Chapter 3: Consequence
AN: Thanks for all the reviews! There are two tallies for pairing so far. Please continue to review and tell me what you think. :)
(Ichigo's POV)
(A few moments earlier.)
A hollow...
I know I saw it. I heard that unique cry, FELT its pressure envelop me. Appendages had ran through my back as it appeared around me.
Suddenly my body hit the concrete, shattering it around my body.
It felt strangely numb, like how one falls onto foam. It conformed around me...
Voices...
Shouting ...
A warm set of arms lifted me into their gentle hold, yelling down at me to wake up.
Ishida.
My eyes cracked open, trying to form words. Behind him I could see explosions of light.
"Chad. Inoue." I croaked hoarsely, feeling an all too familiar burning sensation forming in my chest.
Ishida looked away, standing to help them fight back.
You will...remember us.
"...!" My insides suddenly began to surge, as if it were tearing itself apart from within.
It burns! Stop!
"Who are you?"
There's a flash of auburn hair, blue eyes framed by a dirty face. The resolve to win.
'I am the last...' A rumbling voice answered. Was it...my own?
It clicked. Something blossomed in my throat, choking my mind...
In a desperate attempt to regain control I reached to Ishida...
Yet...he crumbled at my grasp. His shoulder...
The hollow roared once more, ringing in my ears.
'A threat.'
(General POV, present)
Whatever it was, it had ceased its angry rampage after the hollow died.
Kurosaki Ichigo stood there limply, staring at the woman as a blind man did to the sun.
She whipped her head around wildly, seeing Chad getting back up slowly.
To the side was...
"ISHIDA-KUN!" A horrified cry escaped her, seeing her fallen friend. His shoulder had been twisted out of place...! Who could have-?
Her expression paled as a piercing voice answered her silent question.
"Sorry," the dull expression seemed caught between curiosity and sadness, "It broke when we tried to push him aside... It was...not...our intention."
Pushing aside a cry of fear, she summoned her fairies to heal the wounded Ishida. Orihime stood, going to stand by Chad's side as their ..."friend" continued to watch them.
Chad was the first to speak.
"What have you done with Ichigo?" It was demanding, but still quiet and true to the giant's nature.
The being tilted its head, narrowing blue eyes to slits. "Done? We... We haven't...?" It moved its hand in fluttering, twitchy motions, feeling along the face, jaw, hair.
"... But we are Kuro... No... Are we?"
Something seemed to slip, horror settling in the formerly dull expression.
"We... We aren't ... -I-... am Kurosaki Ichigo ..."
Orihime went to move towards him but Chad's arm held her back.
"I am... I am... I...?"
Thwack.
A sharp noise came from behind him as his eyes dulled. The man crumpled to the ground, revealing the smiling woman behind him. Yumi wore a brightly colored scarf over her oddly dark clothes.
"Sorry. I'll be taking my nephew from here."
She reached forward, only to have an arrow suddenly jutting through her hand.
The woman howled, eyes briefly flashing red with rage. Her body whipped around, seeing the Quincy half kneeling with his energy bow drawn.
"You're mistaken. We'll be taking our friend home."
"You what?! Your friend?"
The woman cackled, pulling the arrow from her hand and shattering it with a clench of her first.
"He isn't your friend anymore. He is one of us." Lips ran over her teeth slowly as she steadily moved into an offensive stance.
"One of you? What are you supposed to be?!" Ishida started to draw forth an arrow again.
We're Cursed.
She was beside him in an instant, slamming her elbow into him. He went spiraling backwards, nose broken severely from the blow as he hit the ground hard.
"Uryu!" Chad cried out for him, summoning the armor around his arm to deliver a swift blow.
Yumi gripped the giant by the wrist, tossing him effortlessly into the air.
Orihime's thoughts became frantic, 'So fast! Strong! Is Kurosaki-kun really related to someone so terrifying? Her hair was so similar to his...'
That strength... The frightening blue eyes.
'Cursed.'
"Tsubaki! I reject!" The warrior fairy came forth quickly, aiming for the woman's back.
It hit home.
Yumi cried in pain, black blood spewing from where her granite skin was pierced.
"Damn you all..." She breathed hard, eyes a deep red now, "I'll kill you ALL!"
No. You won't.
Her expression grew slack, stopping dead in her tracks.
Ichigo was standing again, blue eyes clear now instead of blank and confused.
"You won't lay a single finger on any of them."
The severity of the tone seemed to hit her like a ton of bricks. She took a step back, as if trying to resist.
"Ma... M...a...lus... You dare turn against your own KIND?!"
The man made an amused "Oh?" noise, crossing arms gently.
"And you should know better than to defy my words."
The silence was deafening between them, lasting for what seemed like an eternity before Yumi slowly slimmed away.
Orihime breathed out hard, summoning her companions to engulf the two men in a healing bubble. Her grey eyes turned to Ichigo, wary.
This man's presence wasn't that of her friend's.
"We heard you. You humans...hold a delicate place in this heart. We could not help but respond to it."
It stepped forward, a coarse hand placing a palm on her cheek.
A rock, a pure rock. It was inhuman.
The blue eyes flickered back to brown for a brief instant, as if grasping itself one last time.
"Sorry."
With a sharp breath, he collapsed- the sound of him hitting the concrete resounding like a crack of thunder.
Was it...over...?
The woman breathed out, almost unaware she had held her breath in the first place.
Her fairies worked for her subconsciously, her fallen comrades slowly healing as she kneeled beside Ichigo to inspect him for any wounds of his own.
A shallow wound was surrounded by a black stain on his linen shirt, the wound that seemingly caused this whole mess. It was already healed over, even, the flesh pink and shinier than the flesh around it.
"Who did this to you?" Orihime mouthed quietly.
Behind her, the sound of clogs approached, hurried. Recognizing it, she whirled around and stood to meet the man.
"Urahara-san!" She did not like how perceptively pale he was, the normally calm man in a hurried stride and expression.
Maybe now...they could get their answers.