I apologize for the long wait, my internet was down for almost a week.
If you find any grammer errors, don't tell me. I spend entirely too much time proofreading these chapters. If there is anyone that would like to volunteer to proofread my story, send me a personal message. I would be very grateful for the help.
I also apologize in advance because I had a major writer's block with this story and I ended up writing a filler chapter. I sort of know what I'm doing now, so trust me when I say the next chapter will be more interesting. Still, I hope you enjoy the chapter :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach
They sat in the conference room, the dead silence still remained after General Yamamoto had made the annoucement. The table of vice-captains and captains all gave him grave expressions, and no one quite knew how to respond.
"They attacked Rukoungai." Yamamoto said again, "Aizen has started a full-out invasion of the spirit plane. By attacking the south edge, we were caught by surprise. All we can do now is put together a force and prepare to meet them head on."
"But, General-" Hitsugaya frowned, "-we are still preparing the attack force that will be sent to Hueco Mundo. The troops we already have there can not last much longer."
"I am quite aware of that, Hitsugaya-taicho. For that I will be putting together additional forces, and I will be sending two captains with them to Hueco Mundo."
"Two?" Byakuya frowned, "That will put quite a strain on the forces here, sir."
"We do not have much more choice in the matter." Yamamoto frowned, "For now what I needed to do was put together a few higher-ranking officers to go defend Rukoungai. The information says that Ichimaru Gin will very likely be with them."
Rangiku perked up when she heard this, and she right away detected the astonishment in Kira's face. He was still greatly imposed by his former captain's defection, having to temporarily take control of the squad himself. After working long hours, doing most of the work alone, Rangiku could sense that he was beginning to wear thin.
"I can not spare more then one captain, but I would like to put Hitsugaya-taicho in charge."
"Aye, sir." Toushirou nodded.
"Take Matsumoto with you, and I would like to send Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai with you."
"Sir?" Renji frowned.
"I decided this only because you are familiar with the area, and it will give us an advantage. Do you think you can provide usefull information, vice-captain?"
"Yes, sir." Renji replied.
"Good. I will have formal paperwork sent out to your offices. Everyone dismissed."
As everyone began to file out, Renji sat in his spot, turning to look at General Yamamoto.
"Sir-" Renji frown deepened further, "-what area of Rukongai were you refering too?"
Yamamoto stood up, "The south 78th District."
The General left the room, leaving Renji alone to contemplate how he was going to deal with this new problem. Returning to the place where he used to live was not something he really wanted to do. He had some good memories, but he also had too many harsh ones that he really did not want to remember.
Ichigo slammed into a wall. Sliding to the pavement of the mainstreet, he let out a loud groan. The Menos was barely even paying attention to him.
"Damn it." he planted Tensa Zangetsu into the concrete and used it as a brace to haul himself to his feet. Why did things like this always have to happen to him? If Ishida was here they could have gotten ride of it a long time ago.
Gripping the sword in his hands, he charged towards it again. Realizing a little too late that charging it had been a mistake on his part. The Menos aimed a Cero attack right at him. Cursing loudly, Ichigo braced himself, waiting for the blast to hit him. He was exhausted and wounded, and he did not know if he would be able to stop the whole thing. His vision blurred a little from the head injury he got. Stepping foreward and loosing his stance, he was startled as a strong hand reached out and grabbed his collar, pulling him back.
"You idiot, you can't face a Menos by yourself after spending the entire night running around half-cocked trying to save everyone."
Ichigo had not even sensed the other Shinigami's presence. Staring at the black blur of the taller man, he suddenly came back to his senses.
"The Cero-"
The blast raced towards him. Ichigo raised his sword and stopped it. When he glanced over to his side, he saw that the stranger had stopped it with him. The attack pushed them back, and Ichigo whipped the sword to the side as it vaporized, leaving an aggitated Menos behind it.
Ichigo frowned, "We won't be able to kill it, but if we scare it off it'll leave. If I attack it from the rear, you can attack it from the front. It'll be enough to at least get it off this dimension."
"I agree."
Ichigo stopped, recognizing the voice. Turning to the side, he gapped at his father, who grinned widely at him.
"Out late again, Ichigo? It's not healthy."
"What the hell are you doing here?!" he jabbed a finger in his father's direction.
Isshin made a face, "That's not a very polite way to treat people that rescue you, boy. I sure hope you're not going around treating people in the Soul Society that way."
"Wh-What?"
"Urahara said you were headstrong." he said, rubbing the top of Ichigo's head, "Of course, I already knew that."
Ichigo stared at him, "Dad, you're a-"
He did not finish the sentence.
"That Menos is really pissed at us right now." Isshin told him, "I think it's 'bout time we got rid of it, hm?"
"Yeah." Ichigo nodded, and he disappeared. Isshin whistled out loud to himself, Ichigo was headstrong be he was not a slouch. His son was fast. He would have to quiz Ichigo about his powers later. Although Isshin had heard about them from Urahara, he had never seen Ichigo fight.
Ichigo was amazing.
As they both flung themselves foreward, making a double assult on the gigantic Hallow. Isshin took this moment of amazing his son's fighting capabilities as a Shinigami himself. Isshin had been formally trained by the Seireitei, but Ichigo had never had the same oppurtunities. If he had remained at the Soul Society, and had Ichigo trained by the Shinigami formally, there was no doubt that he would have made it to vice-captain by now.
Ichigo could also wield a powerful bankai. That was something that was unheard of from someone his age. Of course, it as probably partially due to Ichigo's Vaizard abilities.
Isshin smiled as he landed, hearing the cry of the Menos as it disappeared through the cracked sky. The other monsters around them began to dissolve. Isshin whipped his sword through the air and put it back into the sheath, folding his arms as Ichigo stared at him.
There was silence. No one talked about the Menos they had just defeated. Or the fact that hundreds of Hallows had just appeared in Karakura. Both Ichigo and Isshin knew who sent them, it was not brain science. But there was only one question Ichigo had, and he had to ask it.
"Did mom know?"
Isshin hoped Misaki was watching them at that moment. She was always watching Ichigo during his fights, and that was something that had calmed him about sending his eldest son out to fight in horrible battles.
"Yes."
Ichigo roared loudly, having already dropped his bankai form, he drove the huge sword into the pavement, glaring at his father.
"Why didn't you tell me!?" he said, "Why did you not-"
"I had lost my powers." he said, "I had lost them, and I promised Misaki that I would give up that life to live with her."
Ichigo stared at his father. The thought suddenly occured to him that with his father being as powerful of a Shinigami that he was, and from the reiatsu level Ichigo sensed he was very powerful, that the memory of the fact that he was powerful and still could not save his wife reeked havoc on Isshin's conscience.
After then, Ichigo did not inquired about it any more. He knew the answer that his father would give him. Instead, he smiled, to Isshin's surprise. He had expected Ichigo to shout some more, swear a lot, or maybe try to beat him over the head a few times.
"My sword is larger then yours."
Isshin laughed, and then he smirked widely.
"That is because you can't control your reiatsu." he said, burying his hands in the sleeves of his uniform, "Your zanpakuto looks like a kitchen butcher knife, Ichigo."
Ichigo made a face at him as Isshin strolled over to him, clamping a hand on his shoulder.
"Misaki would have been thrilled to know that you are such a skilled Shinigami. You're mother would have been very proud of you."
Ichigo smiled saddly, and nodded, "I know."
Smacking him on the back, Ichigo grunted. Isshin turned around and headed towards Urahara's place. Calling after him, Ichigo figured that maybe he had more in common with his father then he originally had thought.
Rukia stood on the balcony, staring at the sky. It was nice to be alone in the quiet. Ever since the...announcement...Marou Kazah had not left her alone for more then a ten minutes. As independent of a person she was, it was hard for her to adjust to the sudden invasion of her personal space. Considering he insisted on holding her hands, trailing after her...
She was about ready to take Shirayuki and stab herself in the head. Maybe then she would not have to deal with him. He was irritating as hell.
That was not the worse part though. She was pratically the vice-captin of the 13th Division, she knew how to deal with idiots. But the one person that she could always lean on and tell her troubles to was avoiding her.
Renji.
Renji had not spoken to her, come to her, or even stayed in the same room as her since everyone found out. It was a surprised. She knew he might be a little upset, but she did not think he would be so troubled by it.
The door to the mess hall suddenly shifted open and ironically, Renji stepped out. He stared at her with wide eyes and then turned down the hallway.
"Wait, Renji!" she called, "Where are you going?"
"I have work."
"What the heck is you're problem?" she snapped.
"What?"
"You won't even look at me." she said, "Renji...is it about the engagement?"
He stared at her quietly a moment, and then said, "You're supposed to accompany Hitsugaya-taicho on a mission to the Rukongai 78th District. Ichimaru is leading an army of Arancars over there."
She stared at him and then gasped, "78th-"
"I will be going as well." he said, "They need people that know the area."
Rukia was silent, too shocked to say anything to him.
"I have work."
With that, he turned around and left her.
The door opened, and Yuzu squealed and threw her arms around around Ichigo's waist.
On the way back, he and his father had met up with Tatsuki and Muruguma. After having a brief heads-up on the Hallow situation, Muruguma left to tend to his policing dutie, and Tatsuki occupanied him. She was far too exhausted to walk all the ten miles back to her place so she was going to the precinct to get a ride. Muruguma seemed not at all surprised about Ichigo's father being a Shinigami. He brushed it off and wandered down the street with Tatsuki to the police station.
Tatsuki and Muruguma. Such strange people.
Urahara served them tea, sat them down, and after making sure that no one had any serious injuries to be treated, he sighed, "That would have been so much easier had Ishida been here." Kisuke replied, "His Quincy powers are more effective then Shinigami at times."
"Ishida is not an option for us to ask for help." Ichigo said, taking a sip, "Stop asking about him."
Everyone glanced nervously across the room. It had been two years since Ishida left, and ever since then, Ichigo had always been a little irrate about it. He never explained why.
"Ichigo, I detect a little hostility in your tone." Isshin replied, "How, pray tell, did Ishida earn the honor of having your contempt?"
"You're making fun of me, Dad. Stop it."
"I'm not. I'm just curious."
"We're all curious." Urahara said, "Last I saw Sado-kun, he seemed a little put-out as well. Sado-kun is never disturbed by anything."
Ichigo stared at his tea a moment.
"I don't really know what his deal is." he said, "He just packed up his stuff and high-tailed it out of Karakura. Chad and I managed to catch him the last day he was here, but he brushed us off and told us it was none of our business and to stay the hell out of his way."
Ah, Isshin nodded to himself. Ichigo was not really the expressive type, but he was highly protective about all his friends, such as Chad was. If Ishida was insensitive enough to be disturbed about something and not tell anyone, then cuss out anyone that tried to help...that was a big mistake.
Urahara frowned, "Kurosaki-san..."
"I know what you're going to say." Ichigo said, "I know we need his powers to win this war. I've been trying to get up there for years to try and haul him back, but it doesn't work. He just stays up there like the stubborn ass he is."
There was a moment of silence.
"Ichi-nii." Yuzu looked up. She had been silent for a while. Karin wanted to say things, but she did not feel like she had the mindset to intrude on Ichigo's frame of mind. When he set himself to something, nothing could hold him back.
Ichigo looked at her.
"You are his friend." Yuzu said plainly, "You need to go help him. If he complains, then it's his own fault. But if he can help, then he shouldn't brood and let innocent people suffer for it."
She was right, Ichigo nodded in agreement. He knew there was only one option open to him, and one that he knew he had to do. Especially with the upcomming meeting between the Vaizards and the Shinigami, he needed to have someone else there who was not baised on either side. Ishida hated Vaizards and Shinigami, so it was easy enough to believe that he would not have favored opinions in the negotiations.
Ichigo sighed and set down the teacup.
"I need to head back to my place and pack some stuff." he said, "I only have a couple days until I have to go back to school, so I don't have much time. I'm going to bring Ishida back here if I have to knock him out and drag him here. I will not deal with all this crap by myself."
Isshin smiled, "Good luck. You'll need it."
Ichigo retreated towards the door of the place. He had too much to do and not enough time to do it and naturally, he had to do it all by himself.
He scribbled furiously on the board, letting the noise of the chalk on the board float through everyone else's ears before he turned back to his audience and explained the sentence. Teaching latin was not his favorite occupation, but it passed the time. There were people of all ages all over the complex that came to his class, and there were even students shipped from other monastaries in Hokkaido to attend his sessions.
As Ishida concluded the lesson, he waited for the children to leave before packing his bag and heading down the hallway.
It was the spring season, so he held his jacket over his shoulder instead of wearing it. He chucked it on the chair in his room when he reached it, sliding the door open from the sitting room, he flopped right onto the wooden balcony outside his door. All he wanted to hear at the moment, were the birds and the wind.
"You are thinking of the past, no?"
"Seishi-dono." Ishida sat up, looking at the elderly man. Seishi was one of the elder monks in the complex, and Ishida talked with him often, "Excuse me for my lack of decorum-"
"Uryuu, you are much too uptight. Lounge on the porch if you wish it. No one shall hold it against you."
With this, Ishida gavea brief smile and sigh as he lay back down. There was another stretch of silence, and Seishi sat on the steps.
"You are quiet the worker, I hear." he said, "You bring in children from all over. This place holds you back."
"I doesn't."
"I does." Seishi replied, "You are certified in physics, medics, and education yet you are only 23. You should be attending forums in Tokyo, not laying here staring at the sky."
"Seishi-dono-"
"You have been here for years now, Uryuu. Yet, you refuse to tell me why you came here other then say that you made a grave mistake and must seek attonement."
"This is true."
"What was your mistake, pray tell?"
"I dishonored my family." Ishida said bluntly.
"How so?"
Ishida rolled over on his side.
"I-" he closed his eyes, "I do not wish to speak of it."
Seishi sighed, "You work hard, Uryuu, and we do appreciate it. But as a monastary, we are allowing you to stay here granted that you reflect on your past. But you seem to be only running from it."
"I suppose I am."
Seishi gave him a sad smile, "You must face it, Uryuu. That is the only way."
"I don't understand how."
"Maybe someone can help with that?" Seishi replied, standing up.
"Pardon?"
He smirked, "We recieved a call. Your aquaintence Ichigo Kurosaki-san will be arriving tommorrow. He told me that if you do not agree to see him that he will hunt you down and beat you senseless until you agree. I told him I would not stop him."
Ishida stared at him, shocked, "Seishi-dono!"
"I can not inflict harm. But-" he chuckled, "-I would not nessecarily stop one from making someone else realize they are being stubborn."
Ishida could not help but smile as the old man wondered off. As he disappeared, Ishida gritted his teeth and slammed a fist into the floor.
Damn you, Kurosaki.
Renji walked up to Toushirou, bowing and checking in with his temporary captain for the remainder of the mission. What were they doing? Evacuating citizens and taking them to Rukongai 70 while trying to fend off an army of Arancars, Espada, and Ichimaru.
It was the last one that bothered Renji.
Although he knew that Ichimaru probably could be defeated by a little work from a few of the other captains, Renji knew that he could not defeat the former 3rd Division captain, and he did not think that Hitsugaya was positive that he would be able to either.
He took the time survey the area, taking note of everything around him.
Matsumoto and Kira were chating with each other. Over the years, they had become sort of brother and sister. They drank together, chatted together...they had a lot of stories to tell one another about the one thing they had in common. Ichimaru.
"Take this with you, Rangiku-san." Kira reached into his robes and pulled out a small, red charm. It was made from red string, and in the middle there was a marble flower threaded into the middle, the strings curved around it in intricate loops. Hanging from the end was a small stone tablet about half the size of her finger. It had the marking of the 3rd Division on both sides. Rangiku looked up and Kira a moment and smiled.
She threaded it into her own kimono and smiled,
"Thanks, Kira." she said, "Hold down the fort for us?"
He nodded, "I'll keep out a bottle of sake for you. I just got some brand new yesterday."
"Well-" she grinned, "-that's good enough reason for me to come back, hm?"
He chuckled and nodded again. Before he could open his mouth to say anything else, she threw her arms around him.
"Thank you, Kira." she said, "If I see Gin, I swear to the gods that I will defeat him for the both of us. Even if it kills me."
He face fell a moment, and he nodded, "If you see him...tell him I said hi."
Rangiku smiled back at him, smearing the lone tear that fell out of the corner of her eyes, "I'll do that."
He waved as she turned around and left. Toushirou glanced over the shoulders of the Shinigami that were telling him some information, and Kira bowed slightly to him. Hitsugaya followed the compliment, and then watched as Kira straightened his uniform and headed back to the Seireitei.
Renji watched the whole exchange. Ichimaru Gin had always given him the creeps. Even though he was not the strongest Shinigami to ever live, he had a strange look, strange voice, strange name, even a strange sword. Gin was just...strange. But beside all of these things, there were people like Kira and Rangiku that had relied on him.
Because of this, Renji could not bring himself to hate Ichimaru as much as he hated Aizen. If he hated Gin at all at this point, it was because of all the suffering it had caused Rangiku and Kira.
"Renji!"
He turned around, seeing Rukia run towards him. She tied the cloak around her, stopping in front of him.
"Hey." she smiled, "You ready to go."
He sighed, "As ready as I'll ever be. Not that I ever wanted to go back to that place."
"I hear you there."
"Rukia!"
They both turned towards the voice. Appearing in the flash next to them, Renji's eyebrows went up as Marou's face appeared in his feild of vision. Well, at least the guy was not totally inept in the reiatsu department.
"I just wanted to see you off." he said, "You didn't show up this morning."
"I-" Rukia glanced nervously at Renji, "-I had a lot of things to do. I had to clear some things with Nii-sama and with Ukitake-taicho."
"Quite understandable." Marou smiled, nodding quickly at her, "Good luck, Rukia."
"Yeah." she said, looking away. Looking back up at her fiance, she yelped as his arms snaked out and pulled her foreward. She had no time to react as pressed his lips over hers.
"I'll be waiting for you when you get back." he murmured into her ear. Letting go of her, he disappeared from sight.
Rukia gapped at the spot where he stood, and then looked back up at Renji. He was giving her a very odd expression. Of all the people that Marou had to accoust her in front of, it had to be Renji.
"Renji-"
He frowned and turned away from her.
"Renji!"
He stopped, "Don't misunderstand me, Kuchiki-san." he said, "I am...very happy for you. I wish you many happy years. He seems...stable enough. You'll have more then we ever had when we were younger. I'm happy for you, I really am."
Rukia watched him head back to the crowd. It was the first time, even when she was adopted into the Kuchiki family, that Renji had ever addressed her formally.
I hope this chapter doesn't chase away all my readers, I know this wasn't the most spectacular chapter ever. But then again, sometimes in stories you get parts that are a little stagnent. Okay...I'll stop rambling now. Back to listening to cajun folk music...
Send me a review and tell me what you think :D
Arigato
Lilith
Yay for voting. I'm so glad the election is over...sigh...