Ultrabross's Vision

CHP18: Truth Revealed

Through the air he jumped from one tree branch to the next taking in all that had happened. There were lots of memories, more good than bad and though his mission was complete he was going to miss it all; the people, friends and overall environment. The academy came into view up ahead, and by the sound of things the dance had really got underway. Taking to the air in full flight he stood atop the roof of the academy running a finger over the side of his face, "Kon where are you." He thought silently.

Even after hearing her explanation Ichigo didn't want to believe Morrigan to be a bad person. As his second hour teacher under the name of Nagirrom Katsura, he found her to be quite pleasant. Aside from all the teasing she inflicted on him and the other students she was very approachable and sweet. He almost wanted to slap himself for thinking anything good about her following what she had done to Tsukune and his image. Was it all just an act the entire time? As much as he hated to believe it, there was no other explanation.

Ichigo had the feeling she might have done something to Kon/his body. Her explanation stated using an illusion to deceive the group of students and had Ichi/Kon been around it would have raised red flags putting massive holes in her plan. Immediately diving off the roof he went in search for his body. To his luck it only took a little over a minute spotting it lied out over the grass hidden well between two bushes. Dislodging the pill from inside his throat Ichigo returned into his body.

Everything appeared to be in good condition except for him feeling overly tired. He yawned placing the mod soul pill into a side pocket, "I better work fast before any of them have the chance to wake. No doubt they will come after me." Ichigo said aloud taking off at full speed in route to his dorm room.

"Hey Ichigo, where you headed to?" A classmate asked that happened to be passing by.

"Tell you later can't talk right now, kind of in a rush." Ichigo replied in full stride.

He looked over his shoulder watching the student enter the gymnasium. The music seemed louder than it had been a little while ago from where he was. For the rest of the time all the way to his room he had no further setbacks, and entered with caution. Too his delight there was no ambush or anyone hiding out inside his room. He first opened his suitcase setting it over the bed and packing all his clothing and belongings. He searched the room several times over making certain nothing was left behind.

Last he shoved the mod soul pill down the throat of the stuffed lion, "Wait what happened?! What are we doing back here? Last thing I remember was I went to ah…" Kon froze with limited memory of what had happened. He remembered dancing with Ruby but anything past that was a complete blur.

"Just forget about it," Ichigo went on zipping the suitcase closed, "You and I are out of here tonight. I eliminated the last of the hollows.

"Huh?! We can't just leave like this, what about all the farewells to the ladies and…"

"Shut up will yah," Ichigo grabbed Kon by the mouth forcing the stuffed lion into the bag pack, "The situation has changed a lot more than you know. Later I'll even consider explaining it to you once we're out of here."

Ichigo could hear Kon wine on and on inside the bag paying him no attention. The last items he collected were from the bathroom being his toothbrush and toothpaste. With one final look at the room he sighed shutting off the light, "I'm goanna miss this place."

Staying there was no longer an option, he was certain when Moka and the others gained consciousness his dorm would be the first place they'd go. At the end of their conversation minutes ago, Toshiro informed Ichigo he'd get back to him through the substitute badge stating the details of his departure. Until that time Ichigo wanted to find some place to hide out. His friends had no interest in listening to him, and the last thing he wanted was to battle against them for a second time. Ichigo stepped outside looking around for the best place to hideout till it was time.

"Ichigo are you there?" Toshiro's voice came through the badge.

"Yeah go right ahead." Ichigo replied.

"What time is it there?"

"What does the time have to do with anything?!"

"Just answer the question." Toshiro replied with a hint of annoyance.

Ichigo wasn't near a clock and hadn't been wearing his watch. He stood in place for several seconds thinking about what time it might be, "Well ah I'd say it'd be a little after nine o'clock here but I don't know for sure."

"Perfect and I'm sure you remember your entry point into the Yokai realm…that is the same location you will be making your jump to the next destination. For precautionary reasons we will wait another couple hours before the dimension hole is opened. Judging by the time on your side of things I'm sure everyone hasn't turned in for the night. The last thing we want is someone accidently following you through. As you know the vortex remains open for nearly one minute."

"Hey how's it going Ichigo did you have fun?"

He heard someone talking in the background recognizing the voice as Rangiku's.

"I will contact you when the dimension hole has been opened. In the meantime you have time to bid your friends farewell if you so choose…if you made any that is." Toshiro said.

"Hey," Ichigo was about to say something in response but a clicking sound let him know the conversation had been terminated. Taking off into the darkness he found a place to kick back and relax.

XXX

"Neesan wake up!"

Slowly her eyes opened spotting her younger sister, "Kokoa Cha…Chan." Moka uttered slowly pushing off the ground and positioning on her knees. Kokoa immediately dropped down wrapping her arms around Moka. She was almost shocked as Moka did the same embracing her tightly, "What happened Neesan?"

Kokoa pulled back noticing the tears in her older sister's eyes.

"Yes please do tell us." Another voice spoke.

Moka looked away from Kokoa setting her eyes on Ling Ling, "How did you two find us?" She asked leaning back and wiping the tears from her eyes. By that action alone Ling Ling knew something very terrible happened; it wasn't every day they saw the inner side of Moka shed tears. Moka stood to her feet alongside Kokoa. Before saying anything she took a look around seeing everyone still remained down, "This was all the doing of Ichigo." She grimaced.

"What do you mean by that?! Ichigo would never do something like this, besides he wouldn't have the power or strength to defeat you all! That is crazy." Kokoa pronounced.

"Dammit Kokoa he killed Tsukune! Ichigo was nothing more than a liar and fraud only pretending to be our friend! We need to act fast and take him out before he has the chance to finish us!"

"Wait slow down, there must be a misunderstanding of some sort…"

Ling Ling positioned her hand over Kokoa's shoulder moving past her. Unlike the two of them she had been keeping tabs on Ichigo for the past couple weeks. The power part wasn't farfetched he'd be able to take them down. But the all at once however was a different story, and even more intriguing was that he attacked and killed Tsukune. Ling Ling was at lost for words just as much as Kokoa, "Tell us everything. Start from the beginning and try to be clear as possible."

Kokoa and Ling Ling listened carefully as Moka went through the details of what happened beginning from when they entered the forest. Even after hearing what she said, both had a hard time taking it in. Each spoke with him on different occasions and didn't see how he could be capable of committing any of what Moka told them. Instead of replying Ling Ling went on to wake the others lying unconscious throughout the whole space.

"Neesan if what you say is true than why are any of you alive? Wouldn't Ichigo have killed you all if he was a blood lusted killer like you're claiming."

Moka looked down at Kokoa frowning, "It isn't like you to be this naïve Kokoa Chan. Sometimes people just don't turn out to be what you believed from first meeting them. Trust me and understand he was never truly a friend of ours but was merely playing us till he felt ready to end it. If you want the answer to why, only he knows that."

The others awoke and like Moka told similar stories of what happened. From the beginning Ichigo had been an interest and now that interest grew even more. Ling Ling saw him in action on different occasions battling against hollows but never knew the secret to his true form. The details which stood out most were his high energy signature, the black robe/samurai type clothing and most of all, the long blade.

If she hadn't already been dead Ling Ling might have puked at the details of Tsukune's demise. Haiji and Gin quickly paired up running through the woods heading to the academy. Gin had a pretty good idea of where Ichigo's room was and felt if they could get the jump on him by surprise they'd have a chance to bring him down, "Let's hope he isn't a sensory type." Haiji spoke.

"No kidding that wouldn't bold well at all." Gin replied.

Fang Fang tried calling out to them but neither seemed to listen continuing on. From behind approached Ruby standing beside him, "I may have forgotten to mention this earlier but the headmaster won't be returning till tomorrow morning. He had something important to take care of elsewhere so left me and a few others in charge of the dance." Ruby took off in the same direction to Gin and Haiji.

"No way am I going to let them try and face Ichigo alone. With the use of my Talismans I should be able to aid them from afar." Ruby informed.

"Wait hold on I'm coming to!" Yukari called out.

Moka looked down at her hands realizing the Rosario was no longer in them. Panic came upon her for a few seconds, but quickly went away spotting it nearly fifteen yards from where she stood. She walked across the grass recovering the precious item given by her mother. She thought about putting it back on but t instead felt she needed to take care of something first, "I'm going to!" Moka followed behind Yukari and Ruby.

"Well if Moka's going than so am I, we won't let Tsukune's death go unpunished!" Mizore groaned taking off.

Kurumu took to the air bypassing them with her flight speed much faster than that of theirs on foot. In a matter of minutes they arrived in front of the door to Ichigo's room. Gin's strong sense of smell is what got them there so quickly. Together he and Haiji smashed the door open flipping on the light, "Hhhmm where the hell could he have gone?" Haiji asked.

Gin sniffed the air walking in further, "He was definitely here recently, and his scent is strongest in here." Upon further inspection of the room they realized it had been cleaned out. In other words it was like a room that had no one staying in it. Moka and the others soon joined them through the destroyed entryway.

"Was the messy entrance really all that necessary?" Ruby asked.

"Of course it was. What did you expect we'd knock on the door and let him know we were coming? Anyway he isn't here and by the looks of things he isn't coming back either. I could sniff him out b…"

"And what would we do then?" Fang Fang stepped over the shattered door, "None of us are in any position to fight against him. We know what happened the first time and frankly I don't see things changing. True I really didn't get involved but I doubt it would have made a difference."

Moka marched forward leaving only a couple inches between his and her face, "You're a coward! If you want to chicken out than go right ahead, the rest of us will make sure Ichigo dies!" Moka took her eyes off him, "Who's with me!"

Everyone within the room sort of went silent, Haiji scratching at the side of his head, "There's a possibility Ichigo left and will never come back, which might be for the best. But on the other hand he might be hiding out planning to take us out one by one, yet I have my doubts on that. In all logic we all should have been dead, but he instead kept us alive; for what reason is the question." Gin rubbed at his chin.

"What are you implying?!" Moka snarled getting into Gin's face.

"Maybe he's right and we should forget abou…"

Moka shoved Gin with so much force he ended up inside the wall creating a huge dent, "If that's the way it's going to be, I have no problem going after him on my own!" She tried hard to hold back her tears and they all saw anger beginning to take her over. Just as she began her way through the exit Kurumu ran next to her pulling the Rosario from Moka's hand and connecting back around her neck.

Her hair turned to pink as her skin took on a brighter tone and green eyes, "Kurumu Chan Tsukune is d…" Tears rolled down Moka's cheeks.

"Yes I know," She wrapped her arms around Moka tightly, "It's ok."

The two cried together whilst everyone else watched.

XXX

Opening his eyes for the first time in hours he yawned. The first thing that came to mind was what the hell he was doing lied out over a cold cement surface. He put a hand to his head feeling overly dizzy. As he took a closer look around the memory of what happened came to mind as he jumped to his feet, "Moka San and the others!" Tsukune felt horrified just thinking about it. Were they all already dead? Had Morrigan's plan succeeded?

He had answers to nothing and there was only one way to find out. In a single thrust leading with his shoulder Tskune smashed the lock. The halls were completely dark raising the question how long was he out for. Running down the hall he came across a clock overhead and was able to see perfectly due to the moon's light shining through the windows.

"Two Thirty AM in the morning! Dammit I've got to get to Moka San…please be ok." Tsukune took off down the hall at top speed.

Since turning in for the night hours ago Moka was unable to sleep. She tried thinking of other things that could take her mind off him but no matter how hard she tried everything led back to Tsukune. She buried her face in the pillows crying away not knowing if she'd ever stop. A part of her had been taken away that she could never have back and in ways didn't care to live on.

Her love for Tsukune was great, but she never imagined losing him would take such a toll. There was so much more she wanted to do with him, and now her vision of a future shared between the two would never happen. For the next several minutes nothing changed, her face remained face down over the pillows sobbing like a baby. A knock at her door didn't change anything; she'd rather pretend she wasn't there.

"Moka San are you in there."

Immediately her head rose from the pillow, "That VOICE!" Her heart jumped like it had never before. She jumped out of the bed running straight for the door. She unlocked both locks swinging the door open, and what stood before her was nothing short of a miracle. Was she dreaming? Was Tsukune truly standing in her doorway?

"Thank god you're ok Moka San!" Tsukune threw his arms around her.

She was about ready to faint holding herself together from doing so. Tsukune pulled back looking her in the eyes perceiving the bags under them letting him know she had been crying. Even in that moment another tear dropped from her eye which he wiped away with his hand, "You don't have to cry anymore Moka San I'm here. How is everyone else doing?"

Her head leaned toward him, Tsukune believing it was an attempt to have a taste of his blood, "I don't think now is the time to be tasting my b…."

Her lips pressed against his cutting him off from saying anything further. She went on to wrap her arms around his neck deepening the kiss. Tsukune found himself kissing her back, Moka's tongue venturing into his mouth. For what felt like forever they got lost inside the moment before pulling away from one another with Moka blushing.

"Tsukune I," Moka sort of looked off to the side as her cheeks turned an even brighter red, "I love you."

Tsukune couldn't believe his ears! The girl of his dreams just told him she loved him! He wanted to kiss her again right on the spot but there was other things he needed clarified. He ran a hand over the side of her face, "And I love you to but…I need you to tell me what happened to everyone else." He took his hand off her face placing them into his pockets.

"Everyone is fine Tsukune, well at least physically anyway. How did you survive Ichigo's attack? We all watched him butcher you and…"

"Where's Ichigo!" Tsukune interrupted.

"No one knows. After your apparent death we confronted and fought against him and when we regained consciousness he was already gone. Why do you care where he went after he tried to kill you! None of us gives a damn about him after what he did, and neither should you! How are you alive Tsukune, there's no way you should be standing here?!" Another tear fell down her face.

He positioned his hands firmly over her shoulders, "I'm going to say this once and I want you to pay close attention," She nodded wiping the tear away, "Ichigo did nothing to hurt me! What happened here tonight was all the doing of that succubus we encountered the other night calling herself Morrigan."

"Tsukune I don't understand, but what we saw w…"

"Was a lie! Morrigan specializes in illusions just like Kurumu Chan and is probably a lot more proficient at them. Her plan was to lure you all in and stage my death at the hands of Ichigo and then use her illusion to lead you straight to him. What she hoped for was he'd destroy you all in battle and then she planned to take his life afterward. She never told me why before knocking me out cold. Above all else I don't know why she targeted Ichigo, but we need to find him before it's too late."

Moka stood still as her shoulders dropped feeling sick to her stomach. All of what they did and said to him was beyond harsh. The whole time Ichigo tried explaining his innocents but none of them would listen; only believing what they saw with their two eyes. Things that didn't make sense started to fall into place. Even though Ura Chan was in control at the time, she still saw and heard everything, "Ichigo I'm so sorry…" She whispered.

"What was that?" Tsukune asked.

"It's nothing just give me a minute to get dressed and then we'll go and wake the others. Maybe there's a chance he's still alive."

Tsukune stepped outside the room as she got out of her pajamas into one of her school uniforms. She then met with him in the hall with their first stop being to Gin's room which happened to be the closes; down the hall, around the corner and up a flight of stairs. A knock at the door awoke him from deep sleep. At the sound of Moka's voice, he got out of bed believing she needed comforting after the traumatic event.

"Tsukune, what the hell." He rubbed at his eyes.

"We need you to get dressed. There is no better person in the academy I know that has better tracking skills than you. I will explain everything once you're dressed."

"Alright just give me a minute."

He closed the door flipping on the lights heading straight for his closet. After dressing he joined them outside the hall where they went on to wake Kurumu, Ruby, Yukari and Mizore. All of them had similar reactions to that of Moka but most importantly were relieved Tsukune was alive. Following the long explanation what really happened Gin led the way in their search for Ichigo. They all felt bad for not listening to him, but none more upset than Moka.

Leaned against a rock Ichigo's eyes opened to the substitute badge beeping, "Ichigo if you're ready, the vortex will be opening in exactly ten seconds from now."

"About damn time, I literally almost died from boredom. Anyway I'm only a couple yards from the spot so everything should go smoothly."

"Great…good luck Ichigo." Toshiro spoke.

Ichigo stepped off the large boulder and in a matter of seconds the portal opened in almost the exact spot he'd come through when making his trip to the Yokai realm. With his luggage and belongings beside him he took a deep breath, "Guess this is finally it." He took a final look around and didn't hear his name being called as he stepped through.

"Ichigo!" Moka again shouted.

"Are you sure he's this way?" Tsukune looked over at Gin.

"Dead positive and by what I'm picking up from his scent he's alive."

Moka was relieved to hear that. As the passed by a couple trees and bushes Gin came to a stop, eyes growing in size spotting the dimension hole. Tsukune and everyone else soon became aware of it as well and couldn't believe their eyes. Ichigo's scent became stronger as he approached the circular blue light, "Well as crazy as it sounds," Gin scratched at his hair, "I'm positive Ichigo went through there."

"What! Why would he do that?!" Yukari said.

"Maybe he's returning home after what happened here. Being accused of murder is pretty serious, can't say I blame him." Mizore added sucking on her lollipop.

"Then we must go after him!" Moka pushed past everyone.

Tsukune grabbed hold of her arm before she could pass through, "Hold on we don't know if it is safe to go through there. It might only be preserved for people of his kind."

"I don't care! I will never be able to live with myself until I've at least talked with him and apologized. He's got feelings like the rest of us and I bet he's hurting right now!" Moka retorted.

"Yeah Ichigo'd a tough guy…doubt he's as emotional as someone." Gin mumbled.

"I heard that!" Moka snapped looking over at Gin.

"Moka San." Tsukune mumbled.

It was rare for him or any of them to see the outer side of Moka so fiery, "If you all want to stay here than go right ahead, but I won't let this be how things end!" Moka forced herself into the portal pulling Tsukune in alongside her as he tried keeping her from jumping in.

The remainder of them watched the dimension hole decrease in size and continued at a fast rate, "No way am I letting her go alone with Tsukune!" Kurumu ran toward the portal and was grabbed from behind by Gin, "Don't go through we don't ev…"

He was unable to finish as its force sucked both he and the succubus in closing behind them! Yukari, Mizore and Ruby didn't know what to make of it. The situation went from bad to worse! The only thing Ruby could think of was to await the headmaster's return; he'd know what to do.

XXX

Down the sidewalk he pulled his luggage along. Upon exiting the portal he was greeted by a downpour of rain that seemed fitting and refreshing. The buildings around were massive, some seemingly tearing through the sky. Traffic was crazy with numerous vehicles passing by in a hurry. He couldn't tell if it was a full moon due to all the scattered clouds.

Of all the buildings one stood out over the others, which appeared to be in the center of the city. Large bright letters ran across the top of it, "Wayne Enterprises." Ichigo uttered. Before long he heard the chime of gunshots followed by screams and more gunshots in addition to an explosion. Ichigo grinned continuing down the street.

"Think I might like this place. First I need to find somewhere to setup shop…then it's hollow hunting time."

To Be Continued