Rukia jumped as her alarm clock blared in her ear. She quickly reached over and turned it off before slowly climbing out of bed. She then quickly changed and brushed her hair as she started to fully wake up. Rukia glanced at her clock which said that it was six forty-five in the morning.
I had better get going.
She grabbed her belongings and then quietly snuck out of the room trying not to disturb the still sleeping Momo. After successfully leaving the room she hurried down the hall and knocked on Ichigo's door.
"Just a minute," came a low voice from within. Rukia waited and after a while Ichigo emerged carrying his zanpaku-to.
"All set?" Rukia asked as she looked him over. Overall Ichigo looked the same as he did every day, except that his ever present frown was more deeply set and he wasn't talking as much as usual. Normally, he would have already started up some argument with her. She wasn't worried, not really. The only thing was that he was like this all day yesterday too.
"Yeah." His answer was short and as they walked across the grounds he kept his face down, not making conversation with the girl walking next to him.
Getting a little frustrated that he was walking so darned slow Rukia spoke up. "Come on Ichigo! I don't want to be late for our final exam!"
"Yeah, yeah," he said slowly picking up his speed in order to please her.
When they finally reached the door and entered, their sensei looked up from his work and beckoned them forward. He gave them a small smile. "How are you two doing today? Are you ready for the exam?" Rukia nodded. "Ichigo?"
"Umm…actually, would it be at all possible to reschedule the exam for another day?" Both the sensei and Rukia looked at him in surprise.
"No, sorry, but there is absolutely no way that it can be rescheduled," he said. Ichigo sighed as if he really didn't expect to get a positive answer anyway. Rukia looked at him with a frown on her face.
"Now to continue," the sensei said as he rose from his seat. "For your final exam, you will be going to the world of the living as you know and will be assigned to a higher level hollow. One of the reasons we can't reschedule is because we have just gotten information about the hollow and where he will be and we don't know how long it will be around so we must act quickly." He walked around his desk to stand in front of them. "All of the information has been sent to your cell phone. Now if you'll excuse me I have a class that I need to prepare for."
Ichigo and Rukia followed him out and headed to the spirit portal.
When they entered the world of the living Rukia pulled out the cell phone and lead them to the location where the hollow was suppose to show. They followed it to a graveyard that was sitting on a tall hill. Ichigo and Rukia landed on a tree branch that hung right above the wall of the cemetery.
As they searched the area, keeping their eyes peeled for the hollow, Ichigo turned to Rukia. "So, where are we this time?"
Rukia looked at the cell phone to double check. "Actually, it's the same town as before, Karakura, though more specifically, Karakura Cemetery." Rukia glanced over to see Ichigo's surprised reaction.
Ichigo broke eye contact with and looked around the cemetery once again, this time, as if he was looking for something in particular.
"What is it?" asked Rukia. Ichigo didn't answer her. "What's been the matter with you lately?"
He ignored her question. "I'll be right back." And with that he jumped off the tree branch and on to the nearest gravestone.
"Wait Ichigo!" yelled Rukia. "Where are you going? That hollow could show up any minute!" When it became obvious that he wasn't listening to her, she gave up and followed him.
Rukia hurried after him, jumping from gravestone to gravestone until she finally saw that Ichigo had stopped. Rukia hopped up and landed right next to him on the top of the wall. Ichigo was standing next to a tree, hidden in the shadows.
"What is your problem!?" Rukia hissed. But, Ichigo still wasn't paying attention; instead he was looking down at the graves below him. Rukia let out a huff before following his line of sight down to a small family praying in front of the closest grave stones.
Rukia jumped when the father suddenly stood up and shouted, "IT"S TIME FOR THE ANNUAL 'KUROSAKI FAMILY TOMBSTONE DOMINOES TOURNAMENT'!!!" Rukia blinked. The man had said 'Kurosaki.' She glanced over to look at Ichigo, who was completely absorbed in watching the people standing below them.
"A FULL TWO AND A HALF HOURS OF TOMBSTONE DOMINOES AND EMBARESSING FAMILY FUN!!" The man continued and with that he dragged the two complaining girls off to a different part of the cemetery.
Ichigo watched them go, never once taking his eyes off of them. Once they had disappeared from view he leaped down and landed where the family was originally standing. He turned and looked at the graves standing in front of him.
Rukia paused for a moment before jumping down and landing next to him. She looked at the gravestones that had captured Ichigo's attention. Rukia's eyes widened at the 'Masaki Kurosaki' neatly written on the one to the left. She quickly glanced at Ichigo who was looking solemnly at the grave.
When she looked at the grave to the right she let out an audible gasp. There written in the stone was the name 'Ichigo Kurosaki'. Rukia fidgeted and then turned to look at Ichigo.
"Ichigo…" she started slowly.
"Yeah that's me," Ichigo said as if reading her thoughts. "And that's my mom."
"Ichigo?" Rukia questioned. She looked at him. His face wasn't really frowning anymore. Actually, he almost looked sad…
Rukia was taken aback. She had never seen Ichigo show this much emotion before. When she looked at him, she could see the pain in his eyes. Suddenly, Rukia felt really bad. She had never known her family, she had been too young. She couldn't sympathize with him; she didn't know the pain he was feeling. All she knew was that it hurt her to see the pain and sadness that was hurting him now.
Suddenly Ichigo spoke, his voice quiet and unsure. "Today is the anniversary of my death- my mom's death." Suddenly his unusual behavior was starting to make sense. "It was raining…and my mom was walking me home from karate that night." He paused, trying to gather his thoughts. "I'd always been able to see ghosts when I was alive and that night I saw one standing at the edge of the bridge on that cold rainy night. I have always wanted to protect people, my dad once told me that my name meant 'one who protects' and so I tried to save that girl."
Ichigo took a deep breath. "I remember running across the street toward the spirit and reaching out to pull her away from the edge, but after that everything went black." He stopped. Rukia gave him an encouraging look. "Wh-when I woke up, it was still raining…b-but, my mother never woke. She was lying on top of me, bleeding, and at that time she had already died."
"Ichigo…" whispered Rukia. Neither of them noticed the clouds that started to roll in and the sky starting to get darker.
"I vaguely, remember the bright lights of the ambulance and being rushed to the hospital, but it didn't matter because I ended up dying only a few hours after my mother." He was breathing heavily now. "When I did finally wake up I found myself on the river bank where my mom died- I was ghost. I spent days after that wandering the bank, looking for her, but I never found her. When a Shinigami finally came to take me to Soul Society he told me about hollows and that my mother had been eaten by the hollow that attacked us."
Ichigo's fists tightened in anger. "My mom had died to protect me and I couldn't do anything to save her."
"What could you have done?"asked Rukia. Ichigo shook his head and let out a deep sigh. Rukia thought for a moment. "So those people we saw just now…"
"Yeah that was my Dad and twin sisters, Yuzu and Karin. We ran into them before." Rukia just nodded in response.
They stood there in silence until it was broken by a scream coming from the far reaches of the cemetery. Ichigo and Rukia spun around toward the direction of the scream just as the cell phone started to go off.
"That sounded like Yuzu," whispered Ichigo in horror.
Rukia quickly wiped out the phone and checked. "It's the hollow. Come on!" With that the two of them leaped from their current spot, quickly rushing through the trees in the direction of the danger.
When they came to the clearing they immediately noticed the huge hollow that had its tongue wrapped tightly around Yuzu's neck, while Karin lay on the ground at its feet.
Ichigo wasted no time. He rushed in while drawing his zanpaku-to. Ichigo then sprung forward, bringing his sword down on to the creature's tongue. Then, as she fell, Ichigo caught Yuzu gently in his arms.
On the ground Karin, looked up to see their savior. Her mouth opened in surprise. It was the same guy from before! Karin watched in wonder as he quickly sliced off the incoming arm of the monster that had attacked them, but the only thing she remembered after that was the being picked up by the orange haired boy before soon passing out.
In the mean time, Ichigo took his sisters and leapt away from the hollow, bringing them safely to the side. While he took care of his sisters Rukia charged in, her sword out in front of her, but just as she was getting close the hollow, it used its other arm to push her back forcing Rukia to go flying back against the tree.
"Rukia!" shouted Ichigo as he watched the girl go flying. Ichigo then spun around to face the hollow, bringing his zanpaku-to up once again and examined the hollow standing before him.
Ichigo froze; his eyes wide as he stared at the hollow before him, more specifically the girl that was standing in front of the hollow. She was exactly as he remembered her: short dark hair and a long white coat.
"What the hell?" Ichigo shouted in confusion. Rukia who had was just getting up looked over towards her partner as he addressed the girl. "You! That was you by the river that day! What are you doing here with a hollow?"
"You've seen me before?" questioned the girl in a deep, cold voice.
"Who are you?!" shouted a frustrated Ichigo. "Is that hollow controlling you?"
I frightening smile crept onto the girls face. "Not quite…Sonny."
"What the-?" Ichigo stepped back as he saw the girl's skin suddenly rip apart and fall down her sides leaving a strange doll like object standing there. At the same time a tube like thing shot from the top of it and then attached itself to the top of the hollow's head. "What is that!? That girl is a part of you?!"
"It's called the Grand Fisher." Ichigo spun around to see Rukia, who was now reading the incoming information from her phone. "That's the name of the hollow that you and I are assigned to. The bait decoy that sprouts from his head disguises itself as a person and he goes after those who see it. He's managed to avoid the Shinigami for over 54 years." Rukia stepped forward to stand next to Ichigo; her face set as she stared the hollow down.
Ichigo looked down at Rukia, trying to take in the information that she was giving him. T-then that means that I fell into his trap all those years ago. Ichigo's face darkened with anger as he clenched his fists. Mom…
Suddenly the Grand Fisher attacked, breaking Ichigo from his thoughts. In response Ichigo held up his zanpaku-to once again and charged forward to meet the hollow.
"Ichigo!" shouted Rukia watching the two race toward each other. Ichigo brought up his sword and swung it down. Unfortunately, the hollow was too fast as was easily evade the attack. But, this did not slow down Ichigo, he immediately brought his zanpaku-to up again and ran in the direction of the hollow.
"Stop being reckless, you idiot!" Rukia yelled, but Ichigo ignored her. Rukia growled in frustration as the Grand Fisher stretched an arm dangerously out toward Ichigo. Then seeing that he was in trouble Rukia quickly raised her hands for a kido spell.
As she started to recite the incantation, the Grand Fisher, sensing her, turned and sent his arm flying towards her instead.
"RUKIA, NO!!!" Ichigo panicked when he saw Rukia once again flying through the air to crash into the ground only feet from where his sisters were sleeping. He immediately rushed over to her side just as she was starting to recover.
With a shaky hand Ichigo reached up to touch the bleeding cut that had formed on her head. Rukia's eyes fluttered open to see Ichigo with a very pained look on his face as he slowly poured some of his spiritual energy into the wound in order to heal it.
"Ichigo…?" She was still a little dazed.
"Look, Rukia you need to get out of here." That made Rukia jump up.
"What!!? Are you kidding me!?!" Rukia yelled as she fully sat up to face him.
"Listen! Rukia! I need you to go and get my sisters out of here and bring them to the temple at the bottom of the hill."
"Then what about you!" screamed Rukia. "There is no way that you can take that thing on by yourself!"
"Please Rukia! Just go!" Ichigo stood up and turned to face the hollow that was now retracting its claws, preparing for another attack. "Please…this one's personal."
Rukia gave Ichigo one last look before quickly turning around, picking up his sisters and running down the hill.
I'll take care of your sisters. But, please Ichigo…don't die.
When Rukia had safely left, Ichigo once again turned and charged toward the Grand Fisher. When he came close the hollow shot his hand out towards Ichigo again who at last second got out of the way. Ichigo then swung his sword in the direction of the hollow only to find air.
"Too slow, Sonny," came the Grand Fisher's eerie voice from behind him.
Realizing that the hollow had somehow gotten on the other side of him, Ichigo spun around to bring his zanpaku-to into the fishers thick hide, but unfortunately, the hollow had other plans.
When Ichigo turned around the Grand fisher easily grabbed his sword with his large hand as his fingers shot out and dug themselves deep into the boy's skin.
Ichigo's eyes opened wide as the creature's fingers pierced his body. The pain hit him causing him to become temporarily dizzy. He coughed and blood came out of his mouth.
The hollow was laughing. "So reckless… In a fit of rage, you sent away your allies and threw yourself at me blindly…You played right into my hands. Now you'll die without even having wounded me."
"NO!! You're wrong!" yelled Ichigo suddenly getting a burst of energy. "I'm going to kill you!"
The Grand Fisher laughed at the boy standing in front of him as he reached over and grabbed the head of his decoy doll. "It's all over Sonny! You were no match of me!" When the hollow removed his hand, Ichigo's eyes widened in horror to see the face of his mother.
The hollow laughed again. "From the expression on your face, I'd say that you're upset!"
Ichigo began breathing heavily, starting to feel the effects of his wounds. He couldn't move, he couldn't attack, all he could do was stare at the face he hadn't seen in a long time.
Rukia rushed back, but she stopped short when she saw the scene in front of her. The Grand Fisher had successfully hurt Ichigo by first distracting him with the doll and then forcing his hand not only through the doll, but Ichigo's stomach too.
Rukia froze. Her hands were shaking. There was blood everywhere and she knew exactly who it belonged to. She needed to do something! Anything! Come on move!
But, before Rukia could react, Ichigo once again brought up his sword, this time successfully wounding the unaware hollow.
"I finally got you!" Rukia looked to see Ichigo face become more determined as his spiritual pressure steadily started to increase just when it started to rain.
"GRAAAAAAAAAA!" The Grand Fisher cried out in agony. He pulled back as he fell to the ground, blood pouring out of the place where his arm use to be.
"Ichigo!" Rukia yelled finally getting his attention.
Tired and wet and using his zanpaku-to for support, Ichigo turned towards Rukia. "Hey Rukia," he said casually, as the blood poured from his wounds. "What took you?"
"Idiot!" said Rukia as a faint smile played on her lips. She was so relieved that he was still alive- even if it was by a small margin.
As she approached Ichigo, the Grand Fisher started to move again, sending the tube like thing out of his head.
"ICHIGO!!" Rukia screamed in warning as the thing shot straight towards his face. She knew that Ichigo was too injured to move, so she immediately reacted, pulling out her sword and stepping in between the hollow and Ichigo.
Ichigo was surprised to see Rukia jump in front of him preventing the Grand Fisher's attack. She then held out her hands and shouted. "HADO 33!! SOKATSUI!!" A blast of blue flames shot from her hand hitting the hollow straight on.
Both Ichigo and Rukia watched as the Grand Fisher started to dissolve as it screamed. Behind them the doll also disappeared leaving Ichigo and Rukia alone in the rain.
"Sorry for cutting in at the end, but you wouldn't-" With the threat finally gone it seemed like Ichigo's body had decided that there was no need to stand anymore. Seeing him fall, Rukia stepped out to catch him and then slowly helped him lay down so that his head was resting in her lap.
As she healed him, his breathing started to calm down until was almost back to normal. "Don't worry about it," Ichigo said in reply to what she had said.
"What!" Rukia exclaimed. "But, you wanted me to stay out of it!"
Ichigo opened his eyes to look up at her with a small smile on his face. "You thought I was serious?"
"Humph! Idiot!" With a small laugh Ichigo closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep.
Rukia looked down at the boy sleeping on her lap; she smiled to see his face much more peaceful without the angry frown lines.
Thank you Ichigo. Thank you for not dying.
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PLEASE REVIEW!! I would like to know what you thought of the chapter, hopefully it turned out okay and there weren't to may errors! Sorry if there were (though I think I got most of them)
A big thanks to all the people who reviewed Chapter 9!
~StrawberryShinigami