Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Redemption ❯ Destiny ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8 - Destiny

"And you would be?" Uryu asked a bit crisply.

Rukia looked from him back to the continued battle; her sister was going to die? Ichigo tightened his arm around her but she didn't notice. She had just discovered the woman she admired and who had treated her like a little sister was in fact her sister…seriously? And now she was going to lose her? Seriously! She felt her body shake inside, this was all a bit overwhelming, and it came at such a terrible time.

Aizen backhanded Kikyo into a building but she was back with an attack of her own before he could recoil his arm. She drew blood from his ribs; he stumbled away and blocked her next attack. She was relentless; she came after him so quickly he barely had time to raise a proper defense. At this rate, she was going to kill him and she was only in shikai form. This forced him to rethink his assault on the Royal Realm. There were always four high generals and they all had seconds, generals, who they trained personally to replace them. He was no match for her, she killed two captains in less than five seconds, and one was in bankai form.

She thrust forward, he barely dodged, she twirled, he blocked her pink katana, she bent over swirling the blue blade at his neck, barely missing; she settled for slicing open his chin. He recoiled, "Damn it." She smiled at his curse. He stared at her coldly, his glared was unlike Byakuya's, the sixth captain always showed nothing behind his harden eyes but this former captain showed real malice and a lust for violence.

The female had provoked him apparently; he was losing his hold on his precious control. At the end of the day, men just can't resist the urge to destroy something. She studied him; he had set his sights on destroying her, she who had wounded his male pride. Using flash step he attempted to catch her off guard but he was too slow, she saw every step and boringly raised her sword to block his side swing attack. She blinked to clear her head of his zanpakuto's ability, she would not be so easily hypnotized, she was trained not to be, and she refused to be wounded by a lowly captain. The woman hesitated, lowly captain, had she really just thought that? He twirled behind her to strike at her other side but she blocked that too while lost in thought, she blinked when she heard him growl.

Aizen flash stepped away, leaving her standing there; she looked so sad but her presence would have made any feeble man tremble. He thought to himself, could he defeat her because she was a woman, was that her weakness? Could he exploit her emotions long enough to deal a final blow? She turned her head, dark eyes sliding to look at him, they were frightening, she seemed to match his malice, and yet it was a weak glare. The woman lacked the killer instinct, the violent nature to which was owned by man alone. It just wasn't in a females' character to destroy, their duty was to create not decimate. He smiled his wicked grin.

"Time to end this."

Rukia watched as her sister called out an attack, the bright sky grew dark with black menacing clouds, and the air grew thick and heated. She stopped to smile at her before glancing at Byakuya with sadness and regret in her eyes. All too quickly, the moment passed and she unleashed a tornado of white-bluish flames that engulfed her and the three criminals. Rukia yelled for her but was held back by Ichigo, he gripped her tightly as she struggled slightly. The wind roared, the heat was intense and it became hell on Earth.

The high general had demonstrated flawlessly why captains were no match for her. This was easily a bankai level attack for them and she did it with ease in shikai. Byakuya stood perfectly still as the ash whipped around his body. What would her bankai be like? The air began to twist, stopping its circular spinning and began charging for the center of the flames. The area became a vortex and it took great strength not to be sucked in, except for the stranger, he seemed to weather it without trouble, not one single droplet of sweat formed on his chiseled body. Rukia clutched onto Ichigo as he held them in place, his body was warm like the air but gentle and inviting, she felt safe in his arms even as hell itself seemed to be unleashing its flames onto the small town. There was a large explosion causing the orange-haired boy to cover her with his body. She gripped tightly as he held her close and when the smoke cleared there was nothing left but a massive crater in the road.

Rukia pushed past him and looked at the emptiness; she called out for her lost sibling. There was no reply, she staggered closer scanning the area and sucked in a sharp breath as Kikyo's zanpakutos fell to the ground. They sank tip first and crossed as if marking a grave. The raven-haired girl called out again and stumbled toward them, tears beginning to spill from her sadden eyes. She dropped to her knees and let out a sorrowful scream. Ichigo moved instantly and wrapped his arms around her, Renji drowned out her cries abruptly by dropping Zabimaru. The large sword made an ear aching sound, causing Uryu to look over at him as his knees hit the ground. The dark clouds remained and rain began to fall on the charred battlefield.

Byakuya remained blank; he had showed nothing at the site, revealed nothing in his tone when he had ordered the stranger to report it back to the king and nothing when in attendance at the wake in Seireitei. Rukia sat as still as a statue in front of the colored zanpakutos for days. Many attempted to get her to move or eat but even Ichigo sighed one day, calling it quits. He headed for the door and stopped next to the captain, "maybe you can get her to eat, because after all you share her grief."

Byakuya's cold stare turned to him, "I feel no grief."

"Liar, if you felt nothing, you wouldn't have offered to house and display her swords. You just would have let Rukia take them back to her barracks, where you couldn't see them every day." The boy glanced at the man before leaving. His annoyance ticked in his jaw, only that boy and his lieutenant could get to him like this.

He entered the room after hesitating and stood next to the comatose girl, nearly jumping out of his skin when she finally spoke after a long silence, "Is it true?"

He looked down at her. "You were listening?"

"Did you love her, Nii-sama?" She asked gently with a pitch change towards the end. He seated himself formally next to her as she tried to choke back her tears.

"I met her long before Hisana…and she changed my life." Rukia audibly sucked in a breath, "he's right, I wanted them here."

She stared at the katanas, "Do you think she's alright?"

He looked over at her, "Yes, she was a good…great person; surely the fates would reward her."

There was a long silence again before she spoke, "Nii-sama, you're the only family I have left." He looked back at the swords and sat quietly next to her until sunset when he ordered her to eat dinner with him.

Fin