A/N: Thank you for any and all reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!
Bleach and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.
Saturday, February 15, 2003
A simultaneous cry of "Ichigo!" and "Rukia!" was the only warning before the door to Rukia's apartment opened and Renji, Kira, Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika abruptly piled inside, all totting a bottle of sake in each hand, only to be stopped cold in their tracks by the sight that greeted them. The first two Shinigami stared in disbelief and embarrassment and suddenly understood the better judgment Hitsugaya and Momo had displayed in declining to come along. The latter three all grinned wolfishly in their own ways.
Ichigo and Rukia were, for their part, both startled by the sudden commotion into sitting up from their sleeping positions, both still clad in yukata and swathed in blankets. The two groups just stared one another down wordlessly for seconds that seemed to stretch into eternity.
"Oh, are we interrupting something?" Rangiku said at last, drenching it with innuendo and leaning forward provocatively.
"What are you doing in my apartment?!" Rukia shouted, suddenly enraged.
"We—we came to celebrate!" Renji said, holding up the sake bottles as a totem of appeasement. He was familiar with her tone and feared for his shins and more.
"Looks like we missed the start," Yumichika said, opting instead to pour gasoline onto the fire.
"You sure don't waste any time, 'Kurosaki-gunsō'!" Ikkaku added with a wink, pointing with a sake bottle and smirking with approval.
Kira said nothing, too alarmed at the way the reiatsu of the pair was fluctuating in anger.
"Get the hell out!" Ichigo bellowed, jumping to his feet and pointing at them all with righteous indignation that presaged grievous violence.
Renji, assisted by Kira, rapidly managed to push the other three Shinigami outside, shutting the door. From behind it there came continued screaming of abuse which gradually refocused inside, before there was the unmistakable sound of a hand slapping a cheek. There followed silence.
"So, what do we do now?" Ikkaku asked in annoyance.
"Give them a minute," Rangiku said with a dismissive wave, "New couples are always so easily embarrassed!"
"How do you know they're a couple?" Kira asked incredulously.
"Seriously?" both Ikkaku and Yumichika replied at the same time.
"Come on," Rangiku exclaimed, "Even if you ignore everything that happened before, now it's just like a movie or a TV show! There's the by-the-books, grizzled veteran lieutenant who's too-old-for-this-shit and there's the impulsive, hotshot rookie sergeant who's a loose cannon, and together they go on dangerous assignments, all the while crackling with sexual tension! Their ranks are even right, and as a man and a woman—"
Renji clasped a hand over the busty woman's mouth to stop her, waving a finger in her face with the other as he hoarsely whispered "Do you know how incredibly dead you are if they heard anything you just said?!"
From their expressions it was clear that Kira, Ikkaku, and Yumichika had not been watching the same shows as Rangiku had in the Living World.
At that moment the door opened, causing Renji to let go of Rangiku and step back in fear. Rukia and Ichigo both stepped out clad in their shihakushō, their expressions together causing what could be felt as a searing arctic gale. Rukia bore the ultimately disinterested sneer of the Kuchiki clan. Ichigo had a red hand-shaped mark on the left side of his face but otherwise appeared to have a scowl carved from stone. The stares of both could have punched holes straight through an Arrancar's hierro.
The other four Shinigami all took a step back after Renji at the sight.
"Your celebrations can wait, we have a report to give to Ukitake-taichō," Rukia said with a cutting cold that made their blood freeze.
"Leave the sake, and if you ever speak of this to anyone…" Ichigo said, injecting a charge into the air that would surely cause a thousand lighting bolts to come raining down upon them.
The five Shinigami exchanged looks and filed by the pair, placing the sake bottles inside one-by-one, before forming up and making their way out of sight of the special agents. The fukutaichō and gunsō watched them go impassively until they could no longer see them and then some, as if they could track them through solid obstructions.
"How the hell did they get off work to come here anyway?" Ichigo muttered, unchanged in both tone and expression.
"It's the weekend, you idiot," Rukia replied, likewise still fully in persona.
They continued to stand in judgment, their combined reiatsu swirling about like two orbiting tornados, detectable clear across the entirety of the 13th Division's district and even into the adjoining ones, drawing stares out to quite some distance. Soon the odd maelstrom wound down into nothingness.
"Let's go, Ichigo," Rukia said, now merely somewhat impatient.
Ichigo nodded in response and together they set out toward Ukitake's office to deliver their report.
At last they arrived outside Ukitake's doors, their earlier performance and residual scary ambience warding off both Sentarō and Kiyone from coming to greet them. Rukia knocked.
"Come in!" came a call from the other side.
Raven and One entered, shutting the door behind them and taking seats opposite the taichō, both exhaling as their exasperating day seemed to show no signs of letting up.
"Kurosaki-gunsō, I take it the clothes were to your satisfaction?" the senior officer asked.
"Y—Yes, thank you—taichō,' Ichigo replied.
Ukitake once more waved it off. "Now that you both seem rested and fed," he began, politely ignoring whatever the malevolent aura everyone had felt radiating from Rukia's apartment earlier had been, "would you please inform me as to what has driven today's events?"
"Yes, sir!" both said. Rukia recounted the course of her investigation as she had to Yamamoto, as well as what Ichigo had told her, being somewhat more pejorative than she had been earlier. Ichigo seemed to ignore it and filled in the occasional detail. Within 15 minutes, Ukitake had been caught up to speed on everything that had happened and their new current mission.
"I see," Ukitake said, considering. He seemed to be recalling something from the distant past and said, "I believe that I can shed some light on the situation, although I'm sure that the documentation that Kurosaki-gunsō has in his possession probably details it more thoroughly."
"Call me just Ichigo or Kurosaki—sir," Ichigo said in a way that conveyed it was still a request.
Ukitake smiled politely and nodded, before continuing on. "Many years ago now, there was a detachment of outsiders that came here, including a man that matched the description that the sōtaichō gave. I was never privy to the negotiations with them, but considering you have told me that man was the head of the American occupation of Japan, I would conclude that the so-called 1946 Treaty of Friendship and Understanding was essentially an agreement to non-interference by both parties," he said.
"That would fit with what Alan said," Rukia added.
"And ojii as well," Ichigo said, slipping back into his casual irreverence. He was clearly expecting to be engaging primarily with Ukitake, whom along with Rukia shot him a look. "What?" he asked.
"Based on what you've told me, the Americans were fine with this arrangement until relatively recently, and are now using this…experiment…as a means of leveraging Soul Society into their alliance system."
"Either the balance of power has changed drastically or the circumstances have," Rukia said grimly, thinking.
"Or both," Ukitake replied, his tone becoming a bit more somber.
"From the way that guy talked," Ichigo said, remembering, "He didn't seem scared of Soul Society. One of the first things he asked me about was the Cold War."
Rukia and Ukitake both looked at him expectantly upon hearing the term, neither familiar with it.
He waved them off, saying "It was a big cause of conflicts in the Living World. Anyway, he made it sound like America and other states like Russia had been far more powerful than Soul Society for quite some time." He was silent for a moment, oddly contemplative, before he looked both Rukia and Ukitake in the eye and said "If they're moving to change the status quo now, it's not just because they want to, they could've done that whenever, it's because they think they have to."
There was a seriousness that hung in the room for a moment at the observation, each of the three adding up the experiences and evidence they had at the moment.
"At least they're being diplomatic…if manipulative," Rukia said, still miffed at Alan despite the surety of their revenge, and not sure whether his methods were reflective of his superiors.
"Using Kurosaki and by proxy you, Kuchiki, was quite clever. It was probably both more effective and a much lower drain on their resources than either a show of force or prolonged wooing would've been," Ukitake said, before adding "Kurosaki, you said your superior told you that more materials and orders would be dispatched to you soon?"
"Yeah, he sprung it on me at the last second," Ichigo replied.
"He said you were supposed to be the American representative," Rukia said, "so probably he or whoever else will send you information in the knowledge you'll share it with us."
"What they share and how readily will perhaps be the true test of their commitment to making this work," Ukitake pondered before exhaling. "At any rate, the two of you should probably return to the Living World at your soonest convenience, it's clear that more answers will be found there," he said.
"What about our mission?" Ichigo replied.
"It was left at our discretion as to how to prepare and train for it," Rukia reminded him.
The duo looked at one another and nodded. Their course was clear.
"Oh, by the way," Ukitake said, suddenly interrupting by removing something from a drawer, "the sōtaichō had this sent over for you, Kurosaki. It was apparently custom-made today."
He set what looked like the badge and armband of a fukutaichō on the desk in front of him. Instead of the usual numeral kanji and insignia denoting a Division, it read "U.S." in Latin characters and had a circle with a star-shape missing in the center and bars coming off the left and right that had horizontal linear gaps shot through them. Ichigo did not yet know it was the low-visibility American roundel, but could immediately tell it was something Alan must've asked for when he and Yamamoto had been alone.
Ichigo reached out and took it in hand, looking it over. He let out a non-committal grunt before fastening it to the left sleeve of his shihakushō. Both Rukia and Ukitake looked at one another at this, their glance communicating that both shared the opinion it made him look even more like the long-departed Kaien Shiba.
Ichigo noticed and looked between them both, asking once more "What?"
Rukia just smiled and Ukitake found he couldn't help but do likewise. "Nothing," they both said, Rukia adding "Let's go," and Ukitake following with "Yes, thank you for coming by."
The pair stood, nodded, and took their leave, rather more relaxed than when they had been when they arrived. It was a minute or so later that Ukitake could hear Kiyone and Sentarō likewise gossiping about Ichigo's strengthened resemblance outside his office.
Ichigo and Rukia had not long departed from the barracks of the 13th Division when they were once again ambushed by Rangiku, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Kira, and Renji, all of whom seemed more apprehensive and had sought reinforcements after their last engagement. With them now were Hitsugaya, Shinji, Kensei, Hisagi, Momo, and Hanatarō, all of whom had been roped into coming along in their own way.
"So, are you guys willing to come along to your own celebration party now?" Rangiku asked with a somewhat conciliatory tone.
"I was told it'd be a drinking party," Hisagi said flatly.
"I'm underage," Ichigo said with just as little consideration.
"Bastard!" Ikkaku shouted, "You can't just demand we turn over the sake like earlier and then pull that kind of excuse!"
"Wanna fight about it, baldy?!" Ichigo roared back, and soon Rukia and Yumichika were the only things restraining them from going at one another.
Rukia brought her lips close to Ichigo's ear and whispered "Hey, Ichigo, come on, it could be fun," and the feel of her warm breath on his skin more than anything made him stop and with an exaggerated sigh declare "Fine…but you're buying!"
Yumichika continued to have to restrain Ikkaku at his protests that they had already bought, while Renji, Kira, and Rangiku just readily agreed. The new arrivals, not knowing what to make of the exchange, began to exchange looks of concern as to what they'd agreed to. So it was that the group of thirteen made their way to one of the cantinas in the outer reaches of the 13th Division's district.
Some hours later, Rukia leaned heavily against Ichigo, pleasantly tipsy but by no means drunk. Ichigo had, despite his age, decided to partake in moderation and was even less buzzed. It had oddly been Renji who had served as his guardian wingman in that regard, having taken on the role of distracting the rowdier men and Rangiku, and it was Renji who was now among the most thoroughly trashed.
Hitsugaya had excused himself halfway through the proceedings in disgust, citing paperwork, but had for once not badgered Rangiku into leaving with him. For Renji's sake, Momo and Kira had stayed, the latter having gotten quite thoroughly wrecked in the effort to help defend him. Shinji and Kensei, knowing their limits a bit better than their younger counterparts, had left a half hour previously while still under their own power. Hanatarō had had little to drink and spent the party mostly being abused, but remained in good humor about it.
Hisagi, Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika were just as smashed as Renji, and Momo and Hanatarō were trying to get them and Kira to hydrate as they slurred and jibbed at one another.
"Rukia," Ichigo said, surveying the sad sight, "We should go."
The petite Shinigami giggled uncharacteristically. "Momo, Hanatarō, can you handle all of this? I couldn't possibly just leave you with—"
"Don't worry about it, Kuchiki-san, it's not like this is the first time this kind of thing has happened!" Momo replied cheerily.
"Alcohol poisoning is actually the second leading cause of injuries reported to the 4th Division," Hanatarō said, the statistic apparently not really bothering him.
Ichigo looked on their familiarity at the proceedings with a rising horror and stood, helping Rukia up as he rose. She absent-mindedly clung to his arm for support in a way he dared not acknowledge.
"Goodnight, everyone, it was fun!" Rukia said, declaring their intention to leave.
Nobody but Renji reacted, the 6th Division fukutaichō grunting with effort to push himself off the table he was sprawled onto, standing with the least-sure footing Ichigo had ever seen someone manage. In fits and starts he brought himself over to the pair, suddenly grabbing Ichigo by the collar in an instant of clarity.
"Renji!" Rukia protested, using her other hand to try and restrain him from whatever he was about to do.
Ichigo just looked at his crimson-haired Shinigami friend with confusion, recoiling mildly at the alcohol on his breath.
"Ichigo," Renji snarled, "You—you make her happy, damn it, or I swear I—I…" to this Ichigo could only watch with surprise as Renji's eyes rolled back and his grip went limp, the man toppling backward onto the ground. Rangiku suddenly clapped happily.
Both Rukia and Ichigo started at this only for Momo to swoop in front of them, hauling the fukutaichō up into a sitting position against a table, saying "Don't worry, don't worry! He'll be fine, go on now."
Ichigo blinked and found he could only smile slightly. Renji, you… Rukia continued to fret and Ichigo gently touched her wrist. She looked up at him and he just said "Come on, we need to get back. We'll stop by your place first to clean it up, yeah?"
Rukia nodded, and so while she still leaned on Ichigo's arm, the pair made their way back to Rukia's apartment, leaving Hanatarō and Momo behind to tend to their shattered friends.
There wasn't actually much to do at Rukia's apartment, other than squaring away the confiscated sake, taking out the trash, and putting things back in place, and so within a half hour of leaving the party they had made their way to a relatively open area to summon a senkaimon to take them back to the Urahara Shop.
Rukia had just finished summoning a hell butterfly and was about to begin the ritual when a familiar reiatsu presence suddenly appeared behind both of them. They didn't have to turn to know who it was, but both did so anyway.
"Nii-sama!" Rukia exclaimed, running the short distance up to Byakuya, both still a bit buzzed and genuinely happy to see him.
"Bya—Kuchiki-taichō," Ichigo said in surprise, the noble being the last person he expected to come see them off.
"Rukia. Kurosaki…gunsō," Byakuya replied by way of greeting. He looked at Rukia with something that actually might have been warmth, or at least less frigidness than usual, and said "You've done very well. I'm pleased to see that your hard work has been acknowledged so publicly. You do your clan a credit."
One watched Raven smile happily at what he imagined was effusive praise from her normally stolid brother, finding himself smiling softly in empathy as she replied "Thank you, nii-sama."
Ichigo's smile faded as Byakuya's eyes flicked to him, and he forced himself to stand his ground without giving a centimeter as the noble slowly walked toward him. Rukia's expression turned to concern, but her brother stopped at about a meter's distance from her partner, the two simply squared off against one another.
Awkward silence passed between the three, only Byakuya not seeming to care. At last he spoke: "I do not know what you've done, but know that I intend to find out. Likewise, rest assured that I will be following up on Rukia's accommodations in the Living World to ensure that she is being given proper lodging and circumstances due a member of the Kuchiki household." Apparently satisfied with the vague threat, Byakuya turned and left, saying "Continue in excellence, Rukia," as he walked past his sister.
"G—Goodnight, nii-sama!" Rukia replied only somewhat awkwardly. And with that, the man was gone, having used shunpo.
Ichigo let out a breath of relief then, saying, "For a second there I thought he was gonna fight me."
"Nii-sama would never break the direct orders of the sōtaichō," Rukia replied, only somewhat chiding him. With that, noticing the hell butterfly flapping about, she withdrew her zanpakutō, and summoned the senkaimon.
They were met by Urahara in the man's training room, which as always made it appear to be midday. "Urahara…san," Ichigo said by way of greeting.
"Oh, Kurosaki-san," the man said, waving his fan, "I see that you appear to be back to normal." He sounded once more like his usual self.
Ichigo and Rukia shared a look and then both bowed to Urahara, saying "Thank you for your assistance against that man, Urahara-san!"
The shopkeeper slid the fan down and gave them a cryptic smile, replying "No, no thanks are necessary for that." He then gestured at the long ladder, saying "You must want to get back now, especially since I'm sure everyone is by now aware of your return."
The pair nodded, and the trio were up the ladder in a flash. They split, Urahara going to do something or other, Rukia to get in her gigai, and Ichigo to get back into his body. They reassembled in the room beyond the shop area minutes later.
"Kurosaki-san, you should know that I received a call from Ukitake-taichō earlier clarifying some of the situation," Urahara said delicately, before adding "He requested I inform your father of the same."
"Yeah, I'm not surprised," Ichigo said. He had told his dad that he was going to study all day, but as the day had unfolded he had figured word would get back to him sooner or later. It may as well be sooner. "I'm not mad."
Urahara nodded, before gesturing at the shop's door and saying "I suppose you two had best get going."
"Hey, Urahara-san, did Ukitake-taichō not ask for the badge back?" Ichigo asked. He had found it still on his person.
"He didn't mention it, so…" Urahara trailed off.
Rukia casually slipped her right arm around Ichigo's left one and whispered "Our friends are gonna catch us before we make it back," and pulled him along before he could say anything else, the pair making their way outside. Once they were away from the door and well into the lot she added "Don't you dare say a word about this," with no hint of the menace that was clearly there.
"What are we gonna do about where you're staying?" Ichigo asked instead.
"We'll come up with something," she said.
Ichigo nodded and steeled himself for whatever the response of his family would be to the return of his powers, and what he felt was the surely coming ambush by their friends, but found that no matter how much he searched for their reiatsu or where he looked with the glasses, he couldn't find any of them.
"Are you really going to keep wearing those things?" Rukia asked him.
"I thought you liked them," he replied absent-mindedly.
"Maybe, but—ne, Ichigo, can you sense anyone?" she asked with a bit of alarm.
Ichigo just braced her arm in his and started to jog, she immediately doing the same and both of them making haste toward his house.
They arrived minutes later, Ichigo bursting through the door shouting "Hey!" only to receive no response. He looked at Rukia and said "Check the clinic," before heading upstairs, shouting "Karin! Yuzu! Dad!?" His sisters' room was empty and he noticed oddly now only had half the things it used to, namely Yuzu's. It was when he checked his own room and found that it held the other half, Karin's, and that all his things were gone, that he became truly creeped out. "What the hell is going on?"
"Ichigo!" Rukia abruptly called, "You should come see this!"
He hurried back downstairs to find Rukia by the dinner table. In front of her was a small map of Karakura, a spot placed on it in the Mashiba neighborhood in black marker and an address scrawled next to it. The words "Better hurry!" were written and circled below. Ichigo snatched it up thoughtlessly as a rising fear overtook him and immediately ran out the door, Rukia following along right behind him.
They arrived on the opposite street corner from the place some minutes later, panting and out of breath, finding it to be what looked like a recently renovated house.
"Ichigo," Rukia got out, "We have to be smart about this! Ichigo, listen to me! We don't know what's in there and they must know we're coming!" Something tugged at her awareness then, but she dismissed it.
He managed to calm himself long enough to look at her and nod, and after a moment to steady themselves, they walked with forced casualness across the street and slipped into bushes that were alongside the house. There, for want of a better mechanism, Ichigo and Rukia both grasped the former's Daikō badge and used it to eject their souls, leaving their respective body and gigai in the brush. With any luck, even though their reiatsu could be tracked and their presence was surely known, whoever was inside might not expect them to be non-corporeal.
Both drew their zanpakutō, gleaming with purpose in the light of the nearly full-moon, and quickly but quietly made their way to the front door, taking up positions on either side of it. The lights of the house were off and they could hear nothing from inside. Ichigo glanced at Rukia with lethal determination and she returned the look before nodding. With that, Ichigo opened the door with a chop as a distraction while both of them phased through the walls on either side of it. They arrived in a completely dark room, swords at the ready, neither seeing nor hearing anything.
It was then that the lights flipped on to a cacophonous cry of "Surprise!" and they found themselves holding their swords to a full arc of their friends, Ichigo's family, and the Urahara Shop crew. Isshin, Karin, Yuzu, Inoue, Ishida, Chad, Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, Urahara, Yoruichi, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu were all assembled and cheering for them happily.
Ichigo almost dropped Zangetsu in shock and fell back against the wall, sliding to the floor, finding his heart was hammering, feeling Rukia drop down next to him, both panting as whatever the spiritual equivalent of adrenaline was dumped into their systems.
The happy cheers turned then into a din of gradually increasing concern: "Hey, why are you both in spirit form?" "Ichigo, Rukia! Are you okay?" "What's with the zanpakutō?" "Ichi-nii, Rukia nee-san, what's wrong?!"
Rukia brought a hand up to cover her eyes and started to laugh in pure relief, letting go of Sode no Shirayuki, instinctively finding Ichigo's free hand and gripping it tightly. He gripped back and started to laugh with her, letting go of Zangetsu and likewise shading his face against the light to keep everyone from seeing his worry. The pair kept laughing as their friends and family crowded around them, now showing boundless concern as something was definitely wrong with them if they were holding hands so brazenly.