InuYasha Fan Fiction / Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ When Secrets Collide ❯ Adventures in Keigo-sitting & A Hot Lunch ( Chapter 7 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: DannilovesInu 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction / Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Comedy / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.24.2008 | Updated On: 03.31.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 876 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction / Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Comedy / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.24.2008 | Updated On: 03.31.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 876 | Status: Completed
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: Please don't string me up! I know its been forever since I last updated, but my computer went on the blink. It has taken forever to format my harddrive and set everything to rights...luckily I've been keeping a copy of my writing folder on my mp3 player as a back-up just in case something like this happened...unfortunately it had been two days since I'd last updated the folder and so I lost some work for this chapter and the next. I also lost the short story I'd been writing and so I've been frantically trying to recall everything I'd written. I'm having some luck, but it may be another short stint until I post my next update. *Sigh* it's time I got a new computer...but I don't wanna, I've had this one forever and it's like family! LOL. My sister has been giving me a queer look all week over all of the sighing I've been doing...it inevitable...darn...woo long A/N. Sorry.
Danni.
[Chapter 7]
Adventures in Keigo-sitting & a Hot Lunch
Keigo Asano watched in awe as the strange 'death god' woman glared back at the man who'd abducted him. It was quite amazing to watch someone actually stand up to him, especially when it was the only woman in the room, and especially when the rest of the men in the room where trying hard not to fidget. The woman's brother was tugging anxiously on the back of her uniform-at least that's what he thought it was, but he couldn't be sure.
The nerve-wracking man stood with a even more menacing frown on his face, teeth bared at the young female death god. "What the hell are you saying, Yamada?" he asked.
"That isn't Rukia Kuchiki, Captain Zaraki. You retrieved the wrong person from the real world." She bluntly accused.
Zaraki turned his one good eye on Keigo. "Then how did he end up in the Soul Society when human's can't use the Senkai gate? Don't try to bullshit me, this is Kuchiki in a gigai that doesn't match up with her real form." He explained away.
"But, Captain-" Yamada cried. She turned on Keigo. "Tell him you're not Rukia Kuchiki, damnit!" She demanded.
"I am not Kuchiki." Keigo said obediently.
"Thanks for the help." She bit out dryly. Keigo looked away, unconcerned.
"I need proof, Yamada. Not just you're word. Show me that he isn't her." Kenpachi demanded.
"If you'll just let me get Captain Kuchiki or Abarai-kun then! The captain is her brother and Abarai has known her since their days in Rukongai!" Hanabi pleaded.
"No. This doesn't concern anyone outside of the 11th squad." Kenpachi said vehemently.
"But Abarai was in the 11th squad! He was sixth seat!"
Keigo smiled slightly at the dynamics of the argument he was witnessing. The woman-Hanabi, was about average height for a woman and possessed a thin, lithe body, nearly the complete opposite of her captain, who stood near seven foot tall and was solid as a brick wall. The fact that his tall spiked hair didn't even factor into his height didn't help the matter at all. The only thing that they seemed to have in common was the fact that they were staring each other down through one eye. Zaraki's right eye was covered by an eye patch and Hanabi's was shielded by her hair that was falling into her face. She'd raked her hands through it so many times in the last twenty minutes of the conversation with her captain that her ponytail had come undone. Not only did Zaraki Kenpachi seem to be ferocious, but also stubborn as a mule.
"What do I have to do to make you believe that he isn't, Rukia?" Hanabi finally asked.
"Why don't you have the gigai destroyed." a fellow death god thing interjected. He had a bobbed haircut and flashy eyelash-things.
"You can't destroy a human's body, Yumichika-kun!" The woman protested. "Destroy the body and you kill the human!"
"But it will prove that he is a normal human and not Kuchiki, Hanabi-san." He pointed out.
Hanabi considered this for a moment. "It'll prove that he isn't in a gigai, but it won't prove how he got through the Senkai gate without a hell butterfly."
"That's very true." Yumichika conceded. "So how did he get into the Soul Society? Oh, what a beautiful mystery." He murmured to himself. Hanabi rolled her eyes.
A muscular bald man spoke up this time. "I can explain that now. I have information from the Technology Bureau, stating that they were experimenting with a spirit particle converter when the captain and Vice captain returned from the real world."
"What kind of spirit particle converter, Ikkaku?" Hanabi asked.
He gave a slight grin. "One to give a human a spirit body."
Zaraki snorted contemptuously. "How convenient." Without looking, he pointed. "You, human, come here." He commanded.
Keigo swallowed nervously as he moved away from the door to stand in front of furious man. "Yes-s, s-sir?" he stuttered.
One eye glared down at him with distrust. "I'll ask you this only once. Are you not, Rukia Kuchiki?"
Keigo shook his head feverishly enough to give himself whiplash. "No I am not Kuchiki."
Zaraki growled as he turned back to glare at his squad. "Where's Yachiru?"
"She's in the Woman's Association meeting." a random subordinate answered.
"Why aren't you there, Yamada?" The captain asked. It was well known in the squad that Hanabi attended the meetings religiously.
"I had to address this problem first, Sir." Hanabi answered.
"Good, you can take the human with you. Don't let him out of your sight. He's now your responsibility." Zaraki informed her as he headed toward the squad's dojo.
"Wait a minute-" she objected faintly. The disgruntled captain didn't respond as he moved on.
Yumichika pouted unhappily. "Does that mean we're not taking him out of his gigai? This certainly wasn't a beautiful ending." He huffed as he and Ikkaku trailed behind the captain, reluctant to be volunteered as Kenpachi's sparing partner. Slowly the rest of the men filed out of the room and left an unhappy Hanabi with a bewildered Keigo.
"Wait. I thought you were going to send me home." Keigo said, relieved to be out of the presence of Zaraki.
"I was." Hanabi groaned as she pushed some of her hair from her face. "But obviously, the captain has other plans."
"Plans?" Keigo inquired. Hanabi put her hands on her hips and shook her head in disgust.
"Obviously, you are staying here for now, so don't ask stupid questions.” She watched as Keigo flinched at her choice of words. “Sorry, I don’t mean to take my frustration out on you, but Kenpachi is the type to never admit mistakes. Seeing as it was his unit that took you from the real world, he isn't going to say one word that will even suggest that he screwed up." she said. She glanced up to see the distraught look pass over the boy's face. Sighing mentally, she crossed the room and placed an arm around his shoulders the best she could. "Look, Keigo-kun, it'll be okay. I swear even if I have to sneak away, I'll get you home. We just have to be patient. We'll wait until Zaraki forgets about you, and then I'll arrange to take you home with a spirit converter installed on one of the Senkai gates."
"How long will it take for your captain to forget that I'm here?" he asked.
She glanced down at his grubby jeans and checkered button down. "Well, dressed like that, he'll spot you with that one eye of his from a mile away." She felt Keigo stiffen. "But, don't worry as soon as we get you into a shihakusho, he'll just think you're one of the gang, and won't bother to even glance at you unless he wants something done."
"You sure?" Keigo asked one last time, still uncertain.
"Yes, now come on, Keigo Asano, it's time to turn you into a Shinigami."
^_^
"Rukia, wake up damnit!" Ichigo shouted as he shook the girl next to him awake. He'd awoken moments before to find her damp in sweat and whimpering in her sleep. "Wake up!"
Glazed violet orbs snapped open and trembling hands latched onto his forearms. "No! Don't!" Rukia screamed when she jolted awake.
"What the hell?" Ichigo murmured inquisitively as he pulled the shaking girl into a sitting position. "It's okay, Rukia. It was just a dream. I've got you now." He whispered while he listened to her fight to even out her breathing.
Rukia's chest heaved violently as she scanned her surroundings. She couldn't even to begin to guess the time of day, but at least she knew she was still in Urahara's shop. With Ichigo, and Kagome and the others. And not being shoved off a branch of the Sacred Tree by her old Vice Captain. How would Kaien know what a jewel shard was? And why was his appearance so altered, as if he'd aged after death? She of all people knew for certain that the man was not among the living. "Where are the others?" She panted as she held on to the worried looking Ichigo.
"It's noon, so they went to fetch something to eat. Doesn't feel like we've been down here for nearly twenty-four hours, does it?" He asked.
"No it doesn't." she agreed.
"So, you're a Shinigami again, huh?" Ichigo guessed, glancing down at her black attire.
"That's obvious." Rukia snorted. She detached herself from him, still a little shaken. "Kagome has quite a bit of power. You should have seen her when she released the arrow. I was definitely hard pressed not to duck out of the way. Glad she's on our side."
Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, she'll really be a help for when we rescue Keigo." Rukia's gaze snapped to his.
"They kidnapped Keigo Asano." She said flatly. "How the hell do you even make that kind of mistake?"
"Don't ask me, these are your people. You all are suppose to be top-notch hunters or whatever, and you can't even capture one of your own." He scoffed. Ichigo sneaked a peek at her face. "What's the matter? Why did you yell out in you're sleep? You kept saying 'no, I don't know'. You had me worried for a while, Rukia."
"I'm sorry. It was just a nightmare." Rukia said softly. "I've had them before...just not like that one."
"What was different?" he asked. He felt a tremor run through her body. "You can tell me Rukia."
"The man who was after me, I'd known him for the longest time...and I've dreamt of him before too...but not like this, he was just different this time. Malicious. And indifferent. No, maybe not indifferent. He was just, unsmiling and cold. Emotionless. Kaien-dono was never like that. He was always smiling. He knew about Kagome and the jewel too. Why?" Rukia asked, shuddering at the memory. It wasn't the fact that Kaien had tried to kill her at the end of the dream that bothered her. She was willing to do anything to pay for what she'd done to the Shiba clan when she'd dealt Kaien the finishing blow. It was the fact he'd seemed to change at the end. Blurry as her recollection was of the end of the dream, she’d bet all of her training that the last ‘Kaien’ wasn’t her vice captain.
“It was just a nightmare, just like you said.” Ichigo encouraged.
Rukia shook her head adamantly as she remember something strange that Kaien had said. “If it was a dream, then why did my vice captain- who died way before I met Kagome or Inuyasha- know about the Shikon no Tama?”
Ichigo perked up at this. “The jewel Kagome protects? Why would he know…” Ichigo pondered. “Maybe it just your subconscious messing with you. Like when you dream of something that you feel guilty about.”
Rukia definitely had experience with that. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” She conceded. Above them she could faintly make out the rest of their group clattering down the ladder into the training grounds, especially Inuyasha grumbling about wasting time climbing when he could have them at the bottom in seconds.
Ichigo turned to her and gave her what she believed to be his version of a smile. “You lucked out by waking when you did. Inuyasha was threatening to dump a bucket of water on you if you weren’t conscious by the time he got back.”
“Like Kagome would let him.” she snorted.
“Like I would let him.” Ichigo corrected. “I wouldn’t let him do that to you when you’re still sleep. Especially if regaining your powers were anything like them being extracted from me.”
“You make it sound like you were put through a juicer or something.” Rukia said with a slight chuckle.
“Yeah, well, it must have been something like that, seeing as we’ve both been sleep for like nine hours.” Ichigo said.
“Rukia! You’re finally awake! Thank goodness!” Kagome exclaimed as she hit the ground with a thud. You’re all better now right?”
“All better.” Rukia agreed as Kagome sat down a huge yellow canvas backpack next to the futon that she and Ichigo were still reclining on. “It time for lunch.” she declared, digging into the bag for the brightly packaged instant ramen that she always kept at hand in the Feudal Era. “Cup noodles?”
Kagome rolled her eyes as she pulled out several more and bottled water. “It’s Inuyasha’s addiction. Since he tried them a little while back, that’s all he ever wants. He doesn’t like curry and when I introduced him to this wondrous modern invention, we’ve had to have it at every meal since. He's always like 'boil me up some water Kagome!' and rummaging through my things for this stuff." The priestess mimicked as she produced bottled water out of her pack and a kettle.
“Why doesn’t he like curry?” Rukia asked as she watched Kagome set up a small area in which they would cook.
“He’s too sensitive to the spices.” Kagome replied, surveying Inuyasha and Jinta gathering brush and twigs nearby for a fire. A distance away Ururu and Tessai where bringing pails of water toward the site.
Ichigo snorted through his nose. “That’s a nice way to say it’s too hot for him right?”
“No that means because I’m a hanyou, my heightened senses are susceptible to things that are extraordinary hot or extremely loud.” Inuyasha explained as he dropped his load of branches on Ichigo. Ichigo scrambled to get from under the brush.
“Sensitive my ass. Curry isn’t ‘extraordinarily hot’. You’re just a coward.” Ichigo retorted as he threw the remaining sticks at the hanyou.
“What did you say, strawberry?” Inuyasha said menacingly. “I’m no coward, anytime anywhere, I’ll show you that I can eat curry if I want to.” he added.
“Fine!” Ichigo agreed. “Kagome, do you have any curry in that pack of yours?” Ichigo asked forcefully.
“Uh, no.”
“Fine, then.” Ichigo repeated. “When all this stuff is over, and we have Keigo back, you and me, dog boy. We’re sitting down and having curry. We’ll see if you can or can’t handle it.” Ichigo challenged.
“When this is all over.” Inuyasha approved, his golden eyes piercing as he stared into Ichigo’s brown ones.
“Uh, Ichigo…Inuyasha?” Kagome tentatively asked.
Rukia rolled her eyes as she moved from out of Ichigo’s arms. Idiots, She thought resigned, were born every minute. Behind them, Urahara approached silently, cane posed to strike. With a quick rap to Ichigo’s brightly colored dome and a jab to Inuyasha’s side, both boys were rendered immobile while they tried to protect their wounds. “Serves you right.” she said disdainfully.
“What you’d do that for old man?!” both of the injured parties exclaimed at once.
Kagome snorted with laughter at how much alike the two were. It was no surprise that the two of them would be at odds, because of that very reason. Pigheaded, stubborn and selfish. Well, maybe Kagome herself couldn’t vouch for the selfish trait when it came to Ichigo, but once she and Rukia got a chance to sit down and compare notes, she’d bet her shards of the jewel that she was right on that end. She’d also bet that Inuyasha would be the last to know of the similarities, seeing as he hardly noticed anything past his own nose and shard hunting these days. Anything that kept him from having to deal with his feeling for herself and Kikyo.
“If you two don’t sit down and behave, we’ll get a late start on part two of our little excursion down here, and we’ll never be ready to deal with anything that may arise when we get to the Soul Society.” Kagome scolded as Tessai began to prepare a small cooking fire in front of her.
“What kind of things could arise?” Ichigo asked, for once taking the high road and obediently following orders. Inuyasha didn’t seem have a choice as the prayer beads around his neck slammed him into the ground.
Rukia took up the explaining, ignoring the swearing Inuyasha was doing while he struggled under the beads’ spell. “For one thing, going in how we are, we’ll be considered ryoka, as in ‘trespassers to be shot on sight’.” she said, using one of the colorful saying she’d learned from English class.
“But if we go in with you, can’t we be considered guests?” Ichigo asked.
Rukia smiled ruefully. “Not while I’m still considered a fugitive. If I just show up at the gate into the Seireitei, I’ll be arrested on sight, and you guys will be taken into custody along with me. Plus there’s all questioning they’d want to do, especially about how we got there in the first place.” she glanced slightly to the left where Urahara was helping Kagome set out noodles, “And that something we can’t reveal too lightly.”
Inuyasha nodded thoughtfully. “So once we get there, we’ll be hunted after, right?” He asked.
“Definitely.” Rukia replied.
“So all I need to do is blow them away with a few swing of Tessaiga, and we’ll be free and clear.”
“That’s if your sword is really that powerful.” Ichigo said childishly.
“It is.” Inuyasha simply said. There was another intense minute where both of them tried to stare each other down.
“Oh, give over all ready.” Kagome commanded harshly as she plunked down both of their cups, spilling hot water in the process. Silently, the rest of their group settled around the improvised campfire and waited patiently for Kagome to dish out the Styrofoam cups filled with the instant noodles and water. They whittled away the time until the noodles were done with unimportant chitchat, just to gain any kind of reprieve from what they were about to get themselves into.
Kisuke Urahara watched this all through hooded eyes, slightly reassured that he might be doing the right thing by letting these young people retrieve their classmate. In the back of his mind, he knew the Shinigami would soon realize their mistake and that Asano would be returned in short order. He also knew it was in his best interest to keep Rukia’s gigai close at hand, but there was just one thing he had to be sure of. He regarded Kagome and her half-demon friend with interest. He had to make sure that he was right, that these two were what would ignite a catalytic event, something that would shake the world of the living to its very core, along with the Soul Society.
Oh, another A/N:
Someone asked about the little summary Rukia gives on a book she'd been reading, about how a couple of boys snuck into their classmates bedroom too take pictures of her while she was sleeping and ends up doing some illegal things... This isn't actually a book, but a story a friend of mine wrote in my creative writing class last year. It's was uncomfortably perverted, and slightly risque, but she did a really good job with it and handled the latent subject matter very well [i.e. rape and the second rape (questioning from the police and others)]. She's brillant! Love her, even though she doesn't post her work, she reads mine every time...<3 smooches!
Well until next time...Adieu!
~Danni.
Author's Note: Please don't string me up! I know its been forever since I last updated, but my computer went on the blink. It has taken forever to format my harddrive and set everything to rights...luckily I've been keeping a copy of my writing folder on my mp3 player as a back-up just in case something like this happened...unfortunately it had been two days since I'd last updated the folder and so I lost some work for this chapter and the next. I also lost the short story I'd been writing and so I've been frantically trying to recall everything I'd written. I'm having some luck, but it may be another short stint until I post my next update. *Sigh* it's time I got a new computer...but I don't wanna, I've had this one forever and it's like family! LOL. My sister has been giving me a queer look all week over all of the sighing I've been doing...it inevitable...darn...woo long A/N. Sorry.
Danni.
[Chapter 7]
Adventures in Keigo-sitting & a Hot Lunch
Keigo Asano watched in awe as the strange 'death god' woman glared back at the man who'd abducted him. It was quite amazing to watch someone actually stand up to him, especially when it was the only woman in the room, and especially when the rest of the men in the room where trying hard not to fidget. The woman's brother was tugging anxiously on the back of her uniform-at least that's what he thought it was, but he couldn't be sure.
The nerve-wracking man stood with a even more menacing frown on his face, teeth bared at the young female death god. "What the hell are you saying, Yamada?" he asked.
"That isn't Rukia Kuchiki, Captain Zaraki. You retrieved the wrong person from the real world." She bluntly accused.
Zaraki turned his one good eye on Keigo. "Then how did he end up in the Soul Society when human's can't use the Senkai gate? Don't try to bullshit me, this is Kuchiki in a gigai that doesn't match up with her real form." He explained away.
"But, Captain-" Yamada cried. She turned on Keigo. "Tell him you're not Rukia Kuchiki, damnit!" She demanded.
"I am not Kuchiki." Keigo said obediently.
"Thanks for the help." She bit out dryly. Keigo looked away, unconcerned.
"I need proof, Yamada. Not just you're word. Show me that he isn't her." Kenpachi demanded.
"If you'll just let me get Captain Kuchiki or Abarai-kun then! The captain is her brother and Abarai has known her since their days in Rukongai!" Hanabi pleaded.
"No. This doesn't concern anyone outside of the 11th squad." Kenpachi said vehemently.
"But Abarai was in the 11th squad! He was sixth seat!"
Keigo smiled slightly at the dynamics of the argument he was witnessing. The woman-Hanabi, was about average height for a woman and possessed a thin, lithe body, nearly the complete opposite of her captain, who stood near seven foot tall and was solid as a brick wall. The fact that his tall spiked hair didn't even factor into his height didn't help the matter at all. The only thing that they seemed to have in common was the fact that they were staring each other down through one eye. Zaraki's right eye was covered by an eye patch and Hanabi's was shielded by her hair that was falling into her face. She'd raked her hands through it so many times in the last twenty minutes of the conversation with her captain that her ponytail had come undone. Not only did Zaraki Kenpachi seem to be ferocious, but also stubborn as a mule.
"What do I have to do to make you believe that he isn't, Rukia?" Hanabi finally asked.
"Why don't you have the gigai destroyed." a fellow death god thing interjected. He had a bobbed haircut and flashy eyelash-things.
"You can't destroy a human's body, Yumichika-kun!" The woman protested. "Destroy the body and you kill the human!"
"But it will prove that he is a normal human and not Kuchiki, Hanabi-san." He pointed out.
Hanabi considered this for a moment. "It'll prove that he isn't in a gigai, but it won't prove how he got through the Senkai gate without a hell butterfly."
"That's very true." Yumichika conceded. "So how did he get into the Soul Society? Oh, what a beautiful mystery." He murmured to himself. Hanabi rolled her eyes.
A muscular bald man spoke up this time. "I can explain that now. I have information from the Technology Bureau, stating that they were experimenting with a spirit particle converter when the captain and Vice captain returned from the real world."
"What kind of spirit particle converter, Ikkaku?" Hanabi asked.
He gave a slight grin. "One to give a human a spirit body."
Zaraki snorted contemptuously. "How convenient." Without looking, he pointed. "You, human, come here." He commanded.
Keigo swallowed nervously as he moved away from the door to stand in front of furious man. "Yes-s, s-sir?" he stuttered.
One eye glared down at him with distrust. "I'll ask you this only once. Are you not, Rukia Kuchiki?"
Keigo shook his head feverishly enough to give himself whiplash. "No I am not Kuchiki."
Zaraki growled as he turned back to glare at his squad. "Where's Yachiru?"
"She's in the Woman's Association meeting." a random subordinate answered.
"Why aren't you there, Yamada?" The captain asked. It was well known in the squad that Hanabi attended the meetings religiously.
"I had to address this problem first, Sir." Hanabi answered.
"Good, you can take the human with you. Don't let him out of your sight. He's now your responsibility." Zaraki informed her as he headed toward the squad's dojo.
"Wait a minute-" she objected faintly. The disgruntled captain didn't respond as he moved on.
Yumichika pouted unhappily. "Does that mean we're not taking him out of his gigai? This certainly wasn't a beautiful ending." He huffed as he and Ikkaku trailed behind the captain, reluctant to be volunteered as Kenpachi's sparing partner. Slowly the rest of the men filed out of the room and left an unhappy Hanabi with a bewildered Keigo.
"Wait. I thought you were going to send me home." Keigo said, relieved to be out of the presence of Zaraki.
"I was." Hanabi groaned as she pushed some of her hair from her face. "But obviously, the captain has other plans."
"Plans?" Keigo inquired. Hanabi put her hands on her hips and shook her head in disgust.
"Obviously, you are staying here for now, so don't ask stupid questions.” She watched as Keigo flinched at her choice of words. “Sorry, I don’t mean to take my frustration out on you, but Kenpachi is the type to never admit mistakes. Seeing as it was his unit that took you from the real world, he isn't going to say one word that will even suggest that he screwed up." she said. She glanced up to see the distraught look pass over the boy's face. Sighing mentally, she crossed the room and placed an arm around his shoulders the best she could. "Look, Keigo-kun, it'll be okay. I swear even if I have to sneak away, I'll get you home. We just have to be patient. We'll wait until Zaraki forgets about you, and then I'll arrange to take you home with a spirit converter installed on one of the Senkai gates."
"How long will it take for your captain to forget that I'm here?" he asked.
She glanced down at his grubby jeans and checkered button down. "Well, dressed like that, he'll spot you with that one eye of his from a mile away." She felt Keigo stiffen. "But, don't worry as soon as we get you into a shihakusho, he'll just think you're one of the gang, and won't bother to even glance at you unless he wants something done."
"You sure?" Keigo asked one last time, still uncertain.
"Yes, now come on, Keigo Asano, it's time to turn you into a Shinigami."
^_^
"Rukia, wake up damnit!" Ichigo shouted as he shook the girl next to him awake. He'd awoken moments before to find her damp in sweat and whimpering in her sleep. "Wake up!"
Glazed violet orbs snapped open and trembling hands latched onto his forearms. "No! Don't!" Rukia screamed when she jolted awake.
"What the hell?" Ichigo murmured inquisitively as he pulled the shaking girl into a sitting position. "It's okay, Rukia. It was just a dream. I've got you now." He whispered while he listened to her fight to even out her breathing.
Rukia's chest heaved violently as she scanned her surroundings. She couldn't even to begin to guess the time of day, but at least she knew she was still in Urahara's shop. With Ichigo, and Kagome and the others. And not being shoved off a branch of the Sacred Tree by her old Vice Captain. How would Kaien know what a jewel shard was? And why was his appearance so altered, as if he'd aged after death? She of all people knew for certain that the man was not among the living. "Where are the others?" She panted as she held on to the worried looking Ichigo.
"It's noon, so they went to fetch something to eat. Doesn't feel like we've been down here for nearly twenty-four hours, does it?" He asked.
"No it doesn't." she agreed.
"So, you're a Shinigami again, huh?" Ichigo guessed, glancing down at her black attire.
"That's obvious." Rukia snorted. She detached herself from him, still a little shaken. "Kagome has quite a bit of power. You should have seen her when she released the arrow. I was definitely hard pressed not to duck out of the way. Glad she's on our side."
Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, she'll really be a help for when we rescue Keigo." Rukia's gaze snapped to his.
"They kidnapped Keigo Asano." She said flatly. "How the hell do you even make that kind of mistake?"
"Don't ask me, these are your people. You all are suppose to be top-notch hunters or whatever, and you can't even capture one of your own." He scoffed. Ichigo sneaked a peek at her face. "What's the matter? Why did you yell out in you're sleep? You kept saying 'no, I don't know'. You had me worried for a while, Rukia."
"I'm sorry. It was just a nightmare." Rukia said softly. "I've had them before...just not like that one."
"What was different?" he asked. He felt a tremor run through her body. "You can tell me Rukia."
"The man who was after me, I'd known him for the longest time...and I've dreamt of him before too...but not like this, he was just different this time. Malicious. And indifferent. No, maybe not indifferent. He was just, unsmiling and cold. Emotionless. Kaien-dono was never like that. He was always smiling. He knew about Kagome and the jewel too. Why?" Rukia asked, shuddering at the memory. It wasn't the fact that Kaien had tried to kill her at the end of the dream that bothered her. She was willing to do anything to pay for what she'd done to the Shiba clan when she'd dealt Kaien the finishing blow. It was the fact he'd seemed to change at the end. Blurry as her recollection was of the end of the dream, she’d bet all of her training that the last ‘Kaien’ wasn’t her vice captain.
“It was just a nightmare, just like you said.” Ichigo encouraged.
Rukia shook her head adamantly as she remember something strange that Kaien had said. “If it was a dream, then why did my vice captain- who died way before I met Kagome or Inuyasha- know about the Shikon no Tama?”
Ichigo perked up at this. “The jewel Kagome protects? Why would he know…” Ichigo pondered. “Maybe it just your subconscious messing with you. Like when you dream of something that you feel guilty about.”
Rukia definitely had experience with that. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” She conceded. Above them she could faintly make out the rest of their group clattering down the ladder into the training grounds, especially Inuyasha grumbling about wasting time climbing when he could have them at the bottom in seconds.
Ichigo turned to her and gave her what she believed to be his version of a smile. “You lucked out by waking when you did. Inuyasha was threatening to dump a bucket of water on you if you weren’t conscious by the time he got back.”
“Like Kagome would let him.” she snorted.
“Like I would let him.” Ichigo corrected. “I wouldn’t let him do that to you when you’re still sleep. Especially if regaining your powers were anything like them being extracted from me.”
“You make it sound like you were put through a juicer or something.” Rukia said with a slight chuckle.
“Yeah, well, it must have been something like that, seeing as we’ve both been sleep for like nine hours.” Ichigo said.
“Rukia! You’re finally awake! Thank goodness!” Kagome exclaimed as she hit the ground with a thud. You’re all better now right?”
“All better.” Rukia agreed as Kagome sat down a huge yellow canvas backpack next to the futon that she and Ichigo were still reclining on. “It time for lunch.” she declared, digging into the bag for the brightly packaged instant ramen that she always kept at hand in the Feudal Era. “Cup noodles?”
Kagome rolled her eyes as she pulled out several more and bottled water. “It’s Inuyasha’s addiction. Since he tried them a little while back, that’s all he ever wants. He doesn’t like curry and when I introduced him to this wondrous modern invention, we’ve had to have it at every meal since. He's always like 'boil me up some water Kagome!' and rummaging through my things for this stuff." The priestess mimicked as she produced bottled water out of her pack and a kettle.
“Why doesn’t he like curry?” Rukia asked as she watched Kagome set up a small area in which they would cook.
“He’s too sensitive to the spices.” Kagome replied, surveying Inuyasha and Jinta gathering brush and twigs nearby for a fire. A distance away Ururu and Tessai where bringing pails of water toward the site.
Ichigo snorted through his nose. “That’s a nice way to say it’s too hot for him right?”
“No that means because I’m a hanyou, my heightened senses are susceptible to things that are extraordinary hot or extremely loud.” Inuyasha explained as he dropped his load of branches on Ichigo. Ichigo scrambled to get from under the brush.
“Sensitive my ass. Curry isn’t ‘extraordinarily hot’. You’re just a coward.” Ichigo retorted as he threw the remaining sticks at the hanyou.
“What did you say, strawberry?” Inuyasha said menacingly. “I’m no coward, anytime anywhere, I’ll show you that I can eat curry if I want to.” he added.
“Fine!” Ichigo agreed. “Kagome, do you have any curry in that pack of yours?” Ichigo asked forcefully.
“Uh, no.”
“Fine, then.” Ichigo repeated. “When all this stuff is over, and we have Keigo back, you and me, dog boy. We’re sitting down and having curry. We’ll see if you can or can’t handle it.” Ichigo challenged.
“When this is all over.” Inuyasha approved, his golden eyes piercing as he stared into Ichigo’s brown ones.
“Uh, Ichigo…Inuyasha?” Kagome tentatively asked.
Rukia rolled her eyes as she moved from out of Ichigo’s arms. Idiots, She thought resigned, were born every minute. Behind them, Urahara approached silently, cane posed to strike. With a quick rap to Ichigo’s brightly colored dome and a jab to Inuyasha’s side, both boys were rendered immobile while they tried to protect their wounds. “Serves you right.” she said disdainfully.
“What you’d do that for old man?!” both of the injured parties exclaimed at once.
Kagome snorted with laughter at how much alike the two were. It was no surprise that the two of them would be at odds, because of that very reason. Pigheaded, stubborn and selfish. Well, maybe Kagome herself couldn’t vouch for the selfish trait when it came to Ichigo, but once she and Rukia got a chance to sit down and compare notes, she’d bet her shards of the jewel that she was right on that end. She’d also bet that Inuyasha would be the last to know of the similarities, seeing as he hardly noticed anything past his own nose and shard hunting these days. Anything that kept him from having to deal with his feeling for herself and Kikyo.
“If you two don’t sit down and behave, we’ll get a late start on part two of our little excursion down here, and we’ll never be ready to deal with anything that may arise when we get to the Soul Society.” Kagome scolded as Tessai began to prepare a small cooking fire in front of her.
“What kind of things could arise?” Ichigo asked, for once taking the high road and obediently following orders. Inuyasha didn’t seem have a choice as the prayer beads around his neck slammed him into the ground.
Rukia took up the explaining, ignoring the swearing Inuyasha was doing while he struggled under the beads’ spell. “For one thing, going in how we are, we’ll be considered ryoka, as in ‘trespassers to be shot on sight’.” she said, using one of the colorful saying she’d learned from English class.
“But if we go in with you, can’t we be considered guests?” Ichigo asked.
Rukia smiled ruefully. “Not while I’m still considered a fugitive. If I just show up at the gate into the Seireitei, I’ll be arrested on sight, and you guys will be taken into custody along with me. Plus there’s all questioning they’d want to do, especially about how we got there in the first place.” she glanced slightly to the left where Urahara was helping Kagome set out noodles, “And that something we can’t reveal too lightly.”
Inuyasha nodded thoughtfully. “So once we get there, we’ll be hunted after, right?” He asked.
“Definitely.” Rukia replied.
“So all I need to do is blow them away with a few swing of Tessaiga, and we’ll be free and clear.”
“That’s if your sword is really that powerful.” Ichigo said childishly.
“It is.” Inuyasha simply said. There was another intense minute where both of them tried to stare each other down.
“Oh, give over all ready.” Kagome commanded harshly as she plunked down both of their cups, spilling hot water in the process. Silently, the rest of their group settled around the improvised campfire and waited patiently for Kagome to dish out the Styrofoam cups filled with the instant noodles and water. They whittled away the time until the noodles were done with unimportant chitchat, just to gain any kind of reprieve from what they were about to get themselves into.
Kisuke Urahara watched this all through hooded eyes, slightly reassured that he might be doing the right thing by letting these young people retrieve their classmate. In the back of his mind, he knew the Shinigami would soon realize their mistake and that Asano would be returned in short order. He also knew it was in his best interest to keep Rukia’s gigai close at hand, but there was just one thing he had to be sure of. He regarded Kagome and her half-demon friend with interest. He had to make sure that he was right, that these two were what would ignite a catalytic event, something that would shake the world of the living to its very core, along with the Soul Society.
Oh, another A/N:
Someone asked about the little summary Rukia gives on a book she'd been reading, about how a couple of boys snuck into their classmates bedroom too take pictures of her while she was sleeping and ends up doing some illegal things... This isn't actually a book, but a story a friend of mine wrote in my creative writing class last year. It's was uncomfortably perverted, and slightly risque, but she did a really good job with it and handled the latent subject matter very well [i.e. rape and the second rape (questioning from the police and others)]. She's brillant! Love her, even though she doesn't post her work, she reads mine every time...<3 smooches!
Well until next time...Adieu!
~Danni.