Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, Tite Kubo does. This story, however, is mine.
Torn
Chapter 4: The (Un)dynamic Duo
Rukia stood stock-still as the warm, familiar voice reached her, afraid that if she so much as drew a single breath she would wake up from what was surely a dream. Her old Lieutenant noticed this and sighed in slight embarrassment, scratching the back of his head with his free hand.
"Sorry, Kuchiki," he apologized. "I must have given you a shock, huh, just showing up out of nowhere like this?"
Rukia could only blink, incredulous. A shock? That was the understatement of the century.
"H—How are you even here, Kaien-dono?" the violet-eyed Soul Reaper asked after a few more heartbeats of quiet. "You're supposed to be dead!"
Shiba just chuckled ruefully, smirking.
"Well, sorry to disappoint ya, Kuchiki," he replied, "but I was getting tired of Purgatory, so I figured I'd bust out."
Rukia was silent for another moment, before springing forward and smacking Kaien across the jaw.
"Kaien-dono, you jerk!" she shouted. "How can you make jokes at a time like this?!"
The spiky-haired warrior couldn't help but smile at his former subordinate's outburst, blocking the second slap lazily with his left hand.
"Some things never change, Kuchiki," he teased as his smile widened. "Even after all of these years, your attacks are still predictable."
Rukia felt her anger evaporating like water under a desert sun as her former teacher smiled down at her, her heart swelling so rapidly at the torrent of memories crashing over her that Kuchiki thought it was going to burst at any moment. She got over her emotions a few beats later, but as she was about to retort, the sudden arrival of an intense, familiar reiatsu stopped her cold.
"Kuchiki, what are you…!" Ukitake began, only to have his voice stolen from him when his eyes fell upon his former Lieutenant and widened in disbelief. "Impossible…"
Kaien stepped forward and executed a crisp salute, bowing slightly before rising to lock eyes with his Captain.
"Captain Ukitake," he said. "I'm back."
Jushiro took a moment to analyze everything he could about the man standing before him and claiming to be his deceased officer, and when it all checked out the Captain's shock only increased.
"How can this be?" he asked. "How are you alive? I saw you die with my own eyes!"
"Man, I feel like I'm going to hear that a lot," Kaien grumbled to himself, before straightening up again and addressing his Captain once again.
"I'll tell you the whole story, Captain," Shiba promised, "but can we get inside first? No disrespect, Sir, but it's freezing out here and I could really use a drink, or seven."
The relaxed, sincere voice eased Ukitake out of his stupor, and the white-haired Captain blinked a few times before shaking his head slightly and taking a calming breath.
"Sure thing," he said, flashing a tired smile. "I could certainly use some sake myself. Let's get out of here now, before anyone else shows up and we really have a scene on our hands."
Kaien laughed, his eyes flashing with the gleam of barely-suppressed mischief.
"I like the way you think, Captain. Oi, Kuchiki," he called out as he walked towards Ukitake and didn't hear the girl following him, "are you coming or not?"
"Oh, y—yes, Kaien-dono," Rukia stuttered out, scrambling after her former teacher in a theatrical display of panic that had both Jushiro and Kaien near laughter.
"Some things never change," Ukitake mused, shaking his head in amused wonder before flashing away, with his two subordinates following closely in his wake.
Ichigo had had quite a lot of experience hiding his emotions behind a expressionless mask throughout the years, but repressing the trepidation he felt in the face of Aizen's searing, searching gaze was one of the most difficult challenges Kurosaki had ever faced.
"Well, Ichigo? Your report?" Sosuke prompted, rousing the orange-haired Soul Reaper from his stupor as effectively as a bolt of lightning.
"I wasn't able to convince Aaroniero to return to Las Noches, Aizen-sama," Ichigo began, the honorific on the end of Aizen's name tasting especially bitter as he said it. "Unfortunately, it escalated to the point where my only course of action was to kill him."
"Which I assume you managed to achieve, considering that you are standing here before me now," Sosuke replied, a subtle edge to his voice that seemed to scream at Ichigo that Aizen somehow knew Kurosaki hadn't actually struck the killing blow.
"An impressive feat, to be sure," the former Captain continued, his tone remaining easy and musing. "Aaroniero was not an opponent to be taken lightly, being a former Espada. While it is regrettable that you were unable to persuade him to join our ranks, Ichigo," Aizen spoke, and Kurosaki tensed up for the inevitable punishment...
"It was not entirely unexpected. You have done well. Grimmjow, please come here for a moment."
The brown-eyed Soul Reaper struggled to catch his breath in a calm manner as relief washed over him: he was still alive. He wasn't even scratched. But Ichigo's relief shifted into suspicion as he realized Aizen was probably playing one angle or another; altruism wasn't anywhere in the former Captain's vocabulary.
The brown-haired Soul Reaper seemed to intuit Kurosaki's thoughts to the letter, shooting his soldier a sidelong glance that said, in no uncertain terms, 'Try to pull a stunt like that again, boy, and I will end you.' Swallowing hard despite himself, Ichigo returned his attention to the present just in time to hear Aizen give Grimmjow his assignment.
"Grimmjow, I would like you to descend into Hueco Mundo's underground, and spread my message to the Adjuchas residing there. If you stumble across one of particular promise along the way, make sure to bring them back here alive, and in one piece," the former Captain emphasized, seeing the murderous glint in Grimmjow's eyes. The Espada grunted dejectedly at the restriction, but nodded nonetheless.
"No sweat," the fierce Arrancar answered. "Unlike some people," Grimmjow continued, shooting a pointed glare at Ichigo and smirking at the look of fury that flared in Kurosaki's eyes, "I'm actually competent enough to get a simple job done."
As Jaegerjaques made to vanish, however, Aizen stopped him with a raised hand.
"Wait a moment, Grimmjow," he commanded. "You won't be going alone," Sosuke elaborated, his voice laced with dry amusement. 'Ichigo will be accompanying you on your mission."
"What!?" both of them shouted simultaneously. "You can't expect me to work with that loser," the Arrancar growled. "Knowing him, he'll probably get us both killed!"
"Anything may be possible, Grimmjow," Sosuke replied smoothly, "but likelihood is a different story altogether. I have no doubts about Ichigo's ability to perform to my expectations," he finished, his tone sharpening. "Don't make me regret extending you the same courtesy, Grimmjow."
Even Jaegerjaques was cowed by the deadly implications of that statement, but he didn't dare flinch in front of his rival.
"I understand," he grumbled. "C'mon, ginger," he said as he turned to Ichigo, drawing a scowl from his comrade, "let's get this over with."
The two warriors disappeared, one with a buzz and the other with a whisper, leaving Aizen alone with his two immediate subordinates.
"You're not gonna tell them about the Adjuchas uprising down there, Captain?" Gin spoke. "That's awful mean of ya."
"Struggle builds character, Gin," Aizen parried, "something a prodigy such as yourself would be unfamiliar with. Besides, those two need to learn to at be tolerant of one another. While I won't deny that a little competition in the ranks is a good thing," the former Captain continued, "there is a fine line between a healthy rivalry and a destructive one. Oh, I'm sorry, Kaname," Sosuke finished, glancing over at his blind comrade, "were you going to say something?"
Tosen shook his head.
"Nothing of major importance, Captain. I was simply wondering when we would begin to seek out the Vasto Lorde; forgive me for indulging my curiosity."
"Do not worry, Kaname," Sosuke answered. "Everything is proceeding according to schedule. If we play our cards right, the Vasto Lorde should come to us. Still, that does not mean we can be lenient in our efforts. Gin, go and scout out more potential recruits, both for the Espada and otherwise. Kaname, please go with him."
The two Soul Reapers voiced their assent and promptly flash-stepped, vanishing at once to leave Aizen alone with his thoughts. Everything was going well, for now, but it concerned him that they hadn't heard so much as a warning shot yet from Soul Society; usually the Captain-Commander was ruthless when it came to reprisals for crimes such as High Treason. Nevertheless, Sosuke mused as he casually sipped on his tea, he would take every moment his enemies were willing to give him to prepare, and make them regret their mercy soon enough.
"This is some bullshit," Grimmjow said bluntly as the pair trudged through the sand, saving their energy for later in case any unforeseen problems arose. "I could just kill three-quarters of these Adjuchas and tell the rest to fall in line or die, but no, I'm stuck with the brat going on a fucking diplomatic embassy."
"You act like I'm thrilled to be here, Grimmjow," Ichigo shot back. "I'd much rather be asleep, but instead I get to listen to your loud mouth hurling abuse at me like I'm not standing right over here!"
Jaegerjaques stopped dead at Kurosaki's raised tone, whirling around to face him and snarling.
"You wanna do something about it, Kurosaki?" he provoked. "Then fight me and prove me wrong."
Ichigo locked eyes with Grimmjow for a few tense heartbeats, before he scowled and turned away.
"Ha, I knew it!" the Arrancar taunted. "You don't have the guts to throw down when you think you might lose, do ya?"
"This has nothing to do with guts, Grimmjow," the orange-haired Soul Reaper replied testily. "We don't have time to waste jabbering at each other like this when we have a mission to accomplish; that's all there is to it. I know I'd beat the shit out of you anyway," he added, his tone turning cocky, "and I have no interest in fighting opponents weaker than me."
"You son of a…" the blue-haired warrior grit out as he began to draw his zanpakuto, only to be cut off by a deep, rumbling laugh.
"Well, isn't this cute," a voice spoke out in the same deep bass, and Aizen's two warriors looked over to find themselves face-to-face with a group of five angry, hungry Adjuchas.
"Aizen thinks he can stop us by sending two of his little minions?" a shriller voice added, belonging to a tall, reedy-looking Hollow. "He can't be serious."
"I dunno," a shorter, stout Adjuchas commented. "That one looks like a Soul Reaper, and the other flamboyant one looks like an Arrancar to me."
"Did you just call me flamboyant, you asswipe?!" Grimmjow growled, causing the pack of Hollows to laugh.
"Looks like the lapdog's got fangs after all, boys," the deep-voiced Adjuchas broke in. "Shall we see how sharp they are? Rafaello, now!"
Ichigo and Grimmjow didn't even have time to flash away before the sand underneath their feet liquefied as the thin, reedy Adjuchas stuck his slender hands down into it. The two soldiers struggled, but found themselves unable to break free.
"What the hell is this?" Ichigo shouted, and the short, stout Adjuchas gave a short laugh.
"You just got caught in our little trap, puppy," he sneered. "You might feel confident going up against five of us, but what about five hundred?"
As they were pulled inexorably further into the quicksand, Ichigo looked over at his comrade and spoke.
"In case we don't make it out of here, Grimmjow," he said, "I'm sorry I called you weak."
Grimmjow just chuckled, smirking.
"Don't be such a pussy, kid," he admonished the Soul Reaper, "we'll make it out of here with no problems. Hell, this could even turn out to be a fun trip after all if there really are 500 Adjuchas down there. Oh, and for the record," he finished slyly, "I'm not sorry I called you a brat."
"You motherf—!" Ichigo began to shout, before the pair was sucked under the sand completely and into the dark underworld of Hueco Mundo.
"So let me make sure I have this right," Captain Ukitake said as he took a liberal pull on his cup of sake. "Are you telling me that you got possessed by one Hollow, absorbed by another, and then Ichigo Kurosaki of all people set you free by using energy from the Hougyoku?"
"That's about it," Kaien replied, draining his own cup and going back for another one. "Why, do you not believe me?"
"Are you kidding?" Jushiro answered. "You couldn't make something like that up. Besides, I've never known you to be a liar, Kaien."
Shiba's eyes lit up in gratitude at his Captain's acceptance, and he bowed his head thankfully before draining his full cup in a single gulp. Rukia's eyes widened in concern at that; she'd never seen Kaien-dono hit the bottle so hard before.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Kaien-dono?" she asked somewhat nervously. "You might want to take it easy."
"Kuchiki," Kaien replied evenly as he filled up his cup again, "have you ever met my sister?"
Rukia fought back the impulse to hang her head in shame: she had never been able to muster up the courage to go and apologize to Kuukaku Shiba for killing her brother, and that regret still weighed heavily upon her heart. Still, Rukia kept her head high and tone calm as she answered.
"No, Kaien-dono," she replied, "I haven't."
"Then let me tell you something, Kuchiki," Shiba continued, taking another pull of sake. "If I show up out of the blue tonight, wake my kid sister up from a dead sleep and announce that I've more-or-less returned from the dead, I had better not be able to feel my face when she decides to bust my jaw in five places."
"She would do that?!" Rukia asked, mystified. And she thought her family was dysfunctional…
"Kuu's got an odd way of demonstrating affection, let's just leave it at that," Kaien finished, draining the rest of his cup. Rising from his seat, Shiba turned to his former Captain and bowed.
"Captain Ukitake," he began seriously, "I know I'm imposing upon you with this request, but could you give me a chance to prove myself once again as worthy of being your Lieutenant? Nothing would be a greater honor to me than—"
"If you can stay sober and manage the Division efficiently then please, in the name of all that is holy, start tomorrow morning," Jushiro cut him off rapidly. The room was quiet for a heartbeat before all three of the Soul Reapers began laughing; in the midst of all of this turmoil and chaos, it seemed that there was still a place that felt like home.
Before they had killed so much as twenty Adjuchas, Grimmjow and Ichigo found themselves blindsided by a Hollow with the ability to spin threads of some super-strong material. A few moments later they were bound up in this substance so tightly that they almost lost blood circulation to their legs, and shortly afterwards the warriors found themselves tossed into a dank jail cell.
"You know what, Grimmjow?" Ichigo opined as they lay on the floor of the dark cell, "You're right. This is bullshit."
"So they got you too, huh?" a tired voice floated over, and the two warriors raised their heads to see the silhouettes of two normal-looking Adjuchas bound in the cell across from them.
"Yeah," Ichigo answered, glad to at least have someone to talk to. "And to think, we came in peace. These guys are some bitter bastards."
"No kidding," the other Adjuchas volunteered, his voice energetic despite his current state of captivity. "We were just out doing a favor Nel-sama and these guys come out of nowhere and ambush us, don'tcha know!"
"That's rough," Kurosaki sympathized, before realizing that he hadn't introduced himself.
"My name is Ichigo, by the way," he spoke, "and the guy with me is Grimmjow."
"I'm Pesche," the first Adjuchas broke back in, "and my friend here is Dondochakka." Sighing, Pesche looked through the bars of his cell and out at the massive cavern brimming with wrathful Hollows before he continued, his tone heavy.
"Welcome to hell, fellas."
A/N: Woo, Pesche and Dondochakka! And wherever they are, you know who can't be too far behind. I know it looks like Grimmjow and Ichigo went down a bit too easy, but I had to set this up somehow, so there you go. And besides, they may be imprisoned now, but they're far from defeated. I hope you enjoyed this chapter despite its relative lack of action and abundance of set-up (but you know it's about to get crazy), and please review. I'm still in awe of the support this story's received so far… you guys and gals rule.