"Ichigo."
He hadn't heard his own name for so long he almost didn't recognize it. Grimmjow held the side of his face with one hand. Ichigo was still on his side on the couch but he felt the sweat that had broken out over his body.
"Grimmjow?"
"You were screaming." Grimmjow pulled his hand away but remained crouching before the young man, waiting for him to snap out of it.
"...nightmare I guess..." he said eventually, gripping the leather to sit up properly. Grimmjow stood again when he saw he was recovered from whatever memory or dream had shaken him.
"It's dawn," he announced. "Let's eat and go."
"Okay." Ichigo didn't feel much like eating on the heels of the dreams but he did and he drank water. He convinced Grimmjow to give him time to check his wounds. The espada reluctantly removed his shirt and sat still while Ichigo pulled back the bandage at the back of his neck, his collar and under his ribs. They were small enough not to be a big concern but at the same time anything could get infected. Everything looked normal, however, although Ichigo could see deep bruising along Grimmjow's ribs where he'd landed hard against the iron support beam yesterday, saving Ichigo.
"Good?" Grimmjow asked, eager to redress and get moving.
"Yes."
"Alright, let's go."
Neither of them were familiar with the landscape out here. In the sunlight they could see how untouched this town really was and they didn't know why no one was living here.
"Maybe there's radiation or something," Ichigo suggested nervously, knowing there were parts of Japan to be avoided because of unstable power plants.
"Let's hope not." But the explanation must have made sense to Grimmjow because he seemed a bit unsettled as they continued on.
The longer they walked the more uneasy they both felt. The town was just as it had been left four years ago. Stores stood untouched. High rises looked like they had survived the Clash with minimal damage. Sure some litter floated around but everything looked clean.
"Shit can we get out of here already?" Grimmjow was on edge.
"But why is it like this? I mean we're not that far from the main travel route, how could no one be here? Even if it's harder to get supplies it would be worth it to live here."
"I don't know but—"
A canister fell across the road ahead of them and bounced along the pavement, the only noise in the empty street. They watched it roll along until it came to a stop about ten feet from them.
"What the Hell is that?"
Ichigo was just about to answer when it clicked, gave a hiss, and smoke suddenly surrounded them. They heard the clatter of more canisters and soon they couldn't even see each other. Grimmjow's hand clamped over Ichigo's wrist and he pulled him along but a brutal strike from something hard broke their hands apart.
"Fucking bastard!" Ichigo couldn't see but he was sure now someone was fighting with Grimmjow.
"Grimm—"
The punch came out of the mist and spun him around into waiting arms. He still could see nothing, the artificial smoke made him gasp and cough and his eyes watered. He struggled but he could hear the steady, mechanical-like breathing and knew they had masks on.
"Shit." He got an arm free and tried to pull a mask from one of them but a knee to his gut doubled him and when he went down his hands were forced around his back. Cold metal bit into his skin and he knew he'd been cuffed. Next they forced a cloth over his face and knotted it tight across his eyes. He could see nothing and barely breathed when they hauled him back up to his feet. He could hear Grimmjow cursing and guessed they'd done the same to him. At least they were both still alive, he kept telling himself, although in this world death wasn't the worst thing that could happen to you.
They were shoved along until they were clear of the smoke. Ichigo could at least tell this because he wasn't choking so badly. Once clear someone started barking orders, they must have removed their masks.
"Don't take them any further until we search them."
Ichigo's knee was kicked out. He crashed to the ground and rough hands began feeling through every pocket and layer of his clothing. He clenched his jaw to keep himself from saying anything, bearing through the discomfort especially when hand went under his clothes. Grimmjow clearly couldn't contain himself because he started shouting at them not to touch him. Ichigo heard a few rough strikes and Grimmjow coughed out and struggled to breathe, no longer able to protest.
The search finished with their boots being hauled off. Ichigo felt very vulnerable without them, and now if he were to escape not only would he lose his belongings but he'd have to flee without shoes.
Shit.
They were dragged up again. They must have served Grimmjow a pretty good blow because it sounded like his feet were dragging a bit.
They were forced to walk along quite a ways. Without his boots Ichigo could tell when they left the pavement for a sidewalk, then a grated staircase. They went down, into a basement he guessed. Still they travelled through several doors and corridors. Ichigo wondered if their captors were looping them around or taking them on an overly complicated route to make sure they had no idea where they were.
Finally they came to a halt. The room they were in was hot and humid. Water dripped in one corner, the floor was gritty and felt like cement. But most distinct was the buzz of electricity. Ichigo was almost certain they were in a generator room, the extreme heat caused by the running equipment. Already he was sweating through his layers of clothing. When one of his wrists was released, he had a hope these people were going to free them, but then his arms were forced up above his head and the cuff came back around his other wrist. He shook his hands where they were trapped and felt the hot pipe between them. He stilled so his skin didn't brush against it in case it burned him.
"What the fuck do you want with us?" Grimmjow must have been recovered now, but Ichigo heard another punch.
"Shut up." Someone warned.
"Show them to me." A new voice ordered. They heard everyone else quiet. Clearly this was their leader.
Ichigo tensed, feeling the person circle him. He took his time, his steps careful and slow. Eventually he stopped right before him. Even if he couldn't see him, Ichigo could feel the man studying him, heard his even breaths.
"It's him."
An audible reaction when through the crowd. There were gasps and mumbles.
Ichigo said nothing, knowing if he was identified he was a dead man. The seconds ticked by but eventually the words dropped from the man's mouth.
"Ichigo Kurosaki."
Damn.
"Get him down."
Ichigo was seized. He struggled back but they got his hands undone and wrested them behind his back.
"Kurosaki!" Grimmjow knew as well as he did identifying him was basically a death sentence. It was why he always called him 'kid' and never by his name, but now the game was up. "Fucking run!"
"I can't." Ichigo was still struggling but he was being hauled from the room
"Where are you taking him?!"
Ichigo bit his tongue from calling Grimmjow's name, it was possible they didn't know him. He was dragged back into more breathable air, leaving the terrible heat of the other room behind. They took him through another maze of a walk until they finally let him go and his shoulder hit a wall. He stood against it, the only landmark he had while blind. He could here other people enter the room. The door shut.
"Kurosaki." The voice was right before him. He recoiled but his face was caught and held between firm hands. "Nice to meet you in person."
His blindfold was withdrawn. He blinked in the sudden light. He saw three others in the back ground but before him was a tall man with a dark complexion. He didn't recognize him.
"Who are you?" Ichigo demanded.
"So you don't recognize us?"
Ichigo gave everyone in the room a second look over but still he saw nothing familiar about them.
"It stands to reason, you were busy fighting above us, in the war."
"Did I fight in your city?" Ichigo asked. Many humans had become able to see spiritual beings after so much exposure when the fighting spilled over into the world of the living.
"Yes, the day you came to our home world."
Ichigo stiffened. They were Vandenreich. He shoved off the wall and tried to bolt past the man. Even though he knew it was futile, it was a reaction to past pains he'd suffered under those who'd pursued him in the past four years. He was quickly caught and the man pushed him face first into the wall.
"You misunderstand me, son." The man leaned in and his hands slid down to Ichigo's wrists. He tried to twist free until he heard the click and the cool metal fell away. "We don't wish to harm you," he stepped back and let Ichigo turn around again. "We owe you our lives."
"W-what?" Ichigo rubbed his wrists and surveyed them, waiting for some trick.
"You saw us for what we were when so many Soul Reapers were ready to decimate us."
Understanding dawned on the young man. "You were the civilians living in their world."
"Yes. What's left of them, anyway. We never had a choice—born of quincies who abandoned earth long ago, but not enough talent for the dreaded King, we served his army our entire lives, never having a choice. And when the war started, the Soul Reapers killed indiscriminately. Just because we were born in that world, they deemed us worthy of death."
"But not you." It was a woman in the back of the room. She had scars all up one side of her face, one sleeve hung empty at her side. "You stopped the Soul Reapers who were attacking us. And then you nearly fell trying to take down our king who'd enslaved us our entire lives."
"We owe you greatly." Another added.
Ichigo was astonished. It must have been clear by the look on his face. "Is it really so hard to believe?" The first man put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry." Ichigo shook his head, "but most people who recognize me try to kill me."
"Because they are hurt and angry and don't understand what you were trying to do."
"Th-thank you."
"Of course."
"But then why did you attack us?"
"Well, we didn't recognize you at first." His hair, Ichigo had almost forgotten. "And you were with that animal."
So they did recognize Grimmjow.
"He's my companion. Please don't hurt him."
"We don't owe him. He killed as freely as those Soul Reapers did."
"Please, I need him."
"What for?"
Clearly they weren't fans of Soul Reapers, he wouldn't tell him where he was headed but what he said was not a lie.
"He's helping me in my search. I'm looking for my sisters."
"Yuzu and Karin Kurosaki."
Ichigo's eyes widened. "How do you know their names?" The man hesitated. Ichigo gripped his shoulders. "TELL ME! Please, I don't even know if they are still alive."
Still, hesitation. Ichigo knew it. He knew this man knew their fate, and he could see it in his eyes. His stomach bottomed out. His knees gave and he slipped to the floor.
"No, they can't be..."
"Son!"
His heart beat so furiously in his chest he saw black. The last thing he felt was cement striking his face.
Ichigo woke on clean linens in a beautifully furnished room. His jacket had been removed, he felt something cool across his forehead.
"Son." The man was above him. Ichigo sat and the wet face cloth fell into his lap. "You fainted."
"My sisters..." Ichigo felt sick from passing out but it was nothing compared to the pain in his chest.
"Son I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to cause you so much pain."
"Just tell me what happened."
"Kurosaki, nothing happened—as far as we know, your sisters are still alive."
Ichigo's eyes shot up to him. "WHAT?"
"Yes, I'm terribly sorry that my reaction earlier misled you."
"Just tell me what you know," Ichigo pleaded.
"We know the Vandenreich soldiers are actively looking for them—and you."
"Searching for my sisters? I know they've been after me but why them?"
"We're not sure. They either want them to draw you out or they have a value we haven't seen."
"So you've seen them?"
"No, but the Vandenreich have been chasing them, and you can't chase dead girls."
Ichigo took a long steadying breath. It wasn't enough. He sank his head into his hands, his whole body shaking. The man rose and Ichigo heard the clink of glass. The man returned with a strong smelling drink. Ichigo took it but even when he'd taken several sips it was a long while before he regained calm. For so long he searched, the terrible fear that they were dead boiling beneath the surface. Now he got confirmation that they were alive—his precious little sisters had been living in this awful world all this time—but with the news came that they were being hunted.
He was understandably shaken.
"My name is Valkin, by the way." The man introduced himself when he realized Ichigo was going to need some time to process. "I will be in the study, just down the hall, when you are recovered. I ask you clean up, accept some clean clothes, and enjoy a meal. I'll be there when you are ready."
Ichigo didn't even nod. He was too lost in thought, his eyes shut as he held the image of his sisters in his mind. Only when the door shut did he snap back to the present. He'd heard Valkin, but his body was slow to obey. His mind was stuck in the past, his heart still adjusting to this new burden. Yes they were alive. Yes, he would find them if it killed him. But the fact remained he had failed to do so these past four years, and they had suffered untold hardships in that time. Who would they be, when he finally met them again? And could they ever forgive him for what he'd done—failing to save their world, save their father, and even save them in the end.
He shut his eye and held his head. And for the first time in four years, he cried.
Thanks for the very positive reviews from last chapter!
And to answer a question: this will not become an Ichigo/Grimmjow romance, just a friendship/ bromance
Riza