Salvation

Warnings: multiple-POVs, long chapter. (sorry for any typos!)

Chapter 21

"What do you mean I have to run?! What the hell are you talking about?! You have to at least tell me what the hell is going on before breaking my window in yelling about executions-!"

"Would you just shut the hell up and get out of your damned body already?! Half the Sereitei could be here any minute!" Renji gritted through his teeth before jerkily looking over his shoulder at what remained of his window. Seriously, the guy was in soulform and he still managed to clumsily break the thing in a shouting fit that hadn't made a lick of sense to him.

"Why would the Sereitei...?" he muttered rubbing some sleep from his face as he sat up in his bed, "Be after us?"

"Man, you really are stupid! The hollow, Ichigo!" Ichigo's breathing halted as a familiar chest pain came back with stunning force at what Renji was telling him. Rubbing over the pained area, he listened to the panicking redhead, "They've sent out an execution arrest order! Which means if you guys fight being arrested, they can kill you on the spot and call it a day!"

That means... That they know that we're all involved!, That knowledge alone made him whip the sheets off his legs and though his body was still sore from his fight hours earlier with Uryuu he was alert enought to move quickly towards the closet to pull out something he didn't think he would have to use again so soon.

"We need to round everybody up and get them to a safe place-" he only half-listened to Renji's words as he pulled the shinigami substitute badge to his chest to feel the suctioning sensation of his soul leaving his body. "-Rukia has already gone to Inoue's to get her and the hollow out of there, but we have to get Ishida, Sado and that girl..."

Ichigo's heart hammered as he glanced over at Renji, "Tatsuki?"

"Yeah," Renji nodded gravely. "She'll have to run too because she has been put on the arrest order as a person of interest."

Shit even Tatsuki could be killed because of this!, Knowing her the way he did, Ichigo wouldn't doubt for a minute that she would fight anyone that got near her or Orihime. The girl was brave and a strong fighter, despite being a human female, but she couldn't handle hoards of trained shinigami in combat. She, along with Orihime, would be vulnerable and Ogichi whose powers were limited to his human form probably had enough strength to fight some of the Sereitei's men off but he still couldn't keep them completely safe.

Closing his eyes he sucked in a deep trembling breath that felt cold and stinging into his lungs. This was something none of them could have prepared for. Rukia was probably in even more shock than him, mostly since she was the one that had been in charge of keeping the truth behind Ogichi hidden from the Soul Society. They had all made the mistake of thinking that they were away from all possible dangers, especially after his inner hollow had been inhabiting a physical body for over a year without raising suspicions.

The Soul Society must have been watching all of us from the begining, waiting to make their move...

A beeping ring interrupted the silent air in his room and he could hear Renji's annoyed sigh as he answered the call from his soulpager.

"Yeah?... Oh you've got them!" Curious about the conversation, Ichigo watched the expressions crossing Renji's rough features as he spoke with who he assumed was Rukia. "Arisawa was there too...?" his eyes widened as the red-haired shinigami scowled. "You're taking them to Urahara?! But that guy has probably skipped town already!... Oh... Shit, Rukia! I'm in soulform! I can't go carjack a van to take them to out of town and none of them can leave their bodies...!"

"But you can break my freaking window, you dumb asshole...," Ichigo muttured darkly, disliking the fact that they were all sitting ducks in his own hometown.

Renji shot him a fulminating glare and turned around to continue shouting into the soulpager. "But... But do you even have Ishida's number?... An ambulance?! Yeah, I know the kid's father owns a hospital but the Soul Society probably knows that already and will be looking out for one and with Ichigo being an idiot that can't control his leaking reiatsu...!" Glaring in his direction, Renji snapped obviously speaking with him instead of Rukia who was clearly anxious over the phone, "Do you know any way to contact Ishida's hospital without using phonelines?"

He gaped at him stupidly, "What the heck?! How can I contact anybody without using a phone?! Can't we just run over there?!"

Rolling his eyes, Renji muttered into the phone, " If Inoue can use her Shun-Shun-Rika to go over there to get Ishida and an ambulance-"

"What the hell is all this shouting in my house?!"

Great. The person that I don't need knowing about this just has to burst in with his big mouth!

Both him and Renji looked over at a livid Isshin who was wearing a garish pijama set that depicted a bunch of hearts floating among purple vines in a red background.

Red faced and glaring back at them for dumbly staring at him, he snapped, "Though you two are in soulform, you are so freaking loud-!"

"Will you just shut up?!" Ichigo was no longer in the mood for anymore unwanted interruptions. If his father was complaining about loud mouths, then he was clearly being a hypocrite for shouting and letting every spiritually unenlightened person in their neighborhood hear him.

Shutting his mouth, Isshin scowled at noting his anxious expression.

"Wait a sec... What's going on?"

Grinding his teeth, he debated on telling him the truth... He honestly didn't want to drag the rest of his family into this because everyone would be in danger for something he could have kept from happening.

His eyes bulged out in disbelief when Renji blurted everything out for him,"The Soul Society has sent out an execution arrest order-!"

"Renji!"

"What?!" Renji shot him an annoyed look, "You were just going to stand there all night looking torn up and worried about it when every battle-hungry shinigami in the Sereitei are after us!" to further anger him, he shrugged matter of factly when finishing stating the obvious even more than before.

Tensely looking over at his father to see how he had taken the news, he was shocked to see that Isshin was unusually quiet with a pensive distant expression.

He's thought of something...

"How long ago was this?" he asked in a subdued tone.

"Forty-five minutes," Renji informed him.

Nodding with after hearing those words, Isshin gave Ichigo a hard look that gave no room for arguments.

"Get your sisters out of bed. I know a way to get us all out of here without them finding us."

***

"When in the hell were you planning on telling me about this?!" Isshin mentally rolled his eyes at Ichigo's snappish question. Honestly, how long was it going to take for Ichigo to know that he wasn't really that big an idiot? He had always figured that something like this was going to happen in the near future. Him being a former defected shinigami, his son's constant association with them, all of the spiritual foes and semi-allies trampling up and down Karakura nearly every day... It was about damned time that Ichigo realized that Isshin was always prepared for the inevitable.

"Yeah, Dad. You keeping this hidden behind Mom's poster. No wonder you always went nuts whenever we tried to take it down," Karin muttered somewhere behind him.

"I know! With all of the dust the frame had on it, Dad could have at least told me about it to clean it up!" even Yuzu was criticizing him.

"It's lined with zuki-zuki, isn't it? I can't even feel reiatsu in here," the one named Abarai wasn't giving him a hard time at least.

What the use in keeping it a 'secret' if he told everybody about it? When he had just bought the house after him and Masaki had moved out of their cramped little apartment decades earlier, he had constantly worried about being discovered and being brought to trial along with his then very pregnant human wife. So with Ishida Ryuken's reluctant help, he had managed to create a tunnel lined with stone that deflected spiritual energy that connected to Ishida's own hospital in the case of emergency. Ryuken off course hadn't liked the idea, like always, but he had nagged him until he just said 'Do whatever you want. I could care less. Just don't destroy my hospital while at it.'

And he had. The tunnel which had taken him nearly eight years to create underground led all the way to the hospital's own basement where yet another door would greet them upon arrival.

"It wasn't that hidden," he murmured lowly in his own defense and unfortunately Ichigo just had to hear him and say something about it.

His son, obviously eager to start shouting at him in frustration, stepped up to walk alongside him angrily,"Then why did you have to pull out a sledge-hammer to get to that door?!"

"It wasn't like it took so long! It was just painted cardboard!" he half-shouted, shooting him a twitchy eyed glare.

"Would you guys quit arguing?! The longer we take on getting to the hospital, the longer it'll be before we see if everyone is alright!" Renji hissed at them, showing the worry he had been trying to hide ever since they had entered the dark tunnel.

Giving a studying glance at the tall red-haired shinigami that was walking just a couple of steps ahead of them, Isshin gave up. He had to admit that he was being childish, but he couldn't keep himself from worrying, given the predicament him and a good number of people were already in.

I just hope that Ryuken won't give us a hard time once we get there. He was pretty pissed the last time I saw him., Him and Ryuken had a distant bizarre friendship, if it could be considered that. They were more like two people forced to socialize unwillingly with each other. Isshin had always tried to make the best of it by being humorous and nagging him, but Ryuken would just eye him coolly and then would ignore his tactics in making him less tense.

Ryuken had always acted three times his own age. Never indulging in childishness even his youth. Maybe that was what explained Isshin's constant need to bug him... To remind him that there were other people outside of his hospital. Like his only son for instance.

Now with this and... Yuzu's relationship with Uryuu, that tension had increased tenfold. His old classmate still had a dislike towards all things shinigami and even with Yuzu's increadibly low reiatsu, she had a shinigami parent. That was what had angered Ryuken the most about the situation when he had to be called to pick up his son from the clinic.

"I don't want you anywhere near my son again!" closing his eyes at remembering the sharp wounding words Ryuken had snapped at a crying Yuzu hours earlier, he nearly stopped his walking to turn around. He wasn't all too happy with Yuzu's choice, but he couldn't fault Uryuu for anything. From what he knew of the boy, Isshin was aware of how responsable and mature he was for his age. It was like he was looking at a young Ryuken again, except this younger version was more polite and empathic towards others. He had seen it in the respectful way in which he always interacted with Yuzu and how he was always genuinely concerned whenever the smallest of things happened to her.

No. He couldn't be against the boy if he cared for his daughter that way. Any father would give an arm or a leg to have a guy care for his daughter so deeply and that was why he had tried his hardest to make Ichigo see that.

Looking over at his silent angry son that decided to keep quiet for once while still walking beside him, he almost sighed. Ichigo hadn't talked to Yuzu about it. In fact as soon as they had gone into the tunnel, Ichigo had kept a physical distance from his sister and hadn't looked at her once.

We all still have so much to learn.

***

Kurosaki..., Ishida Ryuken knew who was steadily approaching before they ever entered the hospital. The increase of unfamiliar reaitsu in the air had been a dead giveaway that something unwanted was happening in Karakura. The peaceful quiet atmosphere he could seldom enjoy had been disrupted by a rare increase of energy that he could detect with evident distaste.

Shinigami. Dozens of them were scattering all over the town. Some of the energies he could sense from his office on the top floor were strong, others lesser so. Perhaps some tai-chous and fuku-taichous. Whoever these shinigami were, it didn't take a genious to know that they were there to attack. This fact was also coupled with the sensation he had gotten when he no longer sensed Isshin and his family's own spirit energy a couple of blocks away. He knew that Isshin, in spite of his moments of sheer stupidity, had reacted quickly and had instinctively used the forgotten tunnel he had insisted on years earlier.

He didn't rise from the comfortable leather-backed seat behind his desk. He didn't need to, because it would be just a matter of minutes before Isshin would kick his door in, speaking a mile a minute about another mess he or his son had created to rouse up so many shinigami.

All of it displeased him. He, like any last Quincy, stayed out of shinigami business. He didn't like drawing attention unwillingly to himself or those remotely associated to him. There were many reasons why he had taken the option of pretending indifference towards the lives lost to Hollows and the many dangers the small town he resided in often faced.

Uryuu. His own son was breaking every rule he had set for both of them to survive. There were only two of them left and yet Uryuu still insisted in endangering himself foolishly with something that never seemed to have an end.

There will always be Hollows, just like there will always be human souls lingering in the streets unknowingly becoming something for the foul beings to feast on. Quincies and shinigami could never change something as old as time.

However they were both the last of their kind and Ryuken intended to keep things that way. There was no use in fighting what was already in nature's design. He prefered saving the living, than concerning himself for the dead. The dead could give nothing to him and if he dared to show even the slightest hint of worry about the matter, he would only get himself involved with those... shinigami.

There was no usefulness in his Quincy powers, because in the end there would be no ultimate reward. Hollows would still exist and shinigami who were numbered in the thousands, existed for the purpose of exterminating them. It was an already set cycle of redundant battles over the same thing.

Souls. Good and evil. Living and dead. Things had reached a point in which he no longer cared much for it.

The folder he had open in his desk with only more documents he had to sign and look over, was gently closed as he folded his hands over it, patiently waiting for his unexpected visitor. He wasn't surprised in the least with Isshin's choice to come to him of all people.

Especially after he had found out about his son taking that young girl as his lover. Even Ryuken had to admit that those news had shocked him. Uryuu rarely spoke to him and when he did he was usually as cold as he was. Distant and without telling him anything about his personal life. In fact the only way he had discovered about Uryuu's entry in college to study design was because he had him investigated.

Uryuu always told him nothing. Every acomplishment, every tiny thing his son had ever done... Other people had to tell him about it because otherwise he would never know because of his son's enstrangement.

Disrespectful boy. Always so willful. He's become worse after he was befriended by that Kurosaki Ichigo.

Though complaining about it would make him look like a hipocrite for the mere fact that he tolerated Isshin's own insufferable presence.

"RYUKEN!" he narrowed his eyes cooly as his office door burst open. His eyes became narrower seeing wood splinters flying in the air at the large shinigami's idiotic entrance and the unmistakable loud metallic pop of the door's lock being broken.

"You owe me a new door," were the first words Ryuken said at noting how the door now hung loosely from one hinge after Isshin had slammed it with his shoulder to get in. He hadn't kicked it as he had expected, but he had still broken it in his usual clumsy loud ways.

Evidently embarassed and rushed, Isshin gave a quick glance to the door he had efficiently destroyed.

"What did you and your son do to make so many shinigami infest Karakura?" leaning back on his seat, Ryuken eyed Isshin icily from behind his glasses. He already had a good idea, but he wanted to hear Isshin admit to his follies and not make any excuses for it. He was well aware of Isshin's habit of deflecting the blame for specific situations.

Isshin's broad shoulders tensed as he took a deep breath, "Ichigo gave his inner Hollow a body so he could be with Inoue."

Now this came as unexpected, unpleasant surprise to him. He would have expected Ichigo to have done some other type of idiotic offense, but giving a Hollow a body so he could stay with a human girl was a serious crime no matter how anyone tried to look at it.

Both dangerous and foolish, not just because of the shinigami. Hollows were naturally untrustworthy creatures. It was a miracle that it had taken a while for the shinigami to make a move with something as delicate and hazardous as that.

"How many people can I expect to come here because of your son's idiotic choice?"

He could literally hear Isshin gulp from accross the room. He knew that the number of people involved was daunting even if it was for one person's mistake.

"More than ten people at least."

Upon hearing this, Ryuken had to resist the urge to rub his eyes in weariness. Ten people in the run, dozens of shinigami hunting them... The problem was far bigger than imagined at first glance. No one needed to tell him that his own son, his very disobedient sensitive son was a part of it. Refusing to help everyone, would leave Uryuu alone and make him an easy target...

"Any more unsavory news you wish to tell me about before I lower myself by helping you?" he kept all expression from his face to hide his thoughts. He didn't like showing weakness by displaying worry over what was happening, though inside he was enraged by it. Even if people considered his 'paranting' to be harsh, he understood why he treated Uryuu the way he did.

It was meant to strengthen him and sadly, he had to face the fact that all he did was push Uryuu away from him and into enemy territory. Now he had even taken a half-shinigami girl as his lover, which proved how his strategetic parenting had failed.

"I need you to take Yuzu, Karin and Arisawa Yoshiaki and Megumi in."

Ryuken's brows lowered slightly at those names and at noting this Isshin quickly explained.

"I know you don't like having to babysit people, but the ones being hunted are not them," Isshin almost looked frustrated in explaining, "But I know that the ones after us will go after them for information and I don't want any of them to have to go through that. It's for the best so the rest of us can keep running without worrying if they've made contact."

"So I'm correct to asume that you will go with your son and his friends as well."

Even in the dimly lit room, he saw Isshin paling. Isshin didn't like the thought of leaving his two daughters behind to keep them out of danger, especially if he was the one left in charge of them.

"I need you to do this for me, Ryuken. I know that what happened with Yuzu earlier didn't sit well with you, but I need you to push that all aside and think about what your son would want."

Ryuken could feel his jaw clenching. It was an involuntary physical reaction to hearing the mere mention of Ichigo and Uryuu's fight hours earlier. He had been the one that had to pick his unconscious son up to rush him to the hospital. In fact, Uryuu, though having regained consciousness an hour earlier, was still in delicate condition because of Ichigo's fists.

He reacted angrily towards the girl, yet it had been because Ichigo had beaten his son because of her. He knew that she honestly had no fault in it, though he avoided feeling guilty about telling her to stay away from Uryuu. He refused to admit to it because he really wanted her to stay away for the sake of his son.

However, Uryuu still wanted to be with her regardless of the dangers. He had even tried to argue to him about it, saying that he was an adult and that what happened between him and Ichigo had been a mere misunderstanding...

"Ryuken... We don't have much time," Isshin was trying to sound calm, but even he could detect hints of desperation in his tone.

Still having his jaw clenching, Ryuken glared at his almost friend. He didn't have to like the situation, just like Isshin didn't. With his son involved, he was unwillingly drawn into it himself.

"If I do this, there will be some conditions."

Isshin nodded gravely, probably guessing what some of these 'conditions' were

***

She felt sick.

For the last twenty minutes, Tatsuki's stomach had rolled and burned in fear and anger since she had been rushed off along with Orihime and Ogichi to Urahara's shoten by a tense Rukia. Being nauseated while on the run with a group of people emanating forboding energy only worsened her condition.

She knew that they all tried to play it off as if everything that was happening was normal, but she could sense their fear and it sickened her.

"Are you alright, Arisawa?" startled by the soft direct female voice, Tatsuki looked at Rukia who stood beside her in her shinigami robes. It was one of those rare times in which she spent more time with the smaller girl and Tatsuki couldn't really say she disliked her as much as in the past. Rukia had managed to earn some unwilling respect from her for all of the sacrifices she was obviously making in protecting all of them.

"Just feeling a bit dizzy," she reluctantly admitted and couldn't help paling when Rukia studied her from the corner of her eyes. It wasn't a searching stare, but she could tell that the other girl was curious about her ailment. Tatsuki wasn't precisely the type that got sick for no apparent reason. In fact, she couldn't recall the last time she had been ill with something as mundane as a cold or stomach ache.

Pregnancy though... Could that be considered an illness? Sometimes she thought it was. Lately, whenever she felt anxiety, that dreaded nausea would come back and her lower stomach would twist uncomfortably.

"I bet ya' dizzy with the King's brat planted in ya' belly and everythin'!" stiffening at the jibe Ogichi just had to toss in, Tatsuki gave him a furious glare from under her bangs while Orihime tried to shush him while shooting an nervous glance at a now gaping Rukia.

This is perfect! Now he told someone else about it and it was Kuchiki of all people!, Realizing that the shinigami's eyes were on her in shock, Tatsuki didn't bother to try to look at her to gauge her reaction. She should have known that Ogichi's big mouth would not keep quiet, but did he have to tell Rukia?! Anyone with common sense would have tried to keep the ex-lover from finding out first.

"Is that true, Arisawa?" she even refused to answer the softly asked question. There was no hostility in Rukia's tone, but a well-placed tentativeness as if she knew that the subject was awkward for the both of them. The time and place wasn't right, and she doubted that there ever would be a right time to reveal her pregnancy to everyone. However, at the rate things were going, Ogichi would tell everyone including Ichigo before the night was over.

How can I answer that...?, Disturbed by everything, she remained tense without saying any further words. All she wanted now was to see if Ichigo had made it safely to the hospital. After they'd all arrived at Urahara's shoten, Rukia had received a call from Renji saying that they were at the hospital and that Isshin was trying to convince Ryuken, the hospital's director, to give them some aid in leaving Karakura.

That was how their group had ended up at the underground parking-lot of said hospital. It was mostly dark and the only vehicles that seemed to be housed in the section they were standing in were ambulances and some expensive cars that she asumed belonged to some of the doctors that worked there.

Looking at the metal doors that had a sign on it signifying it lead to the stairs, she attempted to relax her shoulders. She could sense Ichigo's reiatsu and it was still strong, though it had equally strong emotions in it that added more to her nausea.

He was probably more anxious than all of them put together. She had yet to come to grips with her heightened sensibilities to the emotions coming from everyone. It hadn't taken her long to realize after Rukia had picked them up that she was feeling what everyone else was.

Orihime's almost maternal concern. Ogichi's combination of anger and ease with a deeply seeded manic rage that frightened her. Urahara's attempt in seeing humor in their predicament while he was truly worrying for what could happen next. Rukia's desperation and guilt...

Even the other people that had come along with them in their escape were affecting her. The man named Tessai was unusually calm, though had a reasonable amount of worry with what was going to happen to all of them. Ginta's energy was just that, energy. In fact the younger boy felt almost hyper and his particular energy made her light-headed. Ururu's, Sado's and Yoruichi's emotions were more soothing. She wondered how could those three in particular could keep their feelings so controlled to the point that all she could feel was calmness by simply standing near them...

She didn't have to like it. She knew that, even though she wished she could understand why she was so sensitive to everyone. She would have thought that she was more connected to Ichigo, but it turned out that everyone affected her physical ailements in some degree.

She couldn't even bear to look at them directly in the eyes because whenever she did, their emotions and nearly their thoughts, would hit her in the face harshly. Maybe all she needed to do was to calm herself down. Everyone was nervous and had different ways of handling it. She had yet to learn how to come to grips with her own feelings because she could only think about Ichigo and his family... Whenever she tried to think that they would all make it out fine, she would then wonder if everyone in the other side had reached the hospital without running into any shinigami.

I need to calm down! Kuchiki said that Abarai told her that they haven't run into anybody! I'm just worrying over nothing!

The beeping sound of Rukia's cellphone broke her train of thought, though she avoided looking at her because she had never answered her question.

"Yeah?" Rukia answered in a bussinelike tone. "One ambulance?!" she couldn't help glancing at her when she exclaimed that one question.

"We'll need at least three of those...," Urahara muttered a couple of feet from them. Ever since they had reached the hospital, him, Yoruichi and Tessai had kept their distance and had been privately conversing. She wasn't particularly interested in what they had been talking about in hushed tones, but she suspected that it had to do with what to do next regarding their escape.

"Renji... Tell Kurosaki we have to transport at least fourteen people out of town! We can't all squeeze into one ambulance, especially with Ishida in a stretcher! It would be suicide to be all in one place like that! We'll need to split up to meet somewhere else away from here!"

The sharp anxiety Rukia exuded made Tatsuki's temples pound and she squeezed her eyes closed as yet another wave of nausea overtook her.

Damn it!, Wrapping her arms around her mid-section, in hopes it would keep some of the vile from rising up her throat, she was a bit surprised at feeling a soothing familiar hand on her back.

"Tatsuki-chan...?" Orihime asked gently and she tried to muster up a smile because her friend was clearly seeing what she was going through.

"It's cool... Haven't gotten used to it yet," she rasped, shooting her a brittle little smirk to tell her everything was alright, but Orihime's eyes showed she wasn't convinced.

"Ichigo's sisters are staying with Ishida's father...?" Rukia kept talking beside her.

"Ginta, Ururu, and Tessai will stay too," Urahara's voice spoke up from his 'conference' with Yoruichi and Tessai.

"Okay, then we're..." she didn't get to hear what else was said because Orihime was already gently pulling her away from the group and for that she was grateful because when she did some of the heaviness she had felt lessened.

How long will we have to do this? Why do I get the feeling that there's more to come?, Sensing Ogichi's violently gleeful energy nearing her and Orihime, she stiffened without looking at the albino.

"Ogichi! What did I tell you about telling everybody about Tatsuki-chan?!" Orihime chastised him in a hiss while unconciously rubbing her back.

"Pfft! I just wanted to know Kuchiki bitch's reaction to it! She handled it better than I thought!" hearing that damned laughing tone of his, Tatsuki looked at him in a glare that only made his ever-present smile widen.

Ichigo will know... But it will probably won't come from me., Glancing over at the shinigami that was still shouting over her phone, she wasn't surprised when Rukia looked at her. Though there was no hostility in her eyes, Tatsuki saw something that momentarily stunned her. It was an emotion she would have never expected to come from someone that used to be Ichigo's lover and made her rethink her earlier opinions regarding the girl...

Concern for her. Rukia was actually worrying about her. Why?

Tatsuki didn't think she would ever know.

***

Vic: LOL There might be another lemon in the future (in probably 2 to 3 more chapters) hehehe... And everyone! Please R&R!