Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Heart Dawning ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

Author's Note: This fic is the first of three I was asked to write by a good friend of mine, and is dedicated to her.

 

Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Bleach or its characters. They are the intellectual property of one Tite Kubo. Any plot and non-canon characters you come across belong to me, however, and are not to be used in anyone else's stories without my permission.

 

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Chapter One

 

It was raining.

 

The first rain of spring fell steadily from the sky, as if it was diligently working to wash away the remnants of the previous winter's battle. Many had been injured, some had fallen, but in the end the forces of Soul Society and their allies had won. The war was far from over, however. Yes, the hougyoku had been successfully destroyed. Aizen had failed to create the replica of the King's Key, and the majority of his forces had suffered their mortal fates. However, the man himself remained at large. It would only be a matter of time before he came up with another plan for domination and attempted to successfully implement it.

 

Kisuke Urahara sighed heavily and pulled his trademark green-and-white striped hat further down over his eyes as he stood beneath the overhang in front of his shop, contemplating his most dangerous rival's next move. Normally, the sound of the rain brought a certain sense of calm to him, but all he could think of as he listened to the staccato tapping of the droplets hitting the pavement was how each and every one of them reminded him of tears - the tears shed by all those who had lost someone or something during the Winter War. A part of him blamed himself for the whole mess. If he'd never invented that damn hougyoku in the first place, it never would have fallen into Aizen's power-hungry hands. At least they had been able to destroy it, though, with the help of Orihime's powers and his own knowledge of its origins.

 

“Urahara!”

 

His moment of self-loathing was interrupted by a familiar voice calling his name, accompanied by the sound of two sets of footsteps smacking loudly against the wet pavement as they rushed in his direction. Lifting his head just enough to be able to peer out from under the brim of his hat, he found Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki heading toward him at a dead run. They were both currently in their shinigami forms, their shihakushous sticking heavily to their bodies from the rain. Kisuke was about to ask what the rush was about when he noticed the limp figure Ichigo was cradling in his arms.

 

“She was attacked by a hollow,” Rukia explained as they came to a stop before him, panting slightly. “This was the closest place we could think of to take her.”

 

“It looks pretty bad,” Ichigo added, sounding a bit crestfallen as his eyes moved down to the unconscious woman in his arms.

 

Kisuke's own gaze followed the younger man's as he took in the girl's appearance. She was young, but still had the face of an adult, with prominent cheekbones and a sharp nose. Her hair was brown, but it was also wet, and he knew it would be a lighter shade once dry. The clothes she wore were just as weighed down by the rain as those of the man carrying her, and by the way they clung to her form he could see that she appeared to be a bit on the thin side. Her skin was deathly pale, and as Ichigo shifted his grip Kisuke noticed copious amounts of blood seeping between his fingers from the wound on her side that the hollow had caused.

 

“Bring her in,” he ordered, stepping aside and sliding open the front door of the shop. He allowed the others to enter before him and immediately followed, not even bothering to close the door behind him as he rushed ahead of them to open the way into the back room for Ichigo.

 

“Tessai!” he called out as Ichigo laid the young woman down on the floor, keeping his hand pressed to her side in a vain attempt to stop her bleeding.

 

“Yes, boss?” came the gruff voice of Tessai Tsukabishi as he stepped into the room, holding a large ladle in one hand. A black cat followed him, immediately taking up a position along one wall as it watched the scene unfold before it with wise eyes.

 

“Have Ururu finish cooking dinner,” Kisuke instructed him, gesturing to their injured guest. “Please tend to this girl's wounds as best you can.”

 

Tessai nodded once and called out to Ururu, who obediently came rushing from her room to see what was needed of her. Tessai passed his ladle to her and gave her instructions on how to proceed with the rest of the cooking, then sent her to the kitchen as he knelt on the floor and began examining the girl, who had started to shiver.

 

“What's all this racket in here?” Renji Abarai asked as he wandered in from the hallway, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “I finally get a chance to catch some shut-eye before dinner and now you're all in here shouting.”

 

“Renji!” Rukia said his name curtly, admonishing him with a glare before pointing to where Ichigo was still kneeling on the floor across from Tessai. His drowsy eyes followed her finger and he blinked, suddenly very awake and feeling like a jackass as he realized the cause of the commotion.

 

“Renji, go fetch Orihime, in case her wounds are too much for Tessai to mend on his own,” Urahara told him.

 

Renji made a face as he looked out the window. The rain was coming down in sheets, which would plaster his clothing to his body and make it harder to get around. Not only that, but his long hair would get completely soaked and he'd have to let it dry out before he could put it back up in his usual ponytail again.

 

“I'll go,” Rukia offered, noticing his hesitation. “I'm already wet.”

 

“No! I'll go,” Renji insisted, shoving his Soul Candy into his mouth and taking off in spirit form before she could protest. Rukia smirked as he ran out the door. She knew he would rather brave a storm than let her have to go out in that kind of weather.

 

“Will she be alright?” Ichigo asked hopefully as Tessai continued his examination of the girl. The large man's features were set in a deep scowl of concentration, a thoughtful murmur rumbling low in his throat as he pushed aside Ichigo's hand to get a better look at her wound. To Urahara's surprise, what he had originally perceived to be a single wound was actually three elongated gashes in her side, equally spaced from one another. Apparently, the hollow had lashed out and caught her with some sort of claws.

 

“I can heal her wounds,” Tessai replied after a moment, poising his own hands over the injury as he began applying a healing kidou. “However, it appears she may have lost a good deal of blood, so I can't guarantee anything.”

 

“What if she got a transfusion?” Ichigo suggested as he leapt to his feet, thinking of his father's small family clinic. Surely, they must have some blood on hand for emergencies, as well as the necessary equipment to implement a transfusion. Even if they didn't, Uryu's family owned a hospital that would.

 

“We can give her something to help bolster her up, once her wounds have been healed,” Urahara assured him, giving him a meaningful glance. Ichigo nodded and knelt on the floor once more, understanding exactly what was being said. He had been near-death when Urahara had found him after his first encounter with Renji and Byakuya, and had one of the weird shopkeeper's 'special potions' to thank for helping to save his life.

 

Frowning a bit, he turned his attention back to the woman he had failed to save from the hollow. Tessai was still working on healing her wounds, a light sweat breaking out on his rugged brow while he concentrated all of his energy into his hands as he held them over the deep cuts in her abdomen. Ichigo watched in amazement as the bleeding slowed to a mere trickle before stopping altogether, and continued to stare in awe as the wounds themselves gradually healed shut. No matter how many times he saw it, he still found it fascinating how easily Tessai and Orihime could heal even the most grievous of wounds without leaving so much as a scar.

 

“She's still shivering,” Rukia observed, kneeling near him and placing a palm against the girl's forehead to check for a fever.

 

“That's a side-effect of the blood loss,” Ichigo explained to her, happy for what little medical knowledge he possessed. He might have failed at keeping her safe, and perhaps he couldn't do anything to help heal her, but at least he could sound like he was contributing to the rescue effort by verbally assessing the situation. “Her wet clothes probably aren't helping much, either.”

 

“Well, then,” Urahara stated as he stood up, clapping his hands together. “I suppose we'll just have to get her changed into something a bit drier.”

 

“Hold it right there,” the cat said in its deceptively masculine voice, still seated against the far wall of the room. “What do you think you're doing?”

 

Urahara froze, bent halfway over the young woman's still form, his arms held out before him as he prepared to scoop her up into his embrace in order to carry her to one of the spare bedrooms on the second floor above the shop.

 

“Uh... As I said, Yoruichi-san, I was just going to get her changed out of her wet clothes into something suitably warmer and more dry.”

 

“I cannot let you do that,” the black cat replied, its tail twitching a bit in an annoyed manner as it narrowed its yellow eyes at the man.

 

“Why not?” Urahara inquired, feigning innocence. “As the proprietor of this shop and head of this household, it is my duty to show hospitality to all those who enter.”

 

“You and I both know you're a pervert, Kisuke,” the cat stated as its tail began slapping against the floor at an increased speed. “That poor girl deserves to keep some of her dignity, which will be lost if she has to deal with you pawing at her as you change her clothes.”

 

Urahara laughed lightly and straightened up once more, his hands falling limply to his sides in defeat.

 

“I should feel insulted that you are suggesting I would do something inappropriate in this situation,” he said, pulling out his white paper fan and opening it with a flick of his wrist. “However, I fully understand your concern. Should she come to while in the midst of being undressed by a strange man, she would be greatly traumatized.”

 

“I'll take care of her,” Yoruichi announced before transforming out of her feline guise and back into her human form.

 

“How is that going to be any better?” Ichigo shrieked, quickly covering his eyes to shield his gaze from the sight of the fully-naked woman standing before them. Rukia blushed while the other two men in the room had no visible reaction to her overt nudity, as they had grown accustomed to it in the centuries they had both known her.

 

“Kisuke, could you show me where to put her?” Yoruichi asked as she effortlessly picked up the unconscious woman, smirking as she ignored Ichigo's outburst.

 

“Certainly,” Urahara replied, leading her out of the room. Ichigo waited until he heard their retreating footsteps fade away down the hall before pulling his hands away from his eyes with a relieved sigh.

 

“Hey! Urahara! I brought Orihime, like you said!” Renji called loudly as he entered through the shop at the front, wringing the water out of his hair. Orihime quietly entered behind him, closing the door as she shook out her umbrella.

 

“Oh! We don't need her now, Renji,” Rukia called to him, leaning forward behind Ichigo's back so she could look out into the shop and address him directly, her lips curved into a devilish smile at the sight of him standing there, thoroughly drenched from the downpour. “But thank you for your hard work, anyway!”

 

Renji gaped at her, the corner of his eye twitching slightly.

 

The things I do for love, he thought, annoyed at himself.

 

“Ichigo!” Orihime called as she walked past him at a brisk pace into the back room, taking up a seat on the floor next to Ichigo. “Renji said someone was injured by a hollow.”

 

“Yeah,” Ichigo told her, turning slightly to face her. “Tessai here was able to heal her, but she's still in a pretty bad state.”

 

“The boss and I will take good care of her, don't worry,” Tessai assured them in his gruff voice.

 

“Thank you,” Ichigo told him, then got to his feet with a small sigh. “I'm going to go have a word with Urahara.”

 

Orihime watched him as he left the room, his shoulders slumped ever so slightly and his gait more sluggish than normal. She could sense that something was weighing heavily on his mind, and had half a good idea as to what that something was. He always felt down whenever someone was hurt by a hollow, feeling it was his fault for not being able to protect them. Every time she caught him in that sort of mood, she wanted to throw her arms around him and hug him and tell him it wasn't his fault. Her eyes moved surreptitiously toward where Rukia was still sitting, and she could tell by the look on the shinigami's face that she, too, had noticed the nearly imperceptible change in his demeanor. Thankfully, though, Rukia didn't jump up and rush after Ichigo to attempt to knock some sense back into him the way she so often did whenever he got into one of his dark moods. Orihime felt a slight twinge of regret for having such jealous thoughts, but she had resolved to herself after they had survived the Winter War that she would be more outgoing and true to her feelings toward Ichigo.

 

All she had to do was find the courage she needed to wrap him in her arms and tell him everything would be alright.