Date written: 26/02/10 – 30/03/10
Posted on FanFiction: 30/03/10
A/N: The academic year has finally ended, and I am back in the game. Princess of Death's first year anniversary is coming soon, and I hope to release a new chapter by then. I'm not making any promises, seeing that I'm now busy looking out for some mags where I can sell some of my short stories off to.
Anyway, this chapter's main concern is trying to give the readers a recap of the main plot so far, at least concerning Orihime and Emi, and make sure that I'm not leaving any of them confused because the explanations were not clear enough to fully understand the whole situation. I hope this chapter is more than adequate to fill in the blanks for all of you.
I think some people were wondering about last chapter's afterword and the comment I made about Orihime and Uryuu's platonic relationship. Truth is that I wasn't thinking straight when I added that in; I've been thinking a bit too far ahead of myself that I once thought that I already wrote the part about Orihime and Uryuu sitting down and having a small heart-to-heart talk. This chapter will address that scene now.
On another note, I finally decided on a perfect theme song for Emi. Ichigo has "News from the Front," by Bad Religion; Orihime has "T'en va pas," by Elsa. So Emi will have "Das Böse," by E Nomine. Das Böse means "The Evil" in German.
--- CHAPTER 23 ---
Downward Spiral
"You found it?" Kisuke asked, while making sure that the room they were in was secure and free of any eavesdroppers.
"Yes," was the simple reply from the black cat sitting on the purple pillow an arm's length away from Kisuke's front. The cat yawned. "It wasn't hard, actually, considering the cleanup we did while searching through your library before."
An object lay between him and Yoruichi. It was an old Sony minicorder, still neat and good-looking, and was about to be put to good use. "Right, let's get started with the report." Kisuke pressed the RECORD button and the little red light of the device blinked to life.
This little conference was created after Kisuke came back with some unexpected visitors. He asked Yoruichi to search for his old minicorder while he see to their guests. Yoruichi normally was not a woman to be ordered around, but dire situations required amazing tolerance, and she was the right woman to deliver this trait. Besides, she'd get Kisuke back sometime in the future.
When Yoruichi had asked about the purpose of this conference, the only answer Kisuke could give was "to archive special events and information." Well, that wasn't exactly the biggest hint to give, but it had foundations to which Yoruichi started on while she waited for Kisuke to come to this room. Strangely, most, if not all, of what she'd consider as 'special stuff' had Orihime—and Emi—in it. He often talked about his worries over the supposed daughter of Kisuke's best male friend in the Gotei 13, so maybe this report was for him to organize all the information they had gathered about her so far. She wondered why he didn't do this sooner.
With this and the events that played out today in mind, Yoruichi started the report with a question. "What do you we know about Orihime as of now?"
"She's the daughter of my best friend and I'm not allowed to tell her anything about him."
"And why is that so?" Yoruichi knew only the basic rundown of what happened sixteen years ago, when Orihime's father—the one Kisuke nicknamed Spaceman—came to Kisuke's shop and asking for help one final time. The man was never seen again.
"Because he believed that it was better for his daughter to be in the dark of what he was and what was after him; said that if fate permits her lineage to arise, then his daughter will handle whatever came her way."
"Even if he had good intentions, that didn't stop her from becoming a shinigami, though."
"It's in her blood, whether she wished for it or not. And there's also the matter of what Emi revealed to me today."
Yoruichi kept quiet.
"We both know what Emi really is, and how dangerous she can be to Orihime-san. I do not know what Spaceman did to her, but it stopped Emi from devouring Orihime-san's soul from the inside."
"But Emi seems to have a more firsthand control over the body than the others who have a similar condition to hers."
"That's because they weren't born with the condition. Neither was Spaceman, and he's the one who suffered the most."
"Born with it?"
"I was as surprised as you are when I first discovered it. Those brown eyes of hers . . . they looked too much like Spaceman's alter-ego to be a mere coincidence, not to mention the similar powers the two alter-egos possessed."
"Back to the subject, what did Emi say to you?"
"She said that she had succeeded in devouring a part of Orihime-san's soul, more specifically the part where the spirit of her zanpakuto resided."
If Yoruichi were surprised, she didn't show it. "Then what sword was she carrying all this time, an empty vessel?"
"No, it's a zanpakuto like any other shinigami's. But there's a twist in that."
"How so?"
"Remember I told you before that Spaceman did something to cure Emi's parasitic tendencies when Orihime-san was still an infant, right?"
She nodded.
"I'm only theorizing this, but it looks to be the most plausible one. Anyway, I believe that when Spaceman discovered the curse he possessed was passed on to his daughter, he acted too late on it and in consequence Emi was able to eliminate the only threat in her taking over, Orihime-san's shinigami heritage.
"But Spaceman didn't give up. He must've found a way to put a stop to it, but in order to do that he had to sacrifice himself to do it."
"Sacrifice?"
"Tell me, Yoruichi-san, do you know who kept Spaceman's other persona, Aros, in line?"
"Tsukiyomi, his zanpakuto's spirit."
"Correct, and what do you think should he do now that Emi had devoured Orihime-san's zanpakuto's spirit?"
Her eyes widened. "Impossible. That's just impossible."
"Not with what he asked of me. There is but one device inside my inventory to have such an ability, passing on the spirit of a zanpakuto to another soul."
"Then what you're telling me is that the zanpakuto Orihime is wielding is actually Tsukiyomi, her father's zanpakuto?"
"Yes and no. Something must've happened after the transfer. Evolution, maybe? But if that was really Tsukiyomi, then it definitely felt and acted different than what I remember."
"Which are?"
"For one thing, if you can remember, Tsukiyomi is not a nodachi. It had always been the length of a normal katana with its circular hilt guard having the engravings of a crescent moon, a half moon, a full moon, and a new moon in each of its quadrants. Orihime's hilt guard looked like that of her hairpins—"
"Or the sun," she interrupted.
"Yes, the sun. This isn't really a weird change because other shinigami had been able to alter their zanpakuto to further enhance their swordsmanship." He gestured at his cane. "Or to catch enemies by surprise. But that's in the case of veteran shinigami, like myself; Orihime hasn't even drawn her zanpakuto at all when the changes were made. And that's what's alarming."
"I see your point. Do you think it had something to do with what he did?"
"Spaceman had an indirect involvement. I'd say that it was Orihime and Tsukiyomi who made the changes."
"Spiritual adaption, you mean?"
"Exactly. The device had never been field tested on transferring spirits of zanpakuto before, so I can only hypothesize that the side effect of such an operation would be that the spirit has to adapt to its new environment, which includes a new look and powers."
"The moon converting into the sun, eh. Wonder which is stronger."
Kisuke grinned. "Only time will tell, I say. But these adaptions of new powers are based on a template."
"So that means Orihime's original zanpakuto spirit has the same kind of look and powers?"
"In speculation, yes."
"If Orihime has a new zanpakuto spirit, so to speak, what about her father?"
"What else? Aros must've taken over, but if I were Spaceman I would've ended my life before that happened."
"I see. Moving on, what do you intend to do with the two humans sleeping in the other room?"
"Both exhibited potential in harnessing spiritual powers. Tessai told me that the foreigner had powers that almost felt like a Hollow, though it only affected his right arm. The girl, however—there's no way in telling, but I think Emi had done something to drain over half of her spiritual sensitivity. It's that, or maybe when she used Misato's hairpins it had done the same thing."
"Misato?"
"Orihime's biological mother. Spiritually sensitive. Much like Isshin's wife, Masaki."
"And how did she come across these hairpins?"
"Spaceman must've invented them to protect her. But now that both are gone, it passed on to Orihime."
"Hmm. If you think that the human girl no longer has the ability to see ghosts, then why bring her here too?"
"She's apparently Orihime-san's best friend. And I wanted to bring her in for some testing if there were any more side effects done by Emi . . . or the hairpins."
"Orihime and Ichigo won't like that."
"I know. That's why I had done it while Kurosaki-san was watching over Orihime-san while she slept."
"Sly, but try not to overstep your boundaries. One false move and you will lose their trust."
"And Kurosaki-san and Orihime-san are probably the only people to stop Aizen from getting what he wants."
"Now we're losing track of the report. Aizen is not involved . . . yet, at least."
Kisuke sighed. "But who are we to deny a little foreshadowing? We both know that Soul Society will not ignore the appearance of a Menos Grande in this town, the same town where one shinigami hadn't reported in for weeks. Aizen will surely take this chance."
"But you're still not sure if he knows where you hid the damn thing."
"I know he knows. Hard to believe, but it has to be true."
"All right. We'll prepare for the worst, if it comes to that. Now back to the main topic, what are we going to do with Orihime if she shows signs of getting overwhelmed by her dark persona?"
"She has a strong will, just like her father. It's a shame I didn't give her enough credit before. But I trust she can keep Emi in a leash and not the other way around. And Tsukiyomi can help her along the way."
"She doesn't even know the name of her zanpakuto, yet, Kisuke. Are you sure about this?"
He smiled at the cat, a smile she was familiar with. It was a sign of possible trouble, when her memories of their childhood were evidence to that. "If it botches, you can blame it all on me."
"I'd say before, you were underestimating Orihime; now I think you're overestimating her. The odds could be better if Orihime were to know shikai already, though."
"And we'll get that chance to teach her if we have to."
"Rukia Kuchiki's impending arrest, I take it?"
"It's inevitable, and both Kurosaki-san and Orihime-san are not prepared to face the strength of a true shinigami. Not yet, anyway."
"What do we do when they do come for Rukia?"
"Do?" He shook his head and crossed his arms. "We're in hiding, Yoruichi-san. We'd be alerting the higher-ups of Chamber Forty-six if we act now. It's too risky to act right now since Aizen has a better chance of getting his hands on the Hogyoku, but if we can play our cards right, then Aizen will have to find another way to acquire what he wants. Besides, the Hogyoku is already embedded in Kuchiki-san's soul that an extraction of it will be a long and painful process."
"And time is against us," Yoruichi added, nodding solemnly. "This is a tough game we're playing, Kisuke."
"Who said we're playing it by our own rules, though?"
"How long do you think Rukia has before Soul Society sends in a retrieval team?"
"No more than a day. Tomorrow will be Kuchiki-san's last day with Kurosaki-san and Orihime-san. And she knows this as well."
Yoruichi became silent for a while. In truth, she was processing the new information and the modified old ones, trying to pick out things they might've missed for their unorthodox debriefing.
"Kuchiki-san will be captured even if she tries to go into hiding," Kisuke stated. "Aizen will have his opportunity to steal the Hogyoku when she receives her sentence."
"The Chamber Forty-six won't listen to reason; they're the same people that have condemned you and Tessai without listening to your side."
"Aizen has those bureaucrats in the palm of his hand. He had all of Soul Society fooled with his illusions, us included. I'm certain he's more than capable of doing it again. He's the kind of guy who can bluff his way out of anything and then some."
"But you have a plan to try and stop him from obtaining that little ball of trouble?" She meant the Hogyoku.
"Probably." He went into a thinking pose. "There are too many variables to pinpoint an exact result to this. And there's still the matter of putting most, if not all, the pieces together first. You can't solve a problem this big if you don't have something to help guide you."
"What do you have in mind?"
Kisuke pressed the STOP button, and the little red light of the minicorder died. "I can't tell you yet. Unless we unlock Orihime-san's shikai, I think this plan will be all for nothing in the end."
Yoruichi closed her eyes and respected her childhood friend's decision. Sometimes she wished she could do more than just stand idly around like some freeloader, but she was only good in teaching and fighting. Fighting was not much of an option, but training sure was. But she wouldn't make a move until Kisuke did first. He was the brains of the operation; the chess master, so to speak. She could wait and bide her time. For now, Orihime's ascension to stronger powers would have to wait as well.
Tatsuki could only see a wall. When Ichigo and Sado had pointed out where Orihime actually was (rather, where her soul was), she didn't see any other thing but that lifeless wall. There was no sight of orange or the black garments she had seen her wear. Just the wall.
She felt slender hands resting on her shoulders. Their contact was light that it was almost like it was her own karategi pressing down on her. But she knew it was Orihime—albeit invisible to her eyes—because she could feel the texture of her fingers contracting to get a better grip, and probably to verify her existence to her.
"Orihime, is that really you?"
Tatsuki didn't see it; she just had this feeling that Orihime nodded her head. She didn't know what to think of this predicament. Here was her best friend in shinigami form, yet for some reason she couldn't see her anymore.
"What happened?" she asked no one. Her eyes were downcast, as if pondering over the strange situation as well.
The weight on her shoulders retreated. Peering at Ichigo's and Sado's eyes, she kept track of where they were looking. She looked to her right. The futon where Orihime's body laid was shifting by some invisible force. The blankets were drawn back and her orange hair at the base of her neck moved. Slowly her body rose and in a few short seconds, her eyes fluttered open. And those silver gray eyes turned towards Tatsuki.
"Tatsuki-chan," Orihime said, eyes filled with bewilderment.
She looked away. Even if her best friend were to display those eyes to her, she wasn't the one with the answers. This whole situation was way beyond her knowledge. Orihime only gave her the basic rundown about her supernatural duties—a shinigami comes to the real world and guides lost souls to heaven before evil spirits called Hollows come and eat them or turn them into one of them—but when it came to consulting humans gaining sight that went beyond the natural order of things, either of them would just choke and stutter before ending with a plausible, if highly unlikely, answer to it.
She considered turning to Ichigo for help in this, but it seemed the orange-head was as confused as his fellow orange-head. Sado looked to be the same, though he hid it better than all three of them.
Okay, so let's make things a little clearer. One: she could no longer see ghosts, but she couldn't be sure if this was permanent or just a temporary relapse from what had happened at school. Then again, maybe the seeing-ghosts thing was the temporary one. Two: the four of them were currently inside some tatami room, with three of them resting on futon. Sado looked like he hadn't moved out of his place in the futon, and she just woke up while Orihime's soul was somewhere with Ichigo before that. She had to know where they were first.
When she asked the two, Ichigo was the one to answer her questions. From where they were to the condition of the other students in the school were, to which she was glad that they were mostly unharmed. She tried to ask Ichigo more about their location, but he didn't give out much other than the name of the shop they were in, Urahara Shop, and the proprietor of said shop.
Tatsuki wanted to stretch her legs a bit, but Orihime told her under no circumstances that she would strain herself. She had just gotten through a tough ordeal that might've done more than just removed her ability to see ghosts, so it was best that she got some rest a little more. Tatsuki tried to worm her out of this—she didn't like being bedridden when she felt like she was more than able to stand back up—but Orihime today was like an overprotective mother hen who would stop at nothing until she got her way. Needless to say, Tatsuki had to reluctantly comply with her best friend's orders, at least to ease her worries.
Ichigo and Sado wisely stayed away from the conversation. Anything they said would probably be used against them, although Ichigo looked like he might've thought about backing Orihime up when Tatsuki seemed adamant in her desire to get out of this room. Sado didn't voice any bit of his opinion over this situation and just quietly sat back and let others do the talking; she would've thought of him as lazy, but realized that it was just his nature to be quiet and contemplative. She had to admit, the Mexican could be quite insightful at times due to that trait of his.
There was a knock on the door before a tall figure that towered even Sado's height entered the room, peering at the three futon laid out. He was wearing thick horn-rimmed glasses, so Tatsuki didn't know what kind of expression his eyes were making out as they scanned the people in the room. She instinctively went into a defensive pose, but subtle enough that none of the others would notice. The new guy did, however, and he raised his hand as if to say he meant no harm.
"I see that all the guests are awake," the giant said. "If it's not much trouble for you to move, dinner is to be served in the dining room just down the hall."
The mention of dinner caused an echoing growl to erupt in the room. Tatsuki already knew where it came from while the three men looked around. And true to what she suspected, Orihime was sitting next to her, scratching the back of her head with an embarrassed giggle.
Tatsuki tried to stand up, but Orihime pushed her back onto the futon. "I'll just bring your dinner here," she said.
Tatsuki sighed. Orihime could be stubborn sometimes.
"Ah! Kurosaki-san, please take a seat." Urahara motioned the teen towards a space at one side of the table. The two kids, Jinta and Ururu, were already sitting and waiting for the others to come, though Jinta looked pissed that he had to wait before he could dig in. "You too, Sado-san."
Chad nodded, a little reserved from the hospitality of strangers. Ichigo couldn't blame him for keeping his guard up. Plus, that smile on the sandal-hat's face was giving off some very bad vibes that he wanted nothing more than to punch the living hell out of him.
Orihime asked Urahara if she could deliver Tatsuki's share to her room. Urahara said yes and motioned for Tessai to fetch the girl a tray.
Ichigo seated himself on the floor just like the others. He didn't mind much about what they were having, but there was some kind of nagging feeling in his head that said something was missing in this picture. Ever since they arrived to this place and he waited for Orihime to wake up, that feeling didn't go. Even when Orihime left the room with a tray of food and when Urahara announced that it was time to eat, it didn't go.
He shrugged it off. If it had been important, he would've had a revelation by now. Maybe it was just overstress or probably his own hunger. With that in mind, he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.
It wasn't until after dinner that he had his revelation: Rukia and Ishida were nowhere to be seen.
Uryuu heaved an agitated sigh as he tried to take his mind off the pain in his hand. He had forgotten about the consequences of overloading a Quincy bow with too much spiritual energy. That was a mistake an amateur would've done, and it blew an even bigger part of his pride. To think he of all people would make a simple mistake as overloading their own bow when he had the ability to redirect the residual energy to the air instead of concentrating it all on his hand. Due to that, he had to suffer the consequences by letting his fingers heal on their own without the use of spiritual healing techniques; doing so would just worsen the injury since their high exposure to potent spiritual energy made them sensitive to it, at least for a few days. But even then, there would be long-lasting side effects.
When his grandfather had still been teaching him the ways of the Quincy, he had been strict in making Uryuu follow every damn rule there was to know about handling the bow of the Quincy. He was strict about these because if a Quincy were to not follow them, then they were as good as dead before launching their first arrow. One of those rules happened to be not to overload them. If Grandfather Souken had seen him then, he would've been disappointed in his brash move. But at the same time, Uryuu knew he would've said that he was proud of him risking his life for another's.
"Ishida-kun?"
Uryuu turned around, surprised to see Orihime standing at the door that was left ajar and carrying a tray of food. He had declined Tessai's offer of dinner; he wasn't hungry and he doubted he could eat without help because of his injured hand. Still, that didn't explain why Orihime would be here. When he said no dinner he meant no dinner.
"Is everything all right?" she asked. He sensed actual worry from her, which left him in a difficult position.
He wanted to be alone to ponder over what had been said and done a few hours ago, but how long would that take? He had been at this for the better part of the hour. And he still hadn't come to a conclusion as to where his relationship with shinigami would stand. He also had to think about the consequences of his pride getting the better of him. Because of the release of that unstable Hollow bait—he was certain it was unstable—he had endangered almost all the inhabitants of the city. If it hadn't been for the combined efforts of the spiritually gifted people living in this rundown shop, then there would've been a massive panic over the probable high death toll today.
Going back to the girl's inquiry, he nodded at her. When he was sure his message was sent, he added, "I already told Tessai-san that I'm not hungry. I usually eat supper at nine."
She glanced down at the tray, then back at him. She opened her mouth, about to say something, but she bit her lip as if in debate whether to say it or just hold her tongue. In the end, she chose the latter. But that didn't mean she had left him alone to ponder for longer.
Orihime fully opened the door, placed the tray on a nearby table, and came closer to where he sat.
Uryuu didn't feel comfortable inside a stranger's home, so he opted settling in the house's store. It was dark and he was quite sure that one of the items on the shelf had already gone bad, but he needed quiet and this place was as good as any. Everybody else didn't seem to mind his seclusion; he found it more comforting to be just a few steps away from exiting the premises. Rather, it was like he had issues staying here to heal his wounds when he had this feeling he didn't belong here. He was the one who unleashed the Hollow bait. He was the one who endangered the lives of many people because he pitted his pride with a higher value than them. So why was he here, healing his hand on his own when he could've gone to his home where he practically had a complete supply of first-aid for the injury, not only for physical wounds but also spiritual ones?
Maybe it's because I have an obligation to apologize . . .
Probably . . . yes, apologize. But to whom?
"Is your hand okay?" Orihime asked, noticing his bandaged hand.
Her spoken words distracted his thoughts, and he answered her without pause, without thinking over it. "I may not be able to hold a bow again as precise and unwavering as before, but at least it's not as severe as I first thought at the time."
"I don't remember our school having an archery club," she mused, putting a forefinger to her lip and tilting her head to one side. He had to admit that pose made her look undeniably cute. "Or maybe you were referring to a hair bow . . . or a bow tie. Were you thinking of mending Rin-sempai's hair bow when she commented on it during the last meeting of the handicrafts club?"
Okay, she just ruined the moment. But why did she sound clueless?
"I was talking about my Quincy bow, obviously," he said, sounding more condescending than he realized. It was hard to immediately adjust when he appointed her as one of the people he hated before his epiphany.
"Quincy? What's that?"
He cocked his eyebrow. "Didn't Kurosaki tell you?" He paused, mulled the question, and said, "No, I'm sure he didn't."
"How did Kurosaki-kun get involved in this?"
Uryuu shook his head; he didn't want to answer that. "You'll just have to ask Kurosaki that yourself. I have no idea what he was thinking, but my guess is that he was doing it to protect you."
"I don't need any more protecting," she said, looking disappointed. "I can take care of myself, and . . . I don't want to burden him."
"Maybe that's just his way," he replied.
"Yeah . . . maybe."
He kept quiet. The atmosphere was tense, he knew that much, but he was never really a social person, so breaking the ice was not his forte. Unless it pertained to business and very serious issues, he was treading in uncharted territory without a map and a compass.
"Is there a reason why you're here, by the way?" Orihime asked.
Here he was, thinking over that question a few moments ago, and now Orihime was just as curious as him about his current behavior. "To apologize, I guess," he said, not sure what else he could say other than that.
"Have you?"
"No, not yet. Honestly, I don't even know who I should apologize to. It's like I can't walk away from this place until I do."
"Then why not start with what you feel?"
"Huh?" He turned to look at her.
She smiled at him, a smile he wouldn't mind seeing every day. It brightened him up, somehow, gave him reassurance that what he was doing was worth it in the end.
"You won't leave here until you apologized to that person, because this is what your feelings tell you, correct?" she asked, to which he nodded. "Then the only thing you can rely on for now is what you're feeling. Take it from there and it'll eventually lead you to that person."
"I see." He looked away, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. That smile was getting to him; he was sure he was blushing. It was better for her not to notice.
"Ishida-kun, does it still hurt?" She was referring to his injured hand.
"A little, but nothing I can't handle. It was my own stupidity that got me into this predicament."
"If you want, I can heal you," she offered, brushing a hand on one of the hairpins attached to the hair atop her ears. "It'll be good as new, I promise."
Uryuu didn't know how to proceed with that, but surely agreeing wouldn't do any harm. At least . . . he hoped so.
"If you're sure," he said, pausing for a moment, which was also a moment of hesitance, "then I guess I'll take you up on your offer." He extended his injured hand to her.
She gently took his hand and examined the wrapped bandages. It was taken off slowly, and Uryuu was grateful for that. When the last wrapping was off, she touched one of her hairpins and called, "Shun'uo, Ayame."
Her hairpins lit like a Christmas tree, causing him to close his eyes until the light subsided. What he saw were two fairy-sized people floating in mid-air.
"It's good to see you again, Orihime-sama," the fairy in red commented, a foxy smile on her face.
"Nice to see you again too, Shun'uo-chan, Ayame-chan," Orihime greeted.
The other fairy blushed, nodded, and hid her face inside that umbrella-like clothing of hers.
"Okay. Souten Kisshun, I reject."
The two fairies were bathed in a yellow glow before they shifted towards his hand, where they created some kind of barrier that enclosed it. And he just watched before his eyes as the pain gradually dulled and the permanent damages wrought onto his fingers were disappearing like ashes being blown by the wind. Within that time when Orihime had begun her unique kind of healing to Uryuu's hand, it did not occur to Uryuu until much later that what Orihime used was most definitely a type of spiritual healing. And that would leave him bewildered because his hand did not react violently as it should since it was still sensitive to anything spiritual.
When she was done, the fairies returned to their original form, flying back to where they belonged. She then stood up, said that she still needed to bring Tatsuki her dinner, and walked away.
She almost got away without hearing his gratitude. "Inoue-san," Uryuu blurted after his initial inspection of the healing done to his hand. It was as if the injuries were never there in the first place. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Ishida-kun." She smiled as she picked up the tray.
"And could you tell Kurosaki I'm sorry."
Her smile felt as if it had showered even more warmth towards him. "I will. Don't worry."
She made for the door, but it seemed Uryuu wasn't quite finished yet.
"Inoue-san."
She looked over her shoulder.
He took a deep breath, both fists clenched, and he poured almost every regret he had from all the wrongs he gave her with just two words: "I'm sorry."
"There's no need to apologize, Ishida-kun," she said.
"But—"
"I never hold grudges. And I know that you didn't mean it when you said you hated me. It just took me too long to notice."
"Inoue-san . . ."
"Friends?"
He almost reconsidered—almost. It would take a while before he could adapt to the new leaf he had turned. But that smile took away the doubt, and he answered her truthfully, "Yes. Friends."
Rukia knew that her cover was blown. That Menos Grande was enough of a reason for Soul Society to send in a scout team to evaluate the extent of the damages brought on by it and its Hollow horde. But only she knew that the scout team had two objectives in the Real World. The other objective was to seek her out and learn the reason for her silence during the past few weeks.
She hated to admit it but things had spiraled down farther than she realized, and there was no way for her to climb back up without major repercussions. With her past actions already considered a breach of protocol, her sentence would no doubt escalate to the top if the scout team found out about Ichigo. Not only would the teen be killed, she would as well for her heinous act of giving a human the powers of a shinigami. She didn't know about Orihime's case, but she was certain the team would just consider her a part of Rukia's shinigami-turned-human offense and kill her like Ichigo.
At the moment, she was in a bind. She contemplated going to hiding, at least until the heat died down enough so she could show her face in public again. Urahara seemed to have no trouble doing that; why not her? But that was only wishful thinking. She didn't have Urahara's vast knowledge in the world of espionage and tactical outmaneuvering. He had been evading Soul Society's radar for the better part of the century, and that was when technology was still primitive and inaccurate. She was left at a great disadvantage, and the best she could hope for before Soul Society found her was a few days of in the run. The fact remained that she was merely delaying the inevitable; they'd catch her whether she hid or not, so what was the point?
The real point would have to be keeping Ichigo's and Orihime's existence a secret from Soul Society. She didn't want to put the two teens to their deaths all because of her transgressions.
But what to do? she thought as she gazed at the dark sky where the luminous crack had sealed itself back up. The stars were shining brightly tonight, but they did little to remove Rukia's somber mood. Lying here on the roof of Urahara Shouten, thinking over what exactly she should do for tomorrow, she couldn't feel any more lost than she was now.
Maybe it's best to just go with the flow. As it is, I don't think there's a good plan to think of.
She stuck to that thinking all through the night. When it was time for Ichigo and her to go back home, she didn't say anything to him and he did the same. Did he know her predicament? Did Urahara tell him?
No, Rukia thought, because if he did he would've been more verbal than this. Ichigo is never one to just give up just because the odds are very much against him. He'd fight to the death if he had to. A fight I don't want him to get into.
But as much as Rukia would try to keep Ichigo safe from harm, some part of her already knew that his death was also inevitable. And it became clear as day when the scouting team came for her tomorrow night, where Ichigo laid there dying with Orihime embracing him close, and Rukia, who could do nothing but close her eyes and never look back, grieved over the impending death of the man she was proud to call a friend.