Brief: With his Soul Reaper powers restored, and his hollow finally subdued once and for all, Ichigo Kurosaki thinks his life can finally go back to normal. However, a visit to Seireitei soon changes that theory for the young Substitute. Can Ichigo adjust to his new life, or will he give in and return to how it was before?
Warnings: Contains some aggressive language, possible violence and romance throughout. Reader discretion is advised if any of the above offend you.
Pairings: IchiRuki, may contain smaller pairings such as ByaHis or HitsuHina
SPOILERS from the Fullbring Arc and previous
Disclaimer: Bleach is the property of Tite Kubo, not me. If I owned Bleach, Ichigo would already be with Rukia ;)
A/N: I'm dropping some of the wording in exchange for their English dubbed equivalents for comfort. I hope you understand.
Bleach: Bonds Beyond Dimensions
Chapter 6: Drinks and Awkward Conversations
Ichigo swallowed as he approached the gates of the Kuchiki Manor, the place he had only been once or twice previously, and which he tried to avoid if he could. He was not looking forward to his talk with the head of the noble clan, but he had no choice; if he wanted to go out with Rukia tonight, or any other night for that matter, he had to speak with the captain. Even so, this was not going to be an easy talk.
Ichigo recalled the last time he had spoken properly to Byakuya Kuchiki was before his arrival in Seireitei, in the moments of his hollow's rebellion. He remembered that it had not gone well; something about being set on fire and attacked by the noble, then going for his throat as a hollow. Regardless of whether he was in control or not in that moment, it was going to be a trying few minutes coming up.
"Halt," one of the two guards at the gates said, waking Ichigo from his thoughts. "State your business."
"Ichigo Kurosaki," Ichigo said. "I am here to speak with Byakuya Kuchiki."
"Let's see, Kurosaki… Kurosaki…" a third guard murmured as he appeared behind the other two, and consulted the list of appointments. "Ah, yes. You're right on time, Captain Kurosaki. Please, come in; I will take you to master Byakuya."
The two guards outside the gates moved aside and allowed the third to lead Ichigo inside the grounds of the manor. The whole complex was tidy and structured as always, the pride of the Kuchiki's emanating from it all without fail. However, despite the immaculate care taken over the area, and the evident beauty of it, Ichigo did not feel any less nervous; quite the opposite, in fact, he was being made more anxious by the place. He took a breath as they reached the main room of the place, where the guard told Ichigo to wait. The guard headed inside to speak with Byakuya while Ichigo waited outside, his stomach unsettled and mouth dry.
"Ichigo!" a hissed whisper came from down the corridor. Ichigo looked up and turned to the voice, and spotted Rukia's head poking out from round a shaded corner. She gestured to him. "Come here!"
"Rukia?" Ichigo said quietly as he moved closer. "What are you sneaking around for?"
"My brother wants to speak with you alone," she replied. "But I wanted to make sure you didn't make a fool of yourself."
"Huh?!" Ichigo huffed, but Rukia clamped a hand over his mouth to silence him. He got the hint and removed her hand, before whispering, "What do you mean 'make a fool of myself'?"
"I mean that you could screw this up, fool!" Rukia hissed back, frowning. "Don't forget that you would be messing up my plans too!"
"Oh, right," Ichigo sighed. "Still, did you have to phrase it like that?"
"Oh, stop complaining," Rukia shook her head. "Look, my brother will speak to you shortly, so I'll be quick. Avoid looking weak, he likes people to know what they want when they speak with him, so be confident. At the same time, don't come over too strong, else he will take offence, and that might make trouble for relations of Squad 5 and Squad 6."
"Come on, would he really cause trouble for such a reason?" Ichigo frowned, unconvinced.
"Just don't insult or offend him," Rukia said sternly. "And most importantly…" She pulled him down and straightened his hair and robes. "Look presentable."
Ichigo smiled a little and ruffled Rukia's hair, much to her frustration, but she did not respond before the guard appeared again. He turned and acknowledged Ichigo, who nodded back, and turned to Rukia, but she had vanished again. Ichigo took a breath and moved to the doorway. Inside, Byakuya sat at a small table patiently with a cup of green tea before him. He looked to Ichigo disinterestedly, his normal stoic nature evident from the start.
"Captain Kurosaki," he nodded to him. "Please, sit." His words were not hostile, but his tone told Ichigo he had no option, so the orange-haired man sat calmly. At the same time, Byakuya dismissed the guard, who closed the screen door behind him. "Rukia tells me that you have something to ask me."
"Bya- I mean, Captain Kuchiki," Ichigo caught himself quickly, taking note of the tone Byakuya had set. The noble seemed to not notice his slip, so he continued. "With your permission, I would like to request that your sister join me for a drink tonight."
"I see," Byakuya said coolly, making no clues of the response. "And why would you like my permission for this?"
"Because Rukia is my friend," Ichigo replied firmly and confidently. "And due to our duties, it is not always easy to catch up with her. I feel that it is also commonplace for Captains, Lieutenants and officers to meet in such instances as having a drink."
Byakuya sipped his tea and surprised Ichigo; as he took his cup away from his mouth, there seemed to be the remnants of a smirk to his features. The noble looked to the young Captain and spoke up.
"I'm surprised you would try to use that," he remarked. "Considering your joint mission to investigate the Rukon District earlier today." Ichigo was about to speak up, but Byakuya continued. "Regardless, I have no quarrels, so long as Rukia is happy to go, that is." Ichigo blinked. "I did not call you here to ask you to ask me anything, but I overhead Rukia speaking to you before, and so I decided to have some fun."
"You know how to have fun?" Ichigo blurted out in shock. To his surprise, Byakuya did not comment on his remark, moving on instead.
"I wanted to speak with you about another matter," the noble promptly said. "I am currently having some trouble with squad members not understanding the difference between Shikai and Bankai in terms of the strength of the user. I wondered if Squad 5 and Squad 6 could join together to display the strength of Bankai."
"You want a joint exercise over Bankai?" Ichigo frowned. "Why not use Renji?"
"Souou Zabimaru is an impressive Bankai," Byakuya nodded. "However, it is a power type, while my own Senbonzakura Kageyoshi is moreover a speed type Bankai, meaning it is not a suitable match to Souou Zabimaru. If I recall correctly, you are the only other speed type Bankai user in the Captain ranks."
"Um, right," Ichigo frowned; something was off. "You said Renji's Bankai was Souou Zabimaru; don't you mean Hihiou Zabimaru?"
"Oh, that's right, you were not present when he discovered it," Byakuya nodded. "Well, allow me to elaborate; during his training after your defeat of Aizen, Renji discovered that his zanpakuto had withheld part of its name, meaning his Bankai was a pseudo-Bankai, not a true one. As such, in his training, he truly completed his Bankai, which resulted in Souou Zabimaru."
"I see," Ichigo nodded. "I had no idea that was even possible."
"It is uncommon, but not unheard of," Byakuya agreed. "Now, I will procure a location for our demonstration and report it to you in due course, Captain Kurosaki. You may leave now; Rukia's room is to the left and across the courtyard."
Ichigo bowed a little, stood and went to leave, when he stopped and turned to Byakuya once more.
"Thank you, Byakuya," he said before departing quickly. Byakuya looked away from the door, silently smiling.
"Impertinent boy," he noted, before resuming drinking his tea.
Ichigo followed Byakuya's instructions to get to Rukia's room, and soon found it; her door was open and he could see her drawing one of her Chappy the Rabbit styled pictures happily, humming softly to herself as she doodled. Ichigo smiled a little as he approached.
"What is it with you and that rabbit?" he asked with a smirk. Rukia flinched, scrabbling to hide her work as she always did when they were not finished, and shot a glare to Ichigo.
"Don't call Chappy stupid!" she hissed.
"I didn't, open your ears," Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Anyway, Byakuya's cool with our plan for tonight."
"Oh, that's good," Rukia smiled. "What did he want to talk about?"
"It wasn't about tonight at all," Ichigo replied. Rukia's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Then what was it about?" she asked, almost disappointed that her brother did not have a problem with her going out with Ichigo.
"He wanted us to have a joint display of Bankai to the trainees," Ichigo smirked. "Something about trying to show them how Shikai and Bankai differ in power." Rukia's eyes went wide.
"He wants you to do that?" she said, not really in disbelief, more in wonder.
"Yeah, pretty cool, huh?" Ichigo smiled proudly.
"Yes," Rukia nodded, thinking a little. "But, are you certain you can?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo frowned. "I've done it before."
"But have you since you got your powers back?" Rukia asked.
Ichigo went to argue, but stopped; in truth, he had not tried to use Bankai except for the one time in the World of the Living, and that had just destroyed his zanpakuto due to the power his hollow was exhibiting. Since then, he had not had the need to try again, but now he realised what Rukia meant; would he be able to without it destabilising again? Rukia cleared her throat a little.
"We'll worry about that later," she said, changing the subject hurriedly. "Let's enjoy tonight and figure it out later."
"Right," Ichigo nodded with a smile, pushing the thought to the back of his mind. As soon as Rukia had put her things away, they headed out. "So, where should we go?" Ichigo asked, not familiar with the area.
"Well, I remember Rangiku always mentioned this one place that's popular," Rukia recalled. "I think I know the way."
"If not, just follow the trail of drooling saps," Ichigo laughed, remembering Rangiku for her… charms, more than anything else. Rukia giggled softly at the comment, but said nothing about it. "Oh, by the way, since when did Renji have a different Bankai?"
Rukia blinked.
"He didn't tell you?" she asked, surprised; he had been showing off about it not too long ago.
"No, nothing," Ichigo shook his head.
"Strange," Rukia frowned. "Well, it must have been about a year after the Winter War ended; he had been training non-stop, then all of a sudden started bragging about how his zanpakuto had gotten even stronger and started showing it off. Head Captain Yamamoto even had to forbid him from using it in the Seireitei after it started getting out of hand."
"Out of hand?" Ichigo asked.
"Every time he showed it, he would cause quite a bite of damage to the area," Rukia explained. "Hence the ban."
Ichigo nodded as the two of them fell into a comfortable silence, trying to find the bar. Eventually they found it, a small row of buildings which gave way in the middle to a sheltered screen door, with a sign above the door reading 'Squad 14'. They walked in and saw the bar was filled with Soul Reapers of all ranks and squads. A familiar face looked up and waved to them.
"Ichigo, Rukia, over here!" Captain Kyoraku waved them over to his seat in a booth near the back of the bar. They moved over towards the Captain's table. "Glad you made it at last! Please, join us!"
Ichigo smiled and nodded politely, taking a seat opposite his fellow Captain while Rukia sat beside him. Looking around the table, Ichigo could recognise the few people around; Captain Kyoraku was joined by Captain Ukitake, his own Lieutenant, Nanao Ise, the Lieutenant of Squad 9, Shuhei Hisagi, and Renji too.
"So, what made you decide to come out, Rukia?" Renji asked from beside Rukia.
"Ichigo asked me to come with him tonight, so I said yes," Rukia replied nonchalantly, hiding her feelings as best she could; she was not ready to let them be known openly.
"Woah, seriously?" Renji laughed, leaning to look at Ichigo. "You actually asked? What, are you sick?"
"Shut up," Ichigo growled, looking away to disguise a light blush. "Anyway, it's normal for someone to ask a friend out for a drink."
"Yes, it certainly is," Ukitake nodded. "And it's rather refreshing to see someone with that mindset." Ichigo smiled a little, then noticed Ukitake pouring two cups other than his own from a ceramic flask. "Have you ever had sake before, Ichigo?"
"Um, once, I think," Ichigo replied. "But I'm not very familiar with it."
"I see," Ukitake nodded. "And you, Rukia?"
"No, Captain, never," Rukia replied.
"Please, Rukia, call me Jushiro; we're not on duty now," Ukitake smiled before passing each of them a cup of sake. "Well, some words of advice then; sip, don't gulp, and don't be put off by the burn."
Ichigo swallowed a little at this, looking apprehensive, but Rukia simply nodded and sipped the drink. There was a short pause as she swallowed, a light blush on her face as she felt the heat of the liquid going down her throat, then she blinked and smiled a little.
"It's good," she said, her throat a little more raspy than before. She cleared her throat softly. "It's quite unusual though."
"An acquired taste," Ukitake agreed. He looked to Ichigo softly. "If you do not want to try it, Ichigo, you don't have to."
"N-no, it's ok," Ichigo insisted. He took a breath and sipped the drink, taking in a little more than intended. He swallowed hurriedly, then spluttered a little. "N-not bad…"
Kyoraku chuckled, pulling his hat up slightly.
"Impressive," he smiled. "Seems you can hold your own better than expected, Ichigo." He sipped his own drink. "Oh, perhaps you would be so kind as to explain a rumour; you see, a little bird told me that Byakuya and you would be sparring sometime soon."
"News travels fast," Ichigo noted. "Yes, Captain Kuchiki and I will be displaying the use of Bankai to the recruits of Squad Six."
"Is that what he said?" Kyoraku smirked. "Hate to say it, Ichigo, but I get the feeling it will be more like everyone in Seireitei watching the match. After all, you are quite the celebrity in the academy at the moment, and your Bankai is something many want to see."
Ichigo blinked; he had no idea he was that popular. He drank his drink, finishing the cup before pouring the next.
"Well then, we had better find a large arena for it," he remarked, looking to Renji. "Hey, Renji, how come you never said your Bankai had changed?"
"Huh? You mean I didn't tell you?" the red-haired man blinked. "Must have slipped my mind."
"Yeah, 'cause you would forget that," Ichigo smirked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Renji sneered, leaning closer.
"I mean you're a show off and it isn't like you to not say something about that," Ichigo retorted, leaning in too.
"Oh yeah? You're one to talk with that stunt you pulled to save Rukia!" Renji growled. Each time they spoke, they leaned closer and closer. "You had everyone's eyes on you, and you loved it!"
"Wise ass! Besides, you were the one showing off about your zanpakuto when we met!"
"That's because you were a pathetic human at the time!"
"Nice excuse, pineapple head!"
"Overgrown strawberry!"
"Shut up, both of you!" Rukia shouted, throwing the two aside; in their arguing, they had been crushing her between them. She huffed, finishing her drink, then pouring another and downing it too. "You're making too much noise!"
"Um, Rukia, maybe you should slow down," Ukitake tried, as Rukia downed a third cup of sake.
"We came here to havff a good time, Issshigpo…" Rukia slurred, her composure lost. She wobbled in her seat as the alcohol took effect. "Not ssshout at Rensshi." She poured another drink, sloshing some down herself in the process, not that she cared. "Let'ssh havff ffun."
Ichigo blinked, surprised, but Rukia seemed to have slowed down, and aside from being wobbly she did not appear too bad, so they stayed, talking and enjoying the company of the others until neither could exactly see straight and the bar was closing. Ichigo, less effected than Rukia, bid goodbye to Ukitake, Kyoraku and Renji, all of whom still remained, and headed off with a heavily inebriated Rukia in his arms as he walked away.
His mind was fuzzy, but he knew it was a bad idea to take her to the Kuchiki Manor, seeing as Byakuya would most likely skin him, seeing the state his sister was in, so he headed to his room instead. He entered clumsily, bumping the wall a little before putting Rukia down on the bed roll. She curled up, groaning a little as she settled to a sedated sleep. Even drunk, Ichigo could not help but smile as she did so, finding it rather cute. However, he was tired, the alcohol catching up to him, and slumped down beside her without much thought as he crashed.
Well, here's the sixth chapter, finally done! I'm glad this story is going well, at least I think it is anyway.
So, yes, Ichigo will soon be showing his Bankai to the Seireitei. But when? And will he be able to? Find out, next time!