Chapter 2: Departure
Ichigo was very puzzled by the absence of commanding officers in the first division meeting. Aside from the a few attending guards, he was the only one standing before the general, and to him that didn't seem like a very good sign.
He shot the first division captain a quizzical look.
"Hey, Yamamoto jii-jii, is anyone else going to show up to this meeting?"
The old man merely opened a single eye to look at the young man before him and then gestured for him to step forward.
"All of the captains have already been informed of the serious matter that has arisen. You alone are called here because it is decided that you are the best candidate to handle this mission."
"Okay...so what is it?"
"Our intel tells us that a vasto-lorde-type hollow named Rondo has gained immeasurable power and support in a relatively short period of time," the old man's face darkened. "I worry that he may someday gain enough strength to attack Soul Society. We must intercept him before that can happen."
"So all I need to do is take down this Rondo guy?"
"That is correct."
Ichigo's brow furrowed, accompanied by a frown that was beginning to settle into his already serious expression. He had a nagging feeling that the rest of the conversation was not going to go very well.
"Okay, so when do I leave?" He dared to venture and to his dismay, he heard a most unsatisfactory answer.
"Tonight."
If Ichigo's frown wasn't noticeable before, it surely was now.
"And how long do you think this assignment is going to take?" he wondered out loud, gripping at the folds of his hakama as he anxiously hoped to not hear another undesirable response from the soutaichou.
'Please say it's only going to take a day or two.'
"His army is great in number and strength, and the limit of his power is unknown. If the winter war is any indication of how strong a Vasto-Lorde is then it may take you a week, maybe even two, to infiltrate his fort and debilitate his forces."
"I see..." Ichigo hung his head low. What he had been dreading had come true.
Unfortunately, the vice-captain's dour mood did not escape the commander's notice.
"I understand that you and Kuchiki-fukutaichou* are expecting a child soon, Kurosaki Ichigo," he suddenly mentioned off-handedly.
For a moment, Ichigo perked at the mere mention of his wife.
"Yes. Rukia is due to give birth next week."
The captain commander closed his eyes as though he was lost in thought for a moment before he opened them again.
"I am sorry to ask you to leave your family at such an inconvenient time," he cleared his throat, "but you are our best candidate for this assignment," the old man continued, but his sympathy fell on deaf ears as the substitute-shinigami once again became too lost in thought to even listen.
The soutaichou didn't know what else to say. He truly was sorry for tearing this young man away from his wife at this time, but there was no doubt in everyone's mind that the vice captain would be the most effective in executing this mission swiftly, to nip this problem in the bud before it got too out of hand. They couldn't risk giving the assignment to someone else.
The old general sighed.
"If it is any consolation...you have full control over assembling whomever you would like to join you in your mission. Of course, the division captains are busy, but you may certainly ask other vice-captains to join you. Perhaps with some strong warriors by your side, you may return home sooner than you think, Kurosaki-fukutaichou."
The corners of Ichigo's lips turned up ever so slightly at the commander's subtle attempt at cheering him up.
"Thank you, Jii-jii..." he paused, flashing a small grateful smirk to show the general the extent of his appreciation, "if it's no trouble at all, I will bring my third through sixth seat members, as well as recruit the assistance of Ikkaku-san, Yumichika-san, and Abarai-fukutaichou."
"Very well. I will have hell-butterflies sent to them right away. You are dismissed. Good luck, Kurosaki-fukutaichou."
With that, Ichigo nodded then immediately shunpoed out of the meeting room, leaving the commanding general to sigh and mutter something under his breath about the rashness of young people.
Ichigo took his time walking home. Although he really did appreciate the captain commander's efforts in ameliorating his mood, he was still glum about leaving. What was he going to tell Rukia? Being away from her right now seemed unthinkable...their child was due to be born in just a few days. How could he just leave her on her own?
He felt a headache coming on. Rubbing his temple, he spent his whole walk worrying so much that he didn't even realize that his feet had led him to a very odd place: in front of a mansion surrounded by an orchard of cherry blossom trees.
"Eh...how did I-?" he started, upon realizing where he was, but his voice trailed when he suddenly felt the mansion-owner's reiatsu emanating right beside him.
"Byakuya," Ichigo uttered out in surprise, eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights.
The stoic man gave him a curt nod of acknowledgement.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, is there a reason why you have been looming outside of my home for the past hour?"
Had he really been there that long? Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck out of embarrassment.
"Sorry, Byakuya!" he apologized, letting a nervous laugh escape his lips. "I didn't even realize that I was here." He continued to chuckle hesitantly.
"Well I'll just be on my way. Bye!" With that said, he made a point of turning around and getting ready to run for it, but was suddenly held back by a firm grip on his shoulder.
"Eh...?" He looked towards his brother-in-law, who in spite of his indifferent appearance, seemed to be concerned about something.
"Something is troubling you..." the sixth-division captain merely stated, as he released his grip on him.
Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise for the second time that day.
"You can tell?"
"Anyone with half a brain can tell, Kurosaki."
"...did you just crack a joke?"
"...either explain your purpose for being here or leave."
(Ichigo sweat-dropped. Wasn't he just about to leave anyways?)
He shot his brother-in-law a grumpy frown, not because he was annoyed at him but rather he was exasperated with himself for being unable to articulate his reason for bothering a man who did not seem particularly fond of him.
He let out a long sigh.
"To be honest...I don't know," he answered lamely, shuffling his feet beneath as he turned his gaze towards the sakura trees.
Why was he here? He tried to rack his brain for a better answer to the question, but all he could do was think of his wife who was currently waiting for him at home.
Rukia...so beautiful, so clever, so strong. She was always there for him when he needed her, but now that she needs him the most, he wasn't going to be around! Of course, she would understand but still...the guilt was gnawing at him! He should be by her side in her hour of need! At least, somebody should be...
And then it hit him. At that very moment, Ichigo could have slapped himself for being so stupid for not realizing it sooner.
"Byakuya...Can you do me a favor?"
"Does this have anything to do with your mission to Hueco Mundo?" The stoic man asked, as if capable of reading the thoughts that were currently running through the cognitive machinery of his brain.
"Yes, it does...Nii-san, can you please look after Rukia while I'm gone?"
The sixth division captain turned to Ichigo and shot him a look that seemed to communicate that he was astonished that he would even ask such a question that had such an obvious answer. Nevertheless, out of sheer decency, the stoic man gave him a response.
"Kurosaki Ichigo...Rukia is my sister. Whether you ask me to or not, I will always look out for her," he replied calmly.
Byakuya knew not whether Ichigo knew just how silly his question was because he never let on. He simply gave a sigh of relief and shot his brother-in-law a look of gratitude, as though it was just comforting to hear that someone was going to take care of his wife while he was away.
"Thank you, Byakuya."
"Not at all, Kurosaki. However, I highly suggest that you return home now. I believe that you will be departing soon," he responded, inadvertently gesturing at the time by turning his gaze towards the setting sun.
"Ah, you're right! All right then. See you around, Byakuya. And thanks again!" Ichigo hollered and then with a flash, he disappeared, leaving a slightly confounded sixth division captain in his wake.
"Is something the matter, Byakuya-sama?" a passing maid asked, as she stopped by to tend to the surrounding garden.
"No. It's nothing." He calmly replied, but there was certainly something that was nagging at him.
'Did he just call me 'Nii-san'?'
"I'm back," Ichigo announced as he slid off his waraji (straw sandals) by the front steps of his home.
Wiping her hands clean on her apron, Rukia popped her head out of the kitchen to greet her husband.
"Welcome home." She smiled. "So what did the soutaichou say?"
Ichigo grimaced, then with a heavy heart he gave her a quick explanation of his mission.
After that, silence took its toll on the couple as minutes went by and neither one of them could think of something to say.
In fact, Rukia became so consumed with processing all of the information that Ichigo had just shared with her that she barely looked him at all. Unable to take it anymore, Ichigo gently tilted her head so that he could see her bright indigo eyes again, but he was instead greeted with eyes that were dulled by worry and melancholy.
'Rukia...' His brows knitted in concern.
"So you're going to be leaving soon, huh?" She finally asked, pulling him out of his trance. He took another look at her and realized that she had put on facade of remote indifference to mask how she was actually feeling.
"Ah...I leave tonight." He nodded.
"I see..." was all she could say before she fell completely silent again.
She was unprepared to hear that he had to leave right away. It barely gave him time to pack his necessities, let alone talk to her before he needed to go.
Taking note of the fact that he still has yet to even do the former (pack his necessities, that is), she suddenly panicked and abruptly broke away from Ichigo to go do just that for him, leaving her husband completely bewildered by her erratic behavior.
"Rukia, what are you doing?" Ichigo asked, watching her as she zoomed down the hall and disappeared into a room.
She reappeared moments later with medical supplies in hand before she scrambled into another room to get something else.
"You need to pack, fool!" she admonished, as she scurried past him into the kitchen to stuff a canteen of water and a plethora of food into an already full burlap bag.
Ichigo was simply stunned.
Here he was, saying that he was going to be gone for a while, and his wife was still thinking of his well-being first. If it weren't for the fact that she was trying her hardest to hide the gloomy expression on her face, he would have been grinning from ear to ear from being touched by her sincerity.
'Oh, Rukia...'
He walked over to her and placed his hands over hers to prevent her from stretching the bag any more beyond its maximal capacity. He then took a double take of the last thing she was trying to stick into the bag and gave her a questioning look.
"Rukia...half a roasted chicken? Really? When am I going to have time to eat THAT?" he jested.
With that, Rukia laughed at her own silliness.
"Ah, what was I thinking?"
"You weren't. You're upset."
She cringed.
"Why would I be? We're shinigami! Taking on dangerous jobs at any minute is our duty. It's part of the job description!" She admonished.
"But it doesn't make you any less unhappy about it," he pointed, leaving Rukia feeling half amused and half miffed by the fact that he can always tell how she's feeling.
"Look, I want to be here with you when the baby comes. Maybe I should pass the mission onto someone else..."
"No! Yamamoto-taichou personally asked you to do it for a good reason! And besides, I'm not upset about that. It's just that…" she hesitated, and out of habit her hands began to fidget with the hem of her sleeve.
"What is it?"
For the longest time, she didn't know what to say. But then...
"Ichigo, it finally hit me that - that we're going to be parents soon." She finally stated, her cheeks burning red from acknowledging her words sounded kind of lame out of context.
Ichigo simply raised a curious brow at her.
"...And?" He encouraged.
Rukia bit her bottom lip.
"Well...what's wrong?"
"I'm getting to it, you fool!" she huffed, annoyed by his impatience. "Look, just promise me that you'll come back safely."
"What's this? You think that after taking down Aizen, a simple Vasto-Lorde will be my undoing?" He joked, but he could see that she was clearly not amused.
"It's not funny, Ichigo! We're going to have someone new in our lives to cherish and protect." Her eyes softened. "So no matter what, we have to be there for our child."
She squeezed his hand.
"Whenever we leave to carry out our missions, we have to remember that we can't afford to be reckless with our lives anymore. We need to do whatever it takes to come home. Do you understand?" Her voice became quiet, and she looked at him with the most serious expression he had ever seen on her face.
And a part of him knew exactly why that was.
Rukia was an orphan for most of her life. The pain of growing up without parents probably still haunted her. She didn't want their child to go through what she did.
'Rukia...' he thought. He made a move to embrace her but was sorely interrupted by a sudden rapping sound.
Knock. Knock.
Ichigo groaned inwardly. Foiled again by his duties!
"Come in," he answered, summoning the person who was standing outside their shoji doors.
Hesitantly, the shadowed figure slid the doors open to reveal a meek-looking messenger.
"Kurosaki-fukutaichou, Abarai-fukutaichou and your sq-squad wish to re-report to you th-that they are waiting for you n-near the west gate. The portal to Hueco Mundo w-will be opened in half an hour." he stuttered as he continued to bow to them. Out of intimidation, he did not dare to look at either of the fukutaichous, as if fearing that he may somehow incur the wrath of the power couple.
Taking notice of the nervous wreck's discomfort, the two of them kindly thanked him for passing the message onto them and sent him along his way to report back to Ichigo's squad that he would be meeting them shortly.
"So I guess you have to leave now." Rukia gave him a bittersweet smile.
"Seems so." He shrugged. "But before I go..." he took her hand in his and pulled her towards him until they were close enough for his forehead to meet hers. Much to his delight, she blushed and he couldn't help but let out a low chuckle.
"Rukia, I promise to be careful," he whispered in a tone so husky that it made the skin on her forehead burn hot against his as her blush deepened. Out of amusement, he smirked just ever so slightly, and then continued on, "And I will return to you…I will always return to you. Is that understood, Mrs. Ku-ro-sa-ki?"
For a moment, Rukia just stared into his mahogany eyes. To outsiders, it may have looked as though her husband was just being cheeky with her, but she knew better. He wanted her to look at him - to really look at him - and see that he was earnest.
'Idiot...' she thought affectionately. 'why do you always do things like this?'
She sighed, but the corners of her lips elevated into a smile. "Ah...Mr. Kurosaki."
Ichigo's face lit up almost instantly, and a boyish grin made its way onto his face.
"Good. I'll be back before you know it."
With that said, he kissed her lovingly on the forehead, grabbed his zanpakatou and bag, and then left that very evening with his squad to accomplish his mission.
* Side note: Rukia maintains her maiden name for work because having two Kurosaki-fukutaichous would be very confusing.
A/N: Haha. It's been so long. I'm very sorry for the late update. Lots of stuff came up and now I'm back in school so it's difficult to find time to write this. Thank you for being so patient with me, dear readers. Anyways, I just realized that this story might now be a semi-AU considering that the latest developments in the manga has sadly rendered some of the characters in this chapter...incapacitated (yeah, that's a good word for it).
And can you believe that this is the longest chapter I've ever written? Please let me know what you think of it. I would really appreciate some constructive criticism, since I think I put too many moments where Ichigo thinks of Rukia, but it's to keep him in character because he did it so much in the Fade to Black movie!
~Silentwater