I know it's been forever since i last update this story (or any of my other stories) but i had hundreds of stuff to take care of like... graduating, working abroad... making a living... making plans for a better living... finishing my first novel ( which is almost already to go) and you can imagine that these stories were the last things i could take care of.
It's not like i'm abandoning any of my stories, but i can't promise the fast updates i used to do one year or two years ago. (oh my! it's been two years already?!)
Anyway... i don't know how many of you are still following this story, but for those who still are: thank you and sorry for making you wait so long.
Otherwise, enjoy!
.
48. Come back!
.
Orihime suddenly got up her head from Ishida with a scared expression.
"Arrancar!" Ishida hissed and pressed the acceleration heading to the place where an enormous amount of reiatsu exploded.
.
From his dark corner, Oza also turned his gaze and faced Shiba with wide eyes.
"What is this?" he hissed.
In response the massive man shunpo-ed ouside the Prisonner's hide place. Oza immediately followed him.
.
Isshin got up from his bed, all sweaty and tensed. He put a night gown on him exited the house running.
.
Yoruichi stepped back to the human world and sensed a hollow' reiatsu hitting her over the face. Losing no second she shunpo-ed in its direction.
.
All of them hurried to the place where the hell was being released: A car running with 150 km/h. A crazy man a night gown, two tattered, but powerful prisonners and a noble shinigami fast as the wind.
The prisoners were the first to arrive and discover a terrifying Arrancar with hair as fire and skin white as the snow, growling at the sky above him. Apparently he had opened a gate to Hueco Mondo and let hundreds of hollows and menos to come in. He was growling and he was eating all of them.
"What is that creature?" Oza hissed.
The second to arrive were Ishida and Orhime. Ishida parked on the middle of the street and got out, already holding his quincy arch. Orhihime tried to follow him, but he closed the door locking her in the car:
"Stay back it's too dangerous!" he shouted.
But Orihime's eyes widened as she starred at the Arrancar and the moment Ishida pointed his arch at the his, she yelled:
"NO!"
He turned to her shocked.
"Inoue, but…"
She pushed the door until it opened and exited the car with tears on her face.
"Don't hurt him! That's… That's Kurosaki-kun!"
.
.
"Kuroski?!" Oza hissed intrigued as he heard the conversation.
Shiba immediately turned to him with a mad glare.
"You mean…Isshin?!"
"No, I mean his son." Oza answered starring at the Arrancar.
Shiba's eyes widened.
"Ichigo?!" he shouted and then looked at the apocalyptic scene in front of him. "Impossible! He couldn't have got that strong in my absence! He couldn't have turned into a hollow! He's a quincy!"
"I wouldn't think so… what I see right now is…
"Our key to revenge!" Shiba completed with a mad laugh. "Look at him Oza! Look how powerful he is! He is perfect!"
Oza looked at him confused.
"And when I think that I wanted to kill him! It would be such a waste! Let's use him, Oza! Think about it! He could fight Gotei 13, while you could have free pass to Byakuya, while I'll have Masaki and Isshin! He's perfect!"
"He's unreasonable!" Oza shouted. "Look at him! He's a beast! You can't communicate with him!"
Shiba grinned.
"That's why we have Haruna! Didn't you say that her zanpakuto can control the memories and feelings of its victim? One stab with that toy of hers and he'll be our slave!"
Oza looked at him speechless.
"What are we still doing here?! Let's get Haruna! You know she'll help us!"
And the moment he spoke Haruna's name Yoruichi also made her appearance. On the first second all her attention was caught by the demon who brought hell upon Karakura, but when she heard that ne name being mentioned, she turned to the Prisoners.
"What about her?" she asked with a cold voice.
Both of the Prisoners turned to her.
"Why isn't she dead?!" Shiba snapped. "No. 5 was supposed to take care of her! For 16 year he's been bugging me with his revenge on her!"
But Yoruichi ignored the massive man and pierced Oza with her yellow devilish eyes.
"This is not your fight. The enemy of your clan was defeat. You won, so have pride and step back!" Oza answered coldly.
"As long as Byakuya-bo is involved, it is my fight!" Yoruichi replied with a grin.
"That's it! I'm not standing for this Shihoin shit anymore!" Shiba growled and drew his sword ready to attack her, but then his attention was caught by the last person to make his appearance: the crazy man, running in a night gown.
Isshin stopped in front of the Arrancar, trying to catch his breath. He had no idea who that creature truly was, as he had no idea where it was coming from. Soon though, the Arrancar was no longer important. He suddenly recognized a reiatsu nearby. He raised his gaze and saw Shiba fixing him with a dark glare.
"I wondered when you'll make your appearance." He hissed and immediately stepped in his shinigami forme, shunpo-ing in his direction.
.
.
Meanwhile Orihime, passed beside Ishida and slowly approached Ichigo.
"What are you doing?!" Ishida yelled. "Step back!"
"I can't!" she whispered. "He's, Kurosaki-kun."
"Inoue! Step back!" she menaced and he lift his arch, but Orihime immediately turned and put herself in front of the arch.
"If you shoot, I swear that I will hate you forever! Can't you see?! He's Kurosaki-kun!" she shouted and within the same second Ichigo noticed her presence. She looked over her shoulder and when she saw his terrifying mask approaching her, she froze in fear. Now that he was getting close, she thought he looked nothing like Ichigo.
.
.
Oza saw Shiba shunpo-ing in Isshin's direction and then he turned to Yoruichi with a bored expression.
"Time's up, my lady!" I'm taking my leave now!" he said and suddenly disappeared, disintegrating in a smoke.
"Not fast enough!" Yoruichi shouted and shunpo-ed fast enough so she could catch up with him. He immediately materialized, as she came across him. "What kind of an enemy are you, since you are keep running away?!"
"The one you should fear, Yoruichi! But the time had not come yet!" he said and disappeared. Once again she stopped him.
"I told you! You're not fast enough for me!" she snapped.
"I might not be, but you're not strong enough to stop me and you know that! The best you can get from me at this point it's a tag game!"
Again he disappeared.
"I don't mind playing tag!" she answered as she stopped him once again. "Tell me, is Haruna on your side?"
He laughed.
"The poor girl! All of you think that she's more important that she truly is!"
"You're after her, Oza?"
"Why would I be? When I know that she will come to me eventually… as all of you will, but when you will do so, my plan will be already accomplished! Therefore I'm advising you, stay away from this mess! This is not a Gotei 13's fight! This is between us, the nobles! I came to make justice, Yoruichi! THE REAL JUSTICE! Because all of you are blind and fail to see who are real enemies!"
"Who are the enemies?"
He smiled.
"I told you, Yoruichi! Time's up! I'll leave you with Ichigo, now!" he said pointing at the Arrancar. Her eyes widened and before she knew Oza disappeared.
.
.
Isshin drew his zanpakuto, flashing toward Shiba.
"To be honest, that's not how I imagined our reunion, son." Shiba said as he dodged from his attack.
"To be honest I hoped for no reunion, father. You were supposed to rot in jail, remember?"
Shiba laughed.
"As you supposed to be a good son and not step on the word of your father along with the rules of the clan?"
Isshin attacked again. Shiba dodged again.
"I came back to teach you a lesson so listen to my words carefully. It's useless to fight me! If you still have some pride in your veins, you should accept your punishment!"
"My pride was to protect my family and it's the family that you tore apart!"
Shiba frowned.
"Don't make me laugh. A quincy woman?! Is that what you call a family? I raised you better that that! And also don't play the victim! I warned you many times before…"
"Before you KILLED HER!" Isshin yelled angrily.
Shiba laughed again.
"Killed her?! If only I could!"
Isshin's eyes widened and Shiba grinned maliciously.
"What? You think that I wouldn't know about your little tricks? I tracked her down to Rukongai!"
Isshin froze and let down his sword.
"Exactly, Isshin! You though I was stupid enough to not find out? Well, you were wrong. I found her and I will finish what I started 16 years ago!"
On those words Isshin lift his sword again.
"If I were you, I wouldn't do that! You see, Masaki is not the only one that you want to protect. Ichigo is as important as her, isn't he?"
His eyes widened.
"You can't protect two people who are in different places at the same time, can you? So this will be your punishment: you get to choose Isshin, which one you'll give up on: Masaki or Ichigo?"
And after he said that he looked at the Arrancar.
"And to be honest, Ichigo needs more help in this moment than any of us." He added.
Isshin also turned to the Arrancar and his skin turned to goose bumps.
"That's Ichigo?"
"Indeed. So I wonder: will you track me down to Soul Society and prevent me from killing Masaki or will you help out your son?"
Isshin froze.
"That's what I thought!" Shiba said coldly. "You can't choose!"
Isshin faced the man with a tore expression.
"I will forgive you tonight! But soon you will have to choose! Masaki or Ichigo! That's your punishment for defying me!"
After that, he disappeared.
.
.
Orhime started to shake as the mask was getting closer.
"You're not, Kurosaki-kun…" she said with a broken voice.
"You bet, I'm not!" a mad voice answered.
Her eyes widened, but the next second she came back to her senses and she faced the creature with a determined expression.
"Then give Kurosaki-kun back to me!" she demanded.
In reply the creature laugh and grabbed her neck, strangling her.
"It's because of women like you that he ended up like this! And I don't even know if I should thank you!"
"Let her go!" Isshida yelled from behind, ready to shoot him.
"D-don't! Please, Ishida… give me a little more time…" Orihime begged, while she was slowly losing her consciousness.
Meanwhile Isshin and Yoruichi also joined the scene.
"That's Ichigo!" Isshin snapped.
"I know already!" Yoruichi yelled angrily, but her eyes was visibly worried. On the other side, Ishhin was also blocked unable to react. He was holding tight his zanpakuto, but he knew he will not be able to use it since he would have never been capable of raising the blade against his son.
"Isshin!" Youruichi shouted as she looked at the opened sly and the menos that were absorbed by Arrancar. "The menos are giving more power to Ichigo! We must close the hole!"
"What about Ichigo?" Isshin asked.
Yoruichi looked down at Orihime.
"We should let her handle Ichigo! You kill the menos while I'll close the hole using kido!
Then she turned to Ishida.
"Ishida! Aim for the menos! They'll weaken Ichigo!"
Ishida lift his arch, Ishhin shunpoed to the menos and Yoruichi started to invoke ways of binding. Meanwhile Orihime raised her hands and touched her hairclips.
"Don't try to fight back! It's futile!" the Arrancar growled as he lift his sword
Orihime pierced the white mask with a forcefully glare as if those words weren't touching her and the hand around her neck wasn't hurting her.
"Ichigo defeated you once. This time I will do it for him!" she spoke and as she took a deep breath she shouted: "Shoten Kisshun! I reject!"
Suddenly her whole body exploded in a warn light that captured the Arrancar inside.
"What?!" the Arrancar growled and pushed Orihime on the street go as if her touch was burning him. "What's this? Make it go AWAY! Too much light!"
"It's my turn to tell you to not fight back. Your resistance is futile!" she said coldly as she got up with her whole body glowing as a star in the middle of an endless night.
"Don't look at me with those eyes! They're gaze is burning me!" the Arrancar yelled, but Orihime continued to pierce him with those inexorable eyes, transcending a power that she didn't know she could possess. The Arrancar slowly fell in its knees painfully growling. His howl appeared to penetrate the deepness of that night and turn every ear frozen and deaf in fear. He was fighting the light that captured him, he was fighting Orihime's eyes… but above all he was fighting himself to the point that his growl became almost human.
In that moment Orihime startled with worry.
"Kurosaki-kun!" she shouted as she heard that painfully human sound coming from behind the white mask.
"Kurosaki-kun!" she cried and threw herself over him, embracing with her whole body.
"Go away! GO AWAY WOMAN!" the Arrancar yelled, but held him tighter.
"Kurosaki-kun!" she cried. "Don't give in! Fight Ichigo because everybody is here for you: Oto-san… Ishida-kun… Yoruichi-san… I am here for you!"
The Arrancar's body froze.
"I am here for you, ICHIGO! COME BACK!"
The mask cracked and the Arrancar eye's widened in fear and hate.
"Damn… y-you woman!" He whined with a cracked voice.
After that, the silence fell while with a shivering body she held him tighter than ever. Then the Mask started to fall apart along with the whole body and Orihime's eyes widened full of tears as she discovered Ichigo underneath the cracked mask. He's eyes were openly starring at her with a torn expression.
"Inoue…" he whispered as he recognized her. "I'm sorry…"
She shook her head as she was trying to swallow her tears, but before she could say something Isshin, Yoruichi and Ishida appeared.
"Ichigo!" Isshin snapped transfigured from fear and angry. "What the hell was that?! Are you trying to kill yourself?"
"Take it easy, oldman! Save your preaching for later!" Yoruichi cut in as she lend a hand to Ichigo in order get him up. "How are you feeling? Did you come back to your senses?"
"Forgive me… Forgive me, all of you…" Ichigo mourned with a weak but guilty voice.
From behind Orihime was watching the whole scene unable to say a word, until Ishida took her by shoulders.
"Are you alright?"
She nodded affirmatively, but her eyes were still lingering on Ichigo.
"Let's all go home!" Isshin concluded. "Orihime, Ishida come!"
Ishida turned to his fiancé, uncomfortable with Isshin's proposal, but when he saw Orihime following the others, the only thing he added was:
"We'll met you at home! We're taking the car. Come Orihime."
Orihime saved one more glimpse of Ichigo's tormented expression and then she silently followed Ishida to the car, while the others disappeared with a shunpo. Before she left she though she heard Ichigo saying once again: "Forgive me…" so she waited by the car a couple of more seconds.
"What are you doing Orihime? Get in the car…."
She waited, but nothing came after that. He didn't call for her. In the end Ishida turned the engine and they both left that place. The street remained silent as if nothing had happened there and slowly the twilight broke into a beautiful sunrise, announcing the beginning of a new day and not only. Along with that sunrise a gate was opened in the sky and what not long ago used to be one of the most respectful shinigamis in Seireitei, stepped in.
Rukia was back in Karakura and her heart was popping out of her chest on the thought she will soon see Ichigo and give him the great news.
.
.
.
.
...Or maybe i could force a faster update, but it depends on your reviews! Anyway the next chapter is supposed to have a bit of ichiruki happy ending. :)