This War's Not Over: Chapter 12
I'll Pick Up The Pieces
I've recently read other people's fics and I had no idea they were so similar! Argh. XP I promise I'll make mine unique! :D
Thanks for all your votes…I think we have a clear win on that one. ^^"
I'll probably use Hollow Ichigo's new name in the chapter after next or something, so others who haven't had a chance to vote, it's now or never!
So pleased to update another chapter so fast! :D
Thanks for all you encouraging reviews and enjoy this next chapter. :)
Rukia passed over the inner hollow's shoulder, her sword drawn, her eyes narrowed in fury. She landed behind the hollow, her teeth grinding together and her face flushed.
"Well what do you know?" the hollow smirked, turning around with a fresh cut on the side of his cheek. "You fight so much better when you're angry."
Rukia was so furious, she didn't even know what to spit back at him. She tried to cover up her doubts with anger and indignation, but somehow this…this hollow had read her blade.
"That's…that's not the truth," Rukia denied angrily. "You can't read the heart of your opponents like Ichigo does!"
"Look sweetheart, I understand that it can be a bit of a sho—"
He was cut off by Rukia unleashing a freezing white blizzard on him, catching him by surprise and freezing his left arm.
"Don't call me sweetheart!" Rukia screamed, infuriated.
The hollow looked numbly at his encased arm, before another sardonic smile appeared on his lips. "I had no idea that your spiritual pressure lowers when you're thinking about other people."
"Tsukishiro!" Rukia commanded, her brows knitted tightly together, rage plastered all across her face.
The pillar of ice encased the hollow, but she knew that he would easily break through.
This was not going how she had expected things to go. At all.
He's toying with me.
It wasn't like as if the hollow cared about whatever her heart said anyway. Rukia had probably become nothing more than another source of entertainment for the duplicate. When he attacked in earnest, being as wounded as he was, she wouldn't be able to match him. Rukia knew that. She had to finish him now.
As soon as the hollow broke through the ice, she followed up with her next attack. How dare he make assumptions that weren't true?
"Tsugi No Mai, Hakuren!"
As the whirlwind smashed into the hollow, Rukia moved in to ensue with another one of her attacks. She had to keep going or she was finished.
But to her horror, as she neared the fog, the hollow had sonidoed in front of her and was now smashing her into a building by her neck. Rukia let out a pained cry, the blood she spat splattering all over the hollow's hand.
"Fine, if that's how you want to play it."
The hollow had surely had enough now. Rukia was sure of it. Pain seared through her body as her face was dragged across the icy building, the cold burning her skin.
He finally let go, letting her drop down onto the ground once more. She sat coughing and spluttering, her face red with burns.
"You can't say it's not King's fault now. You're here because of him in the first place right?" the hollow hissed.
Rukia staggered upwards, but as she did so, light-headedness took over and she crashed back down to the ground. As he approached her, she realized she was completely helpless against him. Like a lamb. And the reason why he had gone easy on her for this long was unknown to her.
But now, he designated the frozen array of buildings, his eyes cold and filled with bitterness. "Look at this place! When King trips into despair, his world usually fills with water. But now, there is only ice, this form of water that will not disappear and remains glued to the buildings, preventing any growth! It is so easy to break that Aizen can shatter it with his own hands."
Rukia had finally had enough time to stand up now, taking one last desperate step forwards, trying over and over again.
"If you let me heal you, I will clear the ice from this world and cover it with snow."
Urahara could only watch nervously as another trickle of blood ran down Rukia's lips and she remained comatose in a bed beside Ichigo.
Should I go help her?
He had deliberated so long, tormented on leaving the lieutenant alone against what he knew lurked in Ichigo's soul. But if he left, who would be there to keep the energy of the stone that powered the confrontation stabilized? He simply couldn't leave.
I promise I'll come up with something. Don't die or Ichigo will kill me too.
Rukia hated being laughed at when she was being honest. Right now, the hollow had his head thrown back in a fit of laughter. Rukia's fists tightened, her anger and impatience starting to resurface again. How dare he mock her again?
Finally, after a while, the hollow seemed to regain a grip on himself, but Rukia noticed now that the laugh wasn't for mockery, but rather, to express the bitterness that had now taken a permanent seat in his eyes.
"It's too late sweetheart. This world will sooner or later disappear, and there will be no one to blame but King. Give up and leave."
Rukia widened her base to keep herself from falling over. "You'll have to kill me. I'm not leaving until I've healed the injured part of Ichigo's soul. So feel free to go ahead and try."
"I think I'll take your word for that," said the alter ego's harsh voice, his eyes glittering.
Rukia was beginning to wonder with a pang if Ichigo's feelings were beginning to wear off the hollow, because the sadistic look had returned in his eyes. Unless Urahara had—
Dammit, what the hell is that shopkeeper up to?
Rukia let out a loud gasp as the hollow's blade cut into her sword like butter. The sword's tip made a clinking noise as it clattered to the ground.
"Sodeno Shirayuki!" Rukia panted.
"Looks like you'll be fighting with a broken sword now," the hollow said, but to Rukia's surprise, there wasn't his trademark grin on his face.
Rukia only then noticed that the blood from his wound was splattering all over the ice, and the hollow seemed to be having more and more of a difficulty breathing. Rukia threw herself in to attack, her fury replaced by stubbornness. "I won't leave."
She clashed her broken sword with his, shocked to see the displeasure appearing on the hollow's face. "Even if you heal me, this world will soon disappear to form a new one. It's inevitable. Leave or I'll kill you!"
Merging souls didn't matter much to Rukia, because saving the two counterparts from bleeding to death was her first priority now.
Rukia sprang away, her face puzzled. Something's odd. He was only threatening her, but he never actually seemed to be fulfilling his threats. And for a moment, Rukia thought she caught a glimpse of Ichigo again in the hollow, telling her to leave and save herself before the hollow's instincts overpowered Ichigo's and actually killed her. "Leave."
But knowing now that the hollow was still holding back because of Ichigo's confusing emotions, she could put in another attempt of confusing him further until he finally broke down.
"I can't read your heart, but any fool can see the hesitation in your eyes," Rukia challenged, taking a more confident step forwards.
At this the hollow backed away, his eyes full of indecision. This was nothing more than a game of confusing and discouraging the other person, Rukia realized with a slight tint of humor. She immediately squashed that feeling down. Stupid.
Rukia couldn't tear her eyes away from the inner hollow's wound, which had grown considerably since the beginning of the fight.
"Please don't fight," Rukia begged. "You'll both—"
"Shut up."
Suddenly, to the petite soul reaper's terror, Ichigo's inner world began to shake. Rukia hit the floor, her heart filling with despair. Ichigo's soul really was falling apart to form a new one.
The hollow planted his zanpakuto in the ground to support him, his head bent down, his hand trying to cover his wound as it got even worse, breathing feverishly. That definitely wasn't a good sign.
When the quake finally stopped, Rukia got up again, completely disoriented by the shaking. She had been so concerned with herself that she hadn't noticed Ichigo's counterpart fall forwards and crash to the ground, his eyes closing and his body going limp.
"Hollow!" Rukia yelled in alarm, racing towards him.
She crouched down, gasping as a pool of blood was starting to accumulate around the hollow. The instability in Ichigo's soul must have completely drained the hollow of his consciousness. Rukia was beginning to worry about Ichigo's own state.
She hesitantly rolled over the unconscious hollow onto his front to prevent him from drowning in his own blood. Crimson stained his snow-white hair, and it was odd to see the hollow's unconscious face when moments before it had been twisted in anger.
The inner hollow's vision was blurry as they slowly opened, letting out a wheeze as yet another trickle of blood ran down the side of his lips. The anger that had momentarily been paused rose within him again. His bitterness towards King had not changed. It was all Ichigo's fault that they were in this crap. And now he had to be dragged down with the King and suffer with whatever shit Aizen had given them.
Trust, the hollow ripped the word to pieces in his head. Zangetsu had been wrong all along when he'd told the hollow to make Ichigo trust him and to lend King his powers. There was no such thing as trust between them.
Because trust is a mutual thing right? By lending the King his powers, the hollow was forced to trust Ichigo. Then, King had ignored and suppressed him as soon as the hard times had passed.
Bitterness swelled in the hollow, not only towards King, but also to his own foolishness for going along with what Zangetsu suggested.
As his vision began to recover, and his wound strangely better, the counterpart lifted his head as he distinguished a petite figure crouching over him.
With a gush of shock and anger, the hollow sat bolt upright, grabbing his zanpakuto that had been left beside him and pointed it at Rukia's throat.
"What are you doing?" the hollow growled, letting a snarl rip through his throat.
But despite being at sword point, the girl remained quiet and calm, her hands still held up to harbor the green light that was meant to be healing his wound.
"What does it look like?" the petite replied coolly.
The hollow absolutely hated this girl. This Rukia—this Kuchiki Rukia that Ichigo had gone literally all the way to the afterlife to go and save. This girl that Ichigo smiled at and protect when the only thing she deserved was to die.
And yet—here she was now, the target of all his hatred, staring at him as if he was some part of Ichigo's soul that needed to be healed. The hollow almost admitted to himself that that's why he hated the girl. There was no hint of fear in her eyes. He hated it.
His mouth opened, but then closed again, appalled that he couldn't find anything to spit back at her. And then there was these feelings—these stupid, unnecessary feelings that made King weak, that were tugging at him, making him go soft on her. Hated it.
Because Rukia's feelings towards them was now no longer unrequited.
And the hollow could feel it.
Their souls really were merging together. Every once and awhile, there would be King's memories that would interrupt the counterpart's own thoughts.
Ichigo's duplicate couldn't take it anymore—there was just too much. Too much feelings. He wished he could throw them away. Feelings made you weak.
He needed to get rid of it—now.
With his anger bubbling within him, the inner hollow let out a blast of reiatsu, pushing Rukia out of Ichigo's mindscape.
"Disappear."
Rukia looked up, alarmed by the sudden blast of reiatsu. The petite let out an surprised cry as her body began to dissipate from the inner world, gradually vanishing.
He didn't care. He wasn't Ichigo. He didn't need to be healed.
Rukia awoke from her comatose state with a jolt, her eyes flying open. She sat up, wiping away the blood that had accumulated on her face. She turned her head from side to side, confused. What had happened? Had the hollow…pushed her out? This was the Urahara Shoten.
"Kuchiki-san! I'm glad you're back safely!" Urahara's voice said cheerfully.
Rukia glanced over to Ichigo, triumph spreading through her body: the wound had been completely healed before the hollow had sent her out.
"You did surprisingly well Kuchiki-san!" Urahara continued to praise her.
Rukia passed Urahara, elbowing him in the face again.
"That's for not telling me what kind of shit I was going to go through in there."
While Urahara clutched his face, Rukia marched towards the door. She hesitated before sliding the shop's door open, turning back around.
"You better take care of him, Urahara. I'm going to go report to Ichigo's family. Ring me if…anything happens," Rukia said haltingly.
She was in deperate need for a rest. She felt completely sleep deprived and most of all, she was in desperate need of first aid for her face.
Her expression softened. At least she didn't have any broken bones or anything.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Rukia walked at a snail's pace towards the Kurosaki Residence. She was really starting to feel the after-effects of her fight. She tried not to think about what she experienced back there, because it was simply not possible. After Kaien's death, there was no such thing to Rukia about fallling in love.
It was just...impossible.
When Ichigo opened his eyes, he was in desperate need of a bucket to throw up in. He'd never felt so sick in his life.
His breathing ragged, he flipped over onto his front from underneath the covers, wincing at the healing wound in his stomach.
"You shouldn't move Kurosaki-san. If you open them up again, I believe Kuchiki-san will be very angry," Urahara smiled from beside his fan.
Ichigo was instantly reminded of his fight with Aizen.
"What…happened?"
He felt so odd. He felt like he was walking in a body that didn't belong to him any more. Shock slowly spread across his features as Urahara ran him through everything they had happened and what they had discovered and achieved.
Anger rose in Ichigo. "Rukia entered my soul?"
"Y-Yes. She encountered your hollow there. In fact, it was the injured part of your soul," Urahara gave an uneasy smile.
Ichigo grew unusually nervous, his expression a mixture of anger and guilt. "Is—is she hurt? Did he…hurt her?"
"Only a few cuts and bruises," Urahara assured the teen.
Ichigo stood up, his fury taking over. "Don't you realize that he could have killed her?"
But a feeling of nausea made Ichigo race to the toilet, his hand in front of his mouth. Urahara stood awkwardly in front of the locked door, his eyes full of concern. "Are you okay in there, Kurosaki-san?"
The only thing he heard was a horrified yelp, before Ichigo burst through the door, his mismatched eyes wide. He pointed at his left eye, his usual brown pupil replaced with an animal-like yellow. "What the fuck is this?"
Urahara took a step back from the infuriated teen. "I told you. Your souls are merging together—isn't it obvious you could take your hollow's appearance as well?"
Ichigo had his head in his hands, completely horrified. "This can't happen…! I was only supposed to be a hollow in Hueco Mundo!"
Urahara gave a reassuring smile. "Calm down. I found something that can freeze the merging of your souls—but it only works in the world of the living. The miasma in Hueco Mundo is beyond my control."
After recovering from his throwing up and gathering his emotions, Ichigo followed Urahara, eager to find a way to stop the merging. While Ichigo waited for Urahara to get whatever it was from his basement, Ichigo settled to just simply staring out the window.
His senses ringed as they signaled to him a hollow was close. Ichigo could practically hear its footsteps.
Without a moments thought, Ichigo dashed out of the Urahara Shoten, keen to stretch his muscles a bit. He found the hollow a little away from the shop and as Ichigo killed it, he felt this inexplicable feeling to laugh.
It bubbled inside Ichigo until the teen finally burst out into thrilled laugh. He'd never felt so good in his life. The rush of killing that hollow and—
Ichigo stopped abruptly as he saw Urahara standing there with an alarmed expression on his face. Ichigo blinked, shaking his head. What the hell was he doing?
"Eh…" Ichigo started.
"I think I should really give you the object I invented so we can stop the merging, shall we?" Urahara said with yet another nervous laugh.
Ichigo wondered if the shopkeeper was questioning Ichigo mental state right now.
"Er, yes let's," Ichigo mumbled.
He plodded after Urahara, shooting one last look at where he had felt that elation of striking his enemy down. He shivered. It seemed that the hollow's instincts was overlapping into Ichigo's mind as well.
Ichigo stared at the object like it had teeth. "This is it?"
It was a long white chain.
"Let me demonstrate," Urahara flashed Ichigo his very worrying smile.
Ichigo held Tensa Zangetsu, which had retaken the form he had used against his final fight with Aizen. He really was changing back into the 0 Espada. Ichigo tensed as the white chain looked fairly similar to the black chain that was wrapped around his arm.
"Watch," Urahara said.
He wrapped the white chain around tensa zangetsu's blade in a loose manner so that if Ichigo ever had to fight, his blade would still slice someone in half.
The chain immediately coiled around Ichigo's blade, Ichigo jumping as he felt his reiatsu go frantic at the sudden interference of the chain's suppressing feeling. Ichigo staggered, dazed, falling back onto his chair.
Ichigo stared at the white chain that was now wrapped around his blade. "What did it just do?"
"It builds an invisible wall that separates your hollow's reiatsu and yours to leak into each others any further. It should freeze the merging, not stop it completely, I warn you."
"Right," Ichigo nodded.
He still felt terribly sick. But he decided not to tell Urahara that. He didn't want to cause any unnecessary alarm.
"Thanks Urahara-san," Ichigo said with a tight smile. "I should be getting back to my family now."
"Kurosaki-san. I'm pretty sure you were in a comatose state because of the Hogyoku when we said this but—I think it would be wise if I informed you of Aizen's plans."
Ichigo turned away from the door. "Spill it."
So Urahara went through the displeasure of telling Ichigo about Aizen's plans to create a second Hogyoku to wish for the King's Key.
When Ichigo went home, he felt completely lost. To him, he was losing this war terribly. If another hogyoku was created, it would surely mean the end. He remembered Urahara's ominous words. "Take my advice and go to Hueco Mundo to destroy it. Otherwise, there is no hope left for any of us if Aizen kills the Spirit King."
Ichigo wanted to make the best of this last night with his friends and family, because due to the merging complications, Ichigo feared that once he arrived in Hueco Mundo, he would never be able to return.
Next chapter will be the grand revelation, which practically answers all of Ichigo's questions! ^^
Please tell me if you think my characters are too out of character and review! :D (I'm always worried about that cause I really hate it when they are ^^")
Will update soon.