Leaving Town Chapter 14: Pieces, a bleach fanfic

A/N: My story is so emo. I love it, haha. Okay, so the remaining chaps are leading up to the end of the story. I've still got a few things up my sleeve so get ready! Well, I'm not wearing any sleeves, so maybe I've got them up my shirt. Idk, stupid analogy. Anywho, I don't have the details planned out, but I do want to tell you that I'm doing what I've had planned since the start of this story. Yes, I'm not altering it at all. I forgot to say the last chapter was named after "Your Guardian Angel," by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, but this chap is named after "Pieces," by Rascal Flatts. As always, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Leave me be.

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Chapter 14: Pieces

"We're here," Renji said walking through the gate with Ichigo behind him. They were right in the middle of a street. The scenery was wrecked. It was obvious fighting had taken place. They could hear the cries of both hollows and shinigami in the distance, along with clanking of zanpaktou as they collided in the fight for their lives.

"We're here alright. Tonight's the night this ends," Ichigo said staring into the distance.

"We've got this. There's no way we're losing," Renji said in determination.

"There isn't?" Ichigo questioned without turning to look at the redhead.

"Of course there's not! They've been able to escape at the last moment way too many times. Tonight they won't be able to."

"You know what, Renji?" Ichigo began in the same soft careless voice he had been talking in. "Maybe that's because we were never supposed to win. Maybe we never could finish them off because fate decided long ago that we would lose. Maybe we're walking directly into our graves tonight," he said with no emotion found in his voice as he continued to stare into the distance.

"How the fuck can you say that?!" Renji stared incredulously at him from behind. "We've been fighting for so long! Fighting to save human lives, soul lives, our lives! We've finally made it to the deciding fight and you're bowing down in defeat!"

He walked up to him and pulled him around and grabbed his robe around his chest to grab his attention. Ichigo continued to avoid eye contact as his head was turned to look in the distance still. Renji continued, "We can't afford for you to give up! You're the only one that can match Aizen's power! You need to focus! You can do this!"

Ichigo snapped his head forward and looked at Renji with furrowed eyes. His voice now showing emotion when he spoke. "Can I, Renji? Can I do this?! What if I'm not strong enough?! Then what happens?!"

Renji let go of his shirt and took a step back. He spoke more calm now, "We have to try. You have to try."

Ichigo went back to his emotionless tone and turned to look in the distance again. "And if I try and fail, what happens then?"

Renji looked at the man in front of him. He never saw Ichigo so hopeless out of all the time he had spent with him. To see someone so optimistic and think he could do anything, turn into someone as empty as the man that stood before him now brought a great discomfort. His confident attitude was being broken down by his companion. He couldn't bare to see this 'Ichigo.' He wanted the old one back. But something inside him told him the old 'Ichigo' was long gone. And he wasn't coming back.

He finally responded to his question. "Then we know we did everything we could. We can't just stand here and accept something we're not sure of. If we're going down, then we're going down fighting for everything we believe in." He paused, but continued. "That's what you've taught me Ichigo," he said sternly.

Ichigo slowing turned his head to look at what he seemed to forget was a friend. Not an enemy. Not a stranger. But someone that is there for him when he needs them. He let a small smile form on his face showing gratitude. He looked down towards the asphalt. "But what if everything I believe in has been already taken away from me?" he looked back up at Renji.

Renji was taken back. The look in Ichigo's eyes showed him a weakness he had never seen in the rebellious orange headed man. He still had that small smile on his face though. Renji was speechless. He didn't know how to respond to his question of to his attitude.

Ichigo spoke again, "If it's taken away, what is there to fight for anymore? If I fight and win, am I really winning when I can't have the only thing in this entire universe that I want?"

Renji was still speechless. He opened his mouth to say some sort of comforting words, but could find none.

Ichigo ignored Renji's attempt to speak, turned to look at a large amount of spiritual energy released in the distance and then continued. "If I fight and lose, to me it's like winning. I get nothing in return."

"Ichigo," Renji said trying to intervene.

"Win or lose," Ichigo stated and then looked back to Renji, "I'm dead either way."

There was a moment of silence between them before Ichigo spoke again. "Don't worry Renji. I'll fight. I'll fight to save your life and everyone else's," he said beginning to walk away. He then stopped with his back facing Renji. "It's too late for me."

"Ichigo," Renji began hesitantly. "I'm sorry man." There was nothing else he could say to him; nothing else that could even come close to giving him his life back.

"Yeah, me too." And with that said, Ichigo shunpoed into the town.

By the time he got to the center of town, every way he looked he say shinigami fighting either hollows or arrancar. There was still no sign for Aizen yet. He ran through the streets easily taking out some hollows without stopping.

The weaker shinigami that were fighting saw Ichigo come and immediately gained hope. Everything rested in his hands. They believed in him. Just by the mire sight of him they were given the adrenaline to keep fighting. If only there was something in this world that could give him that same feeling. There was, but he couldn't have it.

"How are you doing over there, Rukia?" Momo yelled as she cut a hollow in half.

"I'm fine. Urahara's antidote for my spiritual energy being drained in the Shrine of Penitence is working great," she said slicing through a hollow.

"I didn't mean that," she said walking closer to her as another hollow attacked.

A hollow lunged toward Rukia, but she simply side stepped and eradicated it. Rukia simply looked at her in the eyes and walked toward the next hollow she saw. "I'm fine."

Momo jogged to catch up to her. "Come on Rukia, you're not fooling anyone."

"I said I'm fine, Momo," she said sternly marching to her target with the full intention to kill.

"You don't have to be like this," she said stabbing a hollow that ran up in the stomach. "Come on Ru-" she began to say, walking behind her.

Rukia jumped and decapitated the hollow, landed on her feet and swirled around, interrupting Momo's sentence. "How do you want me to be like then?!" she yelled at her friend.

"I'm not sayin-" Momo began to try and defend herself.

"No! It's either I shut myself down from everything I'm feeling and help fight, or I let everything out and become as worthless as I feel inside!" she took a deep breath and walked over to her friend. She put a hand on her shoulder and said softly, "Please Momo, just let me be." She jogged away to where Shuuhei, Rangiku and Byakuya were seen fighting in the distance.

Byakuya was taking on five hollows at once, as they all surrounded him. With one word he was able to take them all out. "Scatter."

He turned around only to see a hollow in midair soaring at him. His zanpaktou wasn't completely reformed so he wasn't prepared for another attack. Somewhat frozen in what to do, Rukia jumped and interfered in the hollow's leap. She landed in front of her brother, who stared at her in shock. Her eyes locked with his and he let a small smile form on his face as he gave her a slight nod.

Her face remained cold and she gave him a nod back as she took off towards another hollow. Byakuya watched her determined march to the nearest hollow. By the reaction he received from her and the look in her eyes, he knew she was gone. That wasn't his sister fighting beside him. That was an aloof soul that pushed on with nothing more than the empty crater of where a beating heart used to be. For her, nothing was personal anymore. It was just business.

"Hey! Byakuya!" a voice yelled from atop a small building, catching everyone's attention. The owner of the voice jumped down, landing five feet away from the said Kuchiki.

"Let's play," Gin said with his maniacal smile. Their battle began. Many had to stay clear, knowing that this fight was going to be dangerous.

She watched as her brother seemed to be in control of the fight. She then turned to see Toushirou taking on Tousen, while Rangiku and Shuuhei were going up against Ulquiorra.

She looked around. Everything reeked of disaster. There were dead shinigami everywhere. This was truly a war for survival. The sight of this would have probably caused her to feel a bit queasy, but now she didn't. She couldn't feel anything anymore. She stood and watched as battles took place all around her.

She watched as a hollow collided with a parked car, which then collided with another car. This soon brought an explosion, followed by a fire spreading. There was nothing left that said anything but ruin.

She found it ironic how looking at the scenery laid out before her showed what the turmoil inside her must look like if it were to be displayed. It wasn't any surprise to her, for that visual was now her perspective on life.

-Flashback-

They were lying on the floor, holding each other during the time Ichigo came and spent the night with Rukia in the Shrine of Penitence. She was lying on her back, while Ichigo lied on his stomach, with his chin resting on Rukia's stomach.

They lied there in silence for sometime, until Rukia began to fidget and laughed quietly.

"What?" Ichigo said smiling curiously.

"Your breathing is tickling me," he said feeling another exhale on her bare stomach.

He laughed, "Sorry," he said turning his head to the side so that he was facing her now, with his ear up against her stomach.

"So, Ichigo," she paused. "How is this going to work?"

He answered nonchalantly as their hands seemed to have found each other. They interlocked their fingers and then just began to play with each other's hand as they talked. "They'll probably position you back in Karakura Town now that this whole Aizen thing is going to be over soon. I mean that's why you left the first time: so the spiritual energy would go down."

She sighed, "Yeah, I guess. At least I hope," she said softly.

"Hey," he said grabbing her hand a little more firmly and shaking it to get her attention. "We'll make this work." He smiled looking straight into her eyes. "I swear I'll make this work."

She smiled slightly, "There you go again taking this on like it's a mission or something."

"Well it is a mission," he said lifting his head off her stomach and crawling up to her face, "A mission to conquer your heart," he said smiling as he pecked her on the lips.

She laughed, "Wow, that was so corny."

He laughed again kissing her on her right cheek, "Corny?" He then kissed her left cheek. "I know you thought it was sexy." He then kissed her forehead.

"I thought it was cute," she paused, "but mostly corny." She laughed.

"Cute?" he asked. "That doesn't really give me that manly feeling I was looking for," he said smirking at her before kissing her neck.

She laughed, "Better luck next time," she said as he continued to kiss her neck.

"I'll show you 'next time'," he said pulling her into a passionate kiss that lasted for quite some time.

"Now that was sexy," he said out loud, resting his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. She closed her eyes as well, allowing a goofy smile to form across her face.

Her smile then faded as her thoughts became corrupted. "My brother," she said out loud.

"What?!" Ichigo said leaning back off her forehead. "Now is really not the time to be thinking about him, Rukia," he said surprised.

She huffed, "No. How are we going to deal with him? Or the rest of soul society, for that matter? We'd be breaking the law!" her voice was getting louder. "If we tried to run, they'd come after us and eventually find us and then-"

"Rukia," he said softly, placing both his hands on each side of her face, grabbing her complete attention. "Forget about that now," he said as his thumbs moved back and forth across her smooth, pale cheeks.

"I can't help it. I don't want anything to happen to you! We've already risked so much for you being here now! Maybe you should g-," she said, starting to slide out from his hover body.

He grabbed her arm and gently pulled her back down, putting his hands back on the sides of her face, "Right now, just stay with me. Even if it's for only a moment. 'Cause to me, a moment with you will last for a lifetime."

Her face relaxed from his delicate words, and all she did was nod as a soft smile showed itself across her lips. He then bent down and placed his lips on hers.

-End Flashback-

The happy memory of something that had only just occurred last night seemed to be only dream; something she made up to escape a life of misery and discontent. How could anything so blissful exist when living in a place like this?

Then, like it was on queue, something caught the attention of her cold violet eyes. What came running through the flames about twenty feet in front of her was something she wished she hadn't seen. He stood there, mirroring her facial expression with Zangetsu gripped tightly in his hand.

Their eyes locked, thawing away the icy shield that cut them off from the rest of the world. Their breathing grew heavy.

From the moment that we met
My world was turned around, upside down
To some degree I still regret
My memory for keepin you around
Girl I thought that you were mine
But my broken hearts been shattered
One too many times

'Should I go to her? This could be my last chance to see her, touch her, breathe her in,' the man thought, unconsciously gripping his zanpaktou tighter as he debated what to do.

'If I go to him now, I won't be able to let him go,' she thought as the wind blew her raven hair off her shoulders and her zanpaktou's ribbon trailed in the breeze.

'Should I make a move towards her? I would give anything to hold her body tightly against mine one last time. But would that make this harder than it already is?' he questioned as his orange locks danced in the wind.

'If I could only feel safe in his arms once again, I would give up everything I've ever known just to feel his warm presence around me,' she thought as her hand slowly formed a fist. She slammed her eyes shut for a second and then opened them again. Her eyes begging him, 'Please, don't come.'

And I don't want to see you anymore
I'm just not that strong
I love it when you're here
But I'm better when you're gone
I'm certain that I've given and oh how you can take
There's no use in you lookin
There's nothin left for you to break
Baby please release me
Let my heart rest in pieces, in pieces

He took a step forward as his heart was reaching out to hers. She wasn't moving, so he was hesitant on what to do. He took another step forward and saw her small form stiffen in the distance. He froze.

'Oh god, please Ichigo. I won't be able to take it. I'm falling apart just by looking at you,' she thought, holding onto her emotions as the fire raged all around them. Trees were beginning to burn as the flames danced from the trunks to the branches, where it engulfed the leaves.

Someone let you down again
So you turn to me, your convenient friend
Oh but I know what you're doin
And what you hope to find
I've seen a thousand times

All the fire we had before
Are now just bitter ashes
Left scattered on the floor

He tried his best to see her expression. The surrounding flames shadowed her face, making her unreadable. He took another step forward and was surprised to see her take one step back. He stopped moving. 'She- She doesn't want me to come,' he thought causing his heart to fall into the hole it had been lost in until his eyes caught her just now. His eyebrows furrowed, his head bent down and he slammed his eyes closed.

She swallowed hard, trying to suppress her wanting to breakdown. She knew that her action was clear and he now understood. "I'm sorry," she said softly, even though knowing he wouldn't be able to hear.

As if he had heard her words he looked up at her figure with distressed eyes. 'If this is how you want it to be, Rukia, then so be it,' he thought staring at her petit figure ahead of him.

'It's… easier this way,' she thought, convincing herself. A flaming branch suddenly fell in between the two. The flames spread from the branch onto the debris surrounding it.

The view they had of each other was becoming smaller and smaller as the fire between them grew, dividing them more and more.

Ichigo could only see the slightest bit of her now. He swallowed and forced the words softly out of his mouth. "I… love you," he said hesitantly. He paused before saying the two words he never wanted to say, "Goodbye, Rukia." Now the fire was too wild for them to see each other. Ichigo swallowed hard and then shunpoed away.

I don't want to see you anymore
I'm just not that strong
I love it when you're here babe
But I'm better when you're gone
I'm certain that I've given and oh how you can take
There's no use in you lookin
There's nothin left for you to break
Baby please release me
We both know that you don't need me
Let my heart rest in pieces, in pieces

Let it rest…

'That's the last time I'll see him. Soon this will all be over. My life in the living world will be over. My life with everyone in it will be over,' she thought not taking her eyes off the now raging fire in front of her.

"To just be standing around watching the fire in the middle of a war is just asking for something," a voice said, causing Rukia to become alert and turn around.

"Nice to see you again," he said grinning.

Rukia's mouth dropped. "How is this possible? You're- I killed you!" she asked dumbfounded. She was staring into the eyes of what anyone else would believe to be Kaien, but she knew it all too well.

It chuckled, "You should have checked to see if I was really dead. Oh, that's right! You were practically dead yourself, so you couldn't have done that."

She held out her zanpaktou. "I know you're not Kaien, so why don't you just go into your normal form?"

"That may be true that you don't believe that, but it also may not be. It wouldn't hurt to see if you speak the truth. Plus, it feels more personal this way. I like it like that."

Her face showed total despise towards him. "I won't go down so easily this time," she said harshly.

Kaien smirked, "Good, because from what I just saw take place, he won't be coming to save you this time."

His words hit her like a brick. He was right. If something happened, he wouldn't come for her this time. She basically told him not to.

She then gripped her zanpaktou tighter. "I won't need him to save me this time." She then lunged at him as he blocked with his trident. He was smirking at the rage she was letting flow into their battle.

He chuckled while he was still blocking her zanpaktou. They were still in a close proximity. "I'm going to enjoy this."

She pushed away slightly to break the contact. She processed what he had said. 'He was going to enjoy this,' she thought repeating him. And for the first time, all she wanted to do was fight. She wanted to deliver pain to someone else and watch them suffer, like everyone around her was doing to her. She craved for that feeling of payback. But the opportunity hadn't presented itself… until now.

She gripped Sode no Shirayuki firmly in both hands, finally replying to his comment. "Not as much as I will," and then she leaped in the air, planing an aerial attack.

"Shit," he said softly as he tried to run with his throat clogged up. He couldn't swallow. He tried shaking his head back and forth, but nothing could erase the one thing that remains the same: he said his final goodbye to her.

The hard part is: he regretted it. It wasn't what he wanted. It was what she wanted. He knew it was the right thing to do, but had he had another second; had she not stepped away, he would have gone to her.

He continued to run as he felt his life crumbling down before. The whole town symbolized the way he would see the rest of his life. Everything was in flames. Windows were heard shattering as the buildings themselves were crashing down. But the most sickening part was the screaming.

There were indeed still humans in the city. As he ran past each building he heard the same sound; the same tortured sound that wouldn't cease. He grimaced at the shouts for help. He couldn't do anything. By the time he found them, it would have been too late. And if he did find them in time, could they even survive with the amount of hollows and arrancar out there waiting for them?

'So many lives are being taken, and for what purpose? For power? For revenge? No matter what way you look at it, its madness. Killing so many innocent lives and without even batting an eyelash over it, qualifies that person to die in the same fashion,' Ichigo thought with only the feeling of hatred left in his body.

He felt as if the spiritual pressure around him was getting stronger the more he ran in the same direction. He ran, cutting hollows into pieces as he passed, until he reached a point where the pressure was so strong, it felt like whatever was dispensing it was right on top of him.

He stopped, but once he stopped, it was gone. He felt nothing. "What the hell?" he said softly, confused.

Then, the ground around him shook as it felt like a plane had crashed behind him. He slowly turned around with wide eyes from this unexpected encounter.

He froze from the site of his company. "It- it can't be…"

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AHHH! Sorry about the cliffy! But, while it is a cliff- care to parachute off? Haha, I wonder if any of you understood where I was going with that… What I mean is, care to take a stab at who Ichigo sees? I'm curious to see where your minds are going with this. Alright, so let me know that and tell me what you think overall. I love you! This ended up being shorter than I thought it would be, but whatever. I'm satisfied. Okay, Later