Pre-Note
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor the characters in it. The dialogue from the episodes itself are not my own except the additional pieces of writing added to it.
(1) Flashbacks from Episode 71 and 72 (Bount Arc) are mentioned in this chapter. I would suggest watching them again or just skimming through it to refresh your memory if its been awhile. The dialogue used in the flashbacks are exactly the same.
(2) There are Images For This Chapter
She Never Turned—Interference
Everything was black.
He was caught in daze. Eyes still closed, he winced a few times trying to think harder, hoping that he could remember something even though he was still unsure of where he was and why his eyes were closed. The more he tried to remember, the more his memories seemed to run away, leaving only darkness in his memory and his sight.
Everything was still black.
He moved once or twice, trying to come in contact with something to identify where he was but all he could feel was the cold ground. It was concrete, he was sure of it. Felt almost like the concrete that made up the roads in the human world.
Karakura Town...he wondered. The last thing he remembered from there was the heat. It had been getting unusually hotter, so much that he had drenched his school uniform with his sweat while the Soul Society had been dealing with the opposite conditions. He remembered having dinner with Yuzu and his dad being an idiot as per usual. He remember leaving Karakura Town and coming to the Soul Society. He remembered...he remembered feeling cold, yes, because of the conditions. He had come with Inoue, Chad, and Ishida. They were sent by Yoruichi-san. He remembered there being lines, long lines of ice that were grabbing soul reapers and devouring them one by one. He remembered saving Inoue and then, finding out that Rukia was in trouble.
His recollection of the events were getting faster and swiftly Ichigo began to piece them together. Okasake Jushirmai, Rukia fainting, Rukia being a suspect, Rukia hiding something, staying at the Shiba Manor, Rukia escaping, meeting Okasake Jushirmai x2, leaving with Ganju and the rest to the northern mountains to find her, eating Inoue's soup, meeting one of Jushirmai's allies, Tōshirō and Byakuya joining, flying and arguing with Uryū, reaching the border, trying to break the barrier with Getsuga Tensho.
It was getting faster. Everything up until the point where he immersed himself into his inner world was restored except his ability to move or open his eyes. Stuck in this darkness, his mind was awake but his body itself was still laying on what began to feel hot, scorching hot. His fingers, struggling to move, tried touching whatever he was laying on to try and identify where he was. A sidewalk concrete...or maybe even a road. But that couldn't be, Ichigo thought. He wasn't in the World of the Living, he had come to the Soul Society where everything had been freezing cold and now, here he was actually sweating, laying on something extremely hot, feeling hot.
"Uh.." he tried to speak. Shaking his head, his eyes slowly began to open however they were quick to close, given the fact that something bright was shining in his eyes, it was blinding.
That's when he realized, he was home. Home as in the World of the Living, home as in Karakura Town. He tried opening his eyes a bit slower this time to adjust his eyes to the light, after a few seconds he sat up, looking around to observe his surroundings.
He was right. He was laying on a sidewalk, the sun indicating that it was around late afternoon, the heat baking him as if he was a cake in an oven. It was Karakura Town alright, he recognized the area instantaneously. But now the question was, why was he at home? Had he dreamt the whole thing? The Soul Society freezing...Rukia disappearing...had it all been just one big dream? It didn't explain why he was laying on the sidewalk with no one strangely around. In fact, it made him more curious as to why he was lying there in the first place.
He was no longer wearing the cape that Urahara had given him when he had left with his friends to go help the Soul Society, neither Inoue, Chad, or Uryū were with him, as strange as it sounded the entire story in his memory would just be a whole big dream to him if it wasn't for one thing: the heat.
It was fall. It was suppose to be getting colder however, the sun high in the air and the heat surrounding him indicated that the story in his mind was very much real and however he ended up on this sidewalk had a lot to do with it. Standing up, his first move wasn't to return to the Soul Society just yet. Somehow he had returned here without any memory of what had happened after he said he would try hollowifying again to break the barrier. Did he break it? Did he hollowify again? Is that why he passed out? It didn't explain why he was back in Karakura Town but it was a start. Walking slowly back, he decided to go back home, the Kurosaki Clinic, hoping that his memory would fully restore itself if he gave his body energy.
His house slowly become visible as he walked closer, he identified two figures. One was standing near the door and the other well, the other figure was standing a bit further away. The closer he got, the more he was able to identify. There wasn't one person at the door but two, Yuzu and Karin, they were talking to the other figure who was standing far away. It looked like a child, probably one of Yuzu's or Karin's friends by the looks of it.
There were suitcases packed. Lots of them and Ichigo was unsure why. Were they moving or something? The more curious he became, the faster his feet moved. The image was becoming clearer, there were a bunch of things crammed in the truck of their vehicle, additional suitcases were near the doorstep where Yuzu and Karin were waving goodbye.
What the hell was happening?
His dad suddenly came out, dressed with his vacation hat and a floral shirt. Yuzu was dressed in her summer dress and Karin wore her usual shirt and shorts. They're going on a vacation. It has to be. But why the hell are they taking so much?
Ichigo's attention finally turned to the person Yuzu and Karin were speaking too. The person he had mistaken for a child was wearing a soul reaper uniform, white fingerless gloves, and had short hair which resembled...Rukia's. Ichigo's eyes widened, he began to run.
"Rukia! Rukia! Rukia!" He called out as he ran towards her but she didn't turn around. Not even his sisters had turned in his direction upon hearing his voice. The scene continued to play out as if he had never made a sound.
What the hell?
"Rukia!" He yelled, finally catching up to her. He bent his head immediately to catch his breath but Rukia still never turned to him.
"Thank you, Kurosaki-san! I'll be mindful of that! Have fun on your vacation!" Rukia cheerfully wished his father and his sisters.
"We will, thanks. Are you gonna do anything?" Karin asked.
"Ah, I'll probably be staying with my younger brother for awhile, that's all." Rukia smiled.
"Younger brother...?" Karin asked.
"Yes," Rukia responded with a small smile. "Jushirmai." Jushirmai? Ichigo froze.
J-Jushirmai? As in the guy that froze the entire Soul Society? As in the guy who has a terrible past with Rukia? As in the guy who is the ryoka?
Ichigo stared at her. Unable to formulate words as she talked to Karin. It couldn't be...could it? There was no way that the ryoka could be her younger brother...it couldn't be.
"I'll get going, have a nice trip! Bye!" Rukia said while waving before turning away, snapping Ichigo out of his daze.
"Rukia! Rukia! Hold the fuck up, Jushirmai is your younger brother? Is that how he's connected to you? No, right? Your younger brother can't be..." Rukia did not respond.
"Hey Rukia!" He yelled. "I'm talking to you goddammit, why are you walking away?"
"Rukia!" He was beginning to get frustrated. He was standing right in front of her as she walked but she didn't even pay attention to him. Her eyes never met his once. Not once. She just continued walking.
What the hell is going on here?
"What the hell is all of this? Why'd you run with the quincy? Why did you leave, didn't you know the Gotei 13 were gonna look at you as a traitor? Where the fuck is Renji? Who is the ryoka? Okasake Jushirmai? It can't be your younger brother, there's no way. What the fuck did he do to you? Why are you afraid of him? What past? What secret? What are you hiding?!" Ichigo just exploded with questions, trailing behind her path as she walked away. He didn't know what was happening.
He was frustrated, he was tired, he didn't want others to think of her as the enemy but the more she acted the way she did, the more she was giving them a reason to believe that she was.
She kept walking. She didn't flinch, she didn't speak, she didn't do anything. "Is the Gotei 13 right? Did you stage that interaction with Jushirmai? You didn't, right? They're just trying to find any reason to go against you. There's no way you would purposelessly stage an interaction with the ryoka, would you? You wouldn't right?" Ichigo was just asking questions and answering himself. "You wouldn't. I know you Rukia, there's something more to this, I know, so what are you hiding? What is it? I need to know. I know I said I would wait and I'm trying too but the Gotei 13 are slowly turning against you and I have nothing to argue with except the fact that I know you." He began to speak faster. "You wouldn't do that. But why does it seem that way to the Gotei 13? What is your relationship with Okasake Jushirmai? He can't be your younger brother, he can't. This whole thing with the gems of the Seavens, freezing the Soul Society, being an adopted noble, knowing you, a different side of you that can't be your younger brother, Rukia, stop walking and answer me! Why is it that Renji and that quincy know what's going on with you? Why can't I know what's been going on? Why can't you tell me the truth about your past? Your younger brother is only a small fraction of the whole truth, Rukia, I want to know everything. Why can't you tell me? Why aren't you speaking? Goddammit Rukia, I need to fucking know! Rukia!" He yelled.
"Kurosaki!" A voice silenced him. But it wasn't hers. Rukia kept walking, it was someone else, someone he knew. But before he could figure it out, he was knocked unconscious yet again. Welcoming darkness once again.
"I'm sure that was Kurosaki's voice." Tōshirō said, standing atop a hill, looking down at the line of houses below. Standing beside him was Byakuya who had been lying unconscious with him until they woke up. Strangely, neither Kurosaki, Ishida, Sado, Inoue or the others had been with them even though they were altogether before they fell.
Nothing made sense.
From the barrier to falling down into the water, only to wake up here in the World of the Living. Tōshirō was sure it was the ryoka's doing. Byakuya, who hadn't said a word since waking up, stared at the Kurosaki Clinic, noticing what looked like an unconscious Ichigo being pounded on the ground by a man who was jumping on top of him. Someone he assumed was Kurosaki's outrageous father again as his two siblings watched the entire scene occur.
But Byakuya was more fixated on the woman walking away. Given his distance he couldn't make out an exact image of the girl but the more he watched her the more he came to notice the little details which identified her as a whole.
"Rukia is here." Byakuya stated before flash-stepping away to her location.
"Huh? Kuchiki, wait!" Tōshirō said but the Captain had already flash-stepped away. Tōshirō quickly followed by flash-stepping himself to the other Kuchiki's location, leaving an unconscious Ichigo to be dragged by his father inside their house.
"Kuchiki, you shouldn't just disappear like that." Tōshirō said, annoyed by how quick Byakuya had been to act alone. "We're together as of now. We might as well help each other." He spoke as he dusted himself off.
"Are you listening to me? Kuchiki? Are you -" Tōshirō huffed as Byakuya continued to ignore him, staring only at the petite girl walking away as if she couldn't already sense their reiatsu and knew they were here.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Tōshirō asked still annoyed. It was Kuchiki, there was no mistaking it. It was her.
Something was wrong though. If Byakuya was correct, Ichigo had been trying to talk to her before his father had knocked him unconscious but she hadn't responded. It was unlike any interaction he had seen between them. Even if Rukia did not want to speak, it was unlike her to ignore him. As of now, it seemed like their presence didn't matter to her at all unless, she didn't know they were there but that in itself would be impossible as neither one of them were hiding their reiatsu.
Byakuya stared at her as she walked further away.
"We should follow her. If what you're thinking is true, then that means something's wrong with her. We need to know." Tōshirō said. Byakuya eyed him, unsure of how Tōshirō had guessed what he was thinking so accurately. Tōshirō started to walk ahead of him and Byakuya shortly followed, unsure of what he would discover soon.
"Have a nice trip." Rukia warmly smiled.
Just like a majority of Karakura Town, the Kurosakis had decided to take advantage of the heat and go on a vacation. Rukia had decided to come wish them goodbye in the absence of Ichigo who she was not ready to meet. Waving one last time, she began to walk, heading to the next town...her hometown.
Spending time with Jushirmai was nothing new for her. She had been in and out of the Soul Society just for the sole purpose of spending time with him thanks to Captain Ukitake for the past 20 years.
From Karakura Town to home had always consisted of her visits after she met Ichigo. But before that, it had always been the Soul Society to her home, the home which she grew up in before being taken to the Soul Society. The one which probably shaped the most of her life altogether.
She enjoyed the long walk. It allowed her to think, to occasionally absorb the fact that this was real, it would give her enough time to ponder about what to do next. She was going to have to face Sensei Okasake soon. She just didn't know when and how or if she was ready. Not to mention, the Gotei 13 was on the loose to find her. She wasn't ready to face Ichigo either.
There were so many things to do on her list she didn't know where to start. Spending the past week with Jushirmai had been a breather. It made her feel at peace, almost as if everything was back to normal but it wasn't because the Gotei 13 knew who Okasake Jushirmai was.
Although Rukia could never find the heart to admit it upfront, she had let Jushirmai find a pathway out for her.
She had asked the rest if it was alright if she could take some time off in the World of the Living, at her home here of course. The Gotei 13 would never find her here but also, it gave her time to return to her normal self, to her normal body, to her somewhat normal life to figure things out.
"Wait, wait, wait you mean the whole thing was a fucking set up?!" Raiden blinked rapidly trying to adjust to what Yoruichi was telling him about the not-so-real interaction between Rukia and Jushirmai on the first night. It was staged.
"I'm afraid so, Arigawa-san. Kuchiki-san made a pact with Jushirmai if he would leave her alone for a few months in the World of the Living. " Urahara explained.
"I don't know who's more outta their fucking mind. Rukia or that asshole. I thought her ol'Oky came to the soul reaper side to cause trouble and drag her out with him, I have no idea that I was the only one being fucking fooled and those two were out there purposely playing Romeo and Juliet."
"Uh...Arigawa-san? Romeo and Juliet actually loved each other, it was their families who opposed to them being together so much that they would kill each oth—" Urahara was cut off.
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah I got it, wrong story."
Flashback (AN: Bleach Episode 71 / Bount Arc)
Captain Kyōraku slid open the door of the Department of Research and Development, unsure if Captain Kurotsuchi was anywhere near. "I'm coming in."
He looked around, right hand holding onto his sugesaga hat surprisingly finding that Captain Kurotsuchi wasn't around. "—huh? Is anyone here?" He walked further in and analyzed the room, Captain Kurotsuchi wasn't around.
Captain Kyōraku had only one need as of now. He needed data on the Bounts and if Kurotsuchi wasn't around, he'd just have to get it himself. "In that case, I'll just—"
"No one has said there's no one here." A voice suddenly said, causing Captain Kyōraku to pause. Behind him, a chair turned around revealing Captain Kurotsuchi who had been there all along. "One such as the great Kyōraku is acting like a thief?"
"I thought I was acting as an exceptional thief."
"What do you want?" Captain Kurotsuchi asked, irritated by the Captain's presence. "I may not look like it but I'm quite busy."
"Then I'll be upfront. Can you show me some data?"
"Data? What sort?"
"Bounts. You know what they are, don't you?"
"Bounts? Hmmm...That's a long dust-covered subject.
"But the materials on that subject that are preserved in the Central Library have seemed to disappear and so, I have only the data here to rely on. If it's such a dust-covered subject, it shouldn't be a problem showing it to me, right?"
"That's for me to decide. Isn't it beyond your authority for a Captain of another division to tell me what to do?" Captain Kurotsuchi said, visibly exhausted by the Captain already with his left hand resting under his cheek.
"That's the very reason I'm here. If anyone could help me, I was certain that it would be you, the one in charge of the Research and Development Bureau, whispered to be the most excellent Captain in the Soul Society." Kyōraku said in an attempt to coax him with praise.
"If you want to look at our data, go through the proper channels."
"If I did that, it would take a good three months."
"True, the data might not be worth that much but having people go through the proper channels gives my position meaning and authority."
"So...you can't give me the data?"
"Exactly."
Captain Kyōraku sighed, speaking under his breath. "Hope you go to hell someday."
"Huh? Did you say something?"
"No, nothing..." Kyōraku said as he approached the doorway. "Oh! By the way, 'the most excellent" was just a bit of flattery. Though I've also heard rumors that you're the worst. If you want to hear more, you'll have to go through the proper channels." Kyōraku said before leaving Captain Kurotsuchi alone with Nemu.
"Why...What was that?! That rude attitude! Nemu, the keys." Nemu immediately reacted and handed him the keys that Mayuri immediately jammed into the USB port.
"I'll show him! I'll delete all the data on the Bounts." Mayuri said, caught up in a heat of anger only to find out that his access to the data was denied.
"Nemu! What is this?! You're suppose to be monitoring the data 24/7! How could you let this happen?!"
Kyōraku stood outside watching the chaos unfold inside the office he had been inside not to long ago. He realized that this was going to be more harder than he thought. It seemed like he'd have to find another way to attain the data he was looking for and with that, he walked away—leaving Captain Kurotsuchi to yell at his Lieutenant about the data he had been looking for.
"Why can't I access it?! I left you in charge of supervision!"
"Mayuri-sama, I'm afraid the assassins have sealed specific data in our system for their own usage. The order was executed this morning by Head Commander Okasake. The Head Captain informed me this morning of the sudden change, I forgot to tell you..."
"Nemu! You useless thing! How could you forget to tell me that my own stored data was being sealed by higher orders. If I had known that, it would've been easier to have that annoying Captain to leave! Now you've wasted my time!"
"I apologize, Mayuri-sama."
"Is there anything else? They can't just seal my data without informing me of the reason!"
"The Head Captain stated that they are in the process of searching for a lost individual in their society. For that reason, they are analyzing all data of known beings in the Soul Society and beyond, including their own as well."
"What nonsense! It is an insult to my authority as the Captain of this division to be restricted from accessing my own data whether it is in use or not! " Mayuri said in disbelief.
"Nemu!"
"Yes?"
"I am sending you to the Capital to explain this utter nonsense. Meet with Head Commander sir and tell him that he cannot restrict my access to my own data although he is free to use it."
"Yes, Mayuri-sama."
"And if possible, get him to explain whomever they are searching for. It's rather intriguing but irritating at the same time that they'd go through my data without allowing me to maintain access of it. Whomever they are looking for is highly unlikely to be associated with these Bounts anyways. They are a dust-covered subject, nothing more, nothing less."
"Yes, Mayuri-sama."
Flashback Continuation (AN: Episode 71 / Bount Arc)
"Where is Yoruichi-san?" Ichigo asked.
"She's not home right now." Kisuke responded to Ichigo and the rest of his remaining friends who had gathered in his shop following the abduction of Uryū. No one knew if he was alright or even alive given the injury he had been given which had knocked him unconscious. The Bounts had proven themselves to be quite challenging. They couldn't face them alone, they need more help but Yoruichi was elsewhere. Yoruichi was diffusing someone's sheatsu.
Flashback Continuation
She jumped from tree to tree in speed, trying to reach the familiar forest Rukia knew all too well. The one situated right in front her old house, the same forest where Jushirmai's sheatsu bled. He was being more obvious these days. The appearance of the Bounts, Rukia's return to Karakura Town—her return to Ichigo as a schoolgirl was prompting more of the release of his toxic sheatsu. Rukia could not sense it, but it was here.
Jushirmai had come to visit her once more, it seemed as if he was doing regularly however, Yoruichi couldn't suspect Rukia. There were a bunch of unknown presences lurking around here, Yoruichi could—(unlikely) be mistaken or, Jushirmai might just be watching her 24/7. That's why it never leaves—his sheatsu she meant.
There was already enough on her plate. She had just been saved from her execution, reunited with an old friend, returned to Karakura Town with her soul reapers abilities slowly coming back to her and now, the abduction of Uryū. As much as Yoruichi wanted to help, she could not. She had to find a way to get Jushirmai's presence away from Rukia. She couldn't do anything in her current state, if they were to meet, in the absence of Roger (AN: future character mention), she was defenseless.
He would interfere with the Bounts to cause trouble with her if he wanted too. That's why Yoruichi had to interfere.
Flashback Continuation (AN: Episode 72 / Bount Arc)
Ichigo and Rukia sat near Uryu who was still recovering from his injures at the hospital his father owned. "He's asleep." Rukia acknowledged as Ichigo flipped through a magazine on the other side of the bed.
"Yeah." Ichigo responded before resuming his interest—which had never left—back to the magazine. Rukia looked away from Uryu and turned to Ichigo who's eyes were still fixated on the same magazine. Looking up at him, she thought of a lot of things. It was weird—she had been wanting to say something for the longest time but never managed to find time to say it.
"Ichigo..." She began to say. He hummed in response to let her know that he was listening even though his eyes remained concentrated on the magazine. "I want to thank you."
Ichigo looked up. "What? What are you talking about?"
"Well, I just felt like saying it that's all." Rukia said, eyes lowered.
"Well, that's pretty creepy." Ichigo said before returning to his magazine.
"Huh?" And suddenly, anger took over her previous calm demeanor. "What do you mean 'creepy? So you're saying I'm creepy, is that it?"
"Huh? Well—no, it's just that when you suddenly say something like that out of the blue it's a little weird that's all."
"When someone expresses their feelings you think something is wrong with them and call them weird?!"
"Look, I didn't say it was wrong, I said it was weird." Ichigo responded and Rukia moved closer to him over Uryu who was very much awake due to the sudden noise.
"But you're implying that something's wrong with them!"
"Wrong and weird are completely different!"
"Oh yeah?! Only an insensitive idiot like you would say that!"
"What did you say?!"
As Ichigo and Rukia continued to argue over Uryu who really just wanted to get some sleep, something else was happening. Something else was entering the doors, the presence of the room, and it wasn't just the Bounts who were yet to cause trouble for the group of friends. It was something overpowering, suffocating even if the individual spreading it allowed people to see it and feel it. It was a sheatsu. A very dark sheatsu—dark blue. It was starting to spread around the hospital, not that anyone could see it, but the person which it was after had no clue that it was even there, that person being Rukia who continued to remain oblivious herself to the presence of her most unwanted guest.
The arguing finally ceased however the tension in the air still remained. Rukia crossed her legs and arms, kept her eyes closed and her senses down while Ichigo returned to reading his magazine. It was only the sound of the dripping pipe which awakened the sound of voices yet again in the room however, it still didn't trigger any of Rukia's senses. She had no idea that his presence was here.
"I can't take it anymore!" Rukia was alluding to the dripping pipe which had been the only sound which had occupied the room when it was silenced after their argument. "That thing is driving me crazy."
She approaching the sink in hopes of closing the pipe for good and stop the dripping.
"Rukia..." A voice whispered from the darkness which had contained the room but no one could see or sense. Rukia had no clue what was occurring as the sheatsu spread around the room.
"Oh that's great, the stupid pipe is broken." She said to herself.
"Here, let me do it." Ichigo offered. The darkness grew.
"Just go sit down, I can handle it myself. Go!"
"You're doing it wrong! Just go find something, will you."
"Right...find something." Rukia had no idea what Ichigo was talking about. "Like what?" She continued to speak to Ichigo.
"Something to catch the water." Ichigo said. "Ah, geez."
Suddenly a bucket appear beneath the pouring water which had been placed by the appearance of Renji. Not even Renji could feel that it was there. "Renji, when did you get here?"
"You two were making so much noise I could hear you all the way down the hall."
"Do you guys think this will work?" Orihime appeared with a bigger bucket in attempt to help her friends. Everyone remained distracted, focused on stopping the water. The sheatsu which had now long been there remained but also remained unnoticed. The water which had proven to be a manipulation from the Bounts had begin to attack them, almost drowning Uryu before Ichigo had transformed into a soul reaper. Everyone's eyes were focused on the water which seemed to have a mind of it's own except Rukia who couldn't help but feel something strange.
Something wasn't right about this. It was far much worse than the Bounts. The water was a problem but there was something else here, something that was extremely unwanted. It was like her entire body had finally come alive in that one moment where she saw it, felt it, and feared what it meant that it was here. It had only been a quick second. She kept telling herself that it was possible that it was just her mind playing tricks but it couldn't be. The thing about Rukia and sheatsu was that, even if she was just a soul reaper, she told herself, even if she was in no state to put up a fight as of now, she could still sense it and when she sensed it, it was the most powerful thing in the world for her. Her entire body just felt a surge of energy, it was the power of sheatsu, it become alive inside of her and that's how she knew that Okasake Jushirmai had snuck himself into the room, fully aware that she could not sense anything on her own.
Rukia stepped back. Looking down at the water—to everyone who could see her—but in Rukia's world, the only thing she could see was the sheatsu that was following it, moving closer to her. "Let's get out of here!" She ordered. She couldn't deal with Jushirmai now. Not like this, she had nothing right now. If she appeared in front of him like this schoolgirl, like this person, it wouldn't feel right. She was more than that, being frowned upon by Jushirmai was the last thing on her list. Her attention should be here with Ichigo, with Uryu, with her friends who needed her—not someone who was nothing more but a distant memory coupled with a bunch of other people who she remembered in her life.
They were nothing now.
The gang was now in the hallway, running in hopes of moving away from the Bount-controlled water which Uryu quickly acknowledged as the water followed it out. Her mind had to stay focused: her friends—they were the only ones she should focus on she told herself. Whether Jushirmai was here or not, it didn't matter. This wasn't the time for them to meet, there was nothing she had to say.
"Rukia, a little soul reaper with no powers," He laughed in distaste. His voice echoing in the hallway, the voice that no one but Rukia could hear. She ignored it. "Disgusting. You've truly hit a dead end must I say, it's embarrassing. The Bounts are nothing. Whatever power they hold, you know it and can work your way around it and yet you willingly choose to remain oblivious for the sake of remaining human, remaining a soul reaper, remaining like this. I will never understand how your mind works, Rukia."
She said nothing, pretended to hear nothing.
"Damn you!" Ichigo yelled as the Bount-controlled water was attempting to drown both Chad and Uryu. "Damn it! How do I stop this thing?!"
"Ichigo..." She said as the dark sheatsu began to grow, surrounding not only Uryu and Chad but Ichigo too.
"What do we do?" Orihime asked beside her. Rukia looked at it—the sheatsu—the one engulfing not only Chad and Uryū but Ichigo too. She couldn't let him spread his presence here even if it would pass by her friends, unnoticed. Not to mention, his sheatsu was strengthening the Bount-controlled water which was suffocating both Uryū and Chad—that's why it couldn't be stopped.
"Stand back everyone!" Rukia ordered.
"I wonder how everyone would feel if they saw you like this. Those socks half way up your legs, that skirt, that uniform, your size, your face, your hair...it resembles Hisana quite a lot doesn't it? Have you ever thought about how Ginrei treated Hisana? A peasant from the Rukongai managing to sneak her way into his noble home as his grand-daughter-in-law. And for what? Love? Keh, that grandson of his truly is his most prized possession."
Rukia didn't know why he was bringing it up. She didn't need to hear this, it was more than irrelevant. But at the same time, it fueled the power she held in her body to deliver her next attack.
"I wonder, how it must've felt like, (Rukia spoke in the background, "the one who reigns, mask of flesh and blood, all creation, flutter of wings, the one who crowns us with its name! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!") welcoming the face of a woman who looked just like y—." You.
"Hado #31 Shakkahō!" The blast was more powerful than ever. Destroying not only the water but signalling Jushirmai to rid the area of his poisonous sheatsu. He left with a grin that Rukia could see more clearer than ever, his last words never being said thanks to herself. But that didn't matter now because he was gone. The essence of his sheatsu had quickly disappeared and the energy Rukia had used which had been fueled by his words had now disappeared as well.
He would no longer interfere for the next couple of days.
Flashback End
Ichigo woke up feeling more drowsy than usual. He was no longer dressed in his usual soul reaper attire but in shorts and a t-shirt, something he failed to notice he ever changed. The past few hours had been nothing but a nonexistent memory to him. To Ichigo right now, he had been asleep—no memory or recollection of all that had happened prior to him now laying in his bed, still sweating from the heat. To Ichigo, it was just a normal day.
"Ichi-nii, you're finally up!" Yuzu entered the room with a glass of water. "When you didn't wake up, I got a little worried."
"Ah, it's nothing Yuzu, really. I've just been tired lately (he took the glass of water)—thank you."
"I have lunch downstairs. Get ready and come down so we can leave." Yuzu said.
"Leave? Are we going somewhere?"
"The weather has been so nice lately that Dad suggested that we take a trip. It's been a long while since we've done something as a family."
"A trip? To where?"
"Dad said it was a surprise."
"All of his surprises usually suck. I wonder where he's taking us this year." Ichigo grumbled.
"I don't know where but it sure is nice isn't it, Ichi-nii?"
"Huh?"
"It's been awhile since we all did something together. I think it's nice. Karin is actually happy about it too if it makes you feel better."
Ichigo sighed. "I guess you're right, I'll be down in a sec."
"Don't take too long, Dad wants to leave before sunset."
"Got it." Ichigo said as his little sister left his room, leaving him alone once again. Ichigo felt no different. The Soul Society...Rukia's disappearance...Jushirmai...the wall...nothing was there. All he knew about today was that he was going on a trip, where? He didn't know. His dad was terrible at surprises so he wasn't expecting anything grand. He was unsure why it was so hot—having no recollection of the temperatures increasing in the living world and decreasing in the Soul Society—but he didn't mind the vacation. It was as Yuzu said, it's been awhile.
The sun was still high in the air, it almost felt like summer again. It'd be bright out all the way up to 9 or 10 in the night. It was nicer like that—the sky would change into a bunch of soft, warm colours and people would still be out having fun. Ichigo for one, liked it. It reminded him of the time before his powers had disappeared when Rukia and him had stood on top of a building and watched the sunlight, it was a nice golden one (AN: Episode 342 / Thank you), it bathed the entire Karakura Town with a warm light, it was lovely. He hoped to watch another sunset again, maybe this time in the Soul Society instead of the World of the Living and catch the difference.
Speaking of Rukia, it had been awhile since he had last seen her. When he got back from his trip, he decided that he would go back. He missed everyone—it hadn't been too long since his powers had been restored but he still missed them, not that he would admit it in person. Changing into a set of new clothes, he headed downstairs to eat with his siblings, completely unaware of what had happened a few hours earlier.
"She's heading into a hospital." Tōshirō acknowledged, watching the petite soul reaper enter a human hospital which she had flash-stepped too a few seconds ago. She was still wearing her soul reaper attire so it would be odd if she went in to meet with someone alive as they wouldn't be able to see her.
"Why? Who could she know in there?" Tōshirō was asking questions but Byakuya did not answer them. Instead, he followed her from a distance with Tōshirō following after.
Rukia had given up on walking a few minutes after leaving the Kurosaki Clinic. The heat was too much to bear, the imbalance caused by the Soul Society had definitely taken a toll on the living world. Not even she could withstand such heat. In a blink of an eye, she flash-stepped outside of Karakura Town to her own small hometown—in front of the hospital in which Jushirmai worked in.
Entering the hospital, Rukia walked passed the few human nurses who could not see her in soul reaper form except one - her brother of course.
Escaping into one of the rooms, Rukia changed into her biggest transformation yet. One that the Gotei 13 were yet to see, one that Ichigo was yet to see, her brother, her friends, everyone. Rukia was an old soul living in a young body. That's what it was like for everyone in the Soul Society. The aging process was different, she'd stay young and youthful for hundreds of years. But how she appeared depended vastly on when she was born - Rukia had not come to the Soul Society as a baby.
Contrary to popular belief, Rukia was not a baby when her sister Hisana abandoned her in the Rukongai after a hollow had taken both of their lives together and brought them to the Soul Society together. What her sister had told Byakuya was a mistake. Rukia and Hisana had a three human-year age gap between them. They were more closer than anyone would think. Similarly, she was three human-years older than Jushirmai. They were siblings with a three-year age gap in between.
This was part of the person the other Jushirmai, Okasake Jushirmai had been talking about. 'A little soul reaper' she was because when she had left, she had undergone a transformation that made her smaller for certain reasons. That's what he had meant but Jushirmai, her brother Jushirmai had helped her undo that and return to her normal self. The self that existed before she became a soul reaper.
Closing her eyes and fist, something white—close to silver swirled around her and with that, everything changed. From four feet and eleven inches to five feet and 1 inch, from her short pixie hair cut to short/medium length hair only reaching a little past her shoulders (AN: This will be described to you in Images For This Chapter. It's not long hair nor is it even medium, it's right near her shoulders), from a soul reaper uniform to a black dress Uryū had tailored for her, and over it all, a white doctor's coat - she was now visible to humans.
Stepping outside the room, Rukia walked passed the nurses to approach a familiar one.
"Where did she go?" Tōshirō said, analyzing the group of human nurses but none of them physically resembling the Kuchiki he knew. Byakuya analyzed their faces but could not find her either.
"Maybe she went down that way." Tōshirō suggested.
"Kuchiki-san!" A voice suddenly exclaimed. Tōshirō and Byakuya both turned.
"Hi, Magaramay-san! How have you been?" All they saw was a back of a woman who sounded just like Rukia but her appearance...well not quite.
"Is that her?" Tōshirō asked.
"Well! How about you? It's been such a long while."
"She's even more taller than me than before." Tōshirō said, visibly unhappy with the fact that he was still the shortest.
"Oh me?" Rukia said before smiling. "I've been fine. Is my brother here? I wanted to speak with him."
"Brother...? Is she talking about you, Kuchiki?" Byakuya did not respond.
"Dr. Oswald? Yes, he's still here. I'll go fetch him for you." The nurse said. She was about to go down the hall but from a distance she spotted the doctor and quickly turned.
"He's right there." Down the hall, Jushirmai's attention quickly noticed his sister standing in the main lobby area. Walking towards her, Tōshirō's eyes widened at what he saw. It was an exact replica - he looked just like her. There was no doubt to Tōshirō that the 'brother' she was referring to was not the Kuchiki standing beside him but rather this new individual who seemed to be her biological brother.
"Kuchiki, did you know anything about this?"
Byakuya could not hear Tōshirō. He was more fixated on the appearance of Jushirmai. His smile was an exact copy of Rukia and Hisana's. The fringes of hair which made up his bangs were exactly like Hisana. He looked too much like her, too much like them. He couldn't bear to look.
"Jushirmai!"
Byakuya re-opened his eyes.
"Jushirmai? Why did she just call him Jushirmai?" Tōshirō was just as confused as Byakuya, perhaps even more confused - only because he was more fixated on the ryoka as opposed to Byakuya who was more fixated on the fact that Rukia and Hisana had a brother, a biological one - that he never knew of or was told about.
Rukia smiled warmly as her brother approached her. "Nee-san."
"We should get going now." Isshin said.
"What's the hurry? It's not like you're taking us anywhere interesting anyways." Ichigo said, still eating the lunch Yuzu had made him.
"Here we go again." Karin grumbled under her breath.
"WHY YOU UNGRATEFUL LIT—"
"I'm trying to eat over here." Karin said.
"What did I do?" Isshin looked at her teary-eyed. "It's not my fault that my son is ungrateful!"
"Maybe I'd be grateful if you actually took us some place interesting! Last year you made us pack so much I thought we were leaving the country but where did we go? Some old library a few subway stops away and a gas station with a motel where some old band used to stay at."
"The Jungle Monkeys are the best boy-band of all time! We were privileged to sleep in that motel where they breathed, ate, slept, and did a whole lot of other things too!" Isshin said, clutching his five Jungle Monkeys album in tears.
"Yeah, whoo-hoo." Ichigo said with a dull tone. "It's not like we don't have the money. We run our own damn clinic for crying out loud. Let's do something interesting for once."
"He's got a point." Karin said.
"You don't agree with him, right Yuzu?" Isshin asked.
"Well..."
"Even Yuzu agrees."
"Fine! If my kids don't want to go to the exclusive BOXX for vacation? Alright."
"BOXX? You mean that place for old-geezers who play jazz music all day but can't hear in their left ear so when the staff tell them to stop playing they just play louder?"
"The place where the swimming pool is filled with a bunch of old women in tight swimsuits doing exercises all day?"
"The retirement home with a club name?"
The Kurosaki siblings looked at their father in disbelief.
"That's where we were going?"
"Forget it, I'm not going to a retirement home just so you can have fun and the rest of us have to suffer." Ichigo said.
"You can count me out too." Karin said.
"Wait...can't we just go somewhere else? I really want to go somewhere as a family." Yuzu said.
"How about skiing?"
"Dancing!"
"Anywhere that doesn't involve this much heat is fine with me." Ichigo said.
"Oh! How about we go to the beach?" Yuzu suggested.
"I like that idea better."
"Yeah I agree." Ichigo said before turning to his father who was drowning in his own tears. "We're going to the beach. Not some retirement home so you can play with the jazz band all day and leave us alone."
"Ah! Ichi-nii? If you want, you can invite your friends to join us! Rukia-chan and the others should join as well."
"Fine by me." Karin said.
"My third daughter is coming with us?! Alright!" Isshin suddenly had a surge of energy blast through him.
"Would you quit it with the third daughter stuff? Especially in front of Byakuya, geez. After you squeezed her to death in front of him yelling that she was your third daughter, Byakuya asked me if I wanted to get a DNA test to prove to you that she wasn't your daughter."
"She's my third daughter and there's nothing you can say to stop me from calling her that."
"Fine by me but when Byakuya uses his Senbonzakura on you and this entire house I'll just sit back and watch. You had it coming." Ichigo said.
"Do you know what they're talking about Karin?" Yuzu asked.
"No idea." Karin responded.
The sun hadn't set but the evening sky has an array of warm colours.
Byakuya and Tōshirō had been following the siblings for awhile. The fact that she appeared older than she was, had a brother that not even he had known about, and had run away from the Gotei 13 to end up here was all too intriguing.
"I don't believe you."
"Well you should. I can't believe you did all of this while I was gone."
"Not like I can concentrate at home with Kla 'round. These days it's hard to focus with her jumping around and making noise."
"Please," Rukia said with a grimace, "I don't even want to imagine."
"She won't admit it just yet but she missed you too. She even got chrysantellum lillies on that day of yours—July 23rd."
"Did she?" Rukia was touched. Those flowers were connected to someone who was still nothing more of a distant memory. She hadn't know them for too long but those flowers had given her a memory of a lifetime.
July 23rd—the birth of chrysantellum.
"I'll have to thank her."
"Don't mention that I said anything though. Tell her that you sensed it with your mind."
Rukia smiled. "With my mind? I really wish I could or did, maybe I would've come back more sooner."
"How's the Soul Society been?" Jushirmai asked.
"Things have never been greater or at least...they were."
"Okasake Jushirmai." Jushirmai paused. "The only thing I can say is that he kept his promise. The rest is now left to you."
"I guess. I just wish he had done it differently. First of all, his presence alone has always been in the Soul Society but making it known to the soul reapers? Becoming the ryoka who freezes the Seireitei? Making me seem as his ally in front of the Gotei 13? I should've known that he'd do something this big. I expected something out of the ordinary but this? I don't even know what to do anymore."
"You should stick with what you were originally going to do. Even though the Gotei 13 are now involved, we can find a way to work around it. Your fight is against Okasake JUshirmai now, not the Gotei 13."
"So he's not Okasake Jushirmai. He's another one—Kuchiki's Jushirmai. Is it just a coincidence or...why is there another one?" Tōshirō said, still present by Rukia's side who continued to remain oblivious to the two Captains.
"I know." She sighed. "You're right. But with Ichigo and the others searching for me while I'm here makes me feel weird. I'm so used to having them by my side that to move away from them for awhile breaks my heart."
"And what of those you left behind?"
"They're probably feeling much worse." Rukia lowered her head. "I don't know how I'm going to do it—face Sensei Okasake—after all these years I just..."
"She seems to dislike the thought of meeting that Sensei again. It only means that she either did something to him that she's ashamed of or something else. Most importantly, it clears her name of being in contact with the Okasakes during the time of her abduction but what I don't get is why she would stage an interaction with her enemy or rather, why the ryoka would help her escape." Tōshirō said.
"You don't have to do anything." Rukia assured. "This was never your fight to begin with. I'm just thankful you're here with me now to get through this."
"I'm glad." Jushirmai said, a sorrow look on his face. "By the way, Captain Kuchiki...?"
Byakuya stared at the back of Rukia—surprised at the fact, although he did not show it, that she had spoke of him.
"They're talking about you, Kuchiki." Tōshirō said. Byakuya waited for her response.
"Ah yes, I haven't seen him yet though I know he's here."
Byakuya and Tōshirō looked at each other instantaneously. They were confused. Byakuya was still processing the information he was seeing. Hisana had told him that she had abandoned her sister—her baby sister—in the Rukongai. How she had a brother who was still living in the human world did not make sense, neither did the fact that she had one who was older than them however, judging by the way he behaved with Rukia, Byakuya concluded that he was the youngest.
The Rukia in front of him now was also different. Her hair a bit longer. Her posture a bit more formal. He was just as confused as Tōshirō although admitting it was something Byakuya was not keen on doing. Given the fact that he had no knowledge of Rukia telling him about this brother of hers nor had he ever seen her in this form. The fact that Hisana did not remember it in the process of searching for Rukia was also strange.
"I'll meet him soon, I promise." Rukia said to Jushirmai as they approached their old house.
"Rukia." Byakuya simply said, he had now stopped walking behind her with Tōshirō by his side. It was the first word he had said after discovering the fact that Hisana and Rukia had a younger brother. She did not turn around.
"Rukia." Byakuya said it slower this time.
"That's strange." Tōshirō said. "Kuchiki!" He called but again, she never turned.
"This must be where they live." Tōshirō said, walking up to the house. "It must be quite old."
Byakuya analyzed the house—Tōshirō was right. In spite of how new it looked from the outside, it could easily be identified as an old house. What was behind them seemed to be a forest which had now been turned into some kind of spot for human interaction. There were benches of some sort and not too far away seemed to be water. But what seemed to be the most striking was a picnic bench that sat in the forest, not too far away from where he was standing but still enough to be surrounded by the forest.
"Kuchiki." Tōshirō called him as Byakuya began to walk into the forest. "Kuchiki." Tōshirō called, a hint of annoyance in his tone. "Kuchiki!"
Byakuya still went.
It didn't seem as if Rukia could see them which was strange. Tōshirō had no logical explanation to justify why she was unable to sense their reiatsu. There was nothing he could think of or blame except the ryoka. As Byakuya walked away, Tōshirō stared at the house trying to figure out a reason the ryoka would prevent Rukia from seeing both him and Byakuya. Was he doing this to prevent her from getting caught? Or was it for another reason? Based on what she said, Okasake Jushirmai appeared to be her enemy who she purposely let help her find a way out—something still very unclear Tōshirō although he was 100% sure that it had something to do with her transformation.
Byakuya walked to the picnic bench which was visibly old and rotten. The wood was terribly chipped off on the sides and the table itself barely looked like it could handle the weight of a bird let alone people but he was drawn to it and he knew exactly why the moment he looked at it.
On the top of the table, something was etched on the far right corner.
Sister Hisana, Sister Rukia, Jushirmai were here ∞.
For the very first time in days, something sparked in Byakuya's eyes when he touched it. His hand which slightly touched the carving expressed what his eyes had shown temporarily.
Loss.
"Kuchiki!" Tōshirō called once again. His voice more serious, drawing his attention. The small Captain walked into the forest, standing a bit further away from Byakuya who still had his back turned. "We're stuck in the Interioreum World."
Byakuya turned.
Ichigo had been trying to contact the Soul Society for over an hour however, no one seemed to be picking up his calls. Rukia hadn't left him with much instructions on how to proper this thing—it was a cellphone device and yet he had managed to find a way to make it complicated. Neither Uryū, Chad, or Orihime were answering their phones either. It was suspicious.
"Ichi-nii! Are you ready to go?"
"Uh, just give me a second Yuzu."
"Why the hell aren't they answering me?" Ichigo looked at the phone - trying to call the Soul Society again—then Chad—then Uryū—then Orihime—then back to the Soul Society.
"Dad, you forgot the ice." Karin informed from the van. "The cooler's empty."
"I'll go get some from the corner store, I'll be back." Ichigo said, running ahead before anyone could stop him.
"Ichi-nii!"
"Let him go." Karin said before closing the trunk. "He's got something to do again."
Why aren't they answering me? Is something wrong in the Soul Society again? If so, why haven't Chad, Ishida, and Inoue contacted me yet? Why hasn't Urahara or Yoruichi-san contacted me yet? What the hell is going on?
Ichigo tried calling again but no one answered. He sent a string of texts but nobody replied. Entering the store, Ichigo went straight to the cashier.
"Uh three bags of ice please." Ichigo said as he continued to press buttons on his phone. The Soul Society should've answered him by now. This was his tenth time calling.
"Sorry, we don't have any." The cashier said, sweating more than usual in his uniform.
"How do you run outta ice? It's one of the hottest days we've had in a year, don't you guys think you should've stocked up just in case people needed it?"
"Sorry but it's kinda hard to make ice when there aren't any cold spots left in the country." He responded.
"What do you mean? We have freezers?"
"They don't work anymore."
"What are you talking about? Freezers always work. Whether it's cold or not, that's its purpose to freeze ice..." Ichigo stopped speaking - the phone in his hand no longer capturing his attention, just like that his attention shifted—with his eyes blinking in confusion. Freeze ice...Soul Society...the ice—did it...no...didn't—what the hell am I doing here then? His mind slowly revived the memories he had lost in these past few hours.
The heat—Soul Society freezing—Uryū, Chad, and Orihime accompanying him to the Seireitei—Rukia - Okasake Jūshirmai, the ryoka who shared a past with her—Rukia and Renji escaping—the quincy—leaving with his friends to find Rukia—the barrier of ice—his mind searching for his hollow self—the barrier of ice shattering—waking up again—Rukia, his family—communicating—ignoring him—what the hell happened after that?
It makes sense. That's the only reason why we haven't been able to communicate with anyone. Kuchiki can't see us because we're stuck in here—something must've gone wrong with the crystal and I'm positive it has something to do with the ryoka."
The Interioreum World was only something the Gotei 13 had heard of but they were yet to experience how it separated an individual from the rest. It was like living as a ghost—no one outside of the world could see you, hear you, feel you. You were essentially alone unless you had someone with you. You could see everything and everyone but no one could see you. It had been an old battle tactic before it was handed over to the Research and Development Department to cease use. If something went wrong with it, it had something to do with Captain Kurotsuchi for sure.
"Contacting the Soul Society is useless." Byakuya said.
"You're right. No one's answering—I assume this is the effect I've heard about. We'll just have to go there ourselves and find a way out however, I'm not too keen on leaving Kuchiki out of our sight. Based on what we heard, she's planning her next move. As long as the remaining Captains are still active in the Soul Society, it won't be too long until they notice our reiatsu has gone off the radar we should—Kuchiki, are you even listening to me?!" Byakuya had already walked passed him and was now entering the house. The door, which had suddenly been opened gave him the perfect chance to enter, the house which had belonged to Hisana and Rukia.
As soon as Byakuya entered, he stopped. The first thing he met with was a shrine—similar to his own in the Kuchiki Manor. It was a shrine for Hisana. Flowers of all kinds were present, candles were lit, and a picture of her—which he had no idea how Rukia even got—in a frame sat in the middle. All Byakuya could do was stare.
"Did you find it?" Jushirmai yelled from what seemed to be the basement.
"Yes I did—I'm coming." Rukia suddenly entered. Coming in from another room which had no door on his left hand side. In her hand was a water can which she turned to water the flowers near Hisana's shrine.
He did not know what to think about Rukia's sudden transformation. Her growth in height—although little made a big difference in how he viewed her—her hair which looked so much unlike Hisana's and seemed more of her own than ever—this white coat but overall her. Staring at her now, watching her move from each part of the room to water the plants, she didn't look like his younger sister. She looked far more mature than usual. Her posture which he remembered she had poorly had when they first met was now more perfect than ever and Byakuya knew that it couldn't be her fifty years of training in the Kuchiki Manor which resulted in this. No, it was something she knew from before.
Could she really had been a candidate for Okasake Jushirmai's wife? It did not make sense. Regardless of how she appeared now, she was still from the Rukongai. Her status would have never benefited a clan such as the Okasakes known to be the most prestigious out of the four high noble clans.
He couldn't deny that there was something different about this Rukia—besides the maturity—besides her appearance in entirety—there was something personally different with her.
"Kla! Can you go help Jushirmai downstairs?" Rukia called. No one answered—he assumed it was a maid but then again, Rukia was not that kind of noble.
"Kla!" She called again. "Kla..?"
"Where is she?" Rukia muttered to herself. "Kla?"
Rukia finally looked up in his direction. He caught her eyes this time for a while—trying to let this new image of her sink in—he was having trouble. This was not the girl he had adopted fifty years ago—this was someone else.
"Kla?" Rukia called again before sighing.
"Sister Rukia! Sister Rukia! Sister Rukia! Sister Rukia!" A voice suddenly shrieked behind him, he slightly turned. She was panting, barely able to speak as she leaned near the doorway.
"Where have you been?" Rukia asked.
He couldn't identify their relationship. The short teenaged girl leaning near the door was visibly younger than Rukia—well younger than Rukia in this form. She had light brown hair, was nowhere near a soul reaper or anyone else he could recognize, chances were that she was just a human.
"What's wrong?" Rukia inquired. The girl still couldn't breathe. "Kla—"
"The...Gotei 13..." she took a deep breath. "...falling...from...sky...raining...pant pant...Captains...Jushirmai...not...there. Man, I really need to get out more."
"What?" Rukia said.
"Kuchiki!" A voice called from outside—addressing Byakuya who stepped outside along with Rukia who came outside as well with Kla.
"It can't be..." Tōshirō said to himself—looking at each of his colleagues fall from the sky one by one. Byakuya looked up into the sky—eyes momentarily widening at the amount of soul reapers falling.
"Look!" She took a breath. "The Gotei 13 are falling from the sky." Rukia's eyes widened.
"What the—" From the light pink sky fell Captain Sui-Feng to Lieutenant Omaeda to Lieutenant Kira to more members of the Gotei 13 at different times. It was like someone was purposely throwing them onto the ground from the sky but all Rukia could see were clouds.
"You don't think..." Tōshirō said. "that they have also been dragged into the Interioreum World too, do you?"
"We have to catch them." Rukia said immediately transforming into her soul reaper form. An act that caught Byakuya's attention fast—she transformed quicker than he had anticipated.
"Wait—are you being serious?" The girl named Kla asked.
"Call Jushirmai."
"Right." She said, about to turn around. "Wait—which one?"
"Our Jushirmai—who else?!." Rukia said before flash-stepping into the sky—carefully catching the bodies and relocating them to the ground.
"If they're all trapped in this world too then who..." Who was going to get them out of it? Tōshirō attempted to help too—trying to catch the bodies which were falling from the sky but they just went right through him as if he was never there. His own body slipped past his own, falling right into the hands of Rukia who was doing the best she could to capture them all in time in her petite body form. She laid each member on the grass in a line. What was happening?
A familiar flash of white gloves immediately caught her eyes soon after catching Captain Kyōraku's body, the last body before Byakuya's. "Nii-sama!"
Byakuya had not expected her to rush so quickly to catch him. Immediately capturing his body in her petite arms, she did not lay him with the others but held onto him on the ground.
"N-Nii-sama?" She shook his body. "Nii-sama...what's wrong?" She shook him harder.
"It seems that Kuchiki is really worried about you." Tōshirō said at Byakuya who remained silent, watching closely as Rukia shook his body—hoping for him to open his eyes.
"Nii-sama?" She called again a bit more desperately.
"I'll check on the others." Tōshirō said, dismissing himself. The only bodies which did not fall from the sky were Ise Nanao, Yamada Hanatarō, the Head Captain, and Ichigo's. Were they safe? Surely Ichigo wasn't—his previous interaction with Kuchiki had shown that.
Something was terribly wrong.
Byakuya stared at Rukia as she continued to call for him to respond. He was about to take a step closer but was interrupted by a voice he had learned to quickly hate—"Nee-san!"
Rukia's attention turned. "Is everyone alright?"
"None of them are breathing. I suggest we put them on life support for now. We need to move them inside."
She quickly transformed back to her old self, ridding herself of her smaller form to carry Byakuya and the rest inside with the help of Kla and Jushirmai.
There were other bodies missing from the ones she had rested on the grass. Where were they? And why did they fall here to her? Were there others falling in Karakura Town next door? Rukia didn't know. It seemed all too intentional. That's when she realized—Ichigo—where was he? Orihime, Chad, and Uryū had fallen from the sky but Ichigo was nowhere to be found.
"Rukia!" A voice called in the background—jumping from tree to tree in hopes of getting her attention. "Rukia!"
"Kurosaki." Tōshirō acknowledged.
"Rukia!" He called again but Rukia never turned around.
End Note
I'm not trying to change Rukia's character. This chapter may seem misleading and if it is, let me clear things up now. One of the reasons why Rukia was/is a unique heroine is because she deviates from the norm. I don't want to change that because then I'd be changing who she is in entirety. The only difference is her hair. When you see her hair, you can directly link her to Hisana. Her hair being shown differently makes her, for the first time, appear not only separate from Hisana but gives her an appearance which equates with her power. She still has her fringes of hair, she's still Rukia. Her hair doesn't actually have that much of a change but changing her hairstyle does implement a change in her character. She is now her own person separated from the similarity of Hisana. I suggest checking Images For This Chapter to see what it looks like now—it's still the same, just a bit different.
Images For This Chapter
Rukia's hair—out of respect, I scratched out the face of the individual as I saw them on TV but the images of her are available online. They are the ex-spouse of a criminal. Please just focus on her hair. I attached a photo of Rukia as well where her hair was almost similar to help your imagination a bit.
The house separated from the forest—this is from the wrong angle but basically the forest is literally just a road away from the house (the gif shows a sidewalk but it's broader than that, this is taken from a Halloween movie). The house is facing the wrong direction it should be facing the forest directly.