Phew, done AT LAST! I'm very sorry this took a while but I got held back by real life crap...Oh well we can't ignore it forever. XD
A lot of emotional crap going on in this chapter so don't read it if you want to stay in a good mood! XD (I was watching the ending of House MD and boy...DEPRESSING)
Thank you in advance for reading so far and please review! Always happy to get reviews!
7
A normal person would have been rendered insane by the piercing screech resonating around the city devoid of life. Raindrops the size of large tears splashed against glass and concrete. The stars peaked from above, like startled children, from behind grey curtains of clouds getting a clear illuminated view thanks to the occasional lightning bolt. Thunder roared making its presence known.
Another screech erupted from Hollow Ichigo's lips mixing with the thunder into a deafening cacophony. What he felt inside was rage. The blackest kind, where he saw nothing but red like a crazed bull. And Grimmjow was his aim. He could practically visualize a target painted clearly on the Arrancar's forehead and he had the gun pointing right at the centre.
He reached out again and again to Ichigo, trying to assist his king with the dark flame of his power. But Ichigo was too drained. A connection couldn't be made. All he could do was watch as his king, HIS king, was consumed by someone else other than himself.
And it drove him insane. He couldn't understand why this was making him want to rage and kill. He couldn't understand why he was hurting inside, like there was an open wound, bleeding across his non-existing heart. He shrieked with frustration and anger, hitting a high pitched note which caused the glass around him to implode and explode. The shards rained down and glistened like transparent rhinestones.
Some of the sharp fragments cut, scraped or latched into his flesh but he was oblivious to them. His fingers twitched and ached for something to break. For instance, Grimmjow's neck. He never felt this violently towards someone. His desire to break a soul or destroy a mind had always been a game to him. An enjoyment, a pastime, a hobby even. It had never been a necessity.
He never had any emotional ties to his victims, just an appetite for conquer. In that aspect he understood Grimmjow very well. It was all about the game, the chase, the hunt. And as a hunter he saw the same destructive yearning manifesting in his rival. After all, they were both the same type of creature. Hollow.
When they had an interest in something or someone they destroyed it. Now Ichigo was that interest and he managed to obliviously capture the attention of not one, but two powerful hollows. Knowing Ichigo's fate didn't help with his darker side's irritation.
By nature, hollows were wild creatures. They were possessive and demanding, controlling and destructive. Hollow Ichigo was no exception. Ichigo was his possession and seeing some other trash with their hands all over his king, made him savage. Ichigo was his king. HIS king!
Ichigo was desperate. He was going to die. On the outside he looked like he had a hope, he was still struggling to get some shred of control over his situation. On the inside, he knew he was doomed. It was a sickening sensation to know he had no escape.
He gazed vehemently at the man who was to be the cause of his death. Brown, blazing eyes met blue, freezing ones. Grimmjow was standing there, looking down on him, a calm expression on his face, waiting for Ichigo to do something. The condescendence radiating from the opal orbs fanned the flame of anger raging inside the ginger.
Wasn't it enough that he humiliated him, raped him and subdued him? A part of him wished that Grimmjow would just hurry up and kill him rather than look at him, as if at a piece of trash. The same look that left him exposed and shamefully yearning.
Just the mare fleeting thought of what Grimmjow did to him, spiked his rage to dangerous levels. The shame of being so helpless, and most of all his reaction during the act pressed painfully on his conscience. The reason being because he couldn't hold Grimmjow wholly responsible. He wished it, but he knew that he was just as guilty.
He gave in. He didn't hate it. He didn't fight when he should have. He enjoyed it. He was guilty.
Thinking about it was like adding salt to his wounds. He was hurting all over from the brutalizing assault. He couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the spreading torment because it seemed to be everywhere; His hips, his back, his legs, his arms. The only think that kept his from crying was his ridiculously stubborn pride.
Well he wasn't about to make the same mistake twice. He was NOT going to give up without a fight ever again.
Grimmjow waited patiently while Ichigo heaved and huffed on the ground. The Shinigami's eyes were blazing brighter than before, all traces of giving up vanished. Good. It took two, at least, to make a battle worth fighting for.
'D-Darn…' Ichigo's voice hissed out in between broken breaths.
Though his voice sounded weak, Grimmjow didn't miss the reignited spark in his eyes. Something changed. The boy found the determination to fight again and it was stronger than before. Ichigo clawed his fingers over his face in the way he did when he was about to use that mask of his. Grimmjow watched with the same piqued interest as dark particles, so like a hollow's, emanated from the finger tips.
The tiny flames bonded and hovered together and for a second, it looked like the Shinigami was going to succeed in calling the mask again. Suddenly the Reiatsu broke apart and evaporated into the cold air. Ichigo had a shocked expression on his face, widened eyes, gaping mouth and limp fingers.
Grimmjow smirked, unable to contain his amusement at Ichigo's failure. Swept by the moment, he kicked the helpless boy, aiming specifically for the already present rib injury, widening his grin as Ichigo's shocked features turned to pain stricken. He didn't hold back on his kick. He followed the youngster as he dusted the floor, leaving a trail of destroyed houses and clouds of dust behind.
'Ha! So, once your mask is broken it can't materialize again, eh?' Grimmjow sneered while emphasizing his words with a flick of his hand. His sword gleamed menacingly. 'No. You tried to restore it, so that can't be it.'
Ichigo flinched but didn't waver in his stare down. That's all he had left now. He gripped the hilt of his sword and held it as hard as he could in front of him. He didn't have the strength to raise it off the floor just like he didn't have the strength to get from his kneeling position, but even so, the weapon installed a make shift barrier between the two which gave Ichigo a false sense of protection.
'Then either you've sustained too much damage or expended too much spirit energy or there's a limit to how many times you can use it.' Ichigo's eyes drifted, finding it difficult to even keep his head up. Damn, he was exhausted.
'Whatever the reason, that mask-'Ichigo only registered what was happening when a torrent of fresh pain spread up his arms. His eyes widened in surprise, forgetting to scream or even gasp. All he could do was stare at the sword impaling his hands into the ground. A step from him Grimmjow, the reason why the sword was there, leered victoriously. '-is gone now! Isn't it?'
It was Grimmjow's turn to claw his slender fingers, pointing his palm dead straight at Ichigo's head. The boy recognized the feel of the reddish Reiatsu gathering ever-so-speedily into a glowing ball around the Arrancar's hand. A Cero.
This was it. His death. He thought he was ready, at least a little bit, but now that he was faced with his last second of life he realized how foolish that thought was. Ichigo's heart started drumming adrenalin and pumping blood in a mad frenzy. Sweat cascaded down his forehead and along the rest of his body. He barely suppressed the need to whine pathetically.
'Don't worry. A doom Cero from this range-'Grimmjow didn't sound caring in the least. Cold and sharp as steel. The sneer of his victorious hunt holding as much warmth as glaciers. '-will blow your head off….Painlessly.' The end! Ichigo froze at the sheer terror of that realization.
In an instant the Cero was extinguished, like a small fire, by a sudden flash.
'What?'Surprised, Grimmjow lifted his frozen hand to stare at it, uncomprehending. The clear icicles preserved the limb in its clawed form.
'Tsugi No Mai.' A woman's voice. Steady and strong, certain. A part of his mind recognized it but he had no time to take a trip on memory lane. A look over his shoulder and he put a face to the voice. He remembered the slight Shinigami female that was with Ichigo the first time they met. The same woman he punctured with his bare arm as easily as if she were made of butter.
Her beautiful, snow white zanpakuto descended gently in a clear circle around her feet while the flowing hilt ribbon danced elegantly around her. Ice shards, as pretty as diamonds, rose from the ground and gathered around the sword. It was a beautiful image. An image Grimmjow dismissed almost immediately.
'Hakuren.'
The death sentence was spoken and the wave of frost crashed upon him like a hungry predator, stopping Grimmjow into a perfectly frozen tablou.
'Impressive. When did you-'Ichigo was interrupted by his need to groan in pain. Rukia was trying to gently remove Grimmjow's sword which still pined the boy's hands to the pavement like a butterfly's wings on display.
'Don't talk. This blade is really stuck tight. I need to concentrate.' She twisted the zanpakuto again, electing another grunt. She spared a quick glance at the substitute Shinigami and saw his frowning face. He was trying really hard to look like he was fine but even a blind person could see that he was clearly hurting. She decided to try and distract him.
'But that was some power you used. Just look at yourself.' However she couldn't help letting some of her disapproval into her voice. Instead of making Ichigo feel better she ended up sounding like she was giving out to him. Like he was a child.
'Shut up, Rukia.' There was no bite to the words. In fact Ichigo didn't even meet Rukia's eyes.
He was looking to the side, giving the impression that the pavement had his full attention. But from the corners of his eyes he glanced at the massive block of ice. Or rather what that frozen container held inside. Even after all, the rape, the fear of death, the cruelty and humiliation, he was worried. He was worried for Grimmjow. His enemy!
He couldn't explain it logically. In his mind he was happy that the man who was about to blast him all the way to Soul Society met his, hopefully, end. At least temporarily he had nothing to fear. Yet his heart was still pumping full of anxious blood and he had a weight pressed against his chest, like something was squeezing the breath out of his lungs.
He rationalized it as the after effects of nearly losing his life even though he knew damn well that wasn't the truth. This wasn't his first near-death encounter and it certainly won't be his last, and he never felt this way after dodging an encounter with the Grim Ripper.
Beside him Rukia observed Ichigo for a slight moment. Her features softened at the sight of him. She cared for him deeply, like she would care for a younger, irresponsible, sometimes a pain-in-the-ass brother. Looking at him all beat up and suffering wasn't easy for her.
Also there was something else other than the physical injuries that was hurting him. It was subtle, almost invisible to the eye but the signs were there. She saw it in his eyes. She didn't know what it was but she could still offer her unwavering support. She hoped he would feel better if he realized that he wasn't alone. Not as long as he had her and all his other friends who cared for him equally as much.
'….Ichigo…..' She didn't know what to say next. Her voice was soft and caring, drawing Ichigo's attention.
Their eyes met for a fleeting second and Rukia came to realize that there was much deeper pain there. This exchange took less than a second. Less than a second before all hell broke loose.
Thank you for the read and please don't forget to leave a comment! Never enough of those around! XD (Crap I have to go back to House because holy cow! Crap is going down!)