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 7: Morning Afters
Rukia was not used to this feeling of nausea and the general unease creeping through her at such an early time and without provocation, and yet here she was, lying in bed with a throbbing head and feeling as though the world was spinning around her. She let out a soft, meek groan as she gently pushed herself into a sitting position, rubbing her head gingerly.
"Mmm, that wasn't such a good idea," she quietly berated herself, recalling her heavy drinking after losing her cool the night before. "I really shouldn't drink…"
She looked around groggily and soon realised that she was not in her room, nor any room in the Kuchiki Manor for that matter. A little puzzled by this, the Lieutenant looked around with intrigue, trying to work out where she was, and more importantly whose bed she was in. She could see that it was not Renji's rather easily; true, it was not very lavishly furnished, but it lacked the usual trinkets and knickknacks from the World of the Living which the red-haired Lieutenant had collected on his trips to Karakura Town. In fact, there was not a whole lot of anything in the room at all. As she was mulling this over, a door opened, revealing Ichigo wearing the white trousers of his under-robes. He looked to Rukia and flushed a little, but smiled.
"Morning," he greeted. "Did I wake you?"
"Hey," Rukia replied, her voice a little hoarse. She supposed it was from the drinks yesterday. "No, I just woke up."
"Fair enough," Ichigo smirked. "You sound pretty rough."
"Thanks," Rukia muttered grumpily. "I don't feel great either." She rubbed her temples to try suppressing her headache. She remembered where she was abruptly and looked up with a deep scarlet blush on her cheeks; she did not remember getting here, let alone what happened after. "Oh god. Ichigo, what on earth happened last night?"
Ichigo chuckled a little; seeing Rukia so spooked over such a small thing in the grand scheme of things.
"Well, what do you remember?" he asked, trying to work out where Rukia's memory blanked.
"I remember… I remember being in the bar," Rukia nibbled the tip of her thumb anxiously as she thought. "I said… I said something about having fun… And then I woke up here…" She swallowed; could she have conducted herself in a manner not proper for a member of the Kuchiki Clan? Ichigo's smile told her otherwise.
"Not really much after that," he replied. "We had a couple more drinks, talked with Jushiro and Shunsui a little more and then we left. I thought about taking you to the Kuchiki Manor, but I couldn't exactly leave you with the guards, and I don't imagine Byakuya would have been too friendly seeing you so drunk after I took you out, so I figured I'd bring you back here."
"S-so we didn't, um… d-do anything, right?" Rukia fidgeted a little; this was an awkward topic. Ichigo flushed.
"N-no!" he stammered back. "We've slept in the same bed without any of… of th-that, before!"
Despite herself, Rukia could not help but giggle at Ichigo's outburst. He let out a soft sigh, then chuckled, and before they knew it, both were laughing, one still in bed, the other sat alongside. Abruptly, a soft voice could be heard outside the main door to the room.
"Captain?" Momo announced as she slid open the door. "Please forgive my interruption, but you are needed at the barracks, and-" She paused as she saw Rukia and Ichigo, and her cheeks went a bright pink. "O-oh, excuse me!" Momo yelped. "Pl-please just get to the barracks w-when you can!"
She disappeared hastily, closing the door behind her. Ichigo frowned and looked over the pair of them for a moment and blushed, realising what Momo must have thought; he was sat here without a shirt, effectively in his underwear, hair a little wet still from his shower, and beside him, Rukia sat in his bed, bottom half covered by the sheets, her top loose and showing just a glimpse of her chest wrap. He could only hope he was over-thinking it.
"Well," he coughed a little. "I should probably see what's going on." He stood up and went to fetch his robes. "Um, you're more than welcome to stay if you want to get your head cleared up; there's a small private bath through that door if you want to clean up before you go on duty."
"Thanks," Rukia smiled. She looked down at her chest a little, thinking how nice it was for Ichigo to offer, when she noticed her robes had opened up a little, the obi untied and laying around her waist limply. She snapped her gaze back level and pulled the robe shut hastily in a fluid motion, cheeks deep red as she hoped that she had not shown too much. "I-I think I'll take you up on that."
She quickly moved to the room Ichigo had gestured to and closed the door behind her. Breathing a soft sigh of relief, Rukia slipped off her robes and folded them on the side, then she undid her wrap, a small blush on her face as she recalled both Ichigo and Momo's flushed looks, and stepped into the water. The heat penetrated her bones and resonated within her very soul, cleansing her spirit and clearing her head of the fuzziness the alcohol had brought. As she lay in the water and soaked, she heard Ichigo clear his throat on the other side of the door.
"Uh, Rukia?" he said softly. "Do you, um… A-are you covered?"
"I'm in the bath," Rukia replied, frowning a little from the phrasing. "What is it?"
"I, um… I think I left my coat in there," Ichigo replied awkwardly. Rukia could practically hear the orange-haired man scratching the back of his head by the tone of voice he had. "Do you mind if I come in? I won't look, I promise."
"Sure," Rukia nodded, sinking into the water a little further to hide her body from sight in the water.
The door slid aside and revealed Ichigo in his uniform except for his Captain's coat. True to his word, he did not look towards the bath as he fumbled for his lost coat, eventually finding it and donning it swiftly.
"Alright," Ichigo breathed, still not facing Rukia. "I've got to go, Rukia. I'm going to go to Yoruichi's training ground when I'm off duty, so you can come along later if you want to."
"Ok," Rukia nodded. Ichigo went to leave, but Rukia stopped him. "Ichigo. Thank you for last night. It was nice to socialise properly for once, and it was only because you brought me out. So, thanks."
"Any time," Ichigo smiled.
"And also," Rukia added with a blush. "Th-thanks for not taking me home; I don't think I could have lived that down."
Ichigo chuckled.
"It's what friends do," he replied nonchalantly. There was a short silence. "Well, I'd better get going. See you later."
"Bye," Rukia nodded as Ichigo left the room, closing the door behind him. A few moments later, she heard his front door slide shut, leaving her alone in the bath to clean up before she went on duty. She sighed a little. "Friends… Is that all we are?"
She bit her lip guiltily for thinking this, but the fact was that she was fond of Ichigo in a way she had never been fond of anyone else before, including Renji and even her brother or sister. Even so, she was scared to act on it, scared that if she tried to test the waters she might fall in and ruin what they had. She hugged her knees to her chest. That scared her most of all; she just could not bring herself to act because of that fear of pushing him away, and that just made it worse. She felt weak, stuck in a difficult position she could not wriggle free from no matter how hard she tried.
She heaved a sigh and got out of the water, taking a towel in hand to dry off. She could not shake the feeling of being trapped by her own inability to decide whether to tell him or not, even as she dried off and got dressed it lingered in her mind like a parasite consuming her every action. She pulled her armband into place and stretched, to take her mind off of this, then left the bathing room and get ready to head out. She paused briefly as she spotted a small note and a shape on the small table near the door. A smile spread over her face. The note read;
This will help you feel better. – Ichigo
Under the note was a small box of Chappy cookies, each one the shape of the cartoon bunny's head. Rukia grinned; he knew her too well. She happily took one of the cookies, enjoying the taste as she headed over to Squad Thirteen to report for duty. She just hoped she was not too late in.
Ichigo breathed a soft sigh as he watched the training for the seated officers. Momo's message that morning had been to inform him that seated officer selection for Squad Five was underway and he had to oversee it; as Captain, it was his duty to select who would ascend in seating and who was not ready to ascend. However, as he watched, he realised how difficult a task this was. Many of the men and women gathered and sparring had great skill and determination, but there were more people than places, and organising them by strength was getting tough.
"All these Soul Reapers are so talented in their own rights," he murmured. "How can we be expected to give only eighteen of them a seat?"
"It's difficult," Momo agreed. She was standing beside Ichigo as they oversaw the session. "But there are regular assessments to organise the rankings and set the order normally. We are behind on these, however, so that is why we are holding this selection."
Ichigo nodded. He had not spoken a lot to Momo since arriving, but he was beginning to get a sense of tension to her presence. He decided, since he was getting a good feel for the abilities of the trainees, and no one was paying himself or his Lieutenant any mind, to clear the air.
"Momo, about this morning," Ichigo started.
"Y-you don't have to explain," Momo insisted. "You and Rukia are good friends, it's okay if you… d-do that…" She blushed a deep red, making Ichigo sigh.
"You've got it wrong," he said firmly. "I realise it looked like… that, but it wasn't. We went out last night and I brought her back because she was drunk. She had just woke up when you came in."
"S-so you didn't…" Momo flushed. "M-my apologies, Captain, I didn't-"
"Ichigo," Ichigo corrected. "Just call me Ichigo, Momo. And there's no need to worry; I understand the confusion."
There was a short pause, and Ichigo felt the tension ease. He smiled a little, thinking it was clear.
"Um, if I may, Ca- Ichigo," Momo said after a short pause. "F-forgive the informality, but… A-are you and Rukia not together?"
Ichigo blinked and frowned.
"Um, no, we are not," he replied, a little surprised by the question.
"Oh," Momo seemed disappointed. "Were you ever… a couple?"
"Again, no," Ichigo shook his head. "What brought this on?"
"Well, you see…" Momo looked sheepishly down. "There was a rumour going around that you and Rukia were more than just friends. I mean, you did come to the Soul Society to save her despite only knowing her so such a short time."
Ichigo flushed and scratched his head a little; had that really been a thing going around? Maybe that was why Byakuya was so cold to- He stopped that thought; Byakuya was cold to everyone.
"Well, they were just rumours," Ichigo replied. "Rukia and I have not been a couple before now and are still not one." He did not say that it was impossible, but he wondered if it could be possible. "We're just good friends."
"I see," Momo nodded. There was another pause. "B-but do you want to be more?"
Ichigo closed his eyes and bit his lip; he really did not know how to answer that. He took a breath to answer, when a recruit approached.
"Captain, could you oversee a challenge to fifth seat?" he asked. Ichigo nodded, grateful for the disruption, and headed to oversee the challenge.
The vast training area in the mountain outside the Rukon District, a single figure sat among the rocks, his zanpakuto on his lap. Ichigo breathed a soft sigh and began to focus on his sword and the spirit within the blade. As his consciousness began to grow fuzzy and his mind grew focused, Ichigo called out in his mind.
Zangetsu, he concentrated on the name as if linking to it by sheer will. Can you hear me, Zangetsu?
"Ichigo," came the reply of the Zanpakuto spirit. Ichigo opened his eyes and found himself in the twisted over inner world of his. Zangetsu stood there on his pole, cloak flowing in the breezeless air. "Welcome back."
Ichigo looked around a little and spotted his bleached other self behind Zangetsu, lazing around. The hollow looked up to Ichigo and sneered a little.
"Ah, the victorious King finally returns," the hollow growled mockingly in his warped voice. "What's wrong? Surprised to see me?"
"Actually I figured you would be here, hollow," Ichigo replied levelly. "After all, you are a part of my power."
"Tch, you could at least act surprised," the hollow replied, seemingly sulking.
"Anyway," Ichigo pressed on, turning to Zangetsu again. "I take it you know why I am here."
"Of course," Zangetsu nodded. "The question is, do you understand why you are here?"
"The last time I used Bankai, the hollow part of me was out of control," Ichigo replied. "And since he is a part of my power, I'd guess that I could not maintain Bankai if I tried."
"You would be right," Zangetsu nodded. "But the hollow is now under control."
"That's just it," Ichigo went on. "Now that he is subdued again, Bankai should be attainable, but something about you seems different to when I used to have Bankai. My guess is that since the hollow side is completely subdued, something has changed about the sword release."
"Heh, he's smarter than he looks," the hollow jeered, but Ichigo ignored it.
"Indeed, you are right, Ichigo," Zangetsu nodded. "With both parts of your power now in balance and not attempting to break free, even your Shikai is different, because the very essence of your power has changed." He hopped down and approached Ichigo. "In order to wield the power of your true Bankai, you will have to relearn Bankai. But first, you must realise your true Shikai. You know my name and my summoning, but you do not know my form." The old man stepped passed Ichigo, but the orange haired man did not turn to him. "Let us fix that."
Abruptly, the ground gave out and Ichigo was plunged into the darkness, boxes of grey and white dotted around the void. He could hear Zangetsu speaking and the hollow cackling somewhere in the blackness.
"Concentrate, Ichigo, and pull my form from the box," Zangetsu echoed in the darkness. Ichigo could hear him somewhere to his right.
"Pah, he'll never figure it out," the hollow sneered from somewhere to Ichigo's left.
The Captain frowned; the two beings were both his power, how could they be in two places?
And then he remembered his Shikai. While Zangetsu had always been a cleaver-like sword, the two forms had been very different to one another; in the beginning, the long curved blade was formed from his hollowfication and corroded chain, producing the power which allowed his hollow to grow and influence his strength; and then came the second form, wherein the blade had become more imposing with the cut outs near the tip and grip, was formed when the hollow was out of control and not helping him, meaning it was Zangetsu and Zangetsu alone. As he mulled this over, the man began to understand.
"I can't choose one of you," he said at last. "My power does not lie in one, but in both of you. That is how it always has been, yet my zanpakuto did not reflect that; it chose one of you but never both." He looked up. "Which means I'm not getting one blade from this place; I'm trying to find two of them."
There was a silence for a minute, then the hollow's twin-toned chuckled resonated through the world.
"Heh, what do you know? He really is smarter than he looks," it laughed. "Well done, King, you figured it out faster than I thought you would."
Ichigo closed his eyes, focusing his spiritual presence into searching for the ribbon which bound him to Zangetsu. Within a few moments, two spirit ribbons had trailed from two of the boxes, one binding to his left wrist, the other to his right wrist. His eyes shot open into a serious look as he gripped the ribbons and pulled on them hauling out the forms of his new Shikai.
There was a bright flash in the training ground just as Rukia arrived, dazzling her a little as she stepped inside. Shielding her eyes, she let the light dissipate before hurrying further inside to investigate. When she saw Ichigo, however, she stopped short, staring with her mouth agape.
Ichigo stood in the middle of the training area, wisps of dust and smoke-like spiritual energy ebbing from his arms and shoulders. In his hands were two zanpakuto; in his left hand was a blade styled on his first Shikai and akin to a trench knife, a solid blade about the length of Ichigo's arm which had an indent to it where the grip lay, enclosed by the blade itself; in his right hand was a much larger sword, more like his usual Shikai and shaped like a khyber knife with a thin hollow on the back edge from the base to the middle height of the blade. To Rukia's surprise, both were pure black blades.
Ichigo looked his new blades over and smiled, feeling the new sensation course through him and fill his being with a nostalgic feeling. He looked up and spotted Rukia, a little surprised.
"Rukia," he greeted. "When did you get here?"
"Just a few moments ago," Rukia replied. "Is that your new Bankai?"
"No, Shikai," Ichigo replied. Rukia's eyes widened; the power Ichigo was putting out was so intense already, and this was just his Shikai? "I know what needs to be done for Bankai though." He paused. "Are you okay, Rukia?"
"Y-yeah," Rukia nodded, shaking herself from her stunned state. "I just came to see how you were getting on." She paused, feeling she had missed something. "Oh, also, I ran into my brother on the way here."
"Oh," Ichigo grimaced. "Was he pissed about last night?"
"Actually he said it was probably in good intention," Rukia smiled a little. "He also said if you were stupid enough to try something you wouldn't have been made a Captain." Ichigo furrowed his brow; was that a compliment or an insult? He could not tell. "But the main thing he wanted to tell me is that he has organised the arena time for the demonstration; you have about two weeks to prepare."
"Two week," Ichigo repeated, nodding. He sighed. "This won't be easy, will it?"
"It never is with you, Ichigo," Rukia smirked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo frowned.
"Oh, nothing," Rukia smirked again, teasing Ichigo. He rolled his eyes, sheathing his blades, the larger on his back, the smaller on his right hip. She paused a moment. "Um, Ichigo?"
"Yeah?" Ichigo asked. Rukia was looking down and fidgeting a little. "What's up?"
"Um… th-thanks for the cookies," she said bashfully. "That was k-kind of you." Ichigo could not help but blush; Rukia was just too cute as she thanked him.
"Uh, sure," he nodded. "It's fine." The two were quiet for a few moments, as if both deciding what to say, or whether to say something. Finally, they went to speak at the same time. Making them laugh. Ichigo looked up at Rukia. "Sorry, you first."
"I'll help you with your training however I can," she said, her first thought pushed aside by the laughter; it was moments like that which made her hesitate or even go against her choice when she got the nerve to try and speak her mind. "Since you don't have long, I mean."
"Thanks," Ichigo smiled. He stayed quiet, making Rukia frown a little.
"What was it you wanted to say, Ichigo?" she asked.
Ichigo looked at Rukia, his mind a mess as he internally fought himself; should he tell her? Should he ask and potentially doom them forever? Regardless of her response, there would be no going back; could he commit to that? In his indecision, Ichigo lost his nerve and shook his head.
"It can wait," he replied. "Let's go somewhere, Rukia; I'm not gonna get any closer to Bankai today."
Rukia wanted to protest and press the matter, but sighed a little and nodded instead; she was too tired to argue.
"Alright," she accepted.
They headed out from the training ground, certain that, in their own minds, the truth would soon be told to the other. It was just a matter of time now.
Alrighty, another chapter done!
Next one will feature some training and hopefully the scene set up to reveal Ichigo's Bankai.
For those not aware, the new Shikai I described is the 'true' form of Ichigo's Zangetsu from the manga, featured in the final arc.
Well, that's all for now. I have exams coming up in the next month, so be warned that updates may be slowed by this on all my works.
Okay, bye-bye!