Chapter Twenty
The Last Light of Day…
Rays of early evening sunset cascaded across Ichigo's face. Blinded for a second he thought about getting up to close the curtains. Rukia's face blocked his vision as he fell back on his bed.
So this is what happens when your girlfriend isn't living with you.
Rukia continued kissing him as if the world were about to end…was it, he wondered. He could care less. She smelled nice…looked stunning in the sunset colors and any second someone in his family would finally interrupt him actually doing something worthy of embarrassment.
Rukia pulled away remembering to breathe. She stared at his features. They would be alright, she thought to herself.
Ichigo pushed up on his elbows and kissed her forehead.
"What," he asked.
"For a long time," she started moving to sit against the bed frame, "I didn't think I deserved to be loved. I've carried guilt around for so long."
"Guilt when no one even blames you," he said moving to sit beside her.
"I tried to do what was expected of me. No matter what I do I'm still a noble from the Kuchiki household. I have considered my brothers wishes and I considered everyone's feelings and I lost sight of what I wanted," she said.
"What does Rukia want," Ichigo asked wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
She turned and gazed at him, "Rukia loves Ichigo and she wants nothing more than to be with him."
"Sounds weird when you say it that way," he lazily ran a finger down her arm.
She punched him in the gut.
"What was that for," he groaned.
"I love you. I just said I love you and you said I sound weird," she said.
"I love you. I think I love you more," he said.
She punched him again.
"Ouch, that could have hit something vital," he said.
"Be grateful I didn't aim for your face," she said.
"That's nothing to be grateful for," he said feeling for signs of broken ribs.
"I want to go with you on this mission. I want to be there with you but I know the order is out and they will-
"No, don't say any more. We both know I belong here, you belong there. I'll just have to be where you are and you'll have to find a way to be wherever I am," he said.
He smirked and met her lips. The talk was over he wanted to kiss her some more.
Over the past months Rukia did everything to push Ichigo away. She convinced herself that it was the only way to save her friendship with Orihime. She convinced herself that the Gotei 13 or the Central 46 would stand between them.
Being with Orihime would be one giant lie to him. It would be going against his feelings and he was glad they finally resolved that struggle. As for the Seireitei leadership he would have to deal with them as they came at him. One thing he vowed was to protect and there was no way he would sit back helpless as they took her away from him.
They were right together and he knew this better than anything else in his life.
"Your mind is somewhere else," Rukia said snapping him back to attention.
Color flooded his cheeks as he realized just how cozy they were. His hands wandered beneath her clothes their bodies dangerously close. At nearly the same moment he realized just where he was and sat up freeing his hands.
Rukia laughed to herself casually lying back on his pillow yawning.
"You can't sleep there," he said drawing the curtains shut.
At any moment he was sure that someone in his family would bust in the door.
"You're right they can see me now so good thinking shutting the curtains," she teased following his movements with her eyes.
"I'm serious you can't sleep in my bed," he said.
It was the serious look she knew too well. This is too easy.
"Now that you shut out the neighbors I don't see why not," she said closing her eyes.
"My family could come back at any moment. What would my sisters think if they see what I…I mean …what I mean is; you can't stay there," he said.
Now that he was much older his dad finally started setting ground rules. Or perhaps he knew he had something to worry about now. Yuzu and Karin were getting older and the rules were likely more for their benefit. Truthfully Isshin would rather worry about Ichigo than his precious daughters in that department.
"Relax Ichigo no one is going to come in your room let alone care if I'm here," she said.
"How can you say that," he asked.
"Kisuke," she answered.
"Kisuke?"
"They went somewhere safer until we can figure out what's going on with all the strange hollows," she answered eyes still closed.
Ichigo was silent for a while thinking about his family's spiritual pressure.
Good they are alright.
"Kon?"
"He won't bother us if he knows what's good for him," Rukia replied.
She opened her eyes as Ichigo sat back down on the bed. Sitting up beside him she said, "You have a lot of friends capable of helping you. You ought to know that by now."
"You really are tired aren't you," he asked.
She started to get up from the bed and he held her arm.
"You don't have to sleep in the closet or anything. Let's just try to keep our hands off each other," he said.
Look who's talking.
"Easy enough but you'll likely knock me off the bed as wild as you sleep," she said.
"I do not sleep wild. Anyway how do you know you don't watch me sleep…that's just crazy…I will sleep on the floor," he said.
"You don't sleep wild nor do anything embarrassing so stop worrying so much. You just have great reflexes," she said.
"Rukia stop lying," he said.
"I didn't want to hurt your feelings," she sang.
After a drawn out discussion about sleep Ichigo slept on the floor as he planned to. Rukia took over his bed. Shortly after midnight he woke to find her cuddled up beside him so he carried her back to the bed and climbed beside her.
"You win," he whispered as he watched her sleep.
000
The streets were dangerous after midnight at least that is what everyone always said. Orihime knew it to be too true. A lot of evil savored the darkness.
Uryû and the light seemed to live clear on the other side of town. Somehow she knew they would always be separated like this. That is what she convinced herself of anyway.
As she walked her mind sought out the other lights. The light she sought was her friends' spiritual energies'. It was no wonder Uryû seemed to be ready to battle the Hollows so often. They were all drawn to the cluster of friends closest to Ichigo while Uryû lived farthest from them.
000
Most humans over used the phrase intuition. For the Shinigami the word was not to be ignored. Perhaps instinct was better in this situation. Instinctively Rukia took notice of the absence of Ichigo's spiritual pressure. The eerie silence of the Kurosaki home/clinic harried Rukia's intuition.
Sitting up in Ichigo's bed she looked around. Everything was in order and nothing seemed missing. No one was missing but Ichigo himself. Nothing out of the ordinary appeared before her. She did wonder how she got in this bed again…I could have sworn I slept on the floor.
Why do I get this feeling…
Ichigo wasn't asleep on the futons below her. But she couldn't sense his presence anywhere in the house or outside for that matter. It wasn't like him to leave futons in the middle of the floor. Ichigo's room was always tidy.
Thinking that he could be concealing his Reishi she put it out of her mind. Perhaps Kisuke had something to do with his disappearance after all.
Rummaging through Ichigo's closet for her clothes and toiletries she laughed to herself. She knew the big deal Ichigo would make of her storing stuff in his room. The truth is every one of his Shinigami pals had something stored here.
The task of getting ready for the day kept the uneasy feelings from getting the best of her.
As she left the Kurosaki home she checked the soul pager several times. With nothing to report and no messages she headed for Kisuke's shop.
People rushed about to various tasks. The breeze was cool and crisp. The sunlight illuminated the sky and it seemed like a perfect partly cloudy day was ahead.
Rukia entered the shop taking notice of Kon in Ichigo's form sitting on the floor with the others.
Kisuke spoke up, "We were expecting you."
"Where's Ichigo," Rukia asked.
"That's the sort of question we were all here to figure out," Kisuke said.
"Kon weren't you at the house," Rukia asked.
"In the middle of a perfect dream that jerk stole me away from my perfect body," Kon answered.
"Never mind all that. What happened and where did he go," Rukia asked.
"None of us know," Kisuke said.
Rukia looked over the faces of those gathered. It made no sense to her why he would disappear discarding his spiritual pressure unless he had none to detect. A cold chill ran up her spine. Nothing made sense to her in this moment. Kon was in plush form but for what purpose? Why would Ichigo bother?
"We were hoping that you would know where he went," Uryû asked.
Rukia noticed that Orihime looked away. Would things ever really be alright between them again, she wondered.
"This isn't the first time he's left on his own. Is there any chance he's with Shinji and the others," Rukia asked.
"The Visoreds," Orihime asked.
"We already looked into that," Uryû replied.
It bothered her that no one knew. Even the strongest among them couldn't sense Ichigo's spiritual pressure. The time Ichigo spent with the Visoreds renewed the troubled feelings in her soul. How strong do you need to become Ichigo?
Rukia's thoughts were interrupted by Isshin who announced his own theory, "it's looking more like he was taken."
"Mr. Kurosaki?" Everyone spun around looking at him.
"In that case we just have to find him," Isshin said.
"Perhaps everyone is a bit on edge for no reason at all," Orihime said.
The faces surrounding her did not change.
"Ichigo wouldn't just take off without any of his friends knowing where he was going," Orihime tried again.
The problem was that everyone in the room knew he would if he thought it would keep them out of harm's way. Renji hoped that wasn't the case. It would be a lot easier for him to deal with someone taking Ichigo against his will; than Ichigo leaving them behind because they were too weak.
"Hey everyone didn't you hear what I said at all," Kon said.
"The bigger worry is Ichigo. I'm sure that you can manage without your body," Kisuke said.
Rukia felt for Kon. It must have been some trauma for him to be stripped of his body like that.
"He may have done it to protect you," Rukia said.
"Done what," Kisuke asked.
"Ichigo might have placed Kon in this form to protect him. If he were in a rush he might not have had time to explain his reasons," Rukia said.
"Rukia's right. If he left without saying goodbye perhaps he couldn't explain…he wasn't allowed to," Orihime said. Memories of the day she said goodbye to Ichigo replayed in her mind. Fresh tears threatened to fall from her eyes.
"Dragging the past up won't help Orihime," Kisuke said.
"In any case we've been called away," Renji said finally speaking from the corner of the room.
Rukia confirmed what he said looking at the soul pager message before starting to go. It was useless now to fight to stay and the order could very well lead them to Ichigo, she thought.
"Wait Rukia," Orihime jumped up and followed after her.
Renji turned and gave her a look that said make this quick before exiting the shop.
Outside the shop Rukia continued to walk away from the building. The air felt better out here. She struggled to regain the feeling before she came into the shop. Remembering the joy of the morning sunshine and all the promise of a new day she paused just outside the shop waiting for Orihime.
Without turning around Rukia said, "Don't promise anything. Just don't say it."
Orihime stepped in front of her saying, "look, I know we haven't been as close lately but you don't have to distance yourself."
"You belong here it's pointless to draw any closer when I don't…belong here and I have to leave. There are orders Orihime and I have no choice and I'm always leaving him…hurting him," Rukia said.
Orihime never recalled seeing Rukia look like this before. It was as if just talking would bring on fresh tears. She was the one who forced everyone out of self-pity.
Orihime hugged her friend saying, "don't be defeated Rukia. You know it's not true, you belong here. You know what I told Ichigo when he decided to get stronger to save you?"
"No what," Rukia asked. Ichigo never told her about that. She never knew Ichigo talked to Orihime about the way he felt.
"He was so sad that everyone forgot about you. I told him I hadn't…You're my friend too Rukia," Orihime said.
"I know," Rukia said wiping her eyes.
"I told him he had already made up his mind what he was going to do. No matter what believe in him," Orihime said thinking back to the past.
Rukia did believe it now no matter how naïve or what was stacked up against her she believed that she'd see him again.
"We'll find him," Orihime said and backed away letting her friend go.
"We will," Rukia echoed and took off after Renji.
Thank you Inoue.
Feeling slightly better they headed for the Seireitei. The Central 46 made the order for their immediate return and she couldn't argue with it. The only promise she felt like holding was being wherever Ichigo was.
This time she knew they'd never leave enough loopholes for Byakuya and they certainly would never let her stay. No loopholes. No rescue Rukia mission and no need to escape. No reason to fight to stay. The decisions of the Central 46 were absolute.
Orihime watched as the others left. She questioned herself, how should I feel? She knew how Ichigo felt about Rukia and now there was no denying the way that Rukia felt about Ichigo.
When did her heart change? What moment did she decide to move on?
"Orihime are you alright," Uryû asked.
"Oh I'm just fine let's get to work," Orihime said a bit too excited.
000
Orihime said she felt Ichigo's spiritual pressure sometime around midnight on the way to Uryû's place. She also said that she felt an odd sensation that some dark force was clouding the areas of SouthKarakuraTown.
She thought about going to Ichigo's but changed her mind and decided to talk to Uryû about things. Why? She didn't say.
000
Ichigo stepped off the plane at LAX. He often wondered what life was like outside of KarakuraTown, in the human world at least. To go this far away in the land of the living was something else.
Sado often spoke of going to Mexico and Ichigo would joke about going there on spring break when they finally got to college. It would be their rite of passage. The plan was to see LA and drive south to the border. Sado didn't say much back but Ichigo was sure he would have plenty to say today.
The instructions given to him were clear and Ichigo made up his mind to follow them. His friends and family would stay unharmed and whoever was the mastermind of this plan would be flushed out of the Central 46. He was confident that the one behind this was the same person behind Rukia's forced return to the Seireitei.
He knew how Orihime must have felt taking off with Ulquiorra and joining Sôsuke Aizen. At least she tried to say goodbye to him he thought as he walked to his first check point.
A gift shop in the airport lounges; go there and our contact will give further instructions.
As he walked through the airport the group from his plane thinned out. The further away they went the more English mixed with various conversations.
In the gift shop it was obvious that his spiritual powers were unaffected by travel and if he wanted to make a scene and fight he could; no one held him hostage.
A woman greeted him and everyone in the room glared as he proceeded to have a conversation with himself…in Japanese. How was he supposed to know that the woman he was talking to was spirit? He was so used to this routine by now it didn't matter what language it was in; the end resulted with everyone thinking he was insane.
"YOUNG MAN ARE YOU ALRIGHT," a concerned woman shouted at him.
The invisible woman giggled and said, "he's not deaf you old bat."
The concerned woman, Betty, had on an employee uniform so she belonged there. The woman speaking to her was invisible to Betty, who looked confused by his silence. There was something odd about this woman she wasn't in spirit form she was just concealing herself from those around her.
Ichigo quickly thanked Betty and said he was alright. He mumbled something about jet lag and moved out of the gift shop.
"Just try to keep a low profile and follow me. That attracted enough attention," the contact said as she made her way through the crowds.
They walked in silence until finally reaching the parking garage. She wasn't hiding herself any longer others could see her now.
"I know you from somewhere," Ichigo said breaking the silence.
It was clear to him she was a student at Karakura. His math class, she was that girl who filled in for Rukia.
"You do," she said a statement more than a question.
"I forget your name," Ichigo said.
She ignored this and went on talking, "sometimes I ride the shuttle bus for fun you know."
"That isn't what I'd call fun," Ichigo said.
"That's to be expected. We've watched you for some time. So serious for such a handsome young man," she said.
"You look as young as I do," Ichigo said.
"Thanks I guess," she shrugged.
It looked like she wasn't telling him anything about herself. She wasn't a Bount. Perhaps she was a creature like the Bount.
"Where are we going," Ichigo asked.
"The ocean is where you're going," she smiled and pointed west.
"What do I call you," he asked.
"My name is unimportant," she replied
"Unimportant," he asked.
"You already forgotten my name so I'd call it unimportant," she said.
"Here we are," Unimportant stopped in front of a parked car and threw him the key.
Before he could say a word she turned and started walking away.
"Hey," Ichigo called after her.
"You aren't the only one following orders Ichigo. We know that you are determined to find out information and get back as soon as you can. You aren't going to join us or do anything against your will. We know all that but you should know my organization is not the same as the organization that abducted you in the middle of the night. I'm just intercepting their plans.
The Seireitei guard who sent you is absolutely right to suspect someone in the Central 46 and you should just drive and get away from here while you can," she said walking further away.
"Pearl," Ichigo called. It was difficult for him to recall names and he had no nickname for the girl so that made it worse.
"So you remember," she smiled.
Something changed in her face and she rushed over towards him.
"Get in the car," Pearl ordered.
Ichigo quickly unlocked the door and climbed in. Pearl slid in the passenger seat and yelled, "Drive."
Alright I watched an action movie and I'm having a crazy dream…I'll wake up any moment. Wake up Ichigo! Wake up!
"What's wrong with you drive the damn car already," Pearl screamed.
Without a rational fear something about her behavior sent his adrenaline over the edge. He quickly sped out of the parking garage and followed her erratic directions to the freeway.
000
Ichigo managed to get a few miles away from the airport with Pearl in tow. Pearl seemed to relax a little as he turned onto the Santa Monica Freeway.
"My name is Pearl by the way," Pearl spoke up.
"I've been told," Ichigo shrugged watching the road.
"The freeway is horribly packed with cars and there's not much to see in LA. There's an expectation that LA is so glamorous but does any of this look glamorous to you," she asked.
"If it's so bad why stay," he asked.
"Because deep down Los Angelinos are in love with the place and it's hard to leave what you love no matter how bad it treats you. Amor that must be the root word of glamorous I think. I don't know I'm no English expert or anything," she said.
"I wouldn't know," he said.
"Japanese is my 3rd language. My parents are Chinese-American so I speak Mandarin a little too. But my first language is English so if I mix up things too bad. I'm going for five languages by this fall. Spanish is my 4th. Spanglish 4 ½," she grinned.
"And the 5th?"
"I'm thinking Italian, Russian or French. Who knows where tomorrow will take me," she said.
"But aren't you a plus…spirit or whatever?"
She turned on the radio ignoring his question for the moment.
"You mean I'm not human and I don't belong here," she clarified.
"You're not a Hollow-
"Or a Visoreds or Espada, blah blah whatever I can't really answer you on this. I shouldn't even be in the car," she said.
"Why are you coming along with me when a minute ago you were walking away?"
"That's the Hollywood sign," she pointed to the right.
Ichigo glanced at it but wanted to know the answer to his question.
"So, why are you-
"The sky is clear today but when the marine layer rolls in you usually can't see a thing. So you are lucky today Ichigo," Pearl grinned.
"Why are you in this car?"
"Right your temper…Something happened and I needed to leave. It's unfortunate that many of your friends left," Pearl said.
"What are you saying?"
"The Seireitei is not a place that I can go. It's not part of the jurisdiction so to speak. I know how much you loved her but looks like she's there and there is nothing I can do about it," Pearl replied.
"If you guys knew all that then my friends should be able to figure out what's going on. They'll help Rukia," Ichigo said.
"No if you are implying that someone in your circle has figured things out you would be wrong. It's the other group that I am worried about. I followed because I need to be free of them," Pearl said.
"They can still find us we should-
"This car controls Reiryoku and what they can see in a sense it traps Reishi," she said.
Ichigo looked around the interior.
"I've got to continue with the deal then," he said.
"Don't worry about it. As far as they know you got off the plane as instructed and met with me. We have a full week before they expect any kind of report from me. As a bonus they think that you are concealing your spiritual pressure from your friends and not them," Pearl said.
As Ichigo continued to drive he wondered which enemy he should focus on. One had Rukia in the Seireitei and the other, a double proxy, had him as a hostage.
"After a week what will they expect exactly," Ichigo asked.
"Where I am taking you will make what they expect irrelevant," she said.
"I'll turn the car around," Ichigo threatened.
"Don't be foolish if you back out on me now I can guarantee all bets are off."
"You're not part of the deal and I'll take my chances," Ichigo said switching lanes.
Ichigo heard the door locks kick in. They had to be traveling at 80 or 90 miles per hour.
"The illusion of control…I didn't want to do it that way but you left me no choice. I'm not going back," she said.