I'm back :d ... but i think i will slow down with this daily updates... What about once a week? What say you?
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saiya-jinPan140, glad you liked it. glad you could see it through :)
Araiae4u, you got it right the chapter 25. The only thing that i would add ( like author's opinion) , i believe that she loves both of them but in a different way. It might be both romantic ways (who knows?), but they are different. And i think that she chooses to address Byakuya because it's easier... because she doesn't have the strength to face Ichigo. She knows it will hurt him too much the question: "Ichigo, am i dying?" so she prefers the " Byakuya, am i dying?". She prefers to hurt the one she loves less... Sad, but true. ( ps: you hate Oza? you should, no problem :) . But what about haruna, do you hate her also?)
Jenny V, thank you for your support
purplepam, finally a chapter that you enjoyed! glad :) . Oh and... it's Inuzuri... you're right ( my mistake)
annia9semi, if not Ichigo, then who? :) . let me know what you think on this chap.
Rndd, tu sais, parfois je crois que ni Inoue, ni Unohana, ni Urahara ne puissent faire rien. Parfois il est besoin de qq ch de different :)
iloveichiruki, already thinking of the ending? but there is still a long way to go...
SchelmaAnimeFan, if she dies or if she will live it's not up to me... but to Ichigo :D . I'm really glad you like this story.
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Ichigo saw Urahara approaching and closing Rukia's eyelids. He instantly turned to him with violent, menacing glare.
"She's not dead!" he yelled like a mad man.
Urahara backed off silently. He knew that it wasn't the best moment to argue him. Yoruichi then let go of Renji, who immediately collapsed on his knees and she approached Urahara.
"What if he's right?" she asked.
"Her zanpakuto broke… and her reiatsu is gone" he replied objectively.
Yoruichi frowned as she looked at Rukia.
"I must call Inoue! Get Inoue !" Ichigo shouted.
Renji put his head on the ground and started to hit the asphalt with his fists.
"They're must be something you can do, Kiskue..." Yoruichi said seriously.
Urahara remained silent for a couple of seconds, and then he turned to Ichigo.
"Kurosaki-san, take Kuchiki-san and let's go back to my place!"
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Ichigo was circling the hall nervously. Next to him Renji stood against the wall still as a stone. For more than half an hour they, haven't exchanged a single word. An hour ago Ichigo was inside the room where Urahara and Tessai were trying to save Rukia, but as he was being too anxious, yelling at everyone that they were not doing their job well, Urahara asked him kindly to wait outside.
Half an hour later, Urahara opened the door.
Ichigo and Renji turned to him, holding their breaths.
"Kurosaki-san, Abarai-san… I'm sorry…" Urahara begun.
"You're lying." Ichigo stated simply, with a white voice.
Renji fell in his knees and started to cry like a child. Urahara looked at him with the corner of his eyes for a second, then he turned to Ichigo.
"Kurosaki-san… I've done everything in my power."
"Then you did well…" Ichigo answered. "She will come around, you'll see…"
Renji raised his head for a second and looked at Ichigo. He seemed so convinced of his words.
"Can I see her?" Ichigo asked.
Silently Urahara made a sign with his hand inviting him in the room. After Ichigo entered, he closed the door and headed at the top of the corridor where, in another room, Yoruichi was waiting for him.
"How is she?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, the same she was before… There is nothing I can do…"
Yoruichi frowned diffident.
"Kiskue, it's you we're talking here not some second hand Kurotsuchi…"
Urahara turned to her.
"She was stabbed by a Kizoku blade!"
Yoruichi's eyes widened.
"It's impossible!" she hissed. "How would Oza put his hand on that? There are only four of them and each lies with the leader of the four noble houses of Seiretei!"
"You're right, but if that's the case, then you should also have a Kizoku blade upon you, Yorichi."
Yoruichi's eyes widened.
"I gave mine away …" she replied with a low voice. "Since I was a shinigami I wasn't allowed to keep both my zanpakuto and the kizoku sword. I gave it to my father's brother since he was the next in the Shihoin line…"
"From this I will presume that the same thing did the Kuchiki family with theirs since they have a tradition in being part of the Gotei 13… They must have given it to the next family in rank. Who is this family?…"
Yoruichi frowned.
"There were the three brothers…" she said thoughtfully. " Nanakuma… Ryoning and Oza…"
"I guess this solve the mystery" Urahara replied.
"Not quite… The sword must have went to the Ryoing family since they were the most powerful…and even if Oza would have got the sword, there is no way he could have taken with him in the prison, after he killed Byakuya's parents. "
"So the sword must have been with the Ryoings all this time…" Urahara concluded.
Yoruichi's eyes frowned with anger.
"That Haruna! I always knew she will turn out this way eventually!" she shouted annoyed and then turned her gaze to the door. Her expression suddenly changed into a sorrowful one. "Kuchiki Rukia does not stand a change with the stab she got…"
"Kuchiki-san is already dead, Yoruichi. In three days her body will disintegrate…" completed Urahara.
"Does Ichigo know all this?" she asked with a hurt expression.
"He denies everything… "
"I can't blame him… But Kiskue, what are we going to do about Haruna?"
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"Oncle!... You came! You came! Oh! You must know the news!" A young girl with long raven hair and grey eyes shouted with excitement as she entered the room. " I'm getting married!"
The uncle, a tall thin man with light brown hair and grey eyes, turned to her with a mild smile.
"Haruna, you're engaged since you are 10… I believe it was about the time for Ginrei-sama to purchase with the wedding…"
Young Haruna frowned displeased.
"Why would grandpa Ginrei would have something to say in this more then I or Toto do? … You elders! You really think that you can rule the world…"
The man laughed amused. He had a warm way of laughing.
"No, not the whole world… only this clan!" he replied.
She gasped.
"Hmph! You know that if I wouldn't have loved Toto, I wouldn't have married him!"
"Then lucky us, since the two of you are in love…" the uncle replied with a smile.
"In love? Who said that I'm in love?" she snapped intrigued. " Toto certainly isn't in love with me… and I love him, but I don't think it's a romantic felling!"
The uncle laughed again.
"And have you fixed the day of the ceremony?" he finally asked.
"In a year, starting yesterday! But wait! That's nothing guess what I'm going to do this year?"
"Aaaam… preparations?" he asked not fully convinced.
"No! I will go on my honeymoon!" Haruna answered with the happiness of a person who had won the lottery. The man's eyes widened surprised.
"A honeymoon before the wedding?"
"And guess where it will take place! In the real world!" she addes ecstatically.
Then man's eyes were getting wider and wider.
"I already made a list with the places I want to visit… I will start with Tokyo, of course, then Paris… then Rome… maybe London, but I'm not sure… Oh! And imperatively the Latin America. I heard that people dance like crazy there!" Haruna continued with the same enthusiasm, but then she noticed how her uncle started to feel unease. She knew that he had never been a fan of the human's world so she decided to end the topic. " So what were you doing, here? Were you waiting for dad?"
"As a matter a fact I do… and meanwhile I was enjoying the sight of your family art collection…" the uncle answered as his were fixed on a certain object. Haruna also turned her gaze in his direction and saw a sword hanging on the wall, beneath a glass wall.
"Uh… daddy's sword!" she stated with boredom. "I don't even know why he's keeping it there… I mean I know he had never used it, but honestly… a sword it's for fighting, not for hanging on the wall as if it was a painting…"
The uncle smiled.
"I think it's better for that sword to be hanged there, then to be used…"
Haruna turned to him surprised.
"Did you know that there are only four of these swords in whole Seireitei? They were a gift from the first head commander toward the leaders of the four noble families as defense weapon since the tradition did not permit to the nobles to become shinigamis at the time being…"
Haruna looked closely at the sword.
"Do you know how strong this sword is? Stronger than a zanpakuto. It kills everything it touches without exception" the uncle continued and Haruna noticed the admiration in his voice.
"You are quite fascinated by this artifact, uncle…" she stated.
He smiled warmly.
"You could say so… The kizoku blades are dangerous…but still very interesting …"
She frowned.
"Well if that's the case, after I get married and I become the Lady of the Kuchiki clan I will give this sword to you as a gift."
The men turned to her more than surprised.
"You shouldn't Haruna… The sword has been entrusted to Goroza by Ginrei-sama himself…"
"It may be so… but in this house no one seemes to care of its true value… not even me. That's why I believe it will be way better with you" she added with one of her charming smiles.
"Haruna, really… I don't think it's a good idea…What would Ginrei –sama say… and…" the man replied with a tangled expression.
"It's a promise, uncle… One day I will give this sword to you!"
Back in the deserted hall, Oza raised his hand and looked at the Kizoku sword.
"I wonder Haruna… have you found the time to tell Byakuya what you have done? I wonder, Haruna, about so many things…" He whispered to himself, but then he heard footsteps approaching. He turned and saw No 5.
"Oza-sama, we made the rapport and we counted 54 shinigami prisoners dead, along with Prisoner no 6 and Prisoner no 2…"
Oza frowned. 54 of his men in exchange for the Kuchiki Princess… He wondered if he made a good trade. He looked again at the Kizoku sword. Its blade was still stained with her blood. His clothes were still covered in red. He suddenly remembered her eyes, before he killed her. Those big and violent eyes. None of the Kuchiki had ever held that color… as none of them had have faced death with such an expression. The power and the fear could have been easily read on those eyes… No Kuchiki knew the fear… but her fear was not pointed to herself. She did not fear for her life. Even when he stabbed her, her eyes did not turn to him. They remained fixed on that shinigami boy she called for… that Ichigo…
Who was this Kuchiki Princess? Why was she so beautiful?... Was she Byakuya's daughter? Perhaps wife?... Didn't he rush in killing her? Maybe he should have kept her for himself!
But no! He did the right thing! No matter who this woman was, she must have been dear to Byakuya! And Byakuya must know the feeling of losing everything. He will take everything away from him, just like he did to him… 60 years ago….
"I will have my revenge!… I will even if it's the last thing I'll do!" he swore to himself.
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"This Is stupid, Nene-cha!" he stated.
"No, Toto, you are stupid! This is bachata! Come on try It again!" she replied.
"And your clothes are stupid! Your legs are showing off!" he added looking at her short pink dress, specific to the fashion of the 40s.
"I know, isn't that hot?" she replied excited.
"Hot?..." he asked confused.
"Yes… it's an expression; they seem to use it a lot here! Come on Toto, move your feet!"
"No!" he replied with the voice of a stubborn, spoiled child. "I'll look ridiculous!"
"Fine, then! If you don't want to dance…then I'll go with the guy from that table… He's been watching me for the whole night. He also served me champagne and offered himself to give the tour of the city!"
His eyes widened.
"Nene-cha…" he begun with a grave and serious voice. "This was supposed to be our honeymoon!"
"Then act as if is our honeymoon!" she replied with a charming voice.
"We sleep in the same room, don't we?"
She gasped annoyed.
"Do you think that sleeping together… I mean, only sleeping and nothing more, is enough? Come on, Toto! I want to have fun! We only have 10 months left!"
"Not the bachata… or any other stupid dances!" he stated stubbornly.
"Just one…" she insisted, displaying another charming smile.
But he was relentless.
"Fine, Toto!" she concluded annoyed. "Have It your way then! I'm going with that guy over there!"
He didn't draw a gesture. Vainly ,she let go of his hand and headed to the other side of the bar. At half distance she suddenly turned:
"And I will also ask you to free the room for this evening…"
Then she turned and reached for that stranger, a young latino boy.
"Come on, Toto… say something… say something… tell me to stop… I was just trying to make you jealous. Oh… But it's useless… I know you didn't say a word that night and when I got back to the hotel you also freed the room as I asked you to do. You didn't even know that came back early and also alone, that night. Oh, you must have been so angry back then… so angry that you must have spent your night with some other human girl. Oh why didn't stop me? If you would have stopped me, today, maybe we would have…!"
"Nene-cha!..."
"Toto… Is that you, Toto?...How can it be? I remember clearly that you didn't called for me that night!"
"Nene-cha!... Wake up!"
"Wake up?!… But we didn't even sleep together that night… "
"Nene-cha! Wake up, already!
Haruna suddenly opened her eyes and startled. It was just a dream. A dream from more than 60 years ago… But as she came back to the present her eyes widened surprised. Byakuya was standing next to her… in her room… on the edge of her bed.
"Get dressed!" he said coldly.
Still sleepy, she didn't understand what was happening. She knew that Byakuya haven't entered in her room ever since the time they were engaged. Maybe she was still dreaming. But then she met his icily expression. She was certainly not dreaming.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Nene-cha, I won't repeat myself. Get dressed!" he replied.
"What?... Wait… Why… Where are we going?" she snapped trying to chase away her sleep.
"To the world of living. Rukia might be in trouble!" he said visibly worried.
On the last words, Haruna rolled her eyes with boredom:
"You know what? I'll go back to bed now… and you will do the same thing… We can discuss about this tomorrow!" and after she said that turned to her bed.
"Nene-cha!" he snapped icily. "Something bad has happened to Rukia!"
"Yeah?... And how would you know that?" she mumbled as she closed her eyes trying to get back to sleep.
"I sensed it, Nene-cha! I know it!"
On those words, she got up from the pillow with an annoyed expression:
"You know what, Toto? You have a terrible temperament!" she snapped. " You are suffocating the girl with this behavior of yours. Honestly, if something might have happened to her, don't you think that she would have been sent back to Seireitei?"
"You are as blockheaded as you always were!" he replied with an arrogant gaze. " There is a possibility that she was detained from coming back in Seireitei!"
She gasped, trying to maintain her calm.
"Toto, I am sure that she is alright…" she begun trying to act nice. " If we'll go to the human worlds I'm sure we will find her playing poker with her human friends…"
"Rukia doesn't play poker!" he stated intrigued.
"Uhh! Never mind! You've got the idea! The thing is… if you'll appear there in the middle of the night and you'll act the same way you did in my room, you'll scare the poor girl and she'll start to think that you're an overprotective, over jealous and over possessive husband. She might even want to cancel the wedding!"
His eyes widened.
"Toto, what is wrong with you? You used to be such a rational and reasonable person!" she added.
He frowned. If only he could believe Haruna's words.
"When does her report must arrive?" she asked.
"At the end of the week, on Sunday." He replied. "But it might be hazardous to wait until then!"
"Toto!" she snapped. "You're suffocating her! Just wait for the fucking report! If it will not come on Sunday, then I promise I'll go with you in the living world…"
He looked at her. No expression could be read upon his face, but she knew he was worried.
"She's alright, Toto… now let's go back to bed" she added and moved aside to make place for him in her bed. He instantly got up from the edge of the futon and headed to the exit. She tried to ignore his rejection and without any additional words she put her head on the pillow waiting for him to leave her room.
Byakuya made a huge effort to temper himself. He also tried to believe Haruna's words. If she was right, appearing in Karakura would have put him in a ridiculous situation. But if she wrong… he just didn't wanted to think about!
He tried to go back to sleep in his huge and empty room, but every time he was closing his eyes the same dream kept coming back to him.
He was telling her about the people who are like the falling sakura petals. She smiles at him, asking him if she had lived beautifully. He approaches to take her in her arms. He wants to make her feel safe… he wishes to kiss her, but then he sees a bleeding whole in her chest. He looks into her eyes scared, but her eyes were fixed on the emptiness behind them. He turns on the direction of the emptiness and he sees Ichigo approaching with a horrified expression: "Tell him Byakuya, oh, please, just tell him to leave me behind! I can't stand to see him hurt because of me! Not anymore!" Rukia keeps yelling as Ichigo was getting close. He takes Rukia in his arms, trying to protect her from the pain… from Ichigo… from the unknown enemy… from the death itself, but then she asks him with low and scared voice: "Byakuya… am I really dying?"
And then he wakes up all covered in sweat. He tries to calm himself, but then as his eyes are closing, the nightmare comes back again… and again… and again…
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Urahara approached the door of the room in which Ichigo has isolated himself with Rukia's corpse. He saw Renji stood on the floor next to the door. His face was red from all the crying, making him look like drunken man. Without addressing him a word he just opened the door. As he expected, he found ichigo in his knees next to Rukia.
"Kurosaki-san…" he begun with his most gentle voice.
Ichigo didn't react. He was holding Rukia's hand on his lap.
"Kurosaki-san… the Kuchiki family must be informed."
Again, Ichigo didn't react. Instead Renji approached the threshold and looked inside the room with a hurt expression.
"Kurosaki-san… the funerals…"
"What funerals?" Ichigo snapped violently suddenly turning to Urahara with hateful eyes. "Does she look like a dead person?" Then he turned to Renji. " Tell him, Renji, because you also know: she's not dead!"
Renji looked back at him with speechless, big eyes. Then he turned to Urahara waiting for him to confirm Ichigo's words.
"She is not dead!" Ichigo yelled. "And even if she was, I would have crossed the hell and I would have brought her back. BUT SHE IS NOT DEAD! Her zanpakuto may be broken!… Her reiatsu may be gone, but she is not dead! I can feel her… I can her heart! It's right here in my hand… in my hand!" he continued yelling as he held tighter her small hand.
Considering that he needed more time, Urahara turned silently to the door. On the hall, Yoruichi waited for him. She had a displeased expression on her face when her eyes met Urahara's.
"Kiskue… you are the most intelligent person I know… and yet you fail to notice how powerful the feelings can be sometimes…"
Urahara's eyes widened.
"You know very well Kiskue, that what made Ichigo achieve bankai in three days was not his physical or spiritual power, but his determination and desire to save Rukia from execution."
Urahara frowned with a hurt expression.
"I trust Ichigo…" Yoruichi added and closed the door to room, leaving Ichigo alone with Rukia.
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When the door closed, the dark took over the room again. Only a small lamp was flickering at her head.
Ichigo was looking at Rukia's broken zankatuto. For a reason he couldn't understand the beautiful blade remained in its shikai form. He reached his hand and touched it for a second. 'So cold…' he though as he immediately retreat his fingers. Then, he turned to Rukia and laid next to her, trying to embrace all her body. For a second his heart startled, as he noticed that her body had the same temperature with the broken ice zanpakuto.
But he didn't lost hope… he couldn't.
Rukia, if you were a human everything would have been simple. You would have died and I would have gone to Soul Society to have you back… But you are a shinigami. This means that your soul is slowly becoming a part of the world of the dead. They are all saying that you'll soon disappear leaving nothing behing. But I know something that they don't…It's something that you told me long ago. That the death it's not in vain… and that the time does not erase our existences as long as we entrust our hearts to the ones we love…
Rukia your heart is with me… And your heart is alive in my hands… This means that you are also alive. Hang on to your heart and you will come back to life… you will come back to me…
"Ichigo…"
Yes, Rukia…
"Ichigo… I can hear you…"
I know, Rukia… I know …
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So that was it for the moment! Let me know what you all think!