When you mess with fate
Chapter 16
A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters. If I did... Never mind…
Two shinigami with bright hair – one orange and one red – leaned against the back wall of the Kurosaki living room watching the ceremony before them as if it were a movie. There was a small crowd present; including family, close friends, neighbours, and some former patients. As the living room wasn't very big, everyone cramped into whatever space they could find; on the couch, on the floor, and on some chairs they brought out from the dining room. They were all sitting in a semi-circle, facing a large portrait of Ichigo in his younger days when he had less grey hair. It was probably taken during one of those times when he had to renew his licence. He didn't look happy. Then again, Kurosaki Ichigo never looked happy. The urn of his ashes was placed on a table with some mourning candles beside the portrait.
Next to that table, stood his cousin slash fellow warrior slash former rival, Ishida Uryuu who had generously offered to deliver Ichigo's eulogy. He claimed he had taken the most expensive non-stop 12-hour flight from Munich to Haneda to do this for him. Needless to say, the orange-haired shinigami was pissed as he listened to what the bastard had to say about him. He knew the guy was using this opportunity to get back at him for marrying the girl of his dreams.
Arsehole thinks everything is about him. I did not marry Orihime just because she's the girl of his dreams. What does he think I am?
It wasn't helping the way his friends and sisters were reacting to Uryuu's words.
Chad was okay. He was full of respect, as always.
Mizuiro had his head bowed, glancing at the direction of the shinigami every once in a while. He and Keigo could only feel their presence and hear them, but couldn't see them.
Keigo... he was being the usual perv, ogling at the women who were present. Ichigo didn't even recognise who they were.
Tatsuki hid a knowing smirk. She could see him and Renji, but just barely.
Yuzu. Poor Yuzu was bawling her eyes out. Even though she knew Ichigo could still visit them, she was not as attuned to sensing reiatsu as Karin was. So she would not be able to properly see him as well unless he donned on a gigai but that would be creepy because people might think that he had risen from the dead. It's a good thing they kept the soul tickets Kyouraku-soutaichou had given to them and the weird trio ages ago. That way, they would also be able to visit Soul Society.
And Karin. Yeah, he could totally count on Karin to mask her snickering behind her weep of devastation. Especially...
Especially when that damn Uryuu mentioned, "I guess he was too heartbroken that his wife had left him. He must miss all of her bedtime stories of aliens, robots, and zombies, and mouth-watering red bean paste concoction."
Ichigo visibly blenched, earning a hard slap on the back from Renji and a death glare from Uryuu.
And Karin... She just snapped and ran her 60-year-old self towards the kitchen with an outburst.
Ichigo did not need to see it to know she was clutching her stomach, bending over the sink, and trying to keep the noise of her laughter from getting out.
Oh wait, is that Chad's shoulders shaking, I see? Unbelievable! Morons. Everyone's a moron. You'd think people would start taking him seriously when he's dead; at the very least, during his goddamn funeral. Instead, they were beaming with joy that he's gone from this world.
He furrowed his brows as he turned to face the pineapple head next to him and found him sniggering into his own fist. Nobody truly knows the meaning of 'Fuck my life' until they've stepped into his slippers right this moment.
After the guests had left and only those who knew about his shinigami life remained in his old home, Renji approached Uryuu and shook his hand. "That was one hell of a eulogy, Ishida," he congratulated, his free hand giving the Quincy a pat on the shoulder. "I couldn't have given a better one myself for the carrot-top."
And everyone laughed. Including Yuzu. Little (even at 60), innocent, doe-eyed Yuzu.
Ichigo knew there was a reason why he hated his human life.
Upon their arrival at Soul Society, Ichigo and Renji had to lug the orangehead's possession from the human world – which were already converted to reishi – to the Shiba manor. Ichigo complained that they should have also converted his car. Or a helicopter.
They were nearing their destination when they both sensed a familiar reiatsu leaving his family's property. The two male shinigami glanced at each other in surprise before Renji grabbed the stuff from Ichigo's hands, jerking his head towards the direction of the manor to tell him to get there immediately.
With a nod, the former substitute shunpo towards his new home. Only to find the presence of the person he was looking for, gone.
"Sorry, son." Isshin came out of the house to greet him. "You just missed Rukia-chan by a few seconds. I tried to get her to stay a bit longer but she said she has something important to tend to."
Ichigo sighed, "She's fast. I can't sense her anymore."
"She's good at masking her reiatsu."
Just then, Renji arrived, huffing in exhaustion from all the things he had to carry on his own. "Did you get to see her?" he asked, trying to catch his breath.
Ichigo shook his head.
The redhead cast his friend a sympathetic look. "I'll see what I can do. Maybe after you unpack, we could drop by the Kuchiki manor."
She could hear it. The argument they were having at the courtyard. She had kept herself in her bedroom since she got back from the Shiba manor. It was her monthly house-call to Isshin for the 'rogue' shinigami report. Every visit, she would keep it short and impersonal.
The old man she used to live with had set up a clinic on the Shiba property. He also had plans to start a medical centre where he would be able to offer his service to residents of the Rukongai. It was a concept Rukia found to be very philanthropic. As a former citizen of this part of Soul Society, she was touched by his compassion for the underprivileged souls. She was certain, now that Ichigo had moved here, he would be assisting his father since he was also a doctor in the human world.
Speaking of the strawberry idiot, he was still yelling at the guards stationed outside her home. Nii-sama had given them strict orders not to allow the ryoka in. The minute the Sixth Division taichou got news about Ichigo's coming to the Soul Society, he had upped the security level against letting him anywhere near Rukia. To her, it was both endearing and daunting. She understood that her brother was trying to protect her from Ichigo because he thought the 'brat' had recently upset her, but she's an adult with an adult daughter now. She knew how to take care of herself.
Rukia sighed. She would need to speak to Ichigo eventually. Just not right now when everything was still so raw and she didn't know how to face him. She didn't know what to say to him. Forty-eight years is a long time. No, actually it wasn't a long time by shinigami standards. The problem was with the events that had happened that changed everything between them.
Shutting her eyes, she inhaled deeply. Please, Ichigo. Give me a bit more time. I'll see you when I'm ready, she pleaded mentally.
As if he had heard her, the shouting stopped. She sat still on her futon, waiting for kami-knows-what, not daring to release her reiatsu to check if he was still within the premise.
A moment later, she heard a servant knocked on her door and called, "Rukia-sama."
She got up slowly to slide open the shoji door of her room and released the breath she didn't know she was holding when she saw that the servant was alone.
"Rukia-sama, this was delivered for you by Kurosaki-sama," the servant said with a deep bow, handing her a box.
Rukia carefully took it from the kimono-clad girl and mumbled a quick 'arigatou' before shutting her door.
She brought the box to a chabudai and placed it on the surface, staring at it as she sat down on the zabuton.
Removing the lid, she found a piece of note placed on top of a familiar piece of drawing. She recognised it as one of her old doodles from the time she was attending Karakura High School.
Had these made according to your hideous drawing before I came over, said the note.
Rukia's eyebrows creased as she folded the note and peered into the box. Lying in there were two stuffed toys: a scowling bear with bright orange hair and a raven-haired bunny with a mischievous smile.
"Dude," Ichigo huffed, pivoting to avoid Renji's katana from hitting his forearm before he attempted to strike the redhead's open torso.
"What?" Renji exhaled, parrying his friend's hit with a flick of his wrist.
Bringing his sword outwards before the katana could even manage to make contact with it, Ichigo whined, "This is boring." He swung his weapon counter-clockwise to strike his opponent's right shoulder.
"I don't care," Renji hissed at the slicing pain. "You're not releasing your shikai."
"Oh, come on. You're going to die if we keep this up."
"No, I'm going to die if we don't keep this up."
Another strike from Ichigo, and Renji could feel the blood trickling down his side. This was not going well for the shinigami who was supposed to have a couple of centuries of experience at zanjutsu. It's embarassing. But sparring in Soul Society was different from sparring in the human world, especially where Ichigo's massive amount of reiatsu was concerned. Back at the human world, they had spiritual pressure limiter to keep his at bay. In Soul Society, his shikai could be deadly seeing as he hadn't been controlling it on his own in almost fifty years. Renji did not want to risk any destructions at the Sixth Division training ground before Kurotsuchi-taichou gave Ichigo a 'checkup'. Ise-fukutaichou made an appointment for the new transfer to see the 12th Division captain tomorrow. They couldn't have a loose canon running around the Seireitei.
"I managed to get the servants to pass her the gift," Ichigo said between strikes.
Renji scoffed, "Didn't take you for a gift person."
"I just wanted to get something nice for her from the human world. It's been a while since she's been there."
"You didn't get me anything," Renji mockingly pouted.
"Are you serious? You go there every month. And you're not..." Ichigo abruptly stopped mid-speech.
Still struggling to block the slashes, Renji urged, "I'm not...?"
"Nothing."
The fukutaichou held out his free hand and took a couple of steps back to indicate that he wanted to rest. "You need to see her."
"I'm not allowed to," Ichigo said, sheathing his sword.
"Have you tried talking to Taichou? I know he refuses to let you go anywhere near her. Not sure what that's all about, though. But maybe if you personally asked him, he would let you talk to her," Renji reasoned.
Running a hand through his unruly hair, Ichigo sighed. "I just got here yesterday. If I were to get an audience with that stick-up-the-arse brother of hers, I would have to make serious preparations for it."
"You're afraid of Kuchiki Byakuya?" Renji taunted.
"I am not afraid of Byakuya but I just know he's going to go bankai on my arse, one way or another," the orange haired man replied.
Renji nodded as he plopped himself on the floor. "You could always try to get to her through Ichika," he suggested.
Settling on the floor as well, Ichigo placed the katana beside him before asking, "Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Encouraging me to..." Ichigo furrowed his brows, uncertain of what this was.
Renji rested his elbows on his knees. "We dated once, you know? For two years."
"And then?" There was a trace of jealousy in Ichigo's voice.
"It was after that first time we went to visit the human world. She wanted to make our engagement work. I think she was trying to get over you and move on. We both tried. But I broke it up on our 2nd anniversary. The engagement, too. I could see that there was no way she would see me as more than a childhood friend. So I let her go. And that's why I'm encouraging you, as you put it."
Ichigo regarded his friend with a contemplative eye. He had always known that Renji held deep feelings for the midget. It probably started over a hundred years ago when they were still roving souls in Inuzuri but he never dared to tell her. She must've have noticed it enough to give their relationship a try. Ichigo scoffed inwardly. It was so obvious, actually, that even Byakuya must have seen it, too.
When Ichigo remained quiet, Renji continued, "I want her to be happy, Ichigo. She has been anything but that since after the war. I don't know why the two of you decided to go your separate ways but I'm pretty sure you still love her like you did before."
Ichigo smirked, "Damn, didn't take you for someone capable of spouting sappy shit."
The redhead scowled at him. "I'm just warning you in a very subtle way, arsehole. If you don't make her happy, I'm coming after you."
"Wow, big talk. How many times have you tried and failed to beat me?" Ichigo scorned. Renji had grown more powerful over the years but he still couldn't get past the 'instant' shinigami.
"We shall see about that! If I win, you talk to Taichou. If you win, you go through Ichika. How about that?" Renji dared.
"What?" Ichigo chuckled. "What sort of a challenge is that? Either way I'm still getting the girl."
"Now, who's the one with the big talk? How would you know if she still wants you? Don't forget we went out for two years."
Ichigo snorted, "And we had Ichika."
"So? It could've been just a drunken night, for all we know."
Renji did not even see the blur of orange that bolted right at him, sending his back crashing to the floor. When he looked up, it was Ichigo's face hovering over his. "I wouldn't do that to her," he snarled, his hand was around his friend's throat. "If I had known much earlier that we had a child together, I would've left my human life to be with them. But no one told me." With one last shove, Ichigo got off Renji and sat down next to him. "I thought you were married. I thought Ichika was yours. None of you had the right to keep that from me but you did."
The man, who was already battered from the sword fight, struggled to get up with a grunt. Ichigo reached out to help him but his arms were slapped away. When he managed to sit upright, Renji said, "The two of you are the biggest idiots ever existed. You need to stop fooling around and patch things up."
Ichigo sighed. "That's what Kazui said."
"He definitely did not get his smarts from you," Renji jeered at his old comrade. "Forget about the duel. I need to get myself fixed by Kotetsu-taichou. I've lost to you a long time ago, anyway."
The man only had himself to blame for not getting to his childhood friend first. He had more than a hundred years of friendship with her but he didn't do anything about it. The moment he saw the way Rukia looked at Ichigo back when they were living in the human world, he knew he had lost his chance. Even those two years dating her didn't gain him the edge on Ichigo. Over the years, Rukia kept saying she had moved on and gotten over the demi-shinigami. He never believed it, though, because the way she would sometimes stare at her daughter told him that she was longing for Ichigo to be with her.
"So, who's it going to be? Taichou or Ichika?" he asked.
Ichigo shrugged. "I will have to face both of them eventually. Have you found out if Ichika knows about me?"
"Nope. Why don't you go ask her yourself? Forge a new father-daughter bond or something. You're going to need it."
Ichigo chuckled. "Yeah, it'll probably be easier to approach her first before my confidence get shot down to the ground by that arrogant Kuchiki."
Just then, Renji's eyes widened as he looked over Ichigo's shoulder.
"Wha-? Oh…"
"Chire, Senbonzakura..."
I know... No IchiRuki interaction yet. But I need these two to reconcile and have some kind of closure with the people who play crucial parts in their lives first. I want them to come to know all the things that were hidden from them all these years. We have seen:
1. Rukia and Ichika
2. Rukia and Kazui
3. Rukia and Byakuya
4. Rukia and Orihime
(The other way around, through the letter, while Rukia is wallowing in guilt on her part of the reconciliation process which is the one that's killing her because Orihime is dead and there's no way she could properly set things right with her so it's going to take much longer and I know you're all especially pissed off at Orihime now because of this. Sigh... I really did not mean to make her look so bad.
Her ineffectiveness in the moment is just an indictment of her supposed resolve and revelation that her intention to do all this to protect her friends wound up doing anything but. (To be fair: she's 16.)
The above was written by gunnerpalace on tumblr in one of his analyses with regards to Bleach, and this particular piece is his hypothesis on Orihime in the Hueco Mundo Arc during Ichigo's hollowfication.
I suppose in this fanfic, she is again, '[doing] all this to protect her friends' – mostly Ichigo, but she 'wound up doing anything but'. So I hope you would excuse her character. She is just Orihime.)
5. Rukia and Renji
(Indirectly, in their two-year relationship and a bit more in the sparring.)
6. Ichika and Kazui
7. Ichigo and Isshin
(Several times because Ichigo needs a hit on the head from his dad, several times.)
8. Ichigo and Kazui
9. Ichigo and Uryuu
10. Ichigo and Renji, in this chapter
Ichigo has two other people to confront – Ichika and Byakuya, which we will see in the next chapter.
I promise you IchiRuki after that.
Thanks for waiting. Sorry for not replying to some of your reviews. This chapter wasn't as easy to write as I thought it would be. I've had to re-do the entire thing a few times to get here.