Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Your Memory is My Revenge ❯ The Worry ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any Bleach affiliates.

 

(A/N: The story I wrote about Rukia and Hisana's past was from my imagination, not anything that I've seen in the anime—I'm more into watching it than reading it. Also, Hisana's diary entries will be getting shorter.

Anyway, enjoy this chapter!)

 

Chapter 5

 

“So, dear reader of the diary, I have caught you up on everything that has happened in my life thus far. I hope you do not judge me too harshly. All I can do now is sit and pen these words.

 

I have grown ill these past few months, I do not know what it is or how it is best healed; Byakuya has already sent may doctors to me, even the Captain of the 12th Squad, but I know it is no use…

 

…I am dying.”

 

“What do you mean you don't know?” Ichigo screamed, grabbing the front of Renji's shirt and pulling it closer to his face. “Didn't she come to you first? Didn't she tell you she was going somewhere?”

 

“I already told you!” Screamed the infuriated Soul Reaper, “I have no idea where she is! She didn't come to the Urahara shop and she hasn't contacted me at all!”

 

“Well you should know something damn it!” He roared pushing Renji back and furiously beginning to pace.

 

Renji glared at Ichigo and smoothed the rumples in his shirt—stupid idiot, just pacing the grass, not having a damned clue about anything.

 

“Can't you do something to find her, at least find her?” He asked, his body shifted and he turned towards Renji.

 

Renji was taken aback by the look of desperation he saw in Ichigo's face. The scowl of anger was gone, only to be replaced with a scowl of worry, his lip was raw, as if he had been biting it for too long, and his hair was sticking on end, as though he had run in fingers through it repeatedly.

 

He looks sad. Renji realized after a moment. Really sad.

 

“You're overreacting.” He scoffed, shuffling his feet on the grass beneath him, uncomfortable with the amount of grief that was emanating from Ichigo.

 

Turning, Ichigo slumped over to the wall and placed both hands on the brick; he closed his eyes and braced his forehead against the cool stone, Renji stood beside him and watch as his fingers opened and closed with unbidden frustration.

 

A rustling sound appeared to their left and Renji lifted his head. Chad came up behind them; towering silently, he appraised the situation.

 

“What's going on?” He asked after a moment, his deep voice resonating in the clear day.

 

There was a pause, Ichigo didn't say anything.

 

“Rukia's gone missing,” Renji said after a moment, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “She didn't tell Ichigo where she was going.”

 

“Do you want us to go and look for her with you?” He asked quietly, taking a step closer.

 

Ichigo lifted his head and stared at the red stones before him, shaking his head. “No, she probably wouldn't want a search party.” His head shot up and he leaped over to Renji, “I know! You can contact Byakuya! He could probably get her to come back! He's her brother right and he would know where she would be and—”

 

“Fat chance!” Renji shot back, cutting him off. “Captain Kuchiki has better things to do than baby-sit Rukia all day! Unless she is in some sort of mortal danger, he wouldn't come. We should just let it go!”

 

“How can you say that when Rukia's missing?” Ichigo shouted, his face growing red.

 

“Stupid! She probably went somewhere on her own to check out a Hollow or something!” Renji retorted, crossing his arms.

 

“Then why didn't she take me?” Ichigo screamed, swinging his fist around and punching the wall he had used for support, the brick didn't budge but neither did Ichigo's fist, after a moment he brought it back, watching the blood trickle down between his knuckles.

 

Renji and Chad didn't move.

 

Renji glared at him and shook his head, “You really are daft aren't you?” He said in a low and deadly voice which made Ichigo glance up. “If Rukia left without telling you and she's been so cold to you since she got back, doesn't that give you the slightest thought that she might be angry at you?”

 

“Well what else would she be?” Ichigo said just as quietly, “It's not like she loves me right now.”

 

Bingo. Renji thought.

 

“You must have done something really bad to piss her off like that.” He sighed, shaking his head.

 

“But that's just it!” He cried, “I don't know what I did—I—I… oh shit.”

 

“I saw you kissing her Ichigo! I saw it with my own eyes!”

 

Ichigo swallowed noisily and shut his eyes, bringing his bloodied fist to his face and squeezing his eyes in frustration.

 

“Orihime… that thing, the… the… oh shit.”

 

“`Oh shit' is right.” Renji muttered, rubbing his nose with his index finger.

 

“Wait!” Ichigo cried; running back to him, “What do you mean? You know?”

 

Renji rolled his eyes and nodded, “Duh! Orihime's only told all the girls in the school!”

 

“That doesn't include you!”

 

“Doesn't mean I don't hear it, stupid! People talk, you can't stop it!” He spat back.

 

“Even I know,” Chad added in, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

 

“Kami!” Ichigo roared, thrusting his fists into his hair and tugging hard. “Stupid, stupid, stupid! She told all the girls except Rukia?”

 

“Well she probably wanted to avoid Orihime as much as she wanted to avoid you, she went to the Soul Society, remember, she went there to avoid the both of you.” Renji scoffed, “You are dense.”

 

“But where is she now?” Ichigo screamed, his bloodied fist squirting even more as he clenched his fist.

 

“I don't know! Stop asking me!”

 

“She was reading a book.”

 

Ichigo and Renji glanced over at Chad, his brow was furrowed and he nodded, “Yeah, it was a book. Kind of old, leather, smelled kind of funny.”

 

“Rukia reads all the time,” Ichigo muttered, “Now that she's found the joy of romance novels.” He added sarcastically.

 

“This one was different, it had a name on the front, I think it was a diary.” He paused for a moment, his deep voice stretching out into the air. “The name Kuchiki was on it, I'm pretty sure. There was also a first name, Hime… no, Hianas… no… I can't remember, but it was something like that.”

 

Renji stiffened. “Hisana? Was that the name? Was it Kuchiki Hisana?”

 

Chad's eyes brightened and he nodded, “Yeah, that was it: Kuchiki Hisana.”

 

Ichigo frowned at Renji, who had hurriedly pulled out his cell phone and began dialing numbers. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

 

“Because,” Renji muttered, “That was the name of Rukia's older sister.”

 

“Rukia had an older sister?” Chad asked.

 

“Yeah,” Renji answered, “Rukia was told about Hisana directly after the battle with Aizen, Ichigo was badly hurt so you guys focused mostly on that, I doubt any of you heard what he said.”

 

“What did he say?” Ichigo asked as he finally turned to his hand, nursing the still bleeding wound.

 

“Just that his late wife, Hisana, was Rukia's sister but abandoned her in Rukongai when she was still and infant. After she and Captain Kuchiki were married she spent all of her time looking for Rukia, but died before she could be found. It was Hisana's dying wish that Rukia be adopted into the Kuchiki Family and be protected by Byakuya. He agreed because he loved her so much.” Renji explained.

 

Chad and Ichigo glanced at each other with surprised looks.

 

“No wonder Rukia has so many problems…” Chad muttered.

 

Ichigo glared at him and spat, “I bet any of us would have issues if we were abandoned as infants.”

 

Chad just shrugged in silent agreement.

 

“Yes, 12th Squad. Abarai Renji. Yes. Information… yes.” Renji said into his phone, turning away from the group.

 

Ichigo sulked back near the wall. It was lunchtime and he was in the crappiest mood he had ever known. When he woke up, it had been just another day… well, except for the fact that he and Rukia weren't talking and he still couldn't get the kiss they had shared off of his mind. But other than that it had been a normal day—until Yuzu had run into his room, wailing that Rukia wasn't there and that she hadn't been in the room when she had woken up.

 

Ichigo had immediately gotten up and ran to the room Rukia shared with Karin and Yuzu, in his frantic state he tore around the area in search of a letter, a note, a post it. Anything that would tell him something.

 

When Karin drove him out of the room he went downstairs, not even caring that he was dressed in a tight beater and a pair of boxers. He met his father—who tried to slam a fist into his face—but got a knee in the groin instead—and immediately asked him if Rukia left a note. His father had pointed—from the fetal position—to a note on the counter. Ichigo sprang over to it immediately and read it hastily… then read it once more for fear he missed something.

 

Gone on a trip. Don't worry.

 

Rukia.

 

And that was it. That was it!

 

After that his father had forced him to go to school, only once he was there he bombarded Orihime and Ishida in the courtyard, Tatsuki and Chizuru in the classroom, and then Renji just a while ago.

 

Stupid teachers, making me learn things when I have more important things to do.

 

He gave a shaky sigh and ran his dry hand through his hair. He needed to find her, he needed to explain everything to her, he needed to hold her close and he needed to kiss her until neither of them could think.

 

But he needed to find her first.

 

“Yes? I need information about Kuchiki Rukia.” Renji was speaking again. “Has she been in contact with this division lately? Really? Last night? What did she ask about?”

 

There was a pause and Ichigo leaped forward, pressing his ear closer and closer to the phone. Renji glared at him but remained silent.

 

“Is this a matter of dire importance Lieutenant? It was Kuchiki Rukia's call; she has a right to her privacy.” The person on the other end said uncertainly.

 

“It's a matter of extreme importance!” Ichigo growled, “Get it immediately!”

 

“Lieutenant Abarai! Who is that?” The voice resonated, “I can't give away information to unregistered personnel!”

 

“Shut up!” Renji hissed at Ichigo as he pushed him away. Speaking to the phone he said, “That was the Shinigami Representative Kurosaki Ichigo, you know… the one who helped to save all of the Soul Society—twice? He needs the information as well.”

 

“Kurosaki Ichigo!” The voice gasped, Renji cringed at the sound of blatant admiration in the person's voice. “Yes sir, right away sir!”

 

Renji looked over and watched as Ichigo paced back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

 

He was really worried about her.

 

Something in the back of Renji's mind knew that he should be worried too, but he wasn't. He knew how well Rukia could take care of herself. After all, she grew up as a runt in Rukongai, survived being an outcast in the Shinigami Institute, she lasted through the initiation into being a noble, hell, she even got through an almost death sentence; so no, he wasn't worried, he knew that she could take care of herself.

 

“Sir?” The voice had returned.

 

“Yes.” Renji answered automatically.

 

“Kuchiki Rukia called this morning at 2:15 for information about any Hollows that had been detected in a small village directly beside the city of Aomori.”

 

“Aomori?” Renji asked.

 

“Yes sir. I told her that there have reports of a Hollow in that area, but no Soul Reaper has been assigned to its case, because it only attacks people randomly, and sometimes it'll be decades before he hits again.”

 

Renji frowned, “Did you tell her about any deaths?”

 

There was a pause, “I told her that the attacks started about one hundred and fifty years ago, that the first victims were a young girl and her infant sister… then I told her about the next ones: fifteen years later there was a small boy, twenty five years after that it was an older man, ten years later there was a young man, and… I stopped there.”

 

Renji nodded his head and sighed. “Did she say anything else?”

 

“No sir.”

 

He nodded and muttered a `thank you' before hanging up the phone.

 

Ichigo looked over at him, his posture was tense and his eyes were hard—expectant. “Well?”

 

“Rukia got some information about a Hollow in a village near Aomori.” He said, clicking his phone shut and shoving it back into his pocket. “She asked for some of its victims and guess who the first two were?”

 

Ichigo and Chad shrugged before shaking their heads.

 

“A teenage girl and her infant sister.” Renji said, crossing his arms and cocking his head. “The same ages Hisana and Rukia were when they died.”

 

“You think she went to Aomori?” Ichigo asked, his voice rising in excitement.

 

Renji nodded and sighed, “I'm thinking she went there to get some more information, on her roots, on her sister… or—or she could have gone to get that Hollow.”

 

Ichigo's eyes snapped open. “What?” He shouted. “That thing killed her! She can't go after it again! What if it kills her… again?”

 

Renji closed his eyes and shook his head. “You're overreacting again. Rukia is a member of Squad 13. She would never be reckless or stupid… and she can definitely kill a Hollow without you.” He sighed and muttered, “Why can't you just let it go and—?”

 

Only when he opened his eyes, Ichigo was gone.