Universe: Bleach

Parings: None!

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Adventure

Disclaimer: Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo

Warnings: Some Spoilers for Fade to Black, Mild Swearing and Violence.

Author's Note:

I'm doing pretty well on updates lately aren't I guys? I've also been working hard on the 'Spirit Ribbon Verse' Trilogy, I've already started on the cover for the 1st Book and I'm in the process of making up enemies. This is where you guys come in!

I've already decided to use Arrancars as the enemy but I'm going to need animals for their resurrection; I've already got Koisha's and another Arrancars but I need 4 more! So please if you've got any ideas for resurrections then PM me! You will get credit if I end up using your idea!

Anyway here is Part VIII of Fade to Black Scripts- Book 3 and things are starting to get moving; I would like to point out that I actually have this entire thing written out for once, instead of me writing it and then uploading it when I've finished. I'm trying to get myself into the habit of writing out the whole story before uploading it but it's so hard!

Opps went off track again; please enjoy this chapter and if you have time pass on feedback! Enjoy ^_^

EDIT 16/04/2012: Okay so obviously I fail at proofreading; not only did I leave some spelling mistakes but I actually forgot the Glossary at the end. That's what I get for uploading something without any sleep.

Fade to Black: Memories of the Black Sun

Part VIII

South Rukongai: District 78; Inuzuri

Rukia and Renji ran through the busy streets of Inuzuri as quickly as they could; Rukia kept her white Zanpakuto clutched tightly in her hands as they got closer towards the Seireitei.

"Rukia, what are we doing?" Renji finally demanded and Rukia glared at him over her shoulder.

"We're going to save, Ichigo!"

"I got that but who is this Ichigo you've been going on about?" He asked but quickly skidded a stop when Rukia spun around to face him furiously.

"You mean to tell you still don't remember him? Then why did you even come here?" Rukia questioned and Renji blushed in embarrassment as he looked to the side.

"You wanted help." He finally mumbled and Rukia sighed as she looked to the ground.

"I can't believe you can't remember him; you and Ichigo are really close." Rukia pointed out causing Renji to look at her in shock.

"I know that!"

Renji blinked in confusion as a loud voice echoed around his ears; with a hiss he placed his hand on his forehead as memories started flashing behind his eyes.

"That's the reason why, I will save her!"

His Zanpakuto clashing with a clever blade, crying out as a blast of energy slashed through his form, holding tightly onto a black kimono while begging for him to save her.

"I will."

Staring at the orange-headed teenager as he glowed with silvery-blue Spiritual Energy; shouting at him angrily while holding Rukia close, watching in horror as he was cut down by Captain Aizen.

"We will protect her; together."

Slapping the boy on the back with a loud laugh, pushing him to the side as a Hollow attacked them and finally hugging the boy tightly after waiting him to wake up with Rukia by his side.

"You think of me, like an Otōto?"

"Ichigo..." Renji whispered in shock as the memories faded causing Rukia to grin at him happily.

"That's right; Ichigo! Say his name over and over again until you remember him!" Rukia ordered as Renji stared at his hand before shaking his hand.

"Rukia I've got to ask you something." Renji stated causing Rukia to look at him in confusion but she nodded; silently telling him to continue.

"Why are you doing all this? Why are you trying so hard to save, Ichigo?" Renji asked as he scratched the back of his neck and Rukia looked down at the ground with a small smile on her lips.

"Because he brought colour back in to my dull world. Colour that I haven't seen since Kaien-Dono died." Rukia whispered causing Renji's eyes to widen in shock in how easily she was able to say his name.

"To save his life I gave my Shinigami powers to him, even though I knew it was a crime. I expected Ichigo to stay away and live happily with his family but he came after me and took down the whole of Soul Society just to save me." Rukia explained before she brought her hands up and placed them over her heart.

"I'm here right now, because of that idiot." Rukia finished with a grin and Renji found himself blinking in shock.

'I haven't seen her smile like since...since we were kids in Inuzuri...'

"What exactly happened to us?" Generysai asked and Kisuke grinned widely while closing his eyes.

"Simply put a part of our memories have been erased. Allow me to explain from the beginning." Kisuke began and the Shinigami surrounding him waited impatiently for him to start.

"Shortly after I started up the Technological Research Bureau, I began research on a certain type of Hollow. It was a parasite able to live off of and take control of people's souls. When the host grows too weak, it moves on to another body. What made it such a rare find was that it had a scythe-like tentacle, that it used to alter it's new body's memories before taking over. It was dangerous so I made sure that it would never escape bit it seems like it managed to escape 1 and ½ years ago exactly." Kisuke summarized with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

"Warning. Warning. Experiment no. 44320 has been released from its cell. I repeat Experiment no. 44320 has been released from its cell."

"If 44320, as it was catalogued as, managed to steal all of Ichigo Kurosaki's memories what do you think would happen?" Kisuke questioned and Juushirou gasped with wide eyes.

"Impossible! There's no way-!" He began but cut off when Kisuke nodded in agreement.

"Actually it was just barely able to take over weak souls and it was only able to suppress their memories for a short time. It's hard to believe that it could completely wipe out an entire person's very existence. However..." Kisuke trailed off and Shunsei's eyes narrowed.

"Are you saying that it merged with something else?" He demanded and Kisuke sighed before he nodded.

"Probably. You see memories are linked together; you could call them our bonds if you will. So if you stripped all of the memories from one person, everyone else would lose their memories of him too." Kisuke explained simply before he smirked while slipping his hands into his kimono sleeves.

"In this situation, there was one person who escaped that phenomenon." He admitted causing Toushirou's eyes to widen as he stepped forward.

"You mean that Kuchiki girl." Toushirou accused and Kisuke nodded at him with a smirk.

"That's correct. You see Rukia-San was actually sent on a mission to the human world almost 2 years ago now, there she met a strange human called Ichigo Kurosaki; she ended up giving him her Shinigami powers so he could save his family."

"She transferred her Shinigami powers to a human? That is a very serious crime." Generysai warned and Kisuke nodded in understanding.

"That is true and from what I can tell she was going to be punished for it but circumstances led to her being forgiven."

"What circumstances?" Generysai demanded angrily and Kisuke chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well didn't you think it was strange that you were missing 3 Captains? They weren't consumed by the Spirit Particles that's for sure." Kisuke retorted lightly before he allowed his grin to drop.

"You see Rukia-San was arrested for her crimes and then sentenced to execution; lucky enough Kurosaki-San and his group managed to save her but sadly the situation was worse than they realized. On that day Captains Sosuke Aizen, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tousen all turned on the Seireitei and escaped to Heuco Mundo with a device called the Hōgyoku; which he had been planning on receiving from Rukia-San's soul from the start." Kisuke summarized and watched the Captains' widened in complete horror.

"That's why I'm so shocked we ended up forgetting about Kurosaki-San! If it wasn't for him then Aizen's true motives wouldn't have been revealed and Soul Society would have fallen to his Zanpakuto; we all actually came to care a great deal for the boy. Lucky for me I recorded notes on him which triggered my own memory so it was no biggy." Kisuke waved a hand in the air while pulling out a small notebook from his kimono.

"Wait a minute. What about Kurotsuchi? Everyone still remembers him." Toushirou pointed out having quickly pushed Kisuke's huge revelation to the back of his mind; he really didn't want to think of more problems when they were already having trouble as it was.

"That puzzled me at first, too. But as everyone's well aware, Kurotsuchi-San's a tad unique. It turns out that Kurotsuchi-San makes regular backups of his own memory. Because of them, no one else forgot about him." Kisuke chuckled before he smiled and looked up to the red coloured sky.

"I'll say it one more time: All of our memories are linked together."

Serieitei

Rukia and Renji stood on top of the stone Spiritual Particles as Kon sniffed the group hoping to find the familiar scent of Ichigo.

"Anything, Kon?"

"No. There's too many scents, I just can't find Ichigo's personal scent; all I can tell is that he did come through here recently. I'm sorry Nee-San." Kon said sadly and Rukia sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Damn, we're out of leads."

"Hey, Rukia? Didn't you say you shared your Shinigami powers with Ichigo?" Renji questioned and Rukia's eyes widened in realization.

"That's right! Me and Ichigo shared a spirit ribbon for 3 months; our Spiritual Particles would be the same."

"That's right; even though it's nearly impossible to track someone's Spirit Ribbon here, you should be able to do it because yours is so similar to his." Renji said and Rukia narrowed her eyes.

"Right. Let's do this, Renji." Rukia said and closed her eyes as Renji placed his hand on her shoulder; bringing her hand up to her forehead Rukia forced herself to concentrate.

A few seconds later Rukia's arm shot out and grasped hold of a bright red Spiritual Ribbon; it tangled around her fingers easily and her eyes shot open with a gasp.

"I've got him!"

12th Division

Kazuki and Hoshi appeared easily in the abandoned 12th Division labs underneath the Spiritual Particles; carefully Kazuki lowered Ichigo to the ground before the 2 of them took off into the next room.

"Will it work?" Hoshi questioned quietly as she caught sight of the podium standing in front of the computer; Kazuki didn't answer instead he held out his scythe and the sickle glowed bright orange.

With a loud roar the computer roared to life lighting up the entire room as it slowly started to work; Hoshi cheered happily while clapping her hands as Kazuki walked towards the podium; the sickle, still glowing a bright orange, seemed to hum the closer it got to the stand.

"Wait!" A familiar voice shouted out causing Kazuki to freeze; Hoshi looked behind them and smiled when she saw Ichigo walking into the room.

"Ichii! Thank goodness you're okay! Does your head still hurt?" She asked as she flew towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist; Ichigo placed his hand on her head but he was staring at the machine in front of them.

"Where are we?" Ichigo asked and Kazuki swallowed nervously.

"This is...um..." He trailed off but Hoshi suddenly smiled as she moved so she was standing in front of Ichigo and her brother.

"We're going to get rid of all those Shinigami that keep making you suffer." She stated as she grinned and Ichigo's eyes widened in shock.

"Shinigami...?" He whispered before the memory of him looking on as the Seireitei was destroyed by liquid Spiritual Particles flashed across his mind.

"This is what you use too...Don't!" Ichigo suddenly shouted causing Hoshi to squeak and look at him in shock.

"Have you even considered how many people you could hurt with this? You might even destroy the Seireitei!" Ichigo shouted as he slashed his arm out in front of him and glared at the siblings; Hoshi narrowed her eyes in anger at his words.

"Who cares? Why are you defending the Shinigami?" She demanded causing Ichigo to fall silent in shock as tears filled her eyes.

"The Shinigami are going to steal you away from us again and I-I...I don't w-want you to leave a-again!" Hoshi cried as she broke down into tears and fell to her knees.

"What are you talking about? I'll always be with you." Ichigo reassured her before he hesitantly crouched in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm not lying; please believe me." He whispered but Hoshi shook her violently as she looked back up at him.

"No! No we must kill them!"

"Why?" He asked in confusion and Hoshi sniffed as she wrapped her arms around her shaking form.

"B-Because...because the Shinigami...the Shinigami are the ones who...who..." She trailed off as her Spiritual Energy started going out of control; Ichigo's eyes widened in shock before he cried out as he was thrown backwards violently.

The purple and black Spiritual Energy spread across the Seireitei at an astonishing rate; to the shock of the Shinigami around the area the Spiritual Energy made buildings vanish from their original positions and then dropped them from higher ground.

Screams echoed around the streets as the Shinigami tried desperately to get away from the falling buildings.

"It seems like something is starting." Renji commented as he and Rukia pushed their way through the panicking Shinigami; their eyes set on the covered 12th Division labs.

"Ichigo!" Rukia suddenly screamed as she started running faster; she ignored Renji's protests as she forced her feet to move as quickly as possible.

She was forced to skid to a stop though when a building appeared in front of her and crashed to the ground; cursing she drew her Zanpakuto as debris started flying towards her.

"Mai-?"

"I've got this!" Renji suddenly shouted before he jumped up in front of her; with a yell he silently released his Zanpakuto and allowed the blades to crash into the falling pieces of debris.

"Renji!" Rukia cried out in warning as another building appeared on top of them; Renji smirked as he allowed his Zanpakuto to surround his form.

"I said I've got this! Bankai!" Renji shouted as his eyes flashed red; with a huge blast of Spiritual Energy the debris was destroyed as his giant segment snake slowly appeared.

"Hihiō Zabimaru."

"You used Bankai..." Rukia breathed in shock before crying out as Renji directed his segment snake to block a cloud of debris from crushing her.

"That was dangerous you fool!"

"Oh shut up, shortie!" Renji teased but before Rukia could retort she was forced to grab hold of Hihiō Zabimaru's red main when the snake flew past; Renji laughed as he jumped on top of the bone head and slowly cleared a path.

"See I can use Zabimaru like this too."

"I know!" Rukia shouted back and rolled her eyes when Renji looked at her in confusion.

Renji jumped down on a low archway when it passed before flicking the tail in his hand with a loud yell; Rukia quickly pulled herself up on Hihiō Zabimaru's head and got her Zanpakuto into position.

"Mai, Sode No Shirayuki!" Rukia shouted out before she released a huge wave of ice at the debris and buildings coming towards her.

Omake

Glossary

- Hihiō Zabimaru (狒狒王蛇尾丸, Baboon King Snake Tail) - Hihiō Zabimaru transforms Zabimaru into a massive version of its Shikai form resembling a skeleton of a snake. Zabimaru gains many more segments, which are much larger resembling a mix between a snake's vertebral column and the pick-like protrusions of his Shikai segments, and it also, gains a snake-like head about the size of a small car.

Renji is also slightly transformed, gaining a fur cowl around his neck. The cowl appears to be the fur of an ape and thus, the ape's skull could be seen over Renji's left shoulder while the rest of the fur extends to cover his right arm.

Zabimaru itself, in Bankai form, does not literally "cut;" Renji usually catches his opponent with the snake-head of his weapon and smashes his opponent into the ground with it. The head has also proven capable of inflicting heavy damage through biting.