Chapter 12: Revival of the Protector

Silence filled the warehouse on the south eastern side of Karakura. Not one of the viazards spoke as they sat in silence. That was until a certain short, blond viazard sighed heavily with boredom.

"Dammit! I'm so bored!" The rest of the viazards that were there looked up at her. "How can those dickheaded shinigami have all the fun while we're sittin' here doin' nothin'?! We should be fightin' Aizen and his followers if we didn't get banned! Why did that Kisuke dumbass go to Soul Society and not us?! It's not fair!"

The gruff voice of Kensei answered her, "Oh shut the hell up, Hiyori. We weren't banned, remember? Besides, Kisuke had done some things that were a help to Soul Society. Therefore, he is permitted to enter the Senkaimon."

Hiyori gave him a look to kill. "Why don't you shut up, dickhead? We helped in the previous war as well, so we should get some credit and fight in this one too!"

Love leaned back against the couch with his arms behind his head and yawned. "I agree with Hiyori, but you know what Kisuke said though. He said, 'you aren't permitted to enter Soul Society through the usual way, and it would take a week to prepare my Senkaimon.' In other words, by the time we get there everything will be over."

"I agree," Rose replied beside him. "There won't be much of a point in going. Besides, the humans aren't partaking in the war either. So they are on their own."

Hiyori scowled darkly at both men and turned her head to look out the window.

"All what we have to do now is wait," Shinji piped in as he joined the group. "Besides, I wonder how Ichigo and Kuchiki are doin'. It must have hard for them to have their baby boy taken away, not to mention having Ichigo's sister bein' brought over to the dark side."

That made Hiyori glare at Shinji. "Does it matter? Who cares about the lousy baldy anyway?"

Shinji walked over to Hiyori and placed his hand on her shoulder affectionately. "Listen, I know how you feel about bein' bored but there is nothin' we can do right now. All what we have to do is wait."

Hiyori sighed and continued to look out the window as she took a hold of Shinji's hand in hers. "I just find it unfair."

"Yea," Shinji trailed off.

"Hey guys, what's shaking?" Keigo's voice joined the fray as he and Lisa walked in the room, hand in hand. Hiyori eyed the human with disgust.

"Not much," Rose answered. "Just talking about the current war that is happening."

Keigo winced. "W-war? War against who?"

"There is a war against a certain enemy that got us in trouble a long time ago. He made us who we are right now," Kensei explained, examining his sharp dagger for any anomalies.

"Oh you mean that guy who betrayed the shinigami right?" Keigo asked, trying to comprehend the situation.

"Yea," Love answered.

"So you guys were once shinigami right?" Keigo inquired.

"Yea," Shinji trailed off, "but that bastard Aizen let loose some virus that turned us into hollows. Urahara, whom you had probably met before, had tried to turn us back but he failed and it made us worse. It took a lot of power on our part to control the beasts within us, just like what your friend Ichigo did with his."

"Wow, that's some crazy shit," Keigo commented in awe.

"It is," Shinji nodded.

"So where is Ichigo now?" Keigo questioned.

"Ichigo is in Hueco Mundo with his girlfriend, Rukia," Lisa replied, leaning against her boyfriend's abdomen. Keigo automatically wrapped his arms around her waste. "Their son was taken from them by Aizen himself," she continued and Keigo stared off into space in sympathy. "Damn," he trailed off. "Poor dude."

Silence once again filled the room as the Viazards and Keigo stared into space.

Yuzu cried incredibly hard as she cradled her brother in her arms.

How she wished that she hadn't worked for Aizen in the first place! If only she were smart enough to stay away from him when he was making his requests to her! Now here lies her only brother – the one who had protected her since the day she was born – slain by her own hands and by the hands of the one who had promised he would revive their mother.

If she would give up her life to bring him and Rukia back, she would. There was no reason for her to be alive anymore. They had just started to be parents, and now that relationship has fallen apart. They won't be able to live a happy life they had been waiting for, and it was all because of her.

"I'm sorry, Onii-chan," she whispered as she sobbed some more, "Onii-chan, I'm so sorry. (Sob) This was my entire fault. You protected me and took care of me all my life, and this is how I repay you. (Sob) You don't deserve this (sob); I do. If only there was some way to make everything up to you, if only there was some way to bring you and Rukia-nii back then I would. (Sob)"

The wailing and screaming of her nephew reached her ears as she held her brother tighter. "He's crying for you, Onii-chan. He's so alone. Oh god, how could I have been so cruel!" She cried harder into her brother's wounded chest, not caring if his blood mixed with her tears.

His world was dark and silent. He could not feel anything but a cold numbness throughout his body. Was he dead?

A faint crying filled the silence – a baby. Ryuichi? There was another sound of crying as well that was closer yet still faint; this time it was a girl.

"Ryuichi…Rukia…Yuzu? Have I failed you all? Please don't cry, Ryuichi. Daddy is going to protect you, even if it means…losing his mind and becoming full hollow. Daddy is going to make that bad man pay for what he did to all of us. Everything will be alright."

A waterfall of memories flowed through his mind – His and Rukia's first meeting, Rukia's rescue, the time when they fell in love, the victory over Aizen the first time, Ryuichi's birth. Ichigo knew that he had to tap into his soul to bring out his full hollow form - the form that had regretfully taken over when he was fighting Ulquiorra, yet the form that would enable him to save everyone.

And that was when his transformation began…

Yuzu still mourned as hard she could as she held her brother's lifeless body next to hers, letting her tears fall onto his cold body.

That was when Ichigo's body pulsed once…twice…

Yuzu winced with surprise as she felt it. She put her brother's body down as carefully but quickly as she could before she backed away in shock. What was happening?

The next events that happened shocked her even more.

His bright orange hair grew to waste-length within seconds and a black-striped, white mask formed on his face. Claws replaced his hands and feet as orange fur grew around his wrists and ankles. The bloody wound where his heart had been formed a hole in the middle of his chest and black bands replaced his shakusho.

His sword changed into the thin and black blade that he had acquired whenever he went into his bankai, and, to Yuzu's horror, curved razor-sharp horns grew on top of his head.

Ichigo thrashed and convulsed as the transformation neared its end and then let out a hollow-like roar that filled the room. His reiatsu fluctuated and increased to higher levels and his eyes flew open, showing a bright crimson glow that faded into the customary yellow-on-black that made up his eyes.

The reiatsu was too much for Yuzu to take. She wanted to turn and run, but she was frozen in place as she watched her own brother turn into a hollow before her eyes. It was an absolute nightmare.

She turned to face Rukia's body lying not too far away. Would she turn into a hollow too? Is this what happens when a shinigami dies? Yuzu could not comprehend it.

She slowly turned her head back towards her brother, who slowly rolled onto his side, grabbed onto his long black blade, and stood up to show his full height. Yuzu's eyes locked onto the monster in fear.

She commanded her legs to run, but they could not. They were wobbly and shaking like Jell-o and her blood ran cold as ice through her veins. Her fear was too much that she could not remember how to breathe.

Ichigo narrowed his hollow-like eyes as he spoke. "Get…the baby…"

Yuzu calmed down slightly. Did this beast just say something to her?

Ichigo spoke again – this time more gruffly. "Get…the baby…NOW!"

His sister finally found the strength to get up. She immediately bolted towards the heavy doors and ran towards her nephew's room.

Something told her that somewhere in that horrible monster was her brother when he had said that to her. What was going on though? Why was he in that form? And the way that he spoke…it sounded like he was ready to kill, but not for any old reason and not just anyone either. There was one reason why he wanted to kill: it was for revenge.

A huge sigh of relief lifted from Yuzu's chest as she carefully picked up her now quiet nephew. "Your daddy needs you," she whispered to him. "I don't know where we are going, but it seems that your daddy knows what he is doing." Ryuichi rested his head against his aunt's chest as she carried him back to the throne room.

When she managed to open the door, she saw her brother – no, the monster that took over her brother's body – carefully hoisting Rukia's body over his shoulders. She shielded her nephew's eyes protectively as she walked towards the hollow.

"Let's…go," he said as he held Rukia's body steady with one hand and used the other hand to open a garganta towards Soul Society.

Yuzu could not fathom what this thing was doing. "Um…"

Ichigo turned around to glare at her with his piercing, hollow eyes.

"Wh-where…are w-we g-going?" she stammered as she studied the place beyond the garganta.

He motioned his finger to beckon her to come to him. "I-is that S-Soul S-Society?" she stammered once again, her foot unconsciously moving forward.

"Trust…me," her brother managed to say as he flew through the hole. There was something about what he had said that made her gather up her courage to enter through the garganta.

They found themselves standing amongst several buildings and shinigami darted all around them. Ichigo stayed in the shadows so that he could not be seen by anyone. Yuzu looked around for him, cradling her stirring nephew in her arms. She removed her hand from his eyes as she held him protectively against her chest.

That was until a cold sensation entered her body and she froze with fear as she was dragged to another part. She turned around and there was her brother facing her. He pointed towards another building and removed Rukia from his shoulders. "Go…there…and take…her…with you."

"Wh-where are you going?"

Ichigo looked up to a certain area where he might find Aizen. "I'm…going to…kill him." Then he immediately disappeared into the air with great speeds, leaving Yuzu alone with Rukia's body and Ryuichi. There was something in his voice that was chilling. It was much worse than anger – much worse than anything that Yuzu would ever dream of.

She looked up towards a spot on the sky where her brother might be and then looked down only to look into the lifeless stare in Rukia's glazed over eyes. She narrowed her eyes as she managed to move Rukia's body around her shoulders while holding onto Ryuichi at the same time. It was hard, but she managed to do it.

Taking one step at a time, she slowly stepped towards the building that her brother had pointed out to her, wondering why he would tell her to go there.

That was when she noticed several shinigami running out of the building. A blond man with glasses directed them to go to various directions with a commanding voice. She did not know who this man was, but she kept on walking closer to him.

The man turned around to face her and winced at the body on her shoulders and the dress she was wearing. "A follower of Aizen's?" he gruffly asked her.

Yuzu vigorously shook her head. "N-no sir! I was captured by Aizen, but then I was rescued."

The man eyed her suspiciously. "By whom?"

That was when she froze. What was she going to say? That a hollow posing as her brother got her, her nephew and her future sister-in-law to safety?

"My brother," she replied. It was the truth, but she had to leave out the hollow part out.

The man peered at the fussing baby in Yuzu's arms. "That little boy there looks like Kurosaki and Kuchiki's son with his bright orange hair and brown eyes. Where is his father now?"

"He's fighting," Yuzu answered, "he left me here so that he could help fight in the war that is happening here."

"I see." Then he motioned towards a boy who was younger than he was but looked as though he could be older than Yuzu. "Hanatarou! Get your scrawny ass over here and help these three out!"

The boy stumbled towards them and his eyes widened when he noticed Rukia. "R-Rukia-san! What happened?"

"She's badly injured and probably could be dead," Yuzu replied as she let Hanatarou take the body from her shoulders but still held onto her nephew as tight as she could.

"Well, we could heal her. I don't think she is dead as there might be a little bit of reiatsu left in her," Hanatarou assured her as he went inside the building. Yuzu followed him with Ryuichi sucking on his fingers, looking around his surroundings.

However, she stopped not too long after she stepped into the building and she turned around to face the skies. "Go get him, Onii-chan."

Next time on Incomplete Sorrows…

Gin's seemingly permanent smile grew wider as he pointed his short zampakutou at Matsumoto. "This is fer leavin' me for a low-class loser like Hisagi," he remarked sinisterly as his blade extended at top speeds towards her. She struggled to get up but because of her heavy injuries she could not.

Her eyes widened as the blade came crashing towards her, ready to pierce her through at any given moment. She knew that Hisagi was fighting against Tousen nearby and could not protect her from a blow like that. Shutting her eyes, she knew that it was over and waited for the blow to come.

Sorry about the shorter chapter guys, but at least I had already planned this chapter a while ago. I just needed to get this typed out and it didn't give me any trouble at all.

Ichigo is alive now! Yay! Don't worry about Rukia, guys. She is going to get all the help that she needs to be fully healed. However, she is going to be out of commission for a while though. At least she will be okay, right?!

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and like I had mentioned before, I am going to make this chapter, and the chapters that come after this one, one video each. So expect these chapters to be around the same length as this one.

Anyway, I'm out now. Peace! And please review!

Take care!