"So…" Ichigo makes an irritated noise, like someone stepped on his shoes. "Who the hell's this clown?"
"That clown is Gin Ichimaru." For as much solemnity as Rukia tries to convey, none of it appears to reach Ichigo. How could she possibly quantify the power of someone like Gin Ichimaru to a man who has only just learned what hollows are? "The Captain of the Third Squad…"
"This is serious, Ichigo," Renji adds, as if Rukia's word alone wasn't enough. "This is a completely different type of opponent than what you're used to. He's the real deal."
"Yeah?" Ichigo rolls one of his shoulders, undeterred. "From where I'm standing, he looks the same as every other cocky bastard I've ever fought."
"You've never fought someone like this." Rukia shares a desperate look with Renji, begging him to talk sense into Ichigo. "If the Captain Commander was going to send someone to assist, it should have been someone from our squad. But for him to send the captain of another squad…" Renji's lips are tight, the concern evident on his face. "Then they must suspect something is gravely wrong," she says softly. "They—they found out somehow about you and Ichigo, Renji."
"Captain Uki—"
"He wouldn't have," Rukia says, quick to defend her surrogate father. "Captain Ukitake would never. It must've—someone else must have noticed and brought it to the Captain Commander's attention. He was going to wait, when he asked me to go search for you."
But who? she wonders. Someone from Squad Twelve? There are only so many people who'd be paying such careful attention to the comings and goings of individual shinigami.
Renji swears sharply. "Well, we're screwed."
"You guys done?" Ichigo, out of either ignorance or astounding over confidence, has the gall to sound bored. "As far as I see it, all I have to do is take care of this guy, right?"
Rukia bites back her initial, knee-jerk response of Are you a legitimate idiot? "That's—first of all, no, that isn't it at all. Second—he's a captain, Ichigo. He's hundreds of times stronger than either Renji or me, shinigami who have spent years training. Even the three of us would be no match for him."
She hears Gin's snicker through the wall. "Not that I'm in all that much of a hurry to get back to Soul Society, but I don't feel particularly bothered to wait for you to make up your mind in there." He tilts his head, his bony grin widening. "Though I can't help but notice you have company in there. Another wayward shinigami?"
Renji growls at that and stands at attention. "If he thinks he's going to drag you into this…"
"I'm already involved in it, you fool," Rukia snaps. "Whatever we decide to do here, I'm a part of it now."
Renji's face falls. "Rukia, there's no way—"
Gin pulls an arm over his chest, stretching his shoulder out casually. "Since you're having so much trouble making up your minds in there, I'll sweeten the pot a bit for you, eh? 'Cause I'm such a nice guy. What do you say—I'll even agree to let you come alive, so you can get a full hearing and everything. I'll even let you keep your limbs, and the rest of you can scatter like the little bugs you are. Doesn't that sound generous of me?"
Renji takes in a slow, shaky breath. Rukia is too familiar with his reputation to take his offer seriously, but she knows it doesn't matter, because as dense as Renji can be sometimes, he'd never betray a comrade, or let another suffer in his place.
He gives her a pitiful look. "Maybe I should—"
"It'd be pointless." Rukia's response is as sharp and immediate as it is grim. It's not truly fatalism. Really, it's practicality—with Captain Ichimaru, there's nothing they can do that wouldn't be putting themselves at the mercy of his capricious whims. Even if Renji were to give himself up, there's no guarantee he'd make good on his offer to spare him, or that he'd let her and Ichigo go free.
If it was another captain, maybe she'd feel differently, but there's always been something about Captain Ichimaru that she doesn't like. The aura he gives off has always unsettled her, and she doesn't think she's wrong here to be wary.
She's only ever run across him in passing, the way that seated officers and captains from other squads occasionally cross paths out of convenience. Even in those brief, passing moments, though, she was keenly aware of something behind his eyes that he only barely was able to conceal, some kind of burning madness that told her that, despite whatever calm veneer he might put on, there was something conniving and rabid under the surface.
The more she thinks about it, the more dread she feels, knowing he wouldn't have the least bit of sympathy for Renji's circumstances.
"Tch." It's a low, unobtrusive sound, but it's enough to break her out of her musing. "You're dumber than you look if you think we're gonna throw you at the mercy of this guy."
Ichigo moves in front of the window, in full view of Captain Ichimaru. His human body, so fragile, and yet so confident, obscures her view of the captain, a dark solar eclipse. "I don't like the look of this guy, and I definitely don't like the idea of surrendering to someone like him, who thinks he can throw around his weight and make threats like that. Not without a fight."
Rukia feels her palms grow clammy as she mulls over the weight of what Ichigo has said. His courage is staggering, though she can't help but wonder if some of it is plain, foolish overconfidence.
And for a human like him, the stakes come down to literal life and death. Somehow, she gets the sense that Ichigo understands that, though she wonders how well he appreciates his single, mortal life.
"Ichigo," she starts, tugging on the back of his shirt, "you really need to—"
He ignores her. "Renji?" Ichigo rolls his shoulders, looking ready for a fight. He gives her a sly look out of his periphery, oozing confidence that she's increasingly worried is unearned. "Help me out here."
Despite the helplessness of their situation, Renji grins, his own stupidity amplified by Ichigo's. "Yeah?"
Ichigo smirks. "Yeah."
"What are you two doing?" she asks. They've only shared a few short, simple words, but they seem to convey a lot. There's a sense of camaraderie between them that's developed between Renji and Ichigo in the short time they've spent together that still perplexes her.
It only rankles a little, to feel for the first time that she does not intuitively understand Renji.
"No sweat." From his pocket, Renji removes a gokon tekko. Before Rukia can protest, Renji runs his gloved hand through Ichigo, separating his spirit from his body with one clean swipe.
His body tumbles to the floor, though Ichigo's spirit stands tall, his confidence rolling off of him like cool fog. He raises his zanpakuto in an offensive stance, his shoulders square.
With his back turned to them, nothing more than a paper bulwark against Captain Ichimaru, Ichigo says, "Our first priority is getting him away from the house and my sisters."
"You can't—"
Ichigo continues as if he hadn't heard. "I don't care if this guy is some kind of bigshot; hit anyone hard enough, and they'll stay down. But we have to try to get him out on the edge of town. There's some woods there, where we can make a whole show of things without risking anyone else's safety. If he's a big deal like you say, we can't have it out in the middle of town like this."
Despite the recklessness of Ichigo's plan, it sounds well thought out, in a wholly foolish and deluded sort of way.
"I know where you mean," Renji says. "We fought that elephant-shaped hollow there a few weeks ago."
"Yeah." Ichigo raises his free hand and cracks his neck casually. "Kon'll take my body and make sure things are safe around here. Get as far away from this clown as you can, and then we can deal with this clown."
"Your… your body?" Rukia asks. "What about your body?"
"It's taken care of," Renji tells her. In a way, it sounds almost like a promise. "But we've got to get moving."
Rukia nods slowly. She hates the feeling of naivety that's overcome her, as if she were the junior here, instead of Ichigo. "Right."
Ichigo places one hand on the window but pauses before opening it. "That's this guy's deal, huh? He can make that sword of his stretch all the way out here." He's silent for a moment. "Gonna be hard to get up close to him."
Finally, Rukia feels she has something to contribute. "It can go a lot further than that, and it'll cut through just about anything. It isn't something that should be taken lightly."
It feels obvious to her, but Ichigo has made it clear that, regardless of what she says, he won't take the threat of a captain seriously.
"I don't have any intention of waiting to find out."
Ichigo yanks open his window and sets one foot outside of the ledge, looking out at Captain Ichimaru, who is waiting outside the house, perched on the roof of a building across the street, his legs hanging off the side of the roof.
"Well, it's about time. I wasn't sure whether I was going to drag you out of there or not." He grins, his teeth sharp, stark, and glowing white in the dark. "Quite the ragtag band of misfits you have here, Abarai."
Ichigo snorts. "Ragtag misfits who are gonna kick your ass."
Captain Ichimaru raises his sword, pointing it at Renji, just over Ichigo's shoulder. "So we have the traitor from Squad Thirteen." His eyes meet Rukia's, sending chills down her spine. "I'm guessing you're another."
He tilts his head, apparently unsure what to make of Ichigo who, despite being a shinigami, nonetheless sticks out. It's not entirely clear to Rukia either, but even in his shinigami form, he feels different from all the rest of them. "You're extra. How interesting." A moment passes. "Oh, well. Guess I'll just have to kill you all, then."
This time, when Captain Ichimaru's blade shoots out towards them, Ichigo is ready for it. The force of the blow knocks him back off the window sill, but no further than that. He deflects the Captain's slash, though the momentum causes him to lose his footing and slip from the roof.
Still, the blade withdraws, disappearing as quickly as it had hurtled out towards them. Another blow survived, but just barely.
"Ichigo! Are you okay?" Rukia leans over the window ledge to find him down in the street, circling the Captain even though he's been forced down.
"Stop yapping." He glances back, just as Captain Ichimaru's face darkens. "I need both of you to get moving, and quickly."
"Right." On the edge of town, Ichigo said. She isn't entirely sure where that is, but Renji can guide her.
Without another thought, Rukia pops a soul candy into her mouth, immediately separating her spirit from the gigai she'd bought from Hat and Clogs.
She leaves her body there, the Mod Soul under strict orders to keep an eye on Ichigo's father and his sisters, who she can only hope are fast asleep in the other room. Her own stern face stares back at her as she releases her zanpakuto and hooks one leg over the window sill.
For a moment, though, she contemplates staying as well. Against a captain, she has no idea what she could possibly contribute.
Still, with the danger it poses to Ichigo's family, she understands the importance of leaving the fight to Ichigo.
"Let's go, Renji," she orders. There's no response, and when Rukia looks behind her, Renji cringes.
"Uh…" Renji gives her a sheepish look. "Dunno how feasible that is, Rukia."
Is it truly that bad? Rukia wonders. She looks down—it can't be more than a few meters between them and the pavement. Even from that minor distance?
Without another thought, Rukia scoops Renji under her arm, ducks under the window frame, and sails down to the concrete below.
"Watch my head!" Renji barks, arms and legs flailing, as the wind whistles through her hair.
The impact is easy for Rukia, whose feet kiss the ground lightly, though Renji clings tightly to her robes even through the landing.
As soon as he rights himself, Renji inclines his head down the road. "You know what to do," he says, as he takes off in a dead sprint. Rukia follows close behind, the sound of steel crashing against steel fading into the background.
By the time they reach the end of the block, she's caught up to Renji, running side by side as he huffs, his arms flailing as he pushes himself to go faster, get out of there quicker.
"Get down!" Ichigo cries.
Instinctively, before the words have even fully left Ichigo's mouth, Rukia dives to the ground, tackling Renji at the waist and bringing him down with her. They strike the concrete, and Renji lets out a loud oof on impact, just as the wind tears over their heads.
It all happens so quickly that it takes Rukia a moment, in the aftermath, to realize they both managed to avoid the attack. Within seconds of striking the concrete, there's a pained, metallic creaking.
With one arm still protectively wrapped around Renji, Rukia lifts her head to check the damage.
Instead of striking them, Captain Ichimaru's sword had passed right over head, directly through a nearby streetlamp. The streetlamp, cleaved neatly in two, lets off a shower of bright sparks before it collapses, cloaking them in a sudden patch of darkness.
The metal smashes into the pavement, barely a foot from their outstretched legs, shaking the ground beneath them.
"Do you really think you have a chance to escape?" Captain Ichimaru calls after them. His spiritual pressure flares, but it doesn't come any closer.
Before he can recall his sword, Ichigo charges him, his absurd zanpakuto lifted high over his shoulder. "You're going to have to get through me first!" Ichigo cries out.
The massive blade above them retracts, almost too fast for her to see it. She can't hear Captain Ichimaru's response, but she prays Ichigo's prowess is enough that, somehow, that his arrogant words won't get him killed.
"Now, Renji," she murmurs. "Before his attention turns back to us."
After passing several blocks, crossing between them in a zig-zagging fashion, the sounds of the fight fade away altogether, though the massive amounts of reiatsu expended made the air feel alive, electrified. It billows, the plumes of raw energy growing, blowing higher, hotter—more intense.
The fight continues—Ichigo continues, against an opponent who should have killed him instantly.
How can this be? Rukia wonders. Captain Ichimaru—even a trained shinigami would have been eliminated outright. Ichigo - who by all means should be weaker than the average shinigami - is somehow managing to hold his own.
They're able to clear a good distance, nearly a mile at least, when Rukia allows herself to wonder, recklessly, whether Ichigo could actually win.
But that would be impossible, wouldn't it?
Knowing her worries won't make a difference either way, Rukia shakes away the thought. "Are we close?" she asks, picking up speed to match Renji. The cynic in her immediately jumps to the next worry—that if Ichigo isn't capable of holding off Captain Ichimaru for much longer, then any relief she feels now may be seriously short-lived.
"Ichigo knows the way better than me," Renji huffs. His face is red and his forehead is dotted with sweat. "He just needs to get away from that psycho."
Worry rises in her throat, and she shares her fears with Renji. "Do you have any reason to believe he isn't going to die back there?"
"I heard that!" It's low, and tinged with sarcasm, but it isn't further behind them…
Ichigo, Rukia realizes, isn't further behind them.
No way… "Ichigo!" Rukia immediately claps her hands over her mouth, unsure whether they should still be mindful of keeping quiet. "You're alive!" she hisses. It comes out angrier than she intended - almost pissed - but Ichigo only frowns.
"Don't act so surprised." He scowls, though not seriously, and steps towards them, his steps delicate, as if he's hurt.
She immediately spots several places where his robes have been ripped or sliced through, though as best as she can tell, he's not seriously wounded, and all of his limbs are accountable.
It's dark, though, and she isn't sure whether she's able to tell the shadows in the folds of his robes from—from anything else.
All in all, though, it's a lot better than what she was expecting. In some ways, even the fact that he's survived—well, it's nothing short of miraculous.
"You okay?" Renji asks, leisurely.
"Never better!" Ichigo replies sarcastically. He shakes his head, as if to ward off any real concern. "He just barely grazed me. I'll be fine. They—the others are holding him off."
"Who?" Rukia demands. More humans?
Just what was happening in Karakura Town?
Renji interrupts before Ichigo can reply, stumbling to keep up. "By themselves? Ichigo, maybe we—"
Ichigo cuts him off, waving one hand as he continues limping towards them. "Let's keep it up; I don't know how much time we have until he's back on our trail. I told Uryu no more than a few minutes, then to get the hell out of there." His stride gradually evens out, as if to set her at ease. "We have to move quick and keep covered. If he can't see you, he can't strike you."
"That's a lot of ifs, Ichigo!" Renji pants, not far behind Rukia. "And I get the sense that he's a swing your sword first and ask questions later kinda guy."
"Renji is right," Rukia grits out. "Still…" She's too scared to turn back around, on the off chance that Captain Ichimaru is close to them. "Still, he's a shinigami! Even for him, there would be consequences if he tried to level an entire town. He can't be too reckless."
The fact that his spiritual pressure hasn't already leveled the entire town tells her that his powers have already been sealed to a certain point, as any captain's would be, though she isn't confident enough to push the limits of that.
She relays as much to Ichigo. "It isn't much, but that should be enough to make him easier to handle."
"Some limit that is," Ichigo mutters. His voice is low, but it carries on the wind as he pulls ahead, guiding them both.
Rukia presses her lips into a tight line, but she doesn't press him further. He's done enough, she thinks.
Eventually, the houses start thinning out, and they reach a part of town that's quiet and deserted, the roads empty of people. A little farther, and eventually the concrete and scattered buildings yield to soft ground and huddled woods.
Rukia's foot sinks into the earth, leaving behind a loud squelch as she hurries. The muddy ground throws off her momentum, slowing her pace and setting her off balance as she weaves in between trees.
Ichigo's presence is like a bright torch ahead of her, his bright hair and flaring spiritual pressure allowing her to track him, even in the dark night. Cold water seeps into her shoes, her toes growing numb as she sprints deeper into the dark woods.
"Slow down!" Renji yells, somewhere behind her in the dark. His breathing is heavy and labored, and Rukia has to consciously slow her pace to make sure he isn't being left behind.
Rukia's experience with humans is limited, and she'd never been close enough to one to realize just how fragile their bodies were. She has no memory of being a human - she assumes she died too young to have any memories like that - but she's still uneasy with how easily Renji is exhausted, how limited his body is.
How fragile he's become, since becoming trapped in the world of the living.
Once they make it into the forest, they start to separate, with Ichigo pulling further ahead. Rukia takes mental note of Ichigo's injuries and Renji's flagging stamina. "Go ahead of me, Renji, and I'll cover the rear."
Renji hesitates for a moment but is smart enough not to stay and fight it out.
From the rear, Rukia is only more aware of her teammates' movements—Ichigo may have more fight left in him, but his body seems unlikely to cooperate. He's quick, but his steps are louder than they should be, heavier, like one of his legs is dragging.
His fight with the Captain was a brief one, but it's clear he's sustained injuries that would interfere with another fight. She's still amazed he's survived at all, reinforcements or not, trying to hold his own against a real captain.
In the back of her mind, though, Rukia knows that she must be next—Ichigo is too injured, and Renji too weak to possibly challenge the Captain if he were to find them again. That means that she's the next line of defense, however woefully unprepared for it she may be.
From the rear, her senses feel heightened a hundred times.
She's keenly aware of each twig that cracks under their feet, every squeak of their shoes on the wet leaves, every little whistle of the wind through the trees…
Except…
The whistle is a little louder than just the wind.
"Duck!" Rukia cries out, over the sound of crashing trees.
She drops to the ground, just as a heavy gust of wind whips overhead. Mud smears under her, and the smell of wet grass becomes overwhelming.
When she looks up, Captain Ichimaru is standing in the moonlight, his sword pointed directly over her head like a long shaft of light. "There you are, traitors! I think we have some unfinished business, don't you?"
And just like that, his sword disappears.
"Renji, run!" Rukia cries out, as she scrambles to her feet. "His sword is too fast!"
"And even faster than that," Captain Ichimaru responds. His voice is much closer than he was just a second ago, almost as if he were having a conversation with her.
Renji makes it not even a few feet forward before his escape is cut short prematurely by another swipe of Captain Ichimaru's zanpakuto.
It swipes another clean line through the trees, just inches above Renji's head. They come tumbling down around him, shaking the ground with the force of their collapse.
The forest is deathly silent in the aftermath, until she hears the human sounds of Renji, banging his fist against the trunks of the trees.
"Argh!" he cries out, as he pounds away at the trees surrounding him. "Rukia, I'm stuck!"
Rukia feels an initial rush of relief at the sound of his voice. If he's able to cry like that, he can't be too seriously hurt. The trees are too densely packed for her to see where he's fallen, but his voice is much more annoyed than pained.
"We'll come save you!" she calls back. "Just stay where you are!"
At least… eventually they can. But that still leaves the Captain to deal with.
She looks up and finds their pursuer perched on a recently decapitated tree truck, squatting as he grins down at them, his expression fox-like and oozing smugness. "You've lasted longer than I imagined you would, so that's something to be proud of."
Ichigo grits his teeth. "You sure took your time," he says. She can tell he's trying to hold his voice steady, though it wobbles a little, belying his own worry. Even his sword hand seems less certain, more fatigued.
"Let's just say your little friends didn't take long for me to get through." Captain Ichimaru cocks his head, not unlike an owl, and gets a closer glimpse of Ichigo. "Your little human friends, that is."
Ichigo immediately stiffens "You bastard! What did you—"
Captain Ichimaru cuts him off. "And you certainly don't carry yourself like any shinigami who's gotten an ounce of training." For a moment, his eyes widen enough that Rukia can see his small, pinpoint irises as the realization hits him. The moment passes, and his surprise dissolves into something wicked. "Oh? No wonder you haven't come back to Soul Society, Abarai! This isn't a mere desertion at all, is it? You've got something very interesting going on here, don't you…"
Captain Ichimaru's grin is a gash through his face, the least joyful expression Rukia has ever seen on a person. "Hey kid," he continues, pointing his sword at Ichigo. "You wanna know what the proper procedure is for people like you?"
"Don't care," Ichigo responds. "Cause whatever it is, you won't even be able to leave a scratch on me."
"Oh, and such a cocky one, too." Captain Ichimaru lets out a joyless laugh. "Sorry for you, kid, but according to the rules, you're dead where you stand. Tough break."
Ichigo shifts his enormous sword in his hands, almost contemplatively "Rukia," he starts. "You and Renji—"
"Not so fast."
Rukia barely has time to raise her sword before she's struck, the air knocked clean from her lungs. The spot on her back where he hit her - only with the hilt, she realizes - burns, and her legs feel numb.
How can he be so fast…?
She crashes into a nearby tree, rough bark digging into her palms. It takes less than a second for her to stumble around, blade at the ready, though Captain Ichimaru has gone straight past her for Ichigo.
The two trade an initial series of blows, but with his weakened state, Ichigo is only capable of deflecting them. He quickly loses ground, each braced swing of his sword forcing him back inches and inches as he tries to evade trees cropping up next to and behind him.
Captain Ichimaru, by contrast, barely seems winded, and he doesn't have a single obvious wound on him. He swings his blade with one hand, his cocky smile growing with each inch he steals forward. "Not so tough this time, are you, boy?"
He's toying with us, Rukia realizes. He knows we can't beat him.
Captain Ichimaru deals a particularly forceful blow, that has Ichigo stumbling back and dropping his guard, leaving his chest wide open and vulnerable as he regains his bearings.
The Captain tilts his sword back, resting it on his shoulder as he looks Ichigo up and down, cataloging his various injuries. "I'm so curious to find out what about him was worth giving up your short little mortal life."
Ichigo swipes his sword in front of himself, uncoordinated. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not giving up anything tonight."
There's a glint of silver as Captain Ichimaru raises his arm.
Rukia is immediately on her feet. "Ichigo, watch out!" Her grip is clumsy and inartful, but she's at least quick enough to rise and tackle Ichigo out of the way as Captain Ichimaru's sword slices through the air, neatly cutting through the space where he'd been standing not a second ago.
They fall into a tangled heap behind one of the tree trunks, her hands fisted in his haori. Dodging, it seems, is the only meaningful tool they have to prolong this fight.
She recovers within seconds and gets back up on her feet, watching for another slice, but the Captain is nowhere to be found. "Stay down, Ichigo," she tells him. "You're in no condition to keep fighting."
Not that she is either, and yet… Rukia shakes her head. She has no other choice, if she's going to protect them both.
Rukia moves in a slow circle, her blade held out as she tries to anticipate the Captain's next strike.
His strikes have been almost impossible to anticipate, and truly impossible to match for speed, but she holds her sword aloft anyway, prepared to block anything that comes within her range.
It was much faster that time than it had been outside Ichigo's house, she thinks. Both were impossibly fast, but she has no doubts that he's not even unleashed his full speed.
Rukia grits her teeth. If the length of his sword wasn't already enough of a problem, the speed at which he can grow and retract it makes it even harder to avoid.
The environment doesn't help much, either. As Ichigo said, the woods are deserted enough that they don't have to worry about people. That gives them some flexibility, but the benefit of having fewer innocents around is outweighed by the loss in mobility.
What do we do? she wonders. How are we supposed to find a way out of this?
She closes her eyes, concentrating on the forest around them. "He's got the perfect long distance advantage," she murmurs to Ichigo, who only grunts in response. "His sword gives him the ability to strike from anywhere, as long as he knows where we are."
And yet, he's shown little interest in that. Perhaps the distance hampers his ability, or introduces too much unpredictability.
Despite his remarks, Rukia can't help but think Captain Ichimaru has been going easy on them, more than what a mere spiritual limiter would do. She isn't foolish enough to think he cares at all about her or Ichigo. The only other possibility is that, for whatever reason, he wants to keep Renji alive.
But for what? A sense of justice?
The idea is almost laughable.
Rukia turns over Sode no Shirayuki in her hands, feeling the cold weight of the sword as she thinks. She's never experimented with it before, but she wonders whether the ice is strong enough - and cold enough - to both trap his zanpakuto and potentially break it.
Could that work? she wonders. Would it be enough if they could shatter his blade?
Could she even hope to match his speed?
She doesn't get time to contemplate it any further.
A twig snaps several yards away. Without even stopping to consider it further, Rukia swings her zanpakuto, the white glow of it making a bright arc in the dark night.
Some no mai, Tsukishiro!
The pillar of ice rises between them, blocking his view of both her and Ichigo, who lets out a loud yelp at the sight. The solid ice gleams. In the bare moonlight, she can just barely see her own reflection, harried and wild-eyed.
"An ice-type, huh?"
Rukia whirls around to find Captain Ichimaru in the trees just overhead. This time, he's looking directly at her, sword slung casually around his shoulders, his barely visible pupils locked onto her own.
As long as his sword isn't pointed directly at her, Rukia supposes, they aren't in immediate danger.
The Captain cocks his head. "You're also from Squad Thirteen, aren't you?" he asks. "Was this planned, I wonder? Two squadmates planning to cut loose together?" He swivels his sword, as if working through his thoughts. "There was nothing about an accomplice in the report… so I wonder how long you've been involved in this as well?"
Rukia growls. "If you would only listen to what happened, you would understand! Renji did nothing wrong!"
"An innocent bystander, then." His grin turns feral, causing Rukia to take a preemptive step backwards, as he stands to lunge. "Killed mercilessly by her defecting squadmate."
He slashes at her this time, instead of hitting her with the blunt end of his sword. Even like this, he's too fast for her to meet, and each delayed block or parry comes at the cost of slashes to her body.
Each slice of his sword feels like an individual loss, the sting of his blade and the warm trickles of blood down her arms and sides draining away her stamina.
Rukia grits her teeth against the next slash, his blade forcing hers dangerously close to her face, his strength quickly overpowering her own. She stumbles back, barely having time to block his next strike.
"Nice opening, Rukia!"
Before she can comprehend what he means by that, Ichigo rushes in, slashing at the Captain with renewed vigor. Captain Ichimaru grits his teeth, annoyance clear on his face, as he turns to face Ichigo.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Rukia holds her blade out and aims carefully. Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!
The spray of ice shoots towards Captain Ichimaru's back. He's trapped, Rukia thinks.
Maybe we do have this.
The Captain's head inclines slightly, and he pushes Ichigo back with a brutal backhand. Before Ichigo can react, the Captain kicks him away into the trees. The momentum puts both of them out of range for her attack, though the sleeve of Captain Ichimaru's non-dominant arm hangs heavy with frost.
Close, she thinks. We're getting close.
She readies a second attack, counting the distance between them. Some no mai—
Faster than her eyes can track, Captain Ichimaru charges Ichigo again, his fist driving into Ichigo's stomach. Ichigo sputters, before he collapses to his knees.
"Ichigo!" Her initial attack is immediately abandoned—there's no way she can use it now, with the two of them so close to one another.
Captain Ichimaru gives him a satisfied look. "I suppose I'll wait and see what fate has in store for you, eh, human shinigami?"
"Not… not done yet…" Ichigo grunts. He rolls onto his side, but is barely able to stand. He slumps onto the ground again, beaten.
Captain Ichimaru laughs, his voice devoid of any true humor. "You are, you just don't know it."
With another cruel kick, Captain Ichimaru knocks Ichigo onto his back and sets his foot on his chest, pinning him down. Slowly, he raises his sword. "But it would be cruel of me to make you suffer, wouldn't it? Maybe I should do you a kindness and kill you now, before you bleed out internally."
Before he can strike, Rukia holds her hand out, palm facing flat towards him. "Hado Number 4! Byakurai!"
The bright, blue arc of lightning shoots from her hands, straight for Captain Ichimaru. The blast isn't quick enough to hit him, though it's enough to put some space between him and Ichigo.
The tree right behind where the Captain was standing explodes into a shower of wood shards and smoke.
Quickly, Rukia moves to fill the space between Ichigo and Captain Ichimaru. "Don't move." She holds her zanpakuto out protectively across her body as she inches closer to Ichigo, keeping her eyes trained on the Captain the entire time.
Neither of her dances have been well-matched to his own shikai, and in this environment - as closed in as they are - there's few openings for her to corner him, where he can easily make more room for himself with a single swipe of his blade.
Still, she must do something—even if it is only a matter of buying time. But what? How? I have to—
"Play time is over now, little girl," Captain Ichimaru says. "It's time for me to wrap things up."
He lifts his sword before she can take so much as a single step.
It feels cold, at first. The blade is wrenched out like a key pulled from a lock, tugging her insides as it retreats. A rush of blood follows.
Rukia tries, delusionally, to catch it with her hands—to stymie the flow of blood, even as the front of her robe is soaked through with it.
She's no human, that's true, but still—she has organs. She has a body.
She can be injured in ways that there can be no coming back from.
"Rukia!" Renji's voice feels so much closer than it should be. "Rukia! Are you okay?"
Fool, fool, fool, echoes in her mind—why isn't he running? Why would he call attention to himself when he's totally incapable of fighting back?
But she knows why, because it's the same reason she wouldn't have run—the same reason she would have come back.
The second, third, and fourth blows from Captain Ichimaru's sword tear through her body like it's made of paper. Like it's nothing.
When the last strike withdraws, her knees buckle, and her face meets the cold, dewey grass beneath her. Her arms hang limp by her sides, her fingertips growing numb, the warmth fading from her body…
"That should take care of you," Captain Ichimaru muses, as he steps over her body, towards where Renji is.
But she can't allow that. "Renji… no…"
"I'm the one you want, right?" she hears Renji say. His voice wavers, and it's so unlike him that hot, angry tears begin to gather at the corners of her eyes. "Please just leave her alone…"
It was impossible that she ever thought they could defeat an actual captain, and yet—and yet that isn't good enough. It isn't a good enough excuse to lose Renji, possibly forever.
Not like this—not again.
Rukia urges her body forward, begs her arms to lift, her legs to rise. Even moving her neck is a struggle, and she's only able to prop up her chin far enough to see the darkness where Captain Ichimaru was standing.
But Renji is her best friend, the closest thing she has to family.
After Kaien, she made so many promises to herself—that never again would she let someone close to her die. Never again would she be helpless, when her closest friends' lives were in danger.
Never again—not as long as there was breath in her body. She clenches her hand into a fist, willing herself to move, to fight—to save Renji.
But ultimately, Rukia's hand grasps nothing, and her vision goes dark before she can move any further.