I have no excuse. It's been so long, my whole first year in college has passed since the last update. How sad right?
~x~
Our Hollow Brother
Chapter 5 – Turning the Wheels
~x~
"I don't really think a gigai is necessary, Urahara-san." Rukia said logically, crossing her arms. "Yuzu and Karin can already see me and it's not like anyone would be peeping in through the windows; Ichigo would hardly allow that. Hence, I don't need the gigai." She reasoned, tapping her foot irritably while glancing at the nearby lock on the wall. The Kurosaki dinner usually began at seven o'clock and she didn't want to be late when it was her official dinner when all of Ichigo's human friends would also be over.
"Ahhh~ but Kuchiki-san~ what if Yuzu-chan wants to take you shopping or Karin-chan wants to play soccer with you? My point being, what if they would like to do something outside with you, but they'd appear as if they'd be talking to air?" Kisuke weaseled cheerfully, waving the white fan at her almost mockingly. "They unconsciously desire to be around someone they don't have to hide anything from, and yet everyone else can see. Do you see my reasoning?"
Regrettably, Rukia did, but she was stubborn in her pride. However, the mention of secretly disappointing the two twin sisters had her considering the possibility of a gigai seriously. Eventually I'd need it for some reason or another right? I mean, if I'm going to be staying here for a longer time, I probably would need it sometime. The adopted shinigami noble sighed regretfully at the lost argument before she nodded in agreement and acceptance. "But no sneaky charges or fees! You offered!" She warned and reminded the grinning ex-captain with a warily suspicious glare.
"Excellent!" Hat-n-Clogs exclaimed happily, standing with a whirl of his green clothes and a clack of his wooden sandals. "I had it made since I learned you would be coming, especially since I suspected you would be staying awhile." He said flippantly as he left the room to retrieve her gigai.
Curious at the tidbit of information, Rukia followed after him quickly. "If anymore shinigami seemed as if they were to be staying here more permanently, or if they had a mission, would you also have a gigai made for them?" She interrogated, realizing that it was her best way of getting information since the blonde had an annoying ability to avoid direct honest questions.
"Of course~!" Kisuke agreed heartily, pulling out her slender twin gigai and laying it on the floor before her. "Making gigais is a specialty of mine after all, and one of the few tasks nowadays that requires the attention to detail that I sometimes crave. Think of it as an artistic outlet for me." The ex-captain said happily, waving his hand down at the nicely dressed gigai.
Pursing her lips slightly, the Kuchiki slowly, and as dignified as she could for one in her noble position, laid down in line and into her faux body. Blinking open her new eyelids, Rukia was disoriented for a second before she sat up and appraised her clothing and body. She stretched unused muscles and frowned over the slight but noticeable muffling of her reiatsu sensory.
Unknowingly behind her, Kisuke had a wearily, grim yet resigned look before it flashed away into his shit-eating smug grin as he crooned over the Kuchiki, receiving a cell phone/Hollow detector to the face for his "kind" efforts.
~x~
Rukia had been over to the Kurosaki's house before for various meals, but never in a gigai before (obviously this being the first time she's ever been in one) and with never holding such anxiety. She found herself picking at her nails, chipping the nail polish that the gigai had already had on, and biting her bottom lip as the shinigami walked down the sidewalk. The Kurosaki Clinic sign came into view down the street and Rukia's heart thumped inside her ribs.
Calm down Kuchiki Rukia! The petite woman scolded herself. You're being ridiculous! Being nervous at something that is a normal dinner will only make things worse. Calm yourself down right now.
"Kuchiki-san~!"
Rukia jumped, whirling around to see two of Ichigo's friends, Inoue Orihime and Arisawa Tatsuki if she remembered correctly, walking towards her. The bustier of the two was waving frantically, a huge cheerful smile on her pretty face.
"Ah, I'm so glad! I thought Tatski-chan and I were late!" Orihime gushed as the two girls drew in line with the shinigami. The orangette cheerfully appraised Rukia, startling the older woman. She even sniffed at Rukia a little before bouncing backwards with both hands glued to her cheeks. "Oh you look so cute in that dress, Kuchiki-san~!"
A faint blush warmed Rukia's cheek at the unexpected compliment, and she found herself picking at the skirt part of her admittedly pretty dress. "Thank you, Inoue-san, Urahara-san supplied a gigai for me tonight." She had never had friends who were girls. She'd grown up with boys in the Rukongai district, and male shinigami largely out populated females.
Orihime beamed and happily led the way over the rest of the stretch towards the Kurosaki household, as Tatsuki fell in step alongside Rukia, the two raven haired girls comfortably quiet.
"Hime-chan~!" Yuzu squealed enthusiastically as soon as they'd all gotten on the doorstep, throwing her arms around the busty girl's waist and receiving an enthusiastic hug in return.
Rukia could easily see how they got along so well, almost like Orihime was acting as an older sister to the young feminine girl. Ichigo went above and beyond being an unbelievably great big brother, but sometimes a girl just needs another girl. Orihime fit perfectly for Yuzu, and Rukia suspected that Tatsuki might be the older sister role model for Karin. It was only speculation at this point, but this is what the family dinner was for- getting to know everyone that mattered to Ichigo. And hopefully, they could get to know her better.
Ishida and Chad were already there, sitting on opposite sides of the same couch. The television was on, but the volume was low and neither of the boys was talking, but it was an obvious comfortable silence. Karin was curled up on the loveseat, eyes riveted on the television that was showing an international soccer game. Yuzu rushed back into the kitchen with Orihime in tow, while Tatsuki flopped on the couch between Chad and Ishida. Rukia hesitated integrating herself into the familiar atmosphere, before she seated herself in the remaining recliner. She felt a warm glow in her chest when Chad looked towards her and nodded a greeting.
Ichigo slithered down the stairs near-silently, his talons and armor clicking against the floorboards and walls with his broad form. The Hollow gave a distinct pleased sound at seeing everyone had arrived, stopping in his original intent to look into the kitchen to instead veer into the living room with everyone else.
Karin suddenly cried aloud with a cheer, simultaneously leaping off the loveseat as her favored team scored the goal that finally broke the tie. Immediately, everyone in the room smiled at the young girl's enthusiasm, and it was the thing that seemingly broke the ice to conversation. Tatsuki engaged the two boys on either side of her on something that had gone on that week at school, and Ichigo crouched beside Rukia's recliner and shouldered her playfully.
"Quit looking like we're here to eat you." Ichigo teased in his warbled voice, flicking his hooked tail.
Rukia crossed her arms and huffed defensively, hiding her insecurities. "I am not."
"You kind of were." Tatsuki interjected, her own conversation dismissed in favor of addressing Rukia with a playful tone. Chad nodded sagely at her side and Ishida smirked silently, pushing up his glasses.
Rukia flushed with embarrassment and purposefully averted her eyes in a faked proud manner, ignoring Tatsuki and Ichigo bursting out in laughter, as well as Chad and Ishida's silent but palpable amusement. Even at the stake of her pride, Rukia was glad that she was the cause for their amusement. If she was, then it helped prove that they didn't consider her a threat to their lives anymore, and she was on her way towards gaining friends again.
~x~
Sousuke Aizen was a master of patience and planning. It had been years since his first Hollowification experiments, and the semi-success of the ones he now knew had learned to suppress their Hollow sides, and become the very first of their kind; the Vizards. It was extremely easy to keep a watchful eye on each of the three worlds, Soul Society, the human realm, and Hueco Mundo, when they were each on separate time schedules and also the fact that he had two faithful underlings and a multiple, beginning army of natural made arrancars in his beginning structure of Las Noches.
"Aizen-sama, when're we gonna finally cut out all them old folk?" Gin asked in an amused tone (or what anyone could call an amused tone; no one was ever really sure about the silver haired captain) as he watched Aizen forcefully create another arrancar, the poor creature's shrieks of pain not even making either powerful, above captain-class shinigami wince at its volume.
"We will rid ourselves of the Central 46 as soon as we are assured that the Hougyoku is securely within grasp. I would believe that Urahara Kisuke has made it too easy to attain when he placed it within Kuchiki Rukia, if I did not fully believe he has some unfathomable greater plan and that he has already secured her in a net of protection traps." Aizen replied coolly, merely dismissing the failed transformation when the Hollow he'd torn its mask from stopped screaming and started degenerating.
Gin's eerie grin grew a little wider. "Ya've always hated how tha'mans always got one up on ya, hmm?" He purred cheekily, taking confidence that his former taicho would only find amusement in his brief mention of the ex-12th Division captain being more intelligently masterful than the brunette than be offended by the hint.
Indeed, the current 5th Division taicho merely smirked, turning back towards his former subordinate. "That I loathe." Looking around to dismiss the topic of conversation, Aizen scoured the lifeless Menos Forest for another powerful Hollow. "It is a pity that the adjuchas that Tosen always senses is never present when we makes our little visits. Our arrancar also have horror stories of this Adjuchas, speaking of how it has advanced so quickly through merely two or three years. They whisper words of a long, orange haired, red and white monster that has no hole to see. Amusing how monsters still fear other monsters, is it not?"
"Maa, maa, quite." Gin replied simply, turning his face upwards lazily, wishing the air wasn't so stagnant below the sands of Hueco Mundo. He rather preferred this air to the constant gritty wind above however. Cocking one ear towards Aizen, hearing that the man had begun walking again, the silver haired male paused for a moment, seemingly caught within thoughts of his own, before he dutifully followed just a few paces behind. "Maybe we'll get lucky one day, hmm?"
Aizen gave another of his oily smirks, eyes glinting harshly behind his unneeded glasses. "Let us hope." He agreed in a slightly mocking tone, knowing that a man like himself needed no such thing as foolish as hope. He would assure it.
~x~
Renji still regretted the day he had hidden his true feelings and openly congratulated and encouraged his best friend to join the Kuchiki family. Rukia had never been the same since, and he kicked himself everyday, blaming himself for turning her into that cold, sharp person. He'd meant to try and breach their relationship again when he'd worked his way into becoming a vice-captain, but the same day he meant to tell her, he learned she was leaving for a station in the real world.
Kira and Momo had urged him to go see her off at the Senkai Gate, but he refused after a moment's thought. He'd surprise her when she got back, work even harder to show that he was just as good as her adopted brother, and would become better. He had worked so hard to become the fukutaicho of the 6th Division, so that he could be nearly equal to Byakuya-taicho, and even closer to Rukia in her newfound nobility. She'd be in for a shock when she came back and seen just how much he had improved.
However, the weeks went on and on, and Renji began to lose his enthusiasm. But just in his confidence for her to return, he still hungered to prove himself to everyone and become better than his taicho. He'd heard sparse rumors that the 12th Division radars had picked up abnormally strong Hollow reiatsu in Karakura Town, and he'd felt a seizing flash of panic for a brief moment, before he calmed himself. Rukia wouldn't be killed so easily, and when, never if, when she came back, he'd show her just how important he'd become too.
~x~
Easily ripping through a weaker Hollow, Ichigo absently reminded himself to take a bite out of the degenerating Hollow's mask before he heaved a rumbling sigh. He felt mild guilt for wanting to willingly put himself in danger just for a good fight. The struggle with the insectoid Hollow a few days ago had dragged up his most animalistic instincts and now his very muscles ached for another exercise like that. One where he didn't have to reign in any of his reiatsu, and could go all out against a worthy opponent; he craved it. And for that, he felt guilty.
About seventy-three lesser Hollows later after he had devoured the other Adjuchas, Ichigo felt like he was tipping on the edge of Vaste Lord. It was so close he could taste it. The over packed voices within the dark recesses of his mind writhed enthusiastically; they could also sense the soon-to-be rush of pure power, foolishly thinking that it would allow their individual minds to overpower Ichigo in that sudden onslaught of change. He was so damn close.
Occasionally, he sensed the presence of a powerful shinigami, most of the time just one, and he took precautions and immediately left for the human world again. Other times, he sensed two, much more powerful shinigami roam around the dark trees of the Menos Forest, and he would flee as far as possible from their presence, before also escaping from the Hollow world. He would take no chances in accidentally leading them back to his home.
Once, he'd even come across a newly created arrancar. It was a weak, trembling thing, probably turned when it was just a Gillian, and though Ichigo had only showed the curiosity of a cat finding something new, the human-like Hollow had been petrified of him. The hole-less Hollow later figured out that it was because his reputation proceeded him, and since he was still so much stronger despite being a normal Hollow, it was terrified he would kill it. He, Ichigo mentally corrected himself, not it. It was definitely a male. The very idea of killing what now looked relatively human had repulsed Ichigo, still did.
A sudden presence right behind him made his tail instantly lash out as an advisory warning as he whipped around to see a wide eyed, purple haired and gothic ballerina arrancar stare at him. Curiosity peaked that another arrancar was approaching him, as if summoned by his thoughts, Ichigo kept his guard up but still observed her interestedly, paying no heed when the woman began speaking in a ever so slightly shaking tone. He paid no interest to her words, too busy probing out her reiatsu and recoiled violently, startling the purple haired arrancar, when he sensed shinigami reiatsu within her body and spotted what looked like a released, shikai zanpakatou at her hands.
Eyeing her warily, Ichigo decided not to risk staying longer and sonidoed away, and when he reappeared a good ten feet away, hidden by multiple trees, he heard her high pitched voice calling out for him, but he again ignored her. He'd heard the speech before, from other Hollows who were flocking towards the surface of Hueco Mundo, where a huge white castle had been erected and powerful shinigami were granting them power by turning them into arrancar, not knowing or understanding that most of them would die through the painful progression of the natural process turned artificial.
Ichigo held no faith or allegiance to shinigami, only Kisuke, Yourichi, and newly Rukia being the exceptions. He would survive the arrancar process after he achieved becoming a Vaste Lord, without their oppressive presence. Hueco Mundo was the home of the Hollows, and even that old fool Barragon deep within the dark corners of the Menos Forest who thought he was the king, deserved to sit on a throne more than two wayward shinigami.
With that last dark thought in mind, Ichigo opened a garganta to home, and left what should have been his home behind with its dark silence.
So shortish chapter with only a little added with Rukia going to dinner with the whole family, which I ended up mostly skipping anyways. Mainly a filler chapter with advancing plot. So yeah, from here on out, and since I didn't explicitly write it out, I'll say it here that it'll be implied from here on out that Rukia has gained closer relationships with Ichigo's group.
Summer's literally five or six days away for me, and we'll see if the abundant free time allows me to get out the next chapter sooner than a year passed this time, shall we? Wish me luck.