walk quietly away to her death one lonely, rainy night...
And the rage is doused with cold horror as he realizes what the hollow is doing. Just as the hollow knows exactly what Ichigo wants to say to her, it also knows the one thing to say that will hurt her more than any other.
Heartsick, he lowers himself to the ground, trying desperately to block out the laughter ringing in his ears. He needs to end this somehow, before it manages to break her for good...
And so he begins to gather every shred of reiatsu he can find, compressing it in preparation for his final blow. He can only hope it will be enough.
xx
Rukia's eyes widen at his words, her mouth open in a silent cry, and all she can think is it's happening again. His voice is ringing in her head, drowning out thought. Dimly, she registers that he is moving closer, but she finds herself unable to move, Ichigo's face replaced with Kaien-dono's.
Did you call me, little girl? Do you love me that much? In that case, I'll eat you first...
But this time is somehow worse, because this is so much more personal. Metastacia had only wanted to eat a shinigami, any shinigami, and had possessed Kaien-dono in an attempt to devour him. This hollow, however... He's been targeting her specifically, all along. And Kaien-dono himself had never been as close to her as Ichigo is; he had been her mentor, but Ichigo is her partner, could be more than that... and she shies away from this thought, biting her lip painfully in an attempt to bring herself back into the present. She will find another way this time...
Forcing herself to ignore the part of her that wants to just give up, she takes her memories and shoves them to the back of her mind, covering them in a layer of ice to keep them from breaking free, and as she does, the scene before her comes into clearer focus. Ichigo's hands are still on her shoulders, but the hollow's grip has changed; instead of holding her upright, he-no, the hollow is an it, not a he, not Ichigo-is now pushing her to the ground, leaning over her with a smug, twisted smile spreading across Ichigo's face.
"You'd rather die, Rukia-chan?"
Rukia forces herself to look into its eyes, her expression full of defiance she can barely feel.
"I would. But it's not going to come to that, because Ichigo is going to defeat you," she says, glaring up at him. She is bluffing, and they both know it, but her words still ring true because she will never stop believing in Ichigo. The hollow's smirk fades slightly, and his eyes on hers grow colder.
"Then I'll just have to make you beg for death."
His movements so swift she can barely track them, he releases her, then grabs her hands from where they are still resting on his shoulders and pins them above her head with one of Ichigo's hands. The other traces down her face, coming to rest on her neck; his thumb swipes across the shallow cut, smearing blood across her skin, then pushes hard against her windpipe. Rukia chokes, gasping for air, and the hollow's smile reasserts itself as he-it--leans closer, its expression promising something that she doesn't even want to think about.
"But first, I think I'm going to enjoy myself a little, Rukia-chan. After all, I am a hollow, and I've always wondered exactly how good a shinigami tastes..."
xx
I think we all know what he means by that... *evil smile*.
However, as I can't even read lemons, I don't think I'm going to be writing one anytime soon... so dear Hichigo won't go too far.
Still, I hope you enjoy the next chapter. It will definitely be out by September 30, as long as I don't die by then. See you!
(...can you believe I originally intended this story to be only two chapters long?)