ベリーと死神の6
Of Berries and Shinigami 6
Rukia sat in her closet with the window open; she'd woken up to early out of habit but after hearing that today was an important day for the berry twins and not really specifying why, she decided she'd stick with them for the remainder of the day. Lifting her head to look away at her feet she watched as Sakura and Ichigo slowly but surely woke up with each shift of their muscles. Shifting her gaze from the twins she stared out the window above Ichigo's bed, she couldn't shake this feeling in her stomach. She finally sighed and placed her hands together, " today is going to be a sad day…" she whispered to herself.
Sakura walked beside Ichigo as they made their way up the hill, Yuzu and Karin up ahead of them complaining about the hill while their dad insistently and persistently blew on that damn whistle of his. Honestly she was getting slightly irritated by it, but today of all days she shouldn't punish him… she sighed looking up at the sky. A clear cloudless blue sky... and it was unbearably hot for June. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with her wristband.
Her head snapped at the sound of flesh hitting ground, whipping her head – which she swore later on gave her whiplash- she glared at her dad who was now standing on his hands, " Give it your all, Yuzu!" he shouted as he began moving, " Dad's right behind you!"
Sakura stepped back to stand beside Ichigo, who had smartly moved to the side of the road and watched silently as he heard Karin's response of " ignore him Yuzu if you respond to people like that, they'll be on your back forever." Beside her she heard Ichigo stifle a chuckle and a, "tell me about it." left his lips. Slapping a hand on her mouth she did the same.
'oh for god's sake…'Ssakura thought as she caught the glimpse and her goat face of a father's eye before rushing up the hill on his bare hands only for Yuzu to barely dodge his slide and for Karin to kick him squarely in the face. Quickly dodging they continued on ignoring him as he rolled down to the end of the street.
They quickly caught up to the younger pair of twins who were staring dumbstruck at the top of the hill. Stupidly waving a beach hat and wearing Yuzu's favorite yellow dress was Rukia with a stupid grin on her face. She really was thinking everything was stupid today, she sighed for the nth time that morning… and it wasn't even noon yet.
"I wonder if she's here to visit a grave," Stated Yuzu with a raise brow.
"But If she is why is she waving at us?" asked Karin a confused look set on her face. Beside her Ichigo seemed to be freaking out. With a tick mark on her brow Sakura elbowed him in the stomach and whispered a threat into his ear, "Say anything and I'll make you into a unicorn." She did it just in time to let Ichigo go from her grip and threat just as Yuzu turned around.
"Is she an acquaintance of yours, Nee-chan, Nii-san?" Ichigo fought the urge to roughly shake his head and deny any kind of relation to her.
"No we don't know her in the slightest," Chimed in Sakura with a side glare aimed at Ichigo. Ichigo gulped and silently he wished she'd actually been eaten by that hollow just a few days ago. And just as if she'd read his mind his face came in contact with a small foot. Ignoring the pain radiating across his face he lifted his hands up on the air and began to make a fool of himself.
"I totally remember now! She's my classmate from junior high!" he began to roughly pat Sakura on the back, "that's why Sakura doesn't know her!" He gave a fake sigh of relief and nostalgia, "no way! It's so nostalgic that I just gotta talk to her alone right this minute."
He made his way infront of Yuzu and Karin and idiotically ran in place as he claimed he was going to talk to the girl. Yuzu and Karin looked back at her in question, " AH!" said Sakura in realization, " So that's Ichigo's girlfriend! I'm gonna meet her BEBACKSOON!" she shouted as she ran after her brother.
Karin just stared at the empty spot ahead of them, "what… the … fuck." Yuzu dramatically leaned back and her face had twisted into one of shock.
"Karin, such unkind words," Karin shrugged before slowly walking ahead.
Sakura leaned by a tree, looking up at the leaves silently.
"Why'd you follow us here?"
Rukia crossed her arms and glared at the twins- mostly it was Ichigo, Sakura just happened to be in her line of sight, "fool. If I'm not by your side what will you do when a hollow appears?"
Sakura raised her arm and pushed off the tree to stand beside the strawberry, "that's why I'm here," she sighed, "and besides couldn't you have followed us in a more secret manner?"
Sakura looked on noticing a faint blush of embarrassment brushing her cheeks pink, "Gomen, I didn't realize…" out of the corner of her eye she saw her older brother look shocked and somehow struck with fear. Maybe it was his experience with girls that made him react like that.
"W-why are you angry?" he asked making Sakura mentally groan and face palm, it was shit like this that angered girls in the first place.
"Im not angry," Rukia continued to stare at them, "you said…she was killed… your mother." At the last sentence she turned her gaze onto Sakura. Her heart began to clench and she swore it was collapsing on itself.
"I didn't say that…" she mumbled under her breath.
"Who killed her?" she persistently asked.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed his sister clenching her fists and biting the inside of her cheek, answering for her he said, "Rukia just forget about it."
Right off the bat he realized Rukia wasn't going to give up, "you said you could see ghosts for as long as you could remember, right?" She didn't even give them time to respond, "then tell me… was the one who killed your mother a hollow?"
"There is that possibility." She continued, "If your spirit ability was high enough that you could see spirits for as long as you can remember a hollow that was after you could have killed your mother by mistake."
"I CAN'T TAKE THIS!"
Rukia took a step back in shock. Sakura looked over at Ichigo who was finally emotionally at her level, though she was showing it more than he was, "Give me a break. According to you, every damn thing is the work of Hollows. It's already nothing to joke about, but then you theorize that's the reason… I've never heard more bullshit in my life." He roughly grabbed Sakura by the arm and led her as they walked away from the petite shinigami.
"The one who killed our mom…" he stopped just a bit behind her, " …was us." He finally said before continuing down the path in a run, Sakura close behind him. Before Sakura followed him she looked back and gave a saddened smile towards the shocked Rukia.
"Gomen…" she whispered before turning around and following her counterpart.
Orihime and Tatsuki sat infront of a table eating chips.
"ne? you wanna know about the berry twins?"
Orihime gave an affirmative nod, " un, about when they were younger." Tatsuki sighed as she laced her hands underneath her chin in thought.
"I met them at the dojo I was going to… there was a girl and boy with unbelievably bright unnatural colored hair, led by a beautiful woman, both holding her hands and smiling unbelievably widely." Tatsuki leaned her back against the wall, "he was so skinny and goofy, she was lanky and shy and both of them looked so weak"
Orihime raised her brow in shock making Tatsuki chuckle, " but Sakura-san is so strong!"
"You say that now but back then I used to beat them in less than ten seconds and they'd always cry. But they'd stop crying as soon as their mom came to pick them up and they'd smile like nothing happened." She smiled, "I used to think people who lost shouldn't end up smiling, both of them clung to their mom like they'd lose her in the blink of an eye."
She raised a hand to cover her eyes, "they used to be so happy… but that all stopped when we all turned nine… their mom… died." She looked down and let a shadow hide her face. She didn't even need to look to see the ginger girls shocked face, she continued anyways.
"Yup, they were only nine. They were still shy, goofy and clingy mama's children. But… she died. The day after they didn't come to school, they didn't even come to the dojo so I went looking for them.' She took a deep breath, "I found them on the riverbank where their mom died, still wearing their backpacks. When they'd get tired they'd sit or squat down but would stand up again a few minutes later. Sometimes they'd wander around the bank as if looking for their mom… it happened day after day, night after night to the point where I simply couldn't stand watching them anymore…"
Up on a ledge sat Rukia as she stared down at the grave yard where the Kurosaki family was working on cleaning the tombstone marker that belonged to their mother. Holding a hand up to her mouth she began to regret the words she had said earlier, "you really are a big fool Rukia."
She heard the sound of wooden clogs behind her, slowly turning her head she faced Naruto who was now wearing a simple dark green shirt and matching pants. Rukia would have chuckled if she wasn't in such a mood, "Naruto-sama "she acknowledged, "nice to see that you've taken after your father."
He shrugged, "Tessai didn't have time to get to the laundry so I had to open up an old box of clothes." He laughed, "Who would have thought that after 90 years I'd be wearing this old thing again."
Rukia nodded; "if you don't mind me asking why are you here?" she watched as Naruto crossed his arms across his chest and his gaze became serious and hardened.
"I came here to warn you that there's someone beside me watching." He slightly tilted his head, "I'd be careful if I were you." Before she could even say anything else he was gone.
Sakura looked at Ichigo as his face contorted and he held back the tears that threatened to come out, unlike her, he only allowed himself to cry once a year. She silently watched as he fell to his knees and began to cry openly, and she let him… because he needed too.
Silently they made their way over to Yuzu and Karin who were already praying at the marker. Yuzu was crouched down crying only to have Karin chide her.
"Really quit crying year after year. We turn eleven this year. That's grown up already." Yuzu tried to form a complete sentence but was stopped as a small hand, a bit bigger than hers, began patting her shoulder.
"It's alright to cry every once in a while, even if it's just once a year." Softly said Sakura as she pulled Yuzu to her chest allowing her to cry openly, " ne, Yuzu-chan?" ignoring the wet spot forming on her red shirt she felt Yuzu nod slightly. Sakura looked up at Karin who stared at her blankly, "it's alright to cry… everybody does it, even over the tiniest of things."
Immediately they were interrupted by their idiot of a dad, "It's time for the 'oh my gosh! Kurosaki family members-only gravestone domino tournament!' for two hours and thirty minutes we'll de-" Sakura let go of Yuzu and bounced forwards and backwards a few times before raising her leg and kicking him in the face.
" How about you go die in a fire!" she shouted, Karin not too far behind her in doing the same, " Or go press the reset button on your life!"
Sakura smiled in approval as she looked back at Ichigo who had been standing silently behind her, he'd been doing that since they left the wooded path.
With a mutter of, "there'll be nipple peeks too…" the goat faced man stood back up and ran towards them at full speed, Sakura being smart enough dodged his attempt to tackle her and he set his sights on Karin. Soon he began to chase her around.
Ignoring them Sakura pulled Ichigo down to talk to their mom and pray. Just as they crouched down a loud, " sakuraaaaa, ichiiiigggggggooooo." Startled them as a yellow stuffed lion landed on Ichigo's head, crying and shaking.
Silently Ichigo stood up, grabbed Kon off of his back, looked back to see If his family was nearby and proceeded to look back at the lion, "You bastard!" Kon could only cry and mutter Ichigo's name in response. Kon watched their faces as he finished telling his story to the twins, and found that they could in fact simultaneously change their facial expressions in unison.
"Rukia!"
"Nee-san!"
Looking to her right Rukia caught sight of Ichigo, Sakura and Kon running towards her. Dropping her kido she looked at the trio noticing Sakura and Ichigo were slightly out of breath.
"Who the hell are you?" gasped Ichigo as he straightened his stance. The shinigami standing just a few feet away from Rukia with his zanpakuto drawn merely saluted them in greeting.
"Hey there - spiky boy, pinky. You can see me can't ya?"
Sakura looked down at Kon, "Who the hell is that?" she asked as Kon shrugged his tiny stuffed animal shoulders, "How the hell should I know?" Sakura's only response was to lift him up by the head, "What was that? We came here because you said there was trouble!"
"Yo spiky boy, who are you?" asked the shinigami. Sakura and Rukia's eyes widened.
"No, Ichigo don't!" shouted Rukia trying to stop him from saying what he was. But to no avail, Ichigo ended up speaking either way.
"I'm a substitute shinigami."
The shinigami with the straw hat stood there with a shocked dumbfounded look, "shinigami? I-impossible… ridiculous. That's too funny." Tilting his hat over his face he sighed, "Kuchki Rukia, that's a freakin' felony." Sakura's chest tightened at the word 'felony'. Had Rukia helped them knowing the consequences? The man continued to talk, " oh well, it wouldn't be any fun fighting a lame faux body opponent anyway." Flipping his hat backwards till it flew off his head he lunged at Ichigo, "let's go spiky boy!"
"Ichigo watch out!" Sakura warned him just in time for Ichigo to jump back a bit. Realizing she still had Kon in her hands she reached down into his stuffed stomach and pulled out the candy, "Ichigo!" she shouted to catch his attention and threw the candy as hard as she could. Watching him jump up in the air and catch the candy with his mouth she summoned the bow into her hand and shot an arrow, giving enough of a distraction for Ichigo to turn into a shinigami.
The Shinigami's eyes widened as he watched Ichigo's body and soul separate and by the pink arrow he had to dodge. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost, but snapped out of it and looked straight on at Ichigo, "you really switched, even though you're just a human. How'd you get that power?" he asked raising his zanpakuto ready to slash at any second.
Ichigo grit his teeth, "as if I'd answer to someone who slashes at me without warning." Rukia not wanting Ichigo to get involved ran infront of him, "Ichigo, back down! This is my-"
Pushing her aside, he roughly held up his zanpakuto, "what can you do unarmed?" as he started running Kon moved out of the way just in time for Ichigo to parry with the other shinigami. Sakura watched in awe as she let the bow go back to wherever it had come from.
She felt something cold pass through her arms and legs, and something breath down her neck followed by the oh so familiar pressure in her chest and back. Her eyes widened as she registered this feeling, "the twins!" was all she mentally shouted as she turned around and ran towards their younger siblings.
Karin stood up and began to scan around the area, Yuzu had a worried look on her face.
"Where's dad?" she asked holding her arm infront of Yuzu.
"He went to talk to the priest."
"What about Saku-nee and Ichi-nii?"
Yuzu shook her head, "they ran off saying they had to do something really quick. Why?" Karin's eyes widened when she saw the blurry figure infront of her, its foot prints leaving marks in the cement. She heard the monster laugh roughly, "you're coming with me for a little bit." and for a second she swore she saw the monster smile.
"Yuzu, run!" she grabbed Yuzu's arm and ran for it.
Sakura ran as fast as she could, ripping her white skirt at the side for maximum movement and kicking off her wedges so she could run faster. As she ran her phone began to ring loudly, reaching into her skirt pocket she yanked out her phone and quickly flipped it open, the small dot on the screen blinking on and off with a circle around it. 'crap…' she thought as she jumped off the small cliff dropping about five feet before she made it onto the first level of the grave yard before standing back up and running in the direction of the dot.
Ichigo continued to attack the unknown shinigami with brute force only to be stopped by Rukia's phone ringing. Ichigo and the shinigami stopped and looked over at her, "what is it?" they asked.
"A hollow." Was all she said as he eyes widened at the screen, Ichigo stopped his attack and ran towards the petite black haired girl, "a hollow? Where is it?"
"Nearby." A small gasp escaped her lips, "look at this, this spirit power… it's an extremely large one." Kon and Ichigo moved to stand behind her so they could view the screen at a better angle.
"Hmm, looks like a strong one." Said the shinigami, now in between Ichigo and Kon. Looking over at the source of the voice, he screamed and pointed a finger at the man, "What you wanna fight?"
Rukia turned around, "Ichigo now isn't the time for that. Your family might be in danger again." She began to run in the direction Ichigo originally came from, "let's go!"
"Where's Sakura?"
Rukia looked at her phone noticing a red dot slowly moving closer to the strong hollow, " seems she's already on the move, we better hurry." Ichigo silently nodded as he ran faster. Neither of them acknowledging the shinigami was right behind them.
Sakura ran down the last flight of stairs, tripping on the last step only in time to watch Karin being crushed by the hollows hand and for Yuzu to be lifted up by one of its tendrils. She grit her teeth and bit her lip, ignoring the pain in her already hurt arm and now twisted ankle she stood up and felt the bow materialize in her hand. Shooting an arrow and narrowly missing the tendril that held yuzu up by the neck she managed to catch the hollows attention, "get the fuck away from them!"
edited: 12/19/13