Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach
Chapter 25 – Answers
On some level Heikichi had wanted to see just what Shiro was capable of, he'd heard so many stories after all, but the experience didn't really do those stories justice and he found himself regretting life choices as he gazed up at his friend who was now staring down at him. The question that he was asked was filled with hidden emotions and he knew that Shiro was feeling betrayed right now, he could see it in the teen's eyes as well as hear it in his voice.
And that just served to make Heikichi feel incredibly guilty for what he had done.
For the fact that he had allowed his friend to think that he would ever betray him.
"Because I knew that they weren't going to stop coming for me…and I wanted to find a way to stop it permanently," Heikichi said, his voice a little strained due to the pain that he was currently dealing with. It really was difficult to focus on having this conversation thanks to the fact that Shiro had beaten the holy hell out of him but he didn't think that any of these injuries were fatal…even though they were definitely painful.
Which he supposed he deserved for his actions.
"You wanted it to stop…so you went with them?" Shiro said, his voice starting out low and his speech somewhat slow but the intensity of this question increased as he got to the second half. "What part of that seemed like a good idea? Did that even make sense in your head?" There was a measure of frustration in his voice as Shiro posed this question to the other boy, his icy eyes focused on Heikichi as he tried to figure out what he was going to do.
"Not really no but it was the best that I could come up with," Heikichi said weakly, knowing that explanation was seriously lacking but it really was the best that he had to offer right now. Because it was the truth.
Kasumi actually felt a little bit bad for Heikichi as she listened to this exchange but she wasn't going to interfere right now. Mainly because Shiro had a right to answers considering what he had gone through and he wasn't currently trying to murder Heikichi so there was no need to step in.
At least not yet.
Kaien and Masaki were still standing beside Kasumi and the twins were watching what was going on through slightly wide eyes. "He didn't hurts us Shiro," Masaki said after a few moments, the little girl able to tell that her brother was mad but right now she still thought this had been a game. It hadn't been a fun game and she and Kaien had both been sort of traumatized by it, but she was just thinking that it was because Heikichi didn't know how to play right.
Kaien nodded his head in agreement with his sister's words, his gaze also focused on Shiro.
The sound of his siblings' voices actually had the opposite effect on the teen, rather than calming him down as the twins were attempting it actually served to piss him off all over again.
"And my siblings…why the hell did you decide to bring them into this?" Shiro's voice turned low and menacing as he asked this question and his piercing eyes seemed to almost flash. It was pretty clear that this was the part that upset him the most over this ordeal, even more than the fact that Heikichi had fought him.
"That wasn't me," Heikichi defended with a shake of his head.
How it was possible was questionable but Shiro's expression actually grew more furious when Heikichi denied dragging his siblings into this whole mess. "If it wasn't you then who the hell was it?" he demanded, his hand actually once again going to the hilt of his sword. He looked for all the world as if he were just looking for a reason to continue this fight at this point.
"That guy from Squad Five that always had a grudge against you…Rye or something…" Heikichi said, trying to remember what the guy's name was so that he would actually sound like he knew what he was talking about.
"Ryuu," Kaien and Masaki spoke up in unison, the twins making a face.
"He said we was gonna play…" Masaki added, still not looking the least bit happy.
"…but he lied and we didn't," Kaien added, not really looking any happier than his twin sister in this moment.
The name that was supplied by Heikichi didn't make any sense to Shiro and he was about to once again question the guy but then the twins spoke up and supplied the missing link in all of this. And in that moment things started to make a lot more sense.
"I was keeping them safe Kurasaki…I knew that you'd come for them and then I was hoping that you'd help me fix this," Heikichi said quietly, his dark-eyed gaze still focused on Shiro. He had ended up in over his head with the Hollow, Menos, Espada…all of it, and he had seriously been hoping that his friend would help him fix this mess.
"Fix it huh?" Shiro said, sighing softly and moving his hand away from his sword. "I guess I did, in a roundabout way." He paused at this point, looking thoughtful. "That aside, Soul Society is probably still going to have a bone to pick with you." And as weird as it was Shiro was actually upset by that fact. Even though he had been murderous when he realized that his siblings were here in Hueco Mundo, Shiro actually did believe the words that Heikichi was speaking to him.
It helped that the twins were backing up parts of his story and that they were completely unharmed.
If something had happened to either of them before he arrived then there would have been no force in Heaven, Earth or beyond that would have been able to save Heikichi from his wrath. But now his focus was going to be on Ryuu and making sure that he paid for what he had attempted to do with a pair of innocent children, just because he had a grudge against Shiro and his family.
That was unforgiveable.
"So…now that this has been settled should we go home?" Kasumi asked, speaking up for the first time since calling out for Shiro to stop his murderous assault on the other teen. She wasn't sure how things were going to go when they did return to Soul Society but by the same token she knew that they couldn't just stay here in Hueco Mundo. Not just because it was still inhabited with Hollow despite Shiro's decimation of their numbers but also because Ichigo and Rukia were no doubt going to realize that their children were missing at some point and then all hell would break loose if they had to come searching for them.
Not really something that Kasumi wanted to be a part of.
"Yea, we should go," Shiro agreed, nodding his head and then once again looking down at Heikichi. "You're going to have to talk to Head Captain Ukitake…I'll help you out with that but I can't get you out of it." And it wouldn't be fun, Shiro knew that from experience, but it was inevitable if Heikichi wanted to have any hope of not being a fugitive from Soul Society for the rest of his life and beyond.
"Okay, thanks Kurosaki," Heikichi said, offering his friend a weak smile. "For what it's worth I'm sorry things escalated as much as they did. That wasn't my intention."
Shiro nodded his head, accepting the apology, and at that point he bent down and grabbed the other teen's arm. Standing up he hoisted Heikichi to his feet and wrapped the other boy's arm around his neck so that he could help him walk. "Let's go," he said, looking over at Kasumi as he spoke. "Can you keep an eye on the twins?" he questioned, needing her help so that he could focus on getting Heikichi back to Soul Society so that they could hopefully straighten out this mess and fix things.
"Of course," Kasumi agreed with a nod of her head, the teen holding out her hands to the little ones that were still standing beside her. "C'mon guys, let's head home. Playtime's over."
"But we didn't even get playtime!" the twins whined in one voice.
Causing the three teens to chuckle in response.
"I know, we'll play when we get back," Kasumi said, offering that bribe so that the little ones would hopefully cooperate with her without a fuss. She knew that she could deal with it if they decided to cause a scene but given the twins' powers it would still be a headache and that was one headache that she wanted to avoid.
She had enough of one from dealing with Shiro on a regular basis.
The twins seemed to be placated by this promise and after a moment Masaki reached up and took the hand that was being offered to her, Kaien following suit only a moment later.
"Okay, we're all set," Kasumi said, smiling and looking over at Shiro with that 'get a move on already' look on her face. She was going to leave him to lead the way back, knowing that they were going to have to travel slower this time around because of the twins and the wounded Heikichi but she was still thinking that they would make decent time.
And hopefully make it back to the Seireitei before anyone decided to come looking for them.
A tall order to fill given the number of worried parents that were involved in this whole incident but Kasumi was still managing to be hopeful. Probably because the thought of dealing with Shiro's parents along with her own was really unappealing.
"Let's go then," Shiro said, turning with Heikichi still supported at his side. "You need to lose some weight," he told the other teen in a joking manner, now completely back to normal despite his murderous transformation only a short time before. And there wasn't even a guilt trip to go along with it this time around because he hadn't really hurt anyone that didn't deserve it.
Even Heikichi had been asking for it on some level.
So unlike the first time that this happened, when he had attacked his mother, Shiro didn't have to deal with a serious guilt trip and PTSD at the end of it. He just had to make sure that his slightly wounded friend made it back to Soul Society so that he could face the music for what he had decided to do on his own.
"If anything like this ever happens again you better damn well let me in the loop BEFORE you decide to be stupid," Shiro said as he gazed at Heikichi, walking steadily as he said this and sort of forcing the other teen to keep up with him. He wasn't going so fast that it would be impossible but it wasn't likely to be pleasant.
Better than having to deal with fighting in their current condition though so Shiro was viewing it as the lesser of two evils.
"Yea, yea, consider that lesson learned," Heikichi said, shaking his head slightly as he thought about how much easier this would have been if he had only told Shiro what he was attempting. His life would have been so much easier and he wouldn't have ended up battered and bloody at the end of this. Or at the very least less so than he was now.
"Good, it better be," Shiro said, giving the other teen one final look before turning his gaze ahead so that he could focus on getting them back. That was going to be a harder thing than getting here had been but Shiro was still confident that he could do it.
He had to.
There was too much at stake not to.
A/N – End of another chapter and some revelations have been made. There is one chapter left and then this fic will come to a close. Hope that you enjoyed, please be kind and leave a review on your way out. Thanks for reading!