For those of you who are not all that familiar with Bleach, let me give you a quick overview: Seireitei is the dwelling-place of the Shinigami, or Death Gods. They have two main weapons: Their "Zanpakuto" - a type of sword with a soul, no two of which share the same special abilities, and Kidou, a type of generally offensive magic. Their main purpose is to fight against and eliminate Hollow (bad spirits) and perform "Soul Burials" on good spirits, sending them to Soul Society. Menos are a kind of evolved Hollow, which are capable of wreaking havoc with techniques such as the Cero, a blast of energy with massive destructive potential.
Senkai gates are used by Shinigami to travel between worlds. Garganta is the Arrancar equivalent.
The Sōkyoku was a weapon used to execute Shinigami, until it was destroyed by Kyouraku and Ukitake before it could be used on Kuchiki Rukia. It harboured great power, and was described as the most powerful weapon in Soul Society.
The Hougyoku is something created by Urahara Kisuke, also known as the "Orb of Destruction". It is currently in the hands of the treacherous Shinigami, Aizen.
You may also require some rudimentary knowledge of Japanese here. If you have any queries, please feel free to shoot me a personal message.
FF has messed up the formatting of the other chapters by removing the spaces and asterisks I used to separate different settings and time lines. I tried re-uploading them, but to no avail. So now, every time I change setting, I will put a new line with "SCENE X" (X denoting the scene no.) on. Hopefully that won't get edited out.
By the by, this one is more dialogue-based, rather than descriptive. However, that's just because I had to explain a lot of things and this was the fastest way to do it. The rest of the story will probably follow some kind of middle ground – here's hoping, anyway. Enjoy, and remember to review!
Chapter I
SCENE ONE
Silence.
That was all that could be heard. As the remaining Shinigami waited, tense and weary, for the second wave, Ichigo used the precious moments to look about his surroundings. Seireitei was in ruin. The first wave had practically obliterated everything, and only a few tattered constructs remained standing; the lamentable remnants of what was once Soul Society's grand capital. With it had gone all but a handful of the Shinigami. Those that had survived were but a meagre selection of the exceptionally strong and the exceptionally fortunate.
What's going on? How... What... Is this? - Thoughts flowed through Ichigo's head like water through a stream, but no matter how he searched, he could find no answers. Damn that Urahara – He better get us some answers, and quickly. However, despite the severity of the situation, and his own immense and immediate peril, he could not shake his worries for another...
SCENE TWO
On the other side of Seireitei, things were very different. They had been attacked particularly heavily by Menos and, although the monsters had been defeated, the place was in utter chaos. Whether it was preferable to the silent terror which currently gripped those who had been unlucky enough to witness the power of the new enemy, though, was uncertain. Amidst the pandemonium, one man's voice could be heard above all others.
"Rukia! Rukia! Are you okay?"
Renji's calls shattered the silence, causing many of his companions to jump. However, he disregarded them as he continued his search for Rukia.
"RUKIA!"
"Renji! Come here."
Renji turned to see his captain kneeling down, fifty or so meters away. His haoru was on the ground beside him.
"Kuchiki-taichō... But – Rukia..."
"She's here."
Renji's eyes widened as he saw Rukia's petite, unconscious form in her brother's arms, covered almost completely by his haoru. He started to run over, then stopped as he noticed the blood.
"Is... Is she...?"
"She was hit by a rogue Cero. What remains of the 4th squad has been notified, but they are too busy tending to Komamura- taichō and Ukitake- taichō to deal with her right away."
"But..."
"I will not question their judgement. Will you, vice-captain?"
"N-no. My apologies, sir."
"Don't worry about it, Renji. Nobody here would be willing to allow anyone close to them to die. However, we must trust in the judgement of Unohana- taichō."
"Yes, Captain. I only hope... They judge Rukia to be worth saving, too."
SCENE THREE
Inoue Orihime ran. It had only been by chance that she had been able to escape from the carnage of Rukongai, and she felt sure that Ulquiorra would soon be hot on her heels. As she ran, she felt her eyes to begin to water from the dust, but she ignored it, concentrating on following the path as fast as she could. Kurosaki-kun...Orihime had to force herself to stifle her worries. Ichigo was strong – he would be fine, and even if she were there, what could shedo?
Even so though, that blast... Such power... her heart began to beat faster as she approached the gates of Seireitei, not realising that she was not the only new arrival to the apocalyptic scene...
SCENE FOUR
"Ichigo! Wake up!"
The orange-haired Shinigami jumped as Ishida's voice pierced the harsh, icy silence.
"Ishida? Shouldn't we be 'keeping quiet, so as not to alert the enemy'?"
-Ichigo smiled as he teased the young Quincy, mimicking Ishida's own caution from earlier. Ishida merely narrowed his eyes threateningly, and continued.
"Urahara-san is here."
"Where? I don't see him?"
Ichigo glanced about himself, confused.
"Damn, how can you be so useless as sensing Reiatsu? He's just entered Seireitei."
"Then he could be ages away, dammit! Why the hell did you call me?"
"Because you were the one who wanted to see him, you idiot!"
"Don't call me an idiot, you idiot!"
"Hey, who are you..."
Sado Yasutora watched in dismay as his friends argued furiously. This was one thing he would never get used to, no matter how often it occurred. He sighed. Ah, well. At least we survived.
By the time Urahara Kisuke finally arrived, the two young warriors were sitting, facing away from each other, completely silent.
"My, my. What on Earth do we have here?"he asked, with an eccentric smile playing upon his face, shadowed as it was by his bizarre hat.
"Aww, they've had an ickle falling out, Kisuke. I think we should try to cheer them up, don't you?"
Shihouin Yoruichi joked, grinning. Hitsugaya Toushiro growled. He was not impressed, and was particularly put off by the snickering of his vice-captain.
"Don't you two take anything seriously?" he demanded, furiously.
"We are in the middle of a war here, you know. You're late, by the way."
"Yes, yes. My apologies, Hitsugaya-taichō," commented Kisuke flippantly, flapping his hand at Toushiro.
"On to business, then. We have..." He reached into the striped bag he was carrying and, after a few seconds' rummaging, drew out a sheaf of paper.
"Some information for you... And a request."
With this, he looked directly at Ichigo, his eyes deathly serious.
SCENE FIVE
As the gates of Seireitei drew ever closer, Orihime could not shake the worries which plagued her mind. That terrifying thought would not leave her; What if... I get there, and...The blast was so strong, even Kurosaki-kun... But not just Kurosaki-kun, Sado-kun... Ishida-kun... Everyone... She quickened her pace. Soon, she was inside Seireitei.
Although Rukongai had been completely overrun by Aizen's forces, nothing could possibly have prepared Orihime for the sight which greeted her now: One of utter devastation.
The walls had evidently shunned their duty of bearing the brunt of the assault, or perhaps they simply helped contain the vast obliterating forces which were let loose within them. Either way, they had given away nothing of the horrific damage which had been dealt within. The once proud structures now sagged, horrifically wounded by the vengeful forces which had vented their fury amongst them. In front of her, a roof began to give way under the weight of a collapsed, crumbling tower, tired of clinging on in the fervent hope that someone would come to repair it. Nearby, the desperate cries of people who had lost their homes and families echoed through the desolate streets.
Everywhere Orihime looked, she could see nothing but catastrophic destruction. However, the effects of the shockwave all paled in comparison to the state of those ill-fated constructs which had been unfortunate enough to stand directly in the path of the main blast. In their place stood -
-Nothing. Not even dust remained. The only evidence that the attack had ever occurred was the ten metre – wide gap in the buildings; from one side of Seireitei to the other. Even the sky had been stricken by the ferocious power of the attack; its usual calm blue replaced by a lightning-flecked purple, fading to black every few seconds as the lightning ceased. What could have done this...?Even though she had been Aizen's captive, she knew next to nothing of his plans.
A tear began to form at the corner of Orihime's eye over the loss of such a beautiful place, but she blinked it away. She had to find the others. But which way...?She closed her eyes, and began to search for the one Reiatsu she could always identify... There.Without a moment's hesitation, she set off towards Seireitei's very centre, unaware of the dilemma which awaited her there.
SCENE SIX
"Urahara-san, why did we have to come here, of all places?" queried Ichigo exasperatedly, as they reached the summit of Sōkyoku hill.
"Well, why not, Kurosaki-san?" enquired Kisuke, in response.
"Well, for one thing this place is bound to be the first place the bad guys go to look for us, not that they'd need to 'cos we're in plain view. Secondly, I find this place depressing, okay?"
Kisuke chuckled, and rested a hand on Ichigo's shoulder.
"Calm down, Kurosaki-san. I'll explain everything in a moment. Interestingly enough, there are two reasons for us being here – both of which outweigh your reasons for not wanting to be here. Firstly, I need what remains of the Sōkyoku for my little project, and secondly I've arranged to meet a few people here."
Ichigo sighed, then grudgingly agreed. Then he thought of something.
"Hold on – who are we meetin-!"
Ichigo trailed off as he noticed the tall, beautiful, blue-haired woman leaning against a tree behind Kisuke.
"Kurosaki-san, this is Neliel Tu Oderschvank. I take, it, however, that the two of you have already been introduced?"
"Yeah, we've met. But..."
As Ichigo's confusion mounted, he decided to ignore Kisuke's idiotic grin.
"Nel – what are you doing here?"
Ichigo asked the strangely garbed child before him. However, it was Kisuke who answered in her place.
"I asked Neliel-san to come here to help me with something."
"That's right! Sandal-hat here wanted me to help him open a portal of some sort. Right, Sandal-hat-san?"
Kisuke evidently was not pleased that this particular nickname was spreading, but did his best not to let it show too much.
"Yes indeed, Neliel-san. However, I would prefer if you didn't impart too many of the details to Kurosaki-san. I think it would be best if I were to do that myself."
"A portal? What's going on?"
Ichigo felt his blood beginning to rise once more – something was going on here that he didn't like the sound of.
"Please, calm down, Kurosaki-san. Everything will be explained in a moment; we are just waiting for-"
Kisuke was cut short as Ichigo slammed him up against a tree. Ishida and Chad moved to pull him away, but Nel motioned to them to stop.
"No! I'm tired of you playing around, Urahara! Now whether you like it or not, if this "project" involved me, then you WILL take me seriously and you WILL answer my questions. Now-"
"Ichigo!"
Ichigo was interrupted by a voice which caused him to release Kisuke immediately and spin his head around, almost from his reflexes alone.
"Rukia! Wha..."
Ichigo trailed off as he saw Rukia's condition.
She was barely standing, even with Renji and her brother's support. Beneath her torn Shinigami uniform, her torso was bleeding profusely, and she could hardly breathe. Before he realised what he was doing, Ichigo had turned his back on Kisuke and was by Rukia's side.
"Rukia... What happened?"
"I..."
Rukia trailed off as her voice failed her. She began to gasp for breath. As her brother tended to her, Renji explained.
"You were guarding the East gate, right?"
"Yeah."
"You wouldn't know, then. After the blast from that... Thing hit you guys, the Shockwave carried on going. By the time it got to us, we already knew it was coming and were able to get ourselves out of the way, but it still managed to blow a hole through the White Way Gate. Well, I say it blew a hole in it, but I guess saying it turned it into a hole would be more appropriate. After that, one of the Espada opened up another one of those Garganta things, and Hollow began pouring through. We were easily able to take care of them, for the most part, but as more and more Menos started to pour through we just couldn't handle them any more. In the end, we managed to defeat them, but in the process Rukia and I were separated. When it was finally over, I started looking for her. Kuchiki-taichō got there first, though... Apparently she was hit by a rogue Cero during the confusion."
"A Cero... but shouldn't that have..."
"Killed her? Yes."
Byakuya's voice was almost a whisper, but it nonetheless commanded the attention of everyone present.
"Fortunately, I saw it coming, and was able to partially deflect it using Senbonzakura. Unfortunately however, it was not quite enough."
The simplicity with which he said this merely added to the amazement of the others that even he would be capable of such a feat. Renji continued,
"After that, we got Urahara-san's message and came straight here. He said," At this point Renji paused to look meaningfully at Kisuke, "that it was 'imperative that Rukia be here'. Speaking of which, Urahara-san, would you be so kind as to explain?"
At this, everyone's eyes moved to Kisuke. Ichigo hesitated a moment, to glance once more at Rukia, who gave him a pained yet reassuring smile, then followed the others' gaze.
Kisuke sighed.
"Very well. As you can all probably tell, our current opponent is far more powerful than anything Aizen could have taken control of on his own, powerful though he may be. Even without the results from our tests to support the idea, it is obvious that this... Thing, is stronger than anything seen in the history of Soul Society. Also, I presume that you have all gathered by now that, in our current state, we have no hope of defeating it."
The group nodded as one. There was no question of it: There was no way any of them could deal with something capable of that level of destruction.
"However. We have discovered one fact which we may be able to use to our advantage. The creature is not something which Aizen has created. Nor is it something which has come about through his usage of the Hougyoku. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that it is not something which could ever be produced by Shinigami alone."
"Then what could have...?"
"Please, Ishida-san. I will tell you everything I know."
Uryuu nodded, and motioned for Kisuke to continue.
"Thank you. Now: We have deduced that it could not possibly have been produced by Shinigami alone. However, we have checked its Reiatsu signature and we think its existence might have something to do with a source of measurable Reiatsu which we recorded some time ago in the real world. Sure enough, when we traced it back to its location, we found evidence to suggest that an Arrancar had paid the place a visit. However, as yet we do not know exactly what could possibly have created such a being, and we have no data whatsoever on the source. In fact, we couldn't even find the source. All we managed to track the signature to was a large, abandoned underground warehouse in a place in the real world known as England."
"So wait a sec, so you've basically just told us that your test results have informed you that you know absolutely nothing about this creature or how we can defeat it?"
"Precisely, Kurosaki-san!"
Despite Kisuke's enthusiasm, Ichigo was not impressed.
"So... What exactly do you suggest that we do?"
"An excellent question. And I must say I am very glad that you were the one who asked, since this particular strategy concerns you, to a great extent. We have reason to believe that there are people in the real world who are capable of using some form of Kidou. However, it is far more intricate than our own, which is generally used for offensive purposes. I believe that they had something to do with the creation of this being."
"Well that's great, but can we learn how to destroy it from them?"
"Unlikely. Their Kidou is very strange, and we have little understanding of how it works. However, as far as we can tell our Zanpakuto are far more powerful than their attacks, when used offensively."
"Then you've achieved nothing! What the hell was the point of doing all these test when you could have been here, helping us to fight?!"
"Calm down, Abarai-san. I'm coming to that. As I was saying, we have no means of destroying it. However, it may be possible to defeat it another way."
"HOW?!" Demanded the group in unison – apparently everyone was tired of Kisuke's riddles.
"Well, how else? We prevent it from being made in the first place."
SCENE SEVEN
Almost... There... Orihime sprinted the last few steps, and began to tear through the forest, stopping only once, to pick herself up after tripping on her torn Espada uniform. She was bleeding, she knew, but it probably wasn't serious. Anyway, she wasn't important any more. All that was important was that she got there in time... The thought was by now so strong in her mind that she had forgotten why it was so imperative that she "get there", but her instincts screamed at her to do so before the second attack, and they had served her well thus far, allowing her to escape from Ulquiorra, and evade the attacking Hollow. She could see the light at the end of the trees... She was going to make it... She began to pant as she sprinted the last few feet to the edge of the forest, then stopped suddenly. Precisely why she stopped at this point was unapparent, even to her. However, when she tried to convince herself to continue running forward, she was unable to. Confused, she settled herself with sitting against a tree near the edge, and listened to the others speak.
"Prevent it from being made... In the first place?"
"Is that an echo I detect? Yes, Kurosaki-san. By combining-"
"But how is that possible? Do you have some sort of time machine now?"
"Not exactly, Now please, let me finish. By combining my own modified Senkai gate with Nel-san's Garganta, along with the channelled energy of what remains of the Sōkyoku, I hope to create a portal which enables the user to travel both between worlds and between times. That is where you come in, Kurosaki-san."
"Huh? Wait a second, I-"
"You are only one here who can safely travel through the portal. Only one with a human body can pass through."
"But... my body is in the real world."
"No, I picked up your body earlier today. In fact, I may well have it... Here!"
With that, Kisuke drew Ichigo's body out from his seemingly small bag. Evidently, it was bigger on the inside that it was on the outside.
"Go ahead. Put it on."
Strange though it felt to be wearing normal clothes while in Seireitei, Ichigo relished the feeling of being back in his own body. Somehow, being in spirit form still didn't seem quite... Right.
"As I was saying, Only those with a human body can travel through this portal. Furthermore, you might experience some minor side effects, but they shouldn't be too severe, since you'll only be travelling back a few months. However."
"However? What's with the "however?" I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"However." Kisuke continued, ignoring Ichigo. "You will experience one effect which is purposeful. Your memory will be almost entirely wiped clean."
Orihime gasped. Kurosaki-kun's... memory? Wiped clean? But... why? If he loses his memory, then... Orihime stopped herself before her thoughts ran away with her, but the idea rang unwelcome through her mind nonetheless: If Ichigo lost his memory, then... Then he would forget about her. Before she knew what was going on, Orihime was walking forwards. She could not stop herself. She tried to hold back, but couldn't. Why didn't I want to come out in the open, anyway? What's wrong with me? I'm acting all... weird. I didn't want to stop a moment ago, and now I don't want to move... What am I so scared of, anyway?Another thought came,unbidden, into her mind, but this one she was able to rid herself of. She'd done it enough times by now to know how to make it go away...
"Why?"
Ichigo did not contest Kisuke's statement. He knew that when the scientist spoke seriously there was a reason for everything he said. Deep within his mind, he was already subconsciously resigning himself to the fact that he had no choice but to do as the old shopkeeper said.
"It has come to our attention that the users of this Kidou are capable of some sort of mind reading. If it becomes evident that you know of the Shinigami, it is bound to arouse suspicion. In order to correctly infiltrate their information base, you will have to appear outwardly to be a normal human. However, you memories will gradually return – and we're only erasing the aspects which might make you stand out – your name, education, interests – they'll all stay with you."
"What about... My friends, and my family?"
"I'm afraid they are a little too personal – if we allow them to remain, they may cause a chain reaction, resulting in all of your memories returning. It's not safe, I'm afraid. I'm sorry, Kurosaki-san."
Ichigo sighed. Sometimes being a Substitute Shinigami wasn't too bad. This really wasn't one of those times.
"Fine. Anything else I need to know?"
"You're agreeing so soon?"
"Am I going to be able to get out of this?"
"No, but I was expecting you to put up a fight."
"No. I swore, a long time ago, to do whatever it took to protect everyone who was close to me. If this is what is required of me to do so, then this is what I will do."
Kisuke was dumbfounded. For Ichigo to come to him with rock-hard determination to do something was one thing, but for him to agree to someone else's idea with the same determination was something completely different.
"Thank you, Kurosaki-san. There is not a lot of information we can give you, I'm afraid, and we currently have no contacts where you're going. It will be up to you to find out what Aizen used to create this monstrosity, find out where it is, what it does, and either destroy it or prevent him from getting hold of it, before it's too late. And if you fail, well... It was a long shot anyway."
Kisuke stood up and walked over to where Ichigo stood beside Rukia, and laid his hand on his shoulder.
"I will prepare the portal right away."
As he turned to address Neliel, he was interrupted by a new presence. One which radiated a pure, desperate terror.
"Inoue..."
Ichigo's mouth felt dry. How could he have forgotten about her? No... He didn't forget. She had been the one who he'd been thinking of the most when he'd thought about protecting those close to him. Was it because he had been fighting so hard to protect her recently, or was it something else?
"Kurosaki-kun. I..."
Orihime walked slowly and deliberately over towards him, limping slightly due to her newly injured leg. Even when she stumbled, her gaze never faltered for a moment.
Ichigo stood, frozen in place.Inoue... She was hurt. Her usually beautiful, shimmering auburn hair was polluted by dust and blood, which also covered her torn, formerly white uniform. His stomach flipped as he noticed the trails on her face. She's been crying...? He screamed at his bodyto move, to comfort her, but he couldn't...
Ichigo looked so different to the way he had when she had last seen him. He had looked so peaceful lying there, sleeping. It had even been easy enough to forget the bandages as she leaned over him... Conversely, that peacefulness was now gone. Now, Ichigo was awake and alert. His eyes showed weariness from lack of sleep, yet still shone with that fierce determination which she had always adored. However, there was an underlying pain within them which almost reduced Orihime to tears.
Suddenly, she noticed Rukia lying, now unconscious, on the floor.
"Kuchiki-san!"
Her walk escalated to a run as she rushed to Rukia's side.
"Sōten Kisshun!" - Orihime summoned her Shun Shun Rikka's healing technique, and began to see to Rukia immediately, all else forgotten, until Ichigo knelt down beside her.
"Inoue... How did you..?"
He smiled. At least she managed to get away safely.
"Inoue, I..."
"I know. I heard."
Ichigo's face took on a more compassionate composition as he gave a pained smile to Orihime.
"Inoue."
"You have to go, right, Kurosaki-kun? Nothing we can do can change that. We... We'll be fine here without you." At least, most of us will be. Orihime forced her face into a smile.
"Just go, and... And... Come back soon, okay?"
Orihime looked at him pleadingly.Why did she feel so helpless? Why...
"Don't worry, Inoue. I'll come back. I promised to protect you, didn't I?"
"Mm." Orihime nodded, but bit her lip.
"Kurosaki-san."
Ichigo looked up to see Kisuke standing beside a strange machine. Something was generating some kind of impulse from within it, but he couldn't quite define it.
"The portal is ready. The Sōkyoku has very little power left, and once it is gone, the portal will close. Once it's fired up, you'll only have sixty seconds to pass through. "
"Wait! Will that be enough?"
"Don't worry. This isn't like a regular gateway. The transportation is instantaneous. You don't need to worry about not making it through in time and having the gateway collapse on you."
"Very well."
Ichigo stood up, and set his face into a determined look.
"Ichigo!"
Ishida and Sado stood up as one and began to walk towards him.
"We're coming with you."
However, Kisuke shook his head.
"The machine won't be able to take that amount of Reiatsu. Both of you have so much that either of your power, on top of Kurosaki-san's, could cause the machine to fail."
Sado began to argue, then thought better of it, and instead glanced at Ichigo. The glance alone was equivalent to the most extravagant of farewells. Ishida, in turn, shook his hand. The glint in his eye clearly said that things were in no way over between them, and that if Ichigo did not return, he would consider himself the victor. With a wave to the others, Ichigo prepared himself mentally for the journey. After all, he had no idea what to expect.
"Firing up the portal... Now. Sixty seconds, remember."
Ichigo turned about once more, preparing himself to say his final goodbyes. A nod from Renji and Byakuya, as expected, and a smile from Neliel. Yoruichi and Kisuke gave him reassuring smiles, though it was evident that even they were lacking in their usual confidence. That just left... He turned, but Orihime did not look up. The time was running out. His mouth began to form her name, then he changed his mind. He turned slowly and, setting his face into a forceful determined smile, he walked out of his life, and into a whole other world.
Sixty seconds... Rukia was almost fully healed – she would be fine now, fifty... Ichigo was saying goodbye to the others, she was sure of it. She should look up. Forty... Her time was running out. Why couldn't she bring herself to look up? Thirty... Her Reiatsu was pretty low, right? Much lower than Sado-kun's or Ishida-kun's... Twenty... No... What was she thinking... That wouldn't be right. She would be abandoning the others. Ten... but... kurosaki-kun is... Kurosaki-kun... KUROSAKI-KUN!
The gate was about to begin closing when Orihime finally looked up. Ishida took note, but said nothing.Too late, Inoue-san... I'm sorry. He, along with everyone else, was still in shock over what had just happened. So much so that he didn't think to question it when Orihime stood up, or when she began to walk past him. As she was entering the portal, he thought he should probably do something, but by then it was far too late... Too late, Inoue-san... Or was it?
Darkness. The pain was gone... Strange... Rukia opened her eyes, and was surprised to find that light came flooding into them, though it was somewhat blurred. Am I going blind..? It took her a moment to realise that she was crying. Ichigo, you fool... Always trying to protect the rest of us... A shocking thought struck her then. I feel almost as though I'm lost without him.. What's going on? Am I?
It was then that Byakuya and Renji noticed that she had opened her eyes, and as they leaned over her and attended to her in unison, the answer leapt into her head, causing her to smile.
Of course not.
Ichigo was aware of a darkness, studded with blinking, swirling lights. He could hear nothing aside from a distinct rushing sound... or was that the wind in his ears? Wait... There was no wind. There was no air, even. Ichigo gasped for breath, but there was nothing to breathe. He thrashed about, screaming, but no sound came out.He was going to die here, in this darkness, all alone... He was going to fail... To fail to... Protect them...
"NO! I... WILL... NOT... FAIL!"
With that, he released all of his Reiatsu, causing the darkness to glitter and dance with ethereal lights. The lights... They were blinding him, yet he could see... Something...
Thud.
Despite being knocked unconscious by a considerable drop, Ichigo came to almost instantly. He struggled painfully to his feet, and took a look around. Not that it did much in the way of helping him get his bearings – not only was it dark, but he was definitely not in Karakura town... Judging from the neon words on the wall of a nearby bar, he wasn't even in Japan any more... He tried to think about where he could be, but for some reason he couldn't think straight. Furthermore, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't remember what he was doing there. He closed his eyes momentarily, trying desperately to recall as much as he could. However, as he stared at his small, soft hands, only one thought was forthcoming: Something must have gone wrong... To his confusion, he not only failed to recall where he was, but he couldn't remember anything at all. Only his name: Kurosaki Ichigo... What is going on here? By now, even the name "Karakura Town" was fading into blackness. Dishevelled, Ichigo sat down up against a nearby wall and wrapped his arms around his legs, staring as a car drove past at full speed. As it did so, he caught a glimpse of a boy sitting in the back seat, with brown hair and broken glasses. Ichigo couldn't help but think that the boy looked utterly miserable. You think you have it bad, huh? It was then that Ichigo realised that he was completely exhausted, and laid his head on his knees to fall asleep.
If he had stayed awake a little longer, he might perhaps have noticed the same car drive past once more, the moustached, beefy man in the driver's seat muttering insanely to himself.
SCENE EIGHT
The whooshing noise buffeted Orihime's ears, causing her to almost lose her concentration. The tornado of energy intensified the more of her Reiatsu she released, almost as though the portal was trying to rid itself of her as quickly as possible. However, she would not relent.
She would never have thought of using her Santen Kesshun to protect her mind, if it weren't for this. However, there were a few memories which she would not lose to the bitter vortex without a fight. As it grew ever more hostile, though, it became apparent that she was going to lose the struggle. She hesitated for a moment, before shifting all of her Reiatsu to protecting one thing – though she could not explain why she deemed it so important: the single word which Kisuke had whispered to her as she passed him, almost as though he had intended for her to follow: Thaumaturgy...
She landed on her feet, blinking in surprise: never before had she managed to land without being injured in some way. Shrugging, she looked around for Ichigo, but he was nowhere to be seen. Troubled, she began to search for his Reiatsu, which she quickly found, only a few blocks away.
At least he got here safely. She thought, as she sat down, yawning. I feel kinda sleepy... Before she knew it, Orihime, too, had fallen asleep.
Across the road from Orihime, a strange tabby cat blinked in surprise. Two children, appearing from nowhere? They looked to be about eleven, too... Professor Dumbledore would most certainly want to know about this...There was a ripple in the air, and a crack – much akin to that of a whip, and the cat was gone. Although many people glanced around to see what the noise was, Inoue Orihime did not stir.
FIN.
Whew! I was up late into the night working on this one. Hope you guys enjoyed it. As always, check out my profile for info on when new chapters are going to be up. Ciao!