Ichigo woke up with a hammer performing a rather loud tap-dance on the inside of his cranium. Either that or a hangover. He stretched lazily, then suddenly recalled that he didn't know how he got home last night. He carefully opened his eyes, knowing that the light would not relieve his headache at all. He vaguely put together shapes of furniture, and a person hovering over him. Ichigo nearly jumped off the couch in an attempt to protect himself from this unknown situation.
Unluckily for him, Tatsuki was much too fast when compared with a hungover Ichigo. She ground her boot into his sternum, forcing him to stay lying down. He moaned, and said raspily, "Tatsuki, that you? Can I have some…"
"Shut up. You don't deserve anything for the pain." Tatsuki sneered down at him. "You really think that you're gonna be let off the hook for treating Rukia so badly after you made a PROMISE to her?! Ha! I don't think so!"
Ichigo slammed his eyes shut, and covered them with his forearm, "Tats. I already know what I've done. And she's made her decision. And I'm more of an idiot than I'll ever know. I just needed a night for self-pity, ne?"
Tatsuki barked out a laugh, "You always pity yourself when you can't be the hero." She removed her boot from him, and helped him sit up. In a moment of kindness, she handed him paracetemol and water. He accepted them graciously. Tatsuki continued, "You really should stop making promises you can't keep; it always rips you apart afterwards. It's really not healthy at ALL." Ichigo began to say something, but then saw that Tatsuki was prepared to hit him. He waited quietly, uncharacteristically. She sat down on the coffee table and made eye contact, "I know that you and Rukia were close. And maybe you can find a way to forgiveness someday. But for now, work on what you can. Become a better person. Quit making me drag your lazy ass back to my place after you get raging drunk, and open up and share with someone occasionally, damn it!"
Ichigo looked up at that last statement; Tatsuki was blushing beet red. Upon noticing this, she punched him in the arm (hard!) and told him to shut up.
Ichigo coughed and said, "I would protect my friends with my life, and yet I could not lie to save her heart. It would have saved her pain for just a bit longer.." Tatsuki listened, and decided she'd been patient long enough.
"Here's the facts, you bakamono! You did the right thing by telling her the truth. Obviously there was a much better time to do so, and it would've been better if she had known that truth all along. You've protected others your whole life, and tried to do what's right. So it's okay for you to be vulnerable and let me take a turn to protect you."
Rukia huddled against the stonewall, her arm bleeding sluggishly. Grimmjow cradled a broken nose, and grinned, blood dripping down his face. The dagger was lost to a corner of the room during the scrabble, and Rukia clutched her abdomen fiercely, determined to protect her unborn. Grimmjow seemed to enjoy prolonging the fight, and she was determined to keep herself safe until help arrived.
Byakuya, please come soon!
Grimmjow took a step closer, and Rukia snatched a poker from the fireplace's hearth. She held it warningly in front of her, and Grimmjow lunged, a wicked smile in his eyes.
Byakuya couldn't get home fast enough; he pulled right up to the house, and shot through the ajar door. The scene in front of him surprised him greatly. He analyzed it quickly and got to work. Rukia sat, curled in on herself, on the couch. A prone form lay on the ground, a pool of blood surrounding his cooling body. Byakuya's first priority was Rukia. He jumped over the body and crashed onto his knees so he could see her face. "Rukia?"
Rukia smiled wearily, her face tear-streaked and in pain, "I'm fine. I did what I had to do to save us," she gestured to the baby, "but I didn't want to kill him. He got a few good blows in too." Byakuya motioned for her to removed her jacket so he could take a better look at her wound.
The stab wound was deeper than he'd hoped for, but could be easily remedied with stitches. He let out a sigh of relief that he didn't realize he'd been holding. Byakuya said softly, "Let's get you to the bathroom and all cleaned up, and then I'll stitch it up." Rukia nodded and left the room. Byakuya pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number, "I know, I know. I have a favor to call in. You owe me one."
Gin paced the room anxiously. He should've received a call a few hours back from Grimmjow reporting the success of the mission. If this didn't go well, who knew what Aizen would do to him? He shuddered at the thought, and continued pacing mindlessly. Well, at least if all else failed, he had one last weapon.
Tatsuki let go of all her frustrations at the dojo, beating her opponents into the ground with no mercy. Finally her sensei spoke up, "Tatsuki!" She spun around with such force she nearly fell, and bowed deeply to her instructor.
"Zaraki-sensei! I apologize highly!" Zaraki stared at her with one eye, his other covered with an eyepatch, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I see that you have improved highly, Tatsuki. Is today a particularly bad day, or have these students personally harassed you?" Zaraki's eyes glimmered with mirth, and he tilted his head towards the other students. His hair jingles, well, jingled as he did so. Tatsuki glanced over her shoulder to see the other students limping and looking worse for the wear. She grimaced.
"Gomenasai, Zaraki-sensei! I wasn't paying enough attention." He waved her apologies off, but spoke roughly.
"Go home. You need time to cool off and get your head together. We can't have you putting my other students in the hospital, despite how weak they are." Zaraki paused. "Unless, you'd like to fight me?"
Tatsuki shuddered visibly, but drew up tall. "Although it would be an honor sir, I am unprepared for that today." His demeanor didn't change, but Tatsuki could've sworn that he looked disappointed.
Ichigo had showered and was sitting on Tatsuki's torn up sofa, when he noticed the stack of letters laying upended on the floor from the morning's "discussion". He picked them up, only to notice that they were all bills. Overdue ones, in fact. He rifled through these, growing more and more concerned. He didn't notice the angry woman standing in the doorway.
"Who the hell gave you permission to look through my stuff?" Ichigo stiffened, then set them down, looking like a whipped puppy. "I mean, I've been your friend for forever, but there's no reason for you to pry.." Ichigo stood up and walked over to her. In that moment, she realized how much he really towered over her. Her speech tapered off, and he stayed silent for a beat longer.
"Tatsuki. I worry about you. That's all. I won't say anything to you about it. I just didn't realize.. what was going on. I guess I'm still confused on that bit." Tatsuki's breath faltered; he hadn't moved out of her personal space. He was trembling slightly, and without thinking, she gripped his wrist tightly. Looking up into his eyes, she smiled weakly.
"Thanks, Ichigo. It's been rough. I've been living on my own, and my job has been cutting my hours. I'm.. behind on payments. I'll most likely get evicted in a few months if I can't get my act together." She let go of his wrist and stepped back, but didn't get very far. Ichigo grasped her hand tightly, and spoke in his usual indifferent voice.
"I mean, if something like that were to happen, you could always stay with my fam. I know that Karin would enjoy having someone to play soccer with. I'm sure you could teach her a few things in self-defense as well." Tatsuki nodded, and grinned. She punched him in the gut with her free hand.
She turned her back and started to walk away, trying not to let her cheeks blush red. It seemed to fail when Ichigo said, "Tatsuki?" She half turned, and he planted a gentle kiss on her cheek before saying, "I should probably head home. Thanks, Tats." There was no stopping the blush.
A woman, no older than 35, knocked on Byakuya's cottage door. Seeing it ajar and no one answering, she stepped through and saw the dead body on the ground. She sighed deeply, before yelling, "BYA-BO! Where are you?!"
Byakuya flinched from the confines of the bathroom, where he had finished stitching Rukia up. He called out, "Up here, Yoruichi-san," as he finished wrapping Rukia's wound. Rukia looked up, not sure what to expect, to see a busty, dark-skinned beauty leaning against the doorway. Dressed in all leather, Yoruichi looked ready to kill.
She smirked at Byakuya, "Now, before I can clean up this.. mess you've made. You have to tell me all the details."
Byakuya deadpanned before saying, "Meet us outside in five minutes, and I'll tell you everything we know." She nodded knowingly, before practically vanishing. He turned to Rukia's ashen face, and cradled her cheek in his hand.
"Rukia, we'll get this figured out. You did what you had to do to protect yourself. Plus Yoruichi is high up in the Criminal Investigation Bureau; she has several strings she can pull." Rukia still looked as if she would burst into tears, and so Byakuya leaned forward and kissed her eyelids, and rubbed her stomach for a moment. He then helped her get down the stairs, Yoruichi tapping away impatiently on her cell.
She glanced up when they walked into the room, and walked through the front door, gesturing for them to follow. They followed her hand in hand.
Aizen slammed his fist down. He spoke in an eerily calm voice, which chilled Gin to the bone. "But, Aizen-sama, there's a contingency plan for this, and.." Aizen held up one hand, and Gin gulped.
"I have read through your contingency plans, and I think that they will succeed." Gin seemed relieved. "However, you are not necessary for these plans to unfold." Aizen gestured to the guards on either side of him. "Get rid of him."
AN: *bows in dogeza* Gomenasai! I know this chapter took forever to crank out! I hit a block and then school overwhelmed my life! Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed, and there is plenty more action in the next few chapters I have planned out :3 Thanks for reading! Please review, follow and fave! :)