This War's Not Over: Chapter 3

When it rains, it pours

Hi everyone! I'm trying to update as many chapters as I can before I leave for a school trip next week.

Thanks again for the reviews (they make me very very happy). ^^

Enjoy

I don't understand. Rukia sat watching as Ichigo's entire body was wracked with a massive shudder. She listened to his breathing, which had become hoarse and raspy from his earlier screaming. This is so deja vu. Rukia remembered when she had sat in Ichigo's room when he had been injured in his fight with Grimmjow. Except right now they were at Urahara's shop.

Rukia cupped her hands around her mug, hunching her shoulders in an effort to stay warm. It's so cold. She shivered. Her hands tightened around the mug. She felt so helpless. Ichigo was suffering for some reason that she couldn't determine. He had been out cold for a whole day now. She frowned, her mind flashing back to when she saw Aizen behind Ichigo. Had the traitor cut him? There was no wound. But Rukia had caught a glimpse of the purple vines that had come from Aizen to in some ways hurt Ichigo. Rukia bit her lip. So stupid. If she hadn't agreed to let Ichigo fight Aizen on his own, if she had been there to hopefully make a difference, this wouldn't have happened. Guilt spread through her like ivy on a tree.

A cheery voice interrupted Rukia's thoughts. "Mah, don't look so down Kuchiki-san!"

Rukia turned to face the hearty shopkeeper, ignoring his comment. "Did you find anything?"

Urahara's face fell. "I'm still looking. So far I haven't found anything—except…"

He trailed off, but Rukia wasn't going to let him hide anything from her. "Except what?"

"There's a change in Kurosaki-san's reiatsu…I recall that with his fight with Grimmjow in the world of the living, Grimmjow's reiatsu intermingled with Kurosaki-san's own, leaving him injured," Urahara said reluctantly.

Rukia's eyes narrowed. "And?"

"It seems that it's the Hogyoku's reiatsu this time that has mixed with Kurosaki-san's own—that's why he's in the state that he is. Although what really stumps me is why Kurosaki-san is having such a feverish reaction to it… For now he's stable but…with the Hogyoku, you can never be sure."

Rukia's fists tightened as she took in the information. It seemed so little to work with. The two of them both jumped as Ishida's voice startled them.

"Aizen left as soon as Kurosaki was hurt. He must have been targeting Kurosaki since the beginning, trying to take down whoever seemed most of a threat. Is it possible that Aizen is afraid of Kurosaki?"

"It is a possibility," Urahara responded.

They both glanced at Rukia, but she didn't seem to be listening, too absorbed in her own thoughts.

"Kisuke," a feminine voice interrupted their pondering.

They all turned to look hopefully at Yoruichi. "What did you find out?"

Yoruichi's eyes narrowed, one hand on her hip. "I went to Soul Society to see the damage. The Seireitei seems to be recovering, but some of the captains have sustained serious injuries due to Kyokasuigetsu's power."

Everyone had the same reaction as all their shoulders hunched. Was Aizen resuming the Winter War? Rukia absent-mindedly swapped the wet towel on Ichigo's forehead. Ishida leaned on the door, pondering.

The only thing they hadn't noticed was that Yoruichi had slipped out of the room, signaling with her head for Urahara to follow.

Urahara followed the goddess of flash into another room, quietly closing the door behind him. Yoruichi stopped then turned towards him, her eyes gleaming with worry.

"What is it Yoruichi-san?"

Yoruichi bit her lip, her yellow eyes clouding. "There's something else."

Urahara raised a brow.

"Some of the captains heard…that when Aizen broke out—he said—that he was planning to create a second Hogyoku."

It hurts.

I… can't move… Ichigo winced. He was floating in the darkness again. There seemed to be a cycle to all this. First, he was floating. Then it would come to the moment where he would begin to sink into the floor. I have to get out of here! Ichigo thought desperately. He tried to move once more, but to no avail. Ichig cried out for help again. The soul reapers hadn't come. They wouldn't come now. Ichigo's eyes closed in defeat, and drifted into unconsciousness once again.

The next time Ichigo woke up, he was surprised to find solid floor underneath him. He was face down on the black ground and his immobility hadn't evolved. Ichigo couldn't have moved if he'd wanted to anyway. He felt so weak.

Ichigo bristled as footsteps echoed towards him. Ichigo, who was deprived of movement, couldn't look up. But he could tell who it was because of the white sandals, blacks socks and the bottom of a white shihakusho. Ichigo did his best to look defiant but the truth was that he felt completely helpless. His inner hollow could do whatever he wanted now. If his inner hollow was going to kill him, no matter how painful, Ichigo would stare him down with whatever pride he had left. Ichigo tried to fill his gaze with contempt.

He could just see his hollow smirk, his lips pulled back over his fangs.

"Don't give me that scary look. I did warn you didn't I?"

Ichigo managed to snarl. His alter ego grinned with pleasure. Ichigo knew more than anybody that his counterpart wasn't interested in anything that didn't fight back. So Ichigo decided to play along, to try and buy some time for something, anything. But his inner hollow saw through it. His lips twisted downwards.

"No one's going to come and save you. You're the savior, remember?"

"…Screw you."

At this, his counterpart's lips twisted upwards again. "You know, you and I just might get along with that kind of language."

Ichigo wasn't going to give in to this worthless excuse for someone posing as him. Ichigo's teeth grinded in effort as he planted one hand on the floor flat surface, pushing himself up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

And as if to prove his point, Ichigo let out a scream as the purple vines appeared on his shoulder and began to crawl up his neck. He crash back down, now free to move, but only to express his agony. He writhed and squirmed on the ground while his hollow stared down at him, his yellow eyes showing nothing.

The vines halted their climb when they reached his jaw line before disappearing once more. As the pain began to recede, Ichigo curled into a tight ball, his breaths coming out in short, exerted gasps. Shame prickled through Ichigo for acting so helpless in front of his sworn enemy. His hollow only leered at him, crouching down at the teen's shaking figure.

"Whatever that bastard Aizen did, it's working."

Ichigo only stared blankly at the ground, saying nothing. His inner stared at him searchingly, trying to see if Ichigo would respond. His eyes narrowed when Ichigo didn't.

"Guess I'll take you out of your misery then."

Ichigo wondered at the back of his head why his hollow was acting so merciful towards him. Death seemed like a good escape to Ichigo right now. The young teen could see from the corner of his eyes his counterpart unwrap the white version of Zangetsu and raising it for a killing blow.

Ichigo remained still. He had no strength left. He really was going to die here. No one is going to come.

"What?" Urahara stared intently at Yoruichi for another confirmation. Urahara continued to stare until he realized Yoruichi wasn't joking.

He gave a disgruntled sigh, pulling his hat over to shadow his eyes. "This is not good."

"Kisuke. Why do you think Aizen is trying to make another Hogyoku? He's already merged with the first," Yoruichi said, shaking her head slowly.

Kisuke held a hand to his chin, looking up at the sky to show he was thinking.

"If what you say is true, then Aizen's changing strategies. He's low on arrancars to go to war with, but I doubt he needs them, with all the reiatsu he has. But the Hogyoku in his body probably only grants him his desires to enhance his body's power, since it's merged with him. The reason why he's trying to create another Hogyoku…my guess would be to grant Aizen's desire for the King's Key—which is something outside of Aizen's body that the first Hogyoku cannot grant."

Yoruichi stiffened, summarizing. "So you're saying he thinks Karakura isn't worth the risk just to get a thousand souls, because he is low on soldiers."

"Probably. But he could be just fooling us."

Yoruichi was already leaving, "I'll talk about this with Ukitake and Kyoraku."

Before Kisuke could reply, she had flash-stepped away.

Kisuke lowered his head, putting a hand on his hat, before looking back up at the sky. "My, oh my. With Aizen's experience, I'm sure he'll have this second Hogyoku ready soon."

Ichigo felt a rush of air as the sword swung down towards him. It didn't hit him. The ground made a metallic screeching sound right by his ear. Ichigo opened his eyes. The white version of Zangetsu was right next to his head, not in his head.

"Pathetic."

Ichigo stared at his inner hollow in confusion. Why hadn't his counterpart killed him? Ichigo was surprised to see the disappointment flicker through his hollow's eyes—maybe because Ichigo wasn't putting up a fight or something. Ichigo raised his upper body by pushing himself up on his elbows, wincing. But his evil counterpart's sudden grip on his neck made him crash back down. Ichigo gasped for air, his fingers clawing at his hollow's pale hand. The vines started to climb again, until they reached his lip. Ichigo immediately released his grasp on his alter ego, going limp with pain, and his body shuddering. The agony was so great that Ichigo had already lost his will to live. His inner hollow could see that.

Despite the pain, Ichigo remembered what he had told himself to do, as his duplicate's hold didn't lessen. Ichigo would stare him down. It's okay. I can die here. But when he opened his eyes, Ichigo was even more shocked. His hollow's eyes were narrowed, not with the murderous intent he had seen him with so many times before, but more with an angry expression. It reminded Ichigo of the hollowfied Tensa Zangetsu's look.

"King…If you keep this up we're both going to die!"

And that's when Ichigo noticed the purple vines climbing up his hollow's jaw.

Hope that didn't give away too much…

My chapters are going up quick cause I'm still on holidays so I got more time to spare.

Next week will be more spaced out.

Thanks again for everyone's support ^^

Please keep review to tell me what you think!