Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Epilogue ❯ Situations ( Chapter 6 )

Epilogue

 

Chapter Six: Situations

 

One day earlier

 

Tatsuki takes one last furtive glance at the sleeping form lying next to her, before reluctantly pulling herself out of bed. She ponders over the offer she was given last night, wondering if the two of them could really make it work.

 

She resists the urge to crawl back into bed, fearing that she might accidentally rouse him from sleep. The bed evokes feelings of warmth, and a sense of security. She didn't realize how much she yearned for those things until last night, when the two of them finally became honest with one another.

 

He looks so peaceful when he's asleep, she thinks, admiring the peaceful smile on his face. It's a good thing I came when I did.

 

A glance at the digital clock reminds her that she's up early, unable to break the habit of waking up in the morning to get a fresh start on the day. The idea of sleeping in is a tempting one, but one she has to refuse.

 

She - they - needed to take things slower this time.

 

“What's wrong, Ichigo?” she demands, grabbing him by his collar. “Don't even think of lying to me.” He had been sulking for the whole day and she couldn't take it any longer. She needed to know what was making him so miserable, besides the obvious.

 

He doesn't fight back, seemingly indifferent to her actions. “There's nothing wrong. I just didn't get enough sleep last night.”

 

“You're full of it,” she fires back angrily, “just tell me what happened. You've been acting so strangely today.” She's upset, because she's always been the last to know when something big happens to Ichigo.

 

She lets go of him, though still frustrated with her longtime friend's erratic behavior. Was he thinking about them again? Was he having nightmares about them?

 

He turns away from her. She can already tell that what he's about to tell her is serious.

 

“She left me,” he whispers faintly. “Rukia's gone.” She knows that she will never forget the hurt in his voice for as long as she lives.

 

She left Orihime at her parents' house prior to talking with Ichigo yesterday. She figures that she has another hour before Orihime would normally wake up, but she wants to be there when she does. She loves her daughter very much.

 

“How about it?” he asks gently. His arms are wrapped around her protectively as they lay on the bed. She never really pegged him for the cuddling or snuggling kind of guy, but he was always full of surprises.

 

She bites her lip. “Ichigo…” She can feel his breath on the back of her neck, causing her to inhale sharply. She hasn't been intimate in five years, so everything he does seems to be magnified by ten fold. Not that she minds in the least bit, however.

 

Earlier, he had been acting so differently. Thankfully, she had managed to calm him down, but somehow it got to the point where they were lying in bed together.

 

Even though they're both fully clothed, she feels like every part of her is showing. She hasn't let her guard down like this in such a long time that she feels very silly right now. It's like she's back in high school, complete with all the drama and hard to express feelings.

 

“Think about it,” he murmurs, holding her close to him.

 

How could she say no?

 

As she leaves the room, she smiles at the thought of Ichigo's offer. The situation between her and Ichigo had changed with only one night of honesty.

 

She'll give him an answer tomorrow.

 

-

 

Captain Ukitake puts a slender hand to his mouth, in a vain attempt to stifle another round of violent coughs. He's had to endure this pain for many years, but only recently has it gotten to the point where he no longer draws his sword. His role in the last ten years has been that of a mentor to the younger captains, many of whom are clearly too inexperienced for the role they've been given. Half of them don't even have a second release for their soul slayers.

 

Then again, with the loss of all Hollows after the destruction of Hueco Mundo, the ability to effectively battle has been downplayed in favor of other Soul Reaper duties.

 

He is troubled as he walks, slowly, deliberately, to the Soul Reaper Research Institute. Ukitake does not go there often, finding Kurotsuchi a distasteful yet necessary element. He has never been ignorant of his fellow captain's experiments and unsavory methods, but he has never been able to do anything about it, despite his numerous complaints to the former first division captain.

 

Sometimes you had to fight the darkness with darkness, Captain Yamamoto had said sternly. It was not an answer Ukitake had appreciated, but he nonetheless reluctantly accepted it as the truth. The world he lived in was not black and white, but colored in shades of grey.

 

Captain Rukia Kuchiki, formerly of his own division, had been making numerous visits to the institute in the last few days. He had been informed of this news by Kiyone, who was concerned over her captain's behavior.

 

“I fear that the decision to kill…him…is affecting her a lot,” Kiyone whispers, as if Rukia was around to hear. “Please…check up on her, Captain Ukitake.”

 

He can sense that he is getting closer to her. One thing that he realized early on during the beginning of her tenure as a captain was that she was one of the few that actually qualified to be a captain. Her power had increased dramatically - probably due to her exposure to Ichigo - during the time she spent stationed in Karakura.

 

Another cough overtakes him, setting his lungs and throat on fire. The pain is something he hasn't, and never will, get used to, despite how long he has lived.

 

“Looks like the old man needs my help.” Captain Shunsui Kyoraku holds his blades at an angle, gathering the winds for one last attack. Ukitake, no longer able to move, can only watch as his friend flew towards Aizen, rejoining the fight alongside the ryoka boy and the others.

 

He senses another large spirit energy, although it quickly dissipates. Could it be another one of Kurotsuchi's inventions?

 

Rukia appears before him, materializing with an icy gust of wind in her wake. After Captain Hitsugaya's untimely death, she had the most powerful ice type soul slayer in all of Soul Society.

 

“Captain?” she asks, looking surprised. “What brings you here?”

 

He smiles pleasantly at her. “I only wished to check up on you. A source informed me that you were making many trips to the institute, I was thinking that perhaps-”

 

She interrupts him with a wave of her hand. “I required Captain Kurotsuchi's expertise in developing something for me. I needed to check up on him so that he wouldn't deviate from my specifications.”

 

He could only nod dumbly. “I see.”

 

She quickly bows. “I apologize, Captain, for worrying you.”

 

He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “There is no need to apologize. I just wanted to make sure you were-” He pauses, remembering the decision to eliminate Ichigo Kurosaki. How could he forget?

 

Of course she would be acting strangely. She was ordered to kill a man she loved, after all.

 

“The…the portal will be opened tomorrow,” he tells her awkwardly. “Although we have faster methods of travel to the human world, we honored your request for the seven day portal.”

 

“I thank you for helping me convince the others, Captain Ukitake,” she says respectfully. He nods; it is the least he can do for a former subordinate.

 

An odd expression appears on her face, which she quickly changes to something more neutral. “I must go now. I need to prepare for the trip. Take care, Captain Ukitake.”

 

She disappears without another word, leaving Ukitake to contemplate the unusual expression on her face…as if she had something to hide from him. There is a sense of finality in her words that sends a shiver down his spine.

 

“Be safe, Rukia,” he says to the winds, hoping that it will carry his message to her.

 

-

 

The Hollow wants to scream, but knows that it cannot be heard now. That damn woman gave Ichigo the strength to overcome the darkness inside of him, somehow!

 

“I'll find a way out of here,” the Hollow screams in vain. “Just you wait, Ichigo!”

 

All it can do now is wait until Ichigo is at his weakest point. Even with that woman around, it shouldn't be too hard to subtly influence Ichigo's thoughts and feelings like it's done in the past. Anything could potentially be a catalyst for another break down of Ichigo; it was only a matter of choosing what that catalyst would be.

 

The Hollow inside of Ichigo wanted to make sure that this time it wouldn't just temporarily take over Ichigo's body. No, it was going to take over and become Ichigo, body, mind, and spirit. There would be no trace of the real Ichigo once it was done with him.

 

“I can sense that my time will be soon, Ichigo,” it said manically, bursting into laughter, “soon, very soon! Not even that woman will be able to calm you…”

 

“Ichigo!” Tatsuki holds his face in her hands. “You don't have to carry that burden by yourself.”

 

“I let them die,” he says painfully. His face is twisted with a pain that Tatsuki has not seen since Rukia Kuchiki left him ten years ago. “Something's happening to me, something I don't think I can hold off for much longer. I don't know what to do anymore.”

 

She holds his head close to her chest. “I know you're stronger than this. Fight, Ichigo! Fight whatever it is that is causing you so much pain. Let me help you.”

 

“Help…me?”

 

“Yes,” she says soothingly. “I'll be here, fighting alongside with you. You don't have to be alone in this mess. Can you hear me? I'm still here, still breathing, still alive…because of you.”

 

The Hollow Ichigo roars inside Ichigo's head, but Ichigo is no longer listening. The only thing Ichigo can hear is Tatsuki's heart beating steadily in her chest.

 

Ichigo feels the darkness in his mind recede, back into the depths from which it came.

 

The Hollow Ichigo looks to its surroundings, noticing with disgust that Ichigo's inner world is slowly rebuilding itself. Even the sky is beginning to clear up.

 

While the others gained external powers due to exposure to Ichigo's high spirit energy, Tatsuki Arisawa had gained an inner strength, the power to heal Ichigo's battered spirit with her own. The Hollow Ichigo had severely underestimated that damn woman, completely disregarding the threat she was. He would not make the same mistake twice.

 

The dark side of Ichigo sneers, faintly sensing an opportunity to finally be free of that weak Ichigo. Things were not quite over yet!

 

Ah, the Hollow Ichigo thought with a devilish grin, that Soul Reaper girl is coming here soon. I can almost feel her. She's so close. She is the solution to my all my problems. Yes, I will make them all suffer once I'm free of his weakling Ichigo. All I need to do is wait until that Soul Reaper girl releases me into the world once more…

 

To be concluded