InuYasha Fan Fiction / Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ When Secrets Collide ❯ Tears and Promises ( Chapter 6 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: DannilovesInu 
A frantic call and a frightening dream...
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction / Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Comedy / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.08.2008 | Updated On: 02.08.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.4K | Visits: 976 | Status: Work In Progress
A frantic call and a frightening dream...
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction / Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Comedy / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.08.2008 | Updated On: 02.08.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.4K | Visits: 976 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclamer: Bleach and all associated characters are owned exclusively by Kubo Tite and company. InuYasha and related work belong to Rumikio Takahashi and imcorporated. The only thing I own is the character Hanabi Yamada and the tempermental computer that I write this thing on. (Some days it wants to be crabby and freeze up on me while I'm in the middle of a chapter and can't remember the last time I saved LOL.) I recieve no royalites for this fanfic. I am gravely envious of the genius of Tite and Rumikio. And no matter how I threaten, they still will not reliquish the rights to my Inu-kun and Ichigo. Damn. Back to drawing board, Pinky.
Author's note: Soo sorry for the tardiness of this chapter. A friend of mine at work got sick and I volunteered to work her shifts. 12 hours a day for the past three days. Ugh, now that I think about it, that was probably the craziest thing I've done in the whole of my entire lifetime, even if that's only nineteen years. Thank you for the reviews guys, enjoy the this chapter, and expect the next in the coming days. And Thanks for waiting!
~Danni
Chapter 6
[Tears and Promises]
^_^
Kagome and Rukia followed quickly behind Urahara, not wanting to be left behind and lost. His ‘little’ training grounds were massive. Huge boulders of red rock tower all over the terrain, casting shadows that seemed to stretch on for miles. Soon they enter a valley, where the area seemed to be surrounded by boulders, giving the land a secluded feel.
Urahara moved to the center and spread his arms wide. “Welcome! This is where we will be recovering Kuchiki-san’s powers.” He announced.
“Why did you bring us out here? Wouldn’t it have been easier to sense my powers closer to where they were extracted?” Rukia asked.
“Nah, I think Kagome-chan will have an easier time if she’s isolated, and has some quiet to concentrate. I’ve noticed that she isn’t always peaceful with Inuyasha around, egging her on.” Urahara pulled his hat lower on his eyes, his mouth tilting up in a guarded smile. “Now, this portion of our scheduled program is all up to you two. It’s quiet simple, really. Kagome-chan, you concentrate on firing Rukia’s powers into her, and You, Rukia-san, try not to fidget. He chuckled as he patted both girl encouragingly on the back. “I’ll leave you to it then.” He strolled away, humming to himself.
“Oh, what a big help he was.” Kagome groaned as she pulled a hand through her hair. “It’s hard enough to concentrate, but that fidget comment made it even worse.”
“You’re telling me. It goes against all of my training as a Shinigami to just stand and take a hit.” Rukia grumbled, as she tapped her foot anxiously. Intense seconds passed until finally both girls sighed loudly in frustration.
“Let’s just get this over with.” They said at once.
Kagome slung her bow off of her back and took an arrow from her quiver, notching it into the groove of the bow with fluid grace. Holding the arrow pointed into the ground she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Through the darkness, Kagome reached out for the familiar presence of Inuyasha, his aura was a welcoming force for her. Next she tried to seek out Ichigo. His presence was one she’d never purposely felt for but she knew it from school. His aura was more of a coarse feeling, but in no way malevolent. She easily distinguished Mr. Urahara’s aura from his employees. Not realizing she was frowning, she pressed on to find Rukia’s powers. At last she finally discovered another presence that wasn’t anchored to a person. It seemed volatile and unstable. Kagome pulled her own powers to get a handle on Rukia’s Shinigami powers. Taking deep breaths, Kagome slowly opened her eyes and focused on Rukia. The waiting girl had moved a good 10 feet away her eyes watching Kagome intently.
“I’ve got them Rukia.” She called out evenly. Slowly she raised her arrow off of the ground and steadily aimed for Rukia. The air around Kagome began to swirl wildly, stirring her raven hair into a fuss. Kagome blinked desperately to keep sand out of her eyes and her sights trained on Rukia. She honed in on Rukia’s right shoulder, well away from her heart and anything vital. “Are you ready?” She asked.
Rukia rolled her shoulders and exhaled. “Ready.”
The priestess nimbly let her blazing arrow go. The radiating glow from the arrow pierced the air with a shriek as it traveled the distance to Rukia. The impact of it hitting Rukia was tremendous. The arrow itself seemed to disappear when it touched her but the wound it left behind glowed with a fierce purple light. Kagome dropped her bow and raced to Rukia’s side at once, fearing that she’d hurt her in someway. Rukia had been thrown to the desert floor, her body curled into itself. Kagome knelt beside her, gently rolling the girl onto her back. Just like Ichigo, Rukia was unconscious. But something was off. Rukia was dressed strangely in black outfit that reminded Kagome of Inuyasha’s hakama and kimono. Suddenly she heard clapping behind her head and spun around.
“Congratulations, Kagome-chan. Rukia is now a Shinigami once more.” Kisuke said from behind his hat. He bowed to the priestess and placed his hat back on his head. “We need to get Inuyasha or Tessai to carry her back to where we can keep a close eye on her.”
Kagome nodded, an uneasy feeling creeping over her. Had he been there the entire time?
^_^
Hanabi raced toward her squad’s headquarters, her heart in her throat. What the hell was she suppose to do? It was a comforting to know that Rukia was somewhere back in the world of the living, safe, but the fact that they’d captured a human and brought him back to the Seireitei still remained. How had Kenpachi made such a drastic mistake? The person he’d captured wasn’t even the same gender as Rukia. And furthermore, how was she suppose to alert anyone of the mistake? She was suppose to be on guard duty in the northern part of the squad’s region. She moved to the doors and heard a rather familiar voice talking to the captain.
“Yes, Captain Zaraki. I’ll get right on it. The farthest holding cell, you say? I’ll have it cleaned out by the end of the afternoon.” Her brother Hanatarou vowed as he bowed to the belled hair man, backing out the doors quickly to get away from the frightening captain. Soon he was out of the doors and sighing in relief, when his sister slapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him to the side of the building. “Wah! What are you doing, nee-san!” He yelped heatedly as he tore himself from Hanabi’s grasp.
“I need you’re help, Hanatarou.” Hanabi whispered. “You’re to clean out Rukia’s cell, right?”
“Yes, Zaraki just assigned me the task.”
“Well you’re in for quite a surprise. Come with me.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him along as she raced back to the squad jail. When they got there, Hanatarou stared, his mouth slack with surprise.
“This isn’t Rukia.” He stated flatly once they came to a halt in front of the bars, for once completely still.
“Obviously.” Hanabi snorted. She inched forward and crouched down in front of the silent boy in the cell. “Hi, can you tell me your name?” She asked gently.
“Keigo Asano.” Came the soft reply. Hanabi looked up a her brother, worried. Had something happened to this boy?
“Well, Keigo, seeing you here is quite a shock, you know. I thought you’d be Rukia Kuchiki.” Hanatarou said quietly as he kneeled next to his sister.
“So I’ve been told. Why do you want Rukia in the first place?” The boy-Keigo asked. He peered from beneath his folded arms, his eyes still shroud in darkness.
“It’s not important.” Hanabi said shortly.
“Why do you want Rukia?” Keigo repeated.
“She’s wanted for illegally transferring her powers to a human.” Hanatarou admitted, placing a calming hand on his sister’s shoulder. They might have been twins, but the whole being born first still applied.
Keigo gawked openly at them, confusion clouding his gaze. “Powers to a human? Is Rukia not human or something…are you not human? Where are we?”
“Soul Society.” Hanabi explained, “A world that exists outside of the world of the living-your world.”
Hanatarou picked up her speech seamlessly, “We were once humans. We died and crossed over to the Soul Society, and here we became Shinigamis to help other souls and spirits find peace and tranquility in this world.”
“You two sound like a sappy brochure my sister brought home once from Planned Parenthood. And do you honestly think that I’ll believe half of the crap you just spouted? You want me to believe that you guys….and Rukia are some sort of Death Gods?” Keigo snorted as he turned his head away, “Why don’t you go sell paranoia somewhere else, we’re all stocked up here.”
“Asano-san, my brother and I do not lie to you. But you believing us and digesting that fact that you were abducted by Death Gods isn’t exactly a priority. You have been falsely imprisoned. This is something that is not tolerated in the Soul Society, especially here in the Seireitei. To my knowledge-and my brother’s, I assume- no one has notified my captain that he and his Vice captain captured the wrong person.” Hanabi grabbed her brother’s hand and smiled. “I need you’re help, onii-chan. I’m not suppose to be anywhere around here. I have duties in the northern region, but I had skipped out on them to come see Rukia.”
“And you want me to go tell your captain that I realized that this person wasn’t Rukia Kuchiki, and overcome with fear I came and found you, right?” Hanatarou sighed as he stood and brushed off the knees of his shihakusho.
Hanabi beamed brightly at her brother. "I knew you'd understand." Shaking his head, Hanatarou left the room as she turned back to face Keigo, "I'm going to get you out of here, I swear. I'll even escort you back to the world of the living personally."
Keigo sighed loudly. "Whatever."
Hanabi bit the inside of her cheek to keep from reprimanding the boy. She had to allow that he was in duress and that he would be emotional. She’d explain later that he was to talk to her with respect, as her rank and position allotted. "As long as we're in agreement." She forced out cheerfully. The sullen boy said nothing.
^_^
"Keh, does he need a good night sleep or something?" Inuyasha grumbled as he watched over the sleeping couple on the futon. Several hours had past since Kagome had come to retrieve him so that he could carry Rukia back to others. “And what the hell is that noise I keep hearing?” He asked, folding his hands into the sleeves of his haori.
“What are you talking about, Inuyasha?” Kagome asked through her yawning.
“If I knew, I would have done something about it.” Inuyasha grumbled. “It’s muffled. It keeps stopping and starting, and it’s starting to get annoying.”
“Where’s it coming from?” Kagome asked. Inuyasha jerked a finger toward Ichigo’s lifeless body. She crossed over to her brother’s body and began rummaging through his pockets.
“Stealing from him, now?” Inuyasha said childishly.
“No, idiot. If you’re hearing a sound coming from his body, it has to be coming from his pockets.” Finally she came up with a cell phone. It was on Vibrate mode. Flipping it open, she noticed that he’d missed six phone calls from three different numbers, one of them being from her friend Ayume. “I wonder what she wanted.” Kagome pondered as she hit the ‘call back’ button on Ichigo’s cell phone.
“Kurosaki-kun, I’ve been trying to get in touch with you forever now.” Ayume answered distraught, her tone anxious. “Have you seen Keigo-kun?”
“Ayume, it’s me, Kagome. Ichigo left his phone here at our house.” Kagome explained as she looked over at Inuyasha.
“Oh, Kagome! Have you seen or heard from Keigo? He was suppose to pick me up for our date-we were going to see the Kamen Rider Kabuto movie but he never showed up. He’s not answering his phone and his sister said he didn’t come back to their apartment last night. I was hoping he was with Ichigo or Mizuiro.”
Kagome looked up at the blue sky of the underground training room and decide that her perception of time was way off. She could have sworn it was still the evening of her mother’s wedding. But more importantly, she’d most likely found out who the Shinigami had taken. “He’s not with, Ichigo, Ayume, and I haven’t seen him since the end of classes Friday. I’m sorry. I’ll have Ichigo call you if he hears anything from Asano.” She listened to her friend’s watery goodbye and shut off Ichigo’s cell phone so it wouldn’t vibrate anymore. “Well, I’m pretty sure I know who was taken, Inuyasha.” She announced as she stuffed the cell phone back into Ichigo’s jean pocket. She moved to sit next to Inuyasha, the hem of her shorts brushing against his hakama. “Do you remember me telling you about a boy from my class named Keigo Asano?” She asked.
Inuyasha nodded. “Wasn’t he the idiot who thought it would be fun climb down the front of your school and hang off the clock thing?”
“Nope, you’re thinking of someone else. He’s the guy you nearly ripped apart for hugging me after he found out that I didn’t place in the top fifty in our grade, just like him and Mizuiro. He thought you were my cos-playing boyfriend and spread the rumor around town that we were planning to turn the play at the school festival into a live action rendition of 'Rurouni Kenshin' (Samurai X).” Inuyasha shrugged at this. He didn’t remember any other guy around Kagome other than the Hobo guy, so he wasn’t too concern, especially if he’d been kidnapped. They could just leave him wherever he’d been dragged off to for all Inuyasha cared.
“So what do we do?” He asked instead.
It was Kagome’s turn to shrug. “No clue. Probably tell Urahara-san. All we can do right now is wait for Ichigo and Rukia to wake.” She watched as Rukia murmured in her sleep. “Inuyasha…” she inquired, her eyes trained on the futon. “What about you? I know you don’t like to be in my time…in Karakura, because of all the sounds and smells. Are you okay being here? What about Kikyo and the promise you made her? She can’t collect on it if you’re not there.”
Inuyasha flinched at the reminder. It hadn’t been too long ago that he’d agreed to go to hell with the undead priestess, and it surprised him that Kagome would even bring it up. He hadn’t know Kagome had even been there when he’d made the promise and it still rubbed him wrong that she knew. But what was he suppose to do? Kikyo dying had been half of his fault, just because he hadn’t trusted her enough. “Kikyo is off looking for a way to kill Naraku now. If I go back, she’ll just try to kill me again and I know I can’t bring myself to kill her. So maybe it’s best that we’ll have some time and space between us.” Inuyasha replied silently. “A-and didn’t I promise I’d protect you? I can’t do that if I’m five hundred years in the past and a world away from you.” Inuyasha stammered. They both fell silent as words were left unspoken between them. It was always like that when they spoke of Kikyo. She would always be a wall between them, as long as Inuyasha declared he still had feelings for her.
^_^
Rukia sighed as she snuggled into Ichigo’s chest. Below them sat Kagome and Inuyasha on a lower branch of the Sacred Tree. She had to admit that she was slightly afraid of the thought of dropping the fifty feet to the ground, but as long as she was Ichigo’s arms she knew instinctively that she would be safe.
“I’ll save you, Rukia.” he murmured into her ear from behind. She could feel him smile into her hair. On her right forearm she felt a thick, sticky substance trickle down her arm and onto her fingers. She glanced down at her hand and her heart caught in her throat. Blood.
“Ichigo!” Rukia cried as she pulled away from him to look up into his face. She was greeted with the sight of black hair replacing orange and cold, lifeless eyes boring into her own. “Kaien…-dono.” She whispered reverently.
“What’s the matter, Kuchiki-san?” Her dead vice captain asked.
“Where’s I-Ichigo?” She stammered.
“What about me, Kuchiki-san? Why aren’t you asking why I’m here instead?” Kaien Shiba asked.
“But- what happened to the boy I was just with? Ichigo Kurosaki?”
Kaien’s hold on her tightened as he considered her coldly. “Are you so unconcerned about me? Has that Ichigo boy taken my place in your heart?”
“What are you talking about? I’d never forget you, Kaien-dono. But is Ichigo okay? Urahara said he wasn’t hurt by the extraction-"
Kaien cut her off. "What's the matter, Rukia?" he asked again. "Not happy to see you're old Vice Captain?" Rukia shook her head negatively as she looked down through the branches of the tree and noticed that Inuyasha and Kagome where also missing. Her gaze snapped back to the unsmiling man as he forcibly moved her body out of his embrace and held her off of the branch.
"What are you doing, Kaien-dono?! Don't do this! Please!" She struggled to detach herself and not fall to the ground. Her heart lodged itself in her throat as she glanced up at Kaien's impassive expression and her blood turned cold. The arms that gripped her had turned into tentacles, putrid green, his eyes a crimson red. His already sallow colored skin had turned a leaden gray, and his face was now unrecognizable.
"Where's the jewel, Rukia?" He asked.
"What are you talking about? I don't know of any jewel."
"Don't lie to me!" He scolded, his hold tightening to unbearable. "The priestess has a piece of it. Give it to me, Kuchiki-san. It's the least you could do, seeing as you killed me."
"But Kagome-"
"Give me the jewel shard or your life." He demanded. He lifted her up to eye level. "It's your choice."
"Who are you!?" She screamed. At once she was effortlessly let go. "No!" Rukia shouted hoarsely as she plummeted to the ground.
Author's note: Soo sorry for the tardiness of this chapter. A friend of mine at work got sick and I volunteered to work her shifts. 12 hours a day for the past three days. Ugh, now that I think about it, that was probably the craziest thing I've done in the whole of my entire lifetime, even if that's only nineteen years. Thank you for the reviews guys, enjoy the this chapter, and expect the next in the coming days. And Thanks for waiting!
~Danni
Chapter 6
[Tears and Promises]
^_^
Kagome and Rukia followed quickly behind Urahara, not wanting to be left behind and lost. His ‘little’ training grounds were massive. Huge boulders of red rock tower all over the terrain, casting shadows that seemed to stretch on for miles. Soon they enter a valley, where the area seemed to be surrounded by boulders, giving the land a secluded feel.
Urahara moved to the center and spread his arms wide. “Welcome! This is where we will be recovering Kuchiki-san’s powers.” He announced.
“Why did you bring us out here? Wouldn’t it have been easier to sense my powers closer to where they were extracted?” Rukia asked.
“Nah, I think Kagome-chan will have an easier time if she’s isolated, and has some quiet to concentrate. I’ve noticed that she isn’t always peaceful with Inuyasha around, egging her on.” Urahara pulled his hat lower on his eyes, his mouth tilting up in a guarded smile. “Now, this portion of our scheduled program is all up to you two. It’s quiet simple, really. Kagome-chan, you concentrate on firing Rukia’s powers into her, and You, Rukia-san, try not to fidget. He chuckled as he patted both girl encouragingly on the back. “I’ll leave you to it then.” He strolled away, humming to himself.
“Oh, what a big help he was.” Kagome groaned as she pulled a hand through her hair. “It’s hard enough to concentrate, but that fidget comment made it even worse.”
“You’re telling me. It goes against all of my training as a Shinigami to just stand and take a hit.” Rukia grumbled, as she tapped her foot anxiously. Intense seconds passed until finally both girls sighed loudly in frustration.
“Let’s just get this over with.” They said at once.
Kagome slung her bow off of her back and took an arrow from her quiver, notching it into the groove of the bow with fluid grace. Holding the arrow pointed into the ground she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Through the darkness, Kagome reached out for the familiar presence of Inuyasha, his aura was a welcoming force for her. Next she tried to seek out Ichigo. His presence was one she’d never purposely felt for but she knew it from school. His aura was more of a coarse feeling, but in no way malevolent. She easily distinguished Mr. Urahara’s aura from his employees. Not realizing she was frowning, she pressed on to find Rukia’s powers. At last she finally discovered another presence that wasn’t anchored to a person. It seemed volatile and unstable. Kagome pulled her own powers to get a handle on Rukia’s Shinigami powers. Taking deep breaths, Kagome slowly opened her eyes and focused on Rukia. The waiting girl had moved a good 10 feet away her eyes watching Kagome intently.
“I’ve got them Rukia.” She called out evenly. Slowly she raised her arrow off of the ground and steadily aimed for Rukia. The air around Kagome began to swirl wildly, stirring her raven hair into a fuss. Kagome blinked desperately to keep sand out of her eyes and her sights trained on Rukia. She honed in on Rukia’s right shoulder, well away from her heart and anything vital. “Are you ready?” She asked.
Rukia rolled her shoulders and exhaled. “Ready.”
The priestess nimbly let her blazing arrow go. The radiating glow from the arrow pierced the air with a shriek as it traveled the distance to Rukia. The impact of it hitting Rukia was tremendous. The arrow itself seemed to disappear when it touched her but the wound it left behind glowed with a fierce purple light. Kagome dropped her bow and raced to Rukia’s side at once, fearing that she’d hurt her in someway. Rukia had been thrown to the desert floor, her body curled into itself. Kagome knelt beside her, gently rolling the girl onto her back. Just like Ichigo, Rukia was unconscious. But something was off. Rukia was dressed strangely in black outfit that reminded Kagome of Inuyasha’s hakama and kimono. Suddenly she heard clapping behind her head and spun around.
“Congratulations, Kagome-chan. Rukia is now a Shinigami once more.” Kisuke said from behind his hat. He bowed to the priestess and placed his hat back on his head. “We need to get Inuyasha or Tessai to carry her back to where we can keep a close eye on her.”
Kagome nodded, an uneasy feeling creeping over her. Had he been there the entire time?
^_^
Hanabi raced toward her squad’s headquarters, her heart in her throat. What the hell was she suppose to do? It was a comforting to know that Rukia was somewhere back in the world of the living, safe, but the fact that they’d captured a human and brought him back to the Seireitei still remained. How had Kenpachi made such a drastic mistake? The person he’d captured wasn’t even the same gender as Rukia. And furthermore, how was she suppose to alert anyone of the mistake? She was suppose to be on guard duty in the northern part of the squad’s region. She moved to the doors and heard a rather familiar voice talking to the captain.
“Yes, Captain Zaraki. I’ll get right on it. The farthest holding cell, you say? I’ll have it cleaned out by the end of the afternoon.” Her brother Hanatarou vowed as he bowed to the belled hair man, backing out the doors quickly to get away from the frightening captain. Soon he was out of the doors and sighing in relief, when his sister slapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him to the side of the building. “Wah! What are you doing, nee-san!” He yelped heatedly as he tore himself from Hanabi’s grasp.
“I need you’re help, Hanatarou.” Hanabi whispered. “You’re to clean out Rukia’s cell, right?”
“Yes, Zaraki just assigned me the task.”
“Well you’re in for quite a surprise. Come with me.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him along as she raced back to the squad jail. When they got there, Hanatarou stared, his mouth slack with surprise.
“This isn’t Rukia.” He stated flatly once they came to a halt in front of the bars, for once completely still.
“Obviously.” Hanabi snorted. She inched forward and crouched down in front of the silent boy in the cell. “Hi, can you tell me your name?” She asked gently.
“Keigo Asano.” Came the soft reply. Hanabi looked up a her brother, worried. Had something happened to this boy?
“Well, Keigo, seeing you here is quite a shock, you know. I thought you’d be Rukia Kuchiki.” Hanatarou said quietly as he kneeled next to his sister.
“So I’ve been told. Why do you want Rukia in the first place?” The boy-Keigo asked. He peered from beneath his folded arms, his eyes still shroud in darkness.
“It’s not important.” Hanabi said shortly.
“Why do you want Rukia?” Keigo repeated.
“She’s wanted for illegally transferring her powers to a human.” Hanatarou admitted, placing a calming hand on his sister’s shoulder. They might have been twins, but the whole being born first still applied.
Keigo gawked openly at them, confusion clouding his gaze. “Powers to a human? Is Rukia not human or something…are you not human? Where are we?”
“Soul Society.” Hanabi explained, “A world that exists outside of the world of the living-your world.”
Hanatarou picked up her speech seamlessly, “We were once humans. We died and crossed over to the Soul Society, and here we became Shinigamis to help other souls and spirits find peace and tranquility in this world.”
“You two sound like a sappy brochure my sister brought home once from Planned Parenthood. And do you honestly think that I’ll believe half of the crap you just spouted? You want me to believe that you guys….and Rukia are some sort of Death Gods?” Keigo snorted as he turned his head away, “Why don’t you go sell paranoia somewhere else, we’re all stocked up here.”
“Asano-san, my brother and I do not lie to you. But you believing us and digesting that fact that you were abducted by Death Gods isn’t exactly a priority. You have been falsely imprisoned. This is something that is not tolerated in the Soul Society, especially here in the Seireitei. To my knowledge-and my brother’s, I assume- no one has notified my captain that he and his Vice captain captured the wrong person.” Hanabi grabbed her brother’s hand and smiled. “I need you’re help, onii-chan. I’m not suppose to be anywhere around here. I have duties in the northern region, but I had skipped out on them to come see Rukia.”
“And you want me to go tell your captain that I realized that this person wasn’t Rukia Kuchiki, and overcome with fear I came and found you, right?” Hanatarou sighed as he stood and brushed off the knees of his shihakusho.
Hanabi beamed brightly at her brother. "I knew you'd understand." Shaking his head, Hanatarou left the room as she turned back to face Keigo, "I'm going to get you out of here, I swear. I'll even escort you back to the world of the living personally."
Keigo sighed loudly. "Whatever."
Hanabi bit the inside of her cheek to keep from reprimanding the boy. She had to allow that he was in duress and that he would be emotional. She’d explain later that he was to talk to her with respect, as her rank and position allotted. "As long as we're in agreement." She forced out cheerfully. The sullen boy said nothing.
^_^
"Keh, does he need a good night sleep or something?" Inuyasha grumbled as he watched over the sleeping couple on the futon. Several hours had past since Kagome had come to retrieve him so that he could carry Rukia back to others. “And what the hell is that noise I keep hearing?” He asked, folding his hands into the sleeves of his haori.
“What are you talking about, Inuyasha?” Kagome asked through her yawning.
“If I knew, I would have done something about it.” Inuyasha grumbled. “It’s muffled. It keeps stopping and starting, and it’s starting to get annoying.”
“Where’s it coming from?” Kagome asked. Inuyasha jerked a finger toward Ichigo’s lifeless body. She crossed over to her brother’s body and began rummaging through his pockets.
“Stealing from him, now?” Inuyasha said childishly.
“No, idiot. If you’re hearing a sound coming from his body, it has to be coming from his pockets.” Finally she came up with a cell phone. It was on Vibrate mode. Flipping it open, she noticed that he’d missed six phone calls from three different numbers, one of them being from her friend Ayume. “I wonder what she wanted.” Kagome pondered as she hit the ‘call back’ button on Ichigo’s cell phone.
“Kurosaki-kun, I’ve been trying to get in touch with you forever now.” Ayume answered distraught, her tone anxious. “Have you seen Keigo-kun?”
“Ayume, it’s me, Kagome. Ichigo left his phone here at our house.” Kagome explained as she looked over at Inuyasha.
“Oh, Kagome! Have you seen or heard from Keigo? He was suppose to pick me up for our date-we were going to see the Kamen Rider Kabuto movie but he never showed up. He’s not answering his phone and his sister said he didn’t come back to their apartment last night. I was hoping he was with Ichigo or Mizuiro.”
Kagome looked up at the blue sky of the underground training room and decide that her perception of time was way off. She could have sworn it was still the evening of her mother’s wedding. But more importantly, she’d most likely found out who the Shinigami had taken. “He’s not with, Ichigo, Ayume, and I haven’t seen him since the end of classes Friday. I’m sorry. I’ll have Ichigo call you if he hears anything from Asano.” She listened to her friend’s watery goodbye and shut off Ichigo’s cell phone so it wouldn’t vibrate anymore. “Well, I’m pretty sure I know who was taken, Inuyasha.” She announced as she stuffed the cell phone back into Ichigo’s jean pocket. She moved to sit next to Inuyasha, the hem of her shorts brushing against his hakama. “Do you remember me telling you about a boy from my class named Keigo Asano?” She asked.
Inuyasha nodded. “Wasn’t he the idiot who thought it would be fun climb down the front of your school and hang off the clock thing?”
“Nope, you’re thinking of someone else. He’s the guy you nearly ripped apart for hugging me after he found out that I didn’t place in the top fifty in our grade, just like him and Mizuiro. He thought you were my cos-playing boyfriend and spread the rumor around town that we were planning to turn the play at the school festival into a live action rendition of 'Rurouni Kenshin' (Samurai X).” Inuyasha shrugged at this. He didn’t remember any other guy around Kagome other than the Hobo guy, so he wasn’t too concern, especially if he’d been kidnapped. They could just leave him wherever he’d been dragged off to for all Inuyasha cared.
“So what do we do?” He asked instead.
It was Kagome’s turn to shrug. “No clue. Probably tell Urahara-san. All we can do right now is wait for Ichigo and Rukia to wake.” She watched as Rukia murmured in her sleep. “Inuyasha…” she inquired, her eyes trained on the futon. “What about you? I know you don’t like to be in my time…in Karakura, because of all the sounds and smells. Are you okay being here? What about Kikyo and the promise you made her? She can’t collect on it if you’re not there.”
Inuyasha flinched at the reminder. It hadn’t been too long ago that he’d agreed to go to hell with the undead priestess, and it surprised him that Kagome would even bring it up. He hadn’t know Kagome had even been there when he’d made the promise and it still rubbed him wrong that she knew. But what was he suppose to do? Kikyo dying had been half of his fault, just because he hadn’t trusted her enough. “Kikyo is off looking for a way to kill Naraku now. If I go back, she’ll just try to kill me again and I know I can’t bring myself to kill her. So maybe it’s best that we’ll have some time and space between us.” Inuyasha replied silently. “A-and didn’t I promise I’d protect you? I can’t do that if I’m five hundred years in the past and a world away from you.” Inuyasha stammered. They both fell silent as words were left unspoken between them. It was always like that when they spoke of Kikyo. She would always be a wall between them, as long as Inuyasha declared he still had feelings for her.
^_^
Rukia sighed as she snuggled into Ichigo’s chest. Below them sat Kagome and Inuyasha on a lower branch of the Sacred Tree. She had to admit that she was slightly afraid of the thought of dropping the fifty feet to the ground, but as long as she was Ichigo’s arms she knew instinctively that she would be safe.
“I’ll save you, Rukia.” he murmured into her ear from behind. She could feel him smile into her hair. On her right forearm she felt a thick, sticky substance trickle down her arm and onto her fingers. She glanced down at her hand and her heart caught in her throat. Blood.
“Ichigo!” Rukia cried as she pulled away from him to look up into his face. She was greeted with the sight of black hair replacing orange and cold, lifeless eyes boring into her own. “Kaien…-dono.” She whispered reverently.
“What’s the matter, Kuchiki-san?” Her dead vice captain asked.
“Where’s I-Ichigo?” She stammered.
“What about me, Kuchiki-san? Why aren’t you asking why I’m here instead?” Kaien Shiba asked.
“But- what happened to the boy I was just with? Ichigo Kurosaki?”
Kaien’s hold on her tightened as he considered her coldly. “Are you so unconcerned about me? Has that Ichigo boy taken my place in your heart?”
“What are you talking about? I’d never forget you, Kaien-dono. But is Ichigo okay? Urahara said he wasn’t hurt by the extraction-"
Kaien cut her off. "What's the matter, Rukia?" he asked again. "Not happy to see you're old Vice Captain?" Rukia shook her head negatively as she looked down through the branches of the tree and noticed that Inuyasha and Kagome where also missing. Her gaze snapped back to the unsmiling man as he forcibly moved her body out of his embrace and held her off of the branch.
"What are you doing, Kaien-dono?! Don't do this! Please!" She struggled to detach herself and not fall to the ground. Her heart lodged itself in her throat as she glanced up at Kaien's impassive expression and her blood turned cold. The arms that gripped her had turned into tentacles, putrid green, his eyes a crimson red. His already sallow colored skin had turned a leaden gray, and his face was now unrecognizable.
"Where's the jewel, Rukia?" He asked.
"What are you talking about? I don't know of any jewel."
"Don't lie to me!" He scolded, his hold tightening to unbearable. "The priestess has a piece of it. Give it to me, Kuchiki-san. It's the least you could do, seeing as you killed me."
"But Kagome-"
"Give me the jewel shard or your life." He demanded. He lifted her up to eye level. "It's your choice."
"Who are you!?" She screamed. At once she was effortlessly let go. "No!" Rukia shouted hoarsely as she plummeted to the ground.