style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>8.
Resurrection – From the bottom of my little black heart

Great silver tears scorched through the grey skies as
the weather prepared to announce a stormy afternoon.

The atmosphere was tense in the small chamber Urahara
used as a living room and complete verbal silence drummed in everyone’s ears as
the majority of the cast glances were directed to one person in particular,
sitting in between Matsumoto Rangiku and Urahara Kisuke.

A flash of lightening illuminated the dimly lit space,
briefly lighting up the grim faces of his guests.

“Why you of all people?”lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>
Rukia then suddenly asked, sitting with her arms crossed over her chest, not
even bothering to look at the person she was talking to.

“Rukia…” Renji soothingly began, but only met with her
stubborn expression.

She shook her head angrily, “I will not just sit here
and watch him grin like some perverted maniac while Inoue and Ichigo are
somewhere out there in need of our help!”

“Kuchiki-san, this is no time for this,” class=SpellE>Hitsugaya Toushirou sternly said, putting his cup of tea on
the table. “The hour is grave.”

“But sir—”

The emerald eyed adolescent rested his gaze on her
briefly before closing his eyes and averting his face. “I know we had our
differences with him, but now isn’t the moment for triviality of that kind.”

Rukia fell silent and sighed, but her scowl did not
disappear. “Yes sir.”

“Matsumoto gave me a report of what she witnessed with
Kurosaki earlier,” the 10^th squad captain coolly continued. class=GramE>“Matsumoto?”

“Hai, Taichou,” Rangiku
spoke from her spot left from him. She then began to tell all who was present what
she saw before and after she intervened in Ichigo’s fight with Hollow Orihime.

“She finished by saying that in order to win the
upcoming battle, she had to be killed in order to completely destroy any
remnant of Kurosaki’s Hollow.”

Everyone was silent for a long time as they
contemplated those last few words. Expressions ranging from utter disbelieve to
pained sadness could be read on all the guests; no one had expected for things
to turn this bad so quickly.

“Orihime-chan…” RinRin whimpered, sinking to her knees
on the table. Nova and Cloud stepped up to her and brought their arms around
her in a consoling embrace while she wept silent tears.

Rukia felt her own tears begin to well up in her eyes
and even though she tried her very best to hold them back, she was still
grateful when Renji took her in his arms. “Inoue…”

“Inoue-san…” Uryuu whispered, holding a hand in front
of his mouth in profound shock and disbelieve. “This can’t be happening…”

Chad closed his eyes and bent his head, letting his
silence speak for itself.

“Such saddening news…” a sly voice suddenly spoke,
“she truly was such a lovely girl…”

Rukia growled at that and detached herself from Renji.
“Like you truly care! Like you’re truly sorry! class=GramE>Murderer!”

“Kuchiki-san,” Urahara spoke softly, “Please.”

“No!” She cried, standing now and pointing an accusing
finger to the silver haired man sitting across from her at the table. “He
shouldn’t even be here! You did this to her! It’s your fault, class=SpellE>Ichimaru!”

Renji stood in turn and kept her from loosing total
control over her anger, pulling her away. “Rukia, that’s enough…!”

“Renji!lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>
Renji, let me go!” she softly said, fighting against his iron grip on her, “Let
me go! I can’t let him—” Her tears then began to roll down her cheeks and she
closed her eyes in utter sadness, feeling despair beginning to take over in her
mind and in her heart. “He destroyed… a perfectly… innocent life…” She sunk
through her knees and fell against Renji who easily picked her up and walked
out of the room with her sobbing in his arms.

“Sumimasen,” Gin softly
said, looking down at his hands underneath the table, “Perhaps I shouldn’t have
said anything.”

Urahara sighed softly and then began to move himself
upon his feet. “Well, there isn’t much we can do about that now, class=SpellE>Ichimaru-san,” he walked over to the shoji door and closed
it. “But time is pressing, so I would like to get on with our little chat.”

“Hai,” Gin docilely said
with a nod.

“Excuse me for interrupting too,” Uryuu suddenly
spoke, turning to Yoruichi, Rangiku and Toushirou, “but I was wondering if
perhaps Kurotsuchi-Taichou gave a possible solution to Inoue-san’s process of
Hollowification?”

His question met with a wall of reluctant silence and
the Quincy’s hope for a satisfying answer flew out the window a moment later.
If even the mighty Soul Society couldn’t come up with an answer, then what did
this mean now?

“How about Ichigo?”lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>
Chad tried in turn, “Does anyone know where he went?”

Rangiku shook her head and folded her arms underneath
her ample bosom, “I don’t think we need to worry about him, Sado.
He just needs to be alone for a while. Orihime-chan meant a lot to him.”

“Hai class=SpellE>desu!” Cloud enthusiastically said,
walking up to him, “Ichigo-san has this knack of showing up at the right place
at the right time! He’ll surface sooner or later! Let’s no
worry about him!”

Chad and Uryuu cracked a smile at that. Though
everything seemed to be working against them right now, they realised that now
wasn’t the time to back away from the upcoming fight, but to prepare themselves
for the battles up ahead, just like Ichigo probably was doing right now.

Toushirou bent his head and silently sighed, seemingly
sunken into deep thought.

“Taichou?”lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>
Rangiku wondered, having noticed his calculating gaze.

The white haired Shinigami looked up and fixed the
former 3th Squad Captain of the Gotei
13. “Before leaving from Soul Society, Kurotsuchi-Taichou told me that a Plus
infected by a Hollow only becomes one in turn, if the proper conditions are
met.”

“Proper conditions?”lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>
Uryuu echoed.

Yoruichi nodded, “A Plus can only become a Hollow if
there are elements from his past life keeping him from moving on, like regrets
or unfinished business…” she let her sentence die out quietly as something came
up in her mind and turned to look at her blond haired partner now sitting near
the shoji door. “Kisuke…”

Urahara didn’t respond and hid his face underneath his
bucket hat. “Ichimaru-san… I assume he got hold of
those notes as well, eh?”

Gin nodded solemnly, “He’s a big fan of you work,
Urahara-san…”

“Departing from the supposition that Inoue isn’t the
kind of person to leave regrets behind her,” Toushirou spoke, eying Urahara
intently, “I suppose that Aizen must’ve done
something to her while she was still held captive in Las Noches,
am I right?”

Urahara turned to him and fixed the young captain for
a few moments, trying to find the words to tell them that he had unwillingly
had a part in this new turn of events again. “class=SpellE>Hollownized blood.”

“Hollownized
blood?” Rangiku whispered in utter disgust. “class=SpellE>Nande—”

“In her food and in her beverages,” Gin softly
informed, “He would add small amounts of Hollow blood, affected by the class=SpellE>Houkyouku to keep her docile enough and to slowly, but
surely attain a rudimentary form of Hollowification.”

“So he tried to change her back then?” Chad wondered.

Urahara sighed shook his head, “Even if he had continued
to feed her the blood for ten years, she only would’ve chosen their side, not
completely transformed into one of them.”

“It would’ve switched her sense of morality,”
Toushirou whispered.

“Sou desu…”
Gin concurred.

“The very first tests I made after creating the class=SpellE>Houkyouku involved the blood of slaughtered Hollows,” Urahara
explained, “During my research, I came to the conclusion that if the altered
hollow blood was injected into a normal soul, that soul would become 10 to 15
times stronger and exceed the Reiatsu levels of a normal Bankai form, even if
it never actually attained Bankai. But, the price to pay for that was to allow
the soul to be responsive to Hollows, or in other words, their class=SpellE>Saketsu, which is the booster of their Spiritual Power,
would begin to corrode with time, rendering them to a near Hollow status.*

Aizenlang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'> must
have given Inoue-san enough of it to make her receptive for the hollow essence
Kurosaki’s Hollow spilled within her.” He concluded, “And that’s what
Kurotsuchi-Taichou must’ve meant.”

“So, there’s really no way…?” Rangiku whispered
quietly.

“The time that is left before she completely turns
depends on her own strength….” Urahara answered, “But even so, if not stopped
in time, her changing will be inevitable.”

“Oh God…”

“But, Urahara-san,” Uryuu exclaimed, “What about the
baby?”

The former 12^th Squad Captain shook his
head resolutely. “Now I know she was never pregnant.”

A shocked silence engulfed the living room.

“Demo,” RinRin whispered shakily, “we all saw—”

“Chigau,” Urahara continued,
“there was no child. Her body merely reacted as such because that’s what the
Hollow wanted for all of us to believe. It was the hollow essence before it
merged with her soul.”

“How come you never realized it before?” Toushirou
asked sternly.

“I asked myself that same question just a few moments
ago,” Urahara whispered, turning his head towards Yoruichi who sat herself next
to him now to show her silent form of support. “And I honestly
only came up with one hypothesis so far.”

Toushirou’slang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>
eyes spread wide as he realised what the older man meant.

Gin’s grin disappeared as well and he sighed.

Urahara looked up and his right eye glistened
underneath the shade of his bucket hat.

“Aizen.”lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>

“Doushite?”lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>
Rukia whispered now that Renji had placed her on an empty futon a few rooms
away from the living room. “Don’t you feel the same?”

Renji sighed and kneeled next to her on the floor,
reaching out to wipe away her tears. “He was working undercover for Yamamoto-class=SpellE>sama, Rukia. He’s been cleansed of all his misdoings…”

Rukia let herself fall back on the futon and held on
to her forehead. “He’s an evil person, Renji… I know it. I can feel it!”

The redheaded Shinigami took her left hand in his and
kissed its palm, closing his eyes. “Mou ii, Rukia… I
know you’re worried, we all are, but Ichimaru-san
resigned from his post as a captain and chose to have his Saketsu
sealed off so his Reiatsu wouldn’t be a threat to anyone. For him to come back
into the living world is a perilous enterprise because every Hollow will come
after him now and he has practically no means of defence.”

Rukia turned away from him, staring at the full moon
that shone through the little window of the room. “Don’t defend him, Renji.
I’ve hated him for so long; I can’t just shake it off like that.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>   Why did he even bother coming if he knew he’d
be but a burden to all of us?”

“Because he knows things about Hollowification that we
don’t and if Inoue is back in Hueco class=SpellE>Mundo, he can be of great aide.”

“So what?”lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>
She whispered, still not looking at him, “Is this some kind of a repentance
trip for him? Does he expect for us to see him like a hero for doing this?!”

“Calm down, Koboshi…” Renji
gently spoke, making her turn her head at the mention of his nickname for her.
“We don’t have a choice right now… ”

She sat up and crawled into his lap, holding him
tightly. “What are we going to do? Inoue… and Ichigo…” A soft kiss was pressed
on her forehead and she smiled softly at the calming effect his hold had on
her.

“Don’t give up… we’re all here to find a solution.”

“We don’t even know where Ichigo went…” She continuedclass=GramE>, closing her eyes as Renji began to rock them back and
forth slowly.

Renji took a deep breath and laid his eyes on the pale
moon outside. “He’ll turn up sooner of later. Don’t worry about that for now.”

“Renji…” She whispered, holding on to the folds of his
black kimono, “Why is all of this happening… How do humans maintain these
feelings of love and friendship when those feelings can hurt them the worst?”

Renji closed his eyes and held her tighter, smiling
softly in her hair. “Because, those feelings they have bring a little speck of
light in an otherwise cold and dark world. It’s their hope, I think, and their
strength. It’s what gives them the potential to be great…”

"Taken straight out of the Anthropology Manual
6.3?" She chuckled with him, nuzzling his throat and breathing in his
masculine scent with a small smile. Rukia then buried herself deeper into his
embrace and took a shaky breath. “Before I met Inoue, I had no close female
friends. I used to think that friendship and companionship only meant
burdening. After Kaien-dono died, I didn’t think I
could entrust anyone with my feelings of friendship, I was afraid of getting
hurt, so I preferred to keep my distances…”

“Even with me, eh?” Renji softly spoke, now looking
down at her and brushing a strand of her jet-black hair out of her sad eyes.

She nodded. “When the Kuchiki-clan had accepted me, I
used to think that it was best to forget about the friendship we had had so I
wouldn’t feel the pain of knowing that I might never see you again.”

Renji nodded softly in understanding and took her back
into his arms.

“You, Ichigo and Inoue showed me that it’s okay to
depend on others and to share each other’s pain. You were my friends; I was
able to count on you…”

“I don’t know much about this love thing, but I do
know that, when stuff like this happens, it gives us hope and faith. Aren’t you
the one who kept having faith in Ichigo when all seemed hopeless?”

“Yeah,
but Renji—”

The redhead shook his head, “This is no different. We
know he’s in pain, we know he’s lost the woman he loves, but I know that guy as
much as you think you know him and you were right before; he’s not the kind of
guy who just sits around and feels sorry for himself.”

Rukia sighed and looked up at him as her eyes watered
up. “Renji…”

Renji bent down and pressed his lips against hers
softly, wiping away her tears with his thumb. “It’ll all be alright.”

Like a vision taken straight out of a romantic
fairytale, her inert body was laid onto a bed of white flowers class=SpellE>Hachigen had made appear in a last token of respect for
her. He then kneeled next to her as in prayer before stretching out his arms
over her to conjure a transparent coffin.

Shinji rolled his eyes from Hachi
to Ichigo standing at the other end of the hangar and sighed silently.

Ten minutes ago, Ichigo walked into their lair
carrying the lifeless body of Inoue Orihime in his arms. Shinji hadn’t felt the
need to pry him with questions; something in the boy’s Reiatsu told him what he
already had felt the moment he stepped through Hachi’s
barrier.

That idiot lost control of his Hollow.

Ichigo wouldn’t ask for help, not in a million years,
the blond Vaizard knew that. His Shinigami pride
wouldn’t allow him to.

He came to say goodbye to her. To the woman he fell in
love with.

Shinji closed his eyes and rested the back of his head
against the wall.

He had warned that imbecile about this.

Too many times.lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>

“Did Hachi finish that
barrier?”

Shinji turned his head to the black haired young girl
standing next to him now. “Do you think he knows?”

Lisa laid her eyes on the glowing coffin Orihime was
resting in and shook her head. “The look in his eyes said enough. He is
ignorant.”

“It’s not like it would change much now,” he
thoughtfully whispered, gazing over at Hachi once
more. “Telling him would probably make him go do stupid things again.”

“The way things are now, he’s most likely to do
something stupid in the upcoming hours.”

They both turned now and noticed Kensei
standing a few meters away, scratching the back of his head with a slightly
annoyed yawn.

“Where are the others?” Lisa asked.

“Down below,” Kensei
answered, approaching them and stopping to watch Hachi’s
work. “He’s going to go after it, you know, Shinji.”

Shinji gave an annoyed grunt and rolled his eyes. “Why
is it, that when it comes to that guy, everybody presumes I’m the one
responsible for him?!”

“Unfortunately,” Lisa spoke, completely ignoring her
comrade’s comment, “there’s nothing he can learn from us, he is no longer a class=SpellE>Vaizard.”

“Like you’re truly sorry…” Shinji muttered bitterly.

“Ichi really seemed to care
for her a lot…” a little voice suddenly sounded near them and a green haired
girl popped up from behind Kensei.

The white haired Vaizard
crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s brought her here for keepsake, just in
case he’d be able to bring her back.”

Mashirolang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>
frowned cutely and looked up at Shinji questioningly. “Is that still an
option?”

Shinji remained silent as he watched how Ichigo walked
over to the transparent light coffin. “That’s not up to me to answer.”

Ichigo rested his eyes on her, watching her seemingly
dormant face. A part of him still expected for her to wake up any minute and
say something that would catch him totally off guard.

A minim smirk appeared on his lips and he bent his
head at the melancholy of the situation.

No matter what anyone said, this was still his fault.
He knew Shinji wouldn’t reprimand him about it, but the facts were what they
were: The blond Vaizard had warned him about the dangers of emotional attachment. Shinji
had told him to be careful concerning disembowelling emotions such as love and
hate, he had told him to keep them under reasonable control seen as how he only
recently learned how to control his Hollow. It took decades of training to
completely subdue ones Hollow, even after having cast it to the deepest reaches
of ones soul.

He knew all of that, he had paid attention to the
lessons, but—

style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>“I like this
new you… you look more relaxed… Carefree, almost…”

style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>“That’s the
effect you have on me, Hime…”

style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>“I’m glad
then… that I can give you such feelings. Thank you, Ichigo-kun…for letting me.”

He had wanted to believe it; he had wanted to prove to
himself and to the others that he could handle it. He had wanted to be freed of
his constant troubled mind. Just once, he had wanted to feel carefree… to not
be that goddamned hero everyone so desperately needed.

She was the only one who had made him feel like that.
She had set him free.

Ichigo gulped and lifted his eyes up her body again,
feeling an ardent shame drown his insides.

He had been so selfish.

And this was the result of it all.

But he would fix it and Orihime would suffer no more
because of the love she carried for him. No one else would suffer because they
cared about him, no one else would die. No more blood would be smeared onto his
hands.

It would all end.

“Hachi-san,” he whispered,
catching the large man’s attention. “How long can you preserve her body like
that?”

Hachilang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>
turned his head back to Orihime with a thoughtful expression. “She hasn’t
endured major traumas and her tissues are almost in impeccable state. I can
keep her body from decomposing further for at least a week, but Kurosaki-san
her Chain of Fate—”

The style='font-family:Georgia;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>dyingstyle='font-family:Georgia'> sun coloured the skies class=SpellE>red in the aftermath of the class=SpellE>deluge of earlier, class=SpellE>slowly dissappearing class=SpellE>behind the high buildings of the
city in the distance.

The scent of class=SpellE>fresh raindrops class=SpellE>lingered in the air as a blonde haired
woman stepped out to the class=SpellE>little garden behind
Urahara's small class=SpellE>shoten. With small
steps she class=SpellE>traced the path of class=SpellE>stepstones displayed class=SpellE>beneath her towards
the fish pond in the back of the serene
garden. She let class=SpellE>her eyes go over the class=SpellE>swimming koi varieties
in the water for a while, feeling the class=SpellE>need for some tranquil
moments away from the
constant tormenting thoughts
her mind class=SpellE>pestered her with.

Shestyle='font-family:Georgia'> had been in class=SpellE>utterly shocked class=SpellE>when he had
proven himself to class=SpellE>still live after the destruction
of Las Noches...

Gin Ichimaru, ex
Captain of the 3rd squad of
the Gotei 13, presumed class=SpellE>traitor of the Soul Society, Aizen
Sousuke's right hand and childhood
friend to her...

"Sayonara,
Rangiku... Gomen."style='font-family:Georgia'>

"Gin..." Her
lips formed the class=SpellE>name, but no sound class=SpellE>passed them. Those
words he class=SpellE>had whispered to class=SpellE>her on that day
had burned class=SpellE>within her, scorching
away the image she class=SpellE>always had had
of him.

Everstyle='font-family:Georgia'> since class=SpellE>they were children,
he had in class=SpellE>some way taken
care of her, always made
sure that she class=SpellE>was protected when
the fangs of orphanhoodstyle='font-family:Georgia'> bit themselves class=SpellE>into her naked
skin. Never had she class=SpellE>had to worry about class=SpellE>food or shelter class=SpellE>when he was
with her and as the class=SpellE>years passed by and class=SpellE>they both grew
older, her feelings of
self-worth and gratitude towards
him only class=SpellE>gained in magnitude. She class=SpellE>trusted him with
her life; something class=SpellE>she had never
experienced with class=SpellE>anyone else. Back class=SpellE>then, his smiling
face was a genuineness and a heartfelt reaction,
not the facade he class=SpellE>now wielded in class=SpellE>order to hide his
underlying intentions.

Shestyle='font-family:Georgia'> wondered if class=SpellE>she truly knew
him after all. class=SpellE>Doubt had clouded
up all certainty and only
the memories of how things
once were had been class=SpellE>left on her scarred
heart.

Rangiku cracked
a smile and sighed. "class=SpellE>I'm acting so stupid..."
How many times had class=SpellE>she told herself
that she class=SpellE>wouldn't let herself class=SpellE>drown into nostalgia
like this? class=SpellE>What happened, class=SpellE>happened and there class=SpellE>was no need to go regret class=SpellE>deeds that had
been done.

Shestyle='font-family:Georgia'> kneeled class=SpellE>next to the pond and reached class=SpellE>inside a fold of class=SpellE>her kimono to take out class=SpellE>some bread crumbles
she had saved
from dinner class=SpellE>so she could
now throw class=SpellE>them to the fish. class=SpellE>She watched them
gather to the surface to eat
for a few moments and then sighed,
having decided to go back class=SpellE>inside the house.

Gin was standing
by the porch's door, class=SpellE>leaning against a class=SpellE>wooden pole as he class=SpellE>observed her silently.
"Like a star shining class=SpellE>brightly in the twilight..."
he then whispered
softly, catching class=SpellE>her attention.

Rangiku turned class=SpellE>her head in his
direction and began to stand. "class=SpellE>Ichimaru-san..."

"You hurt class=SpellE>my feelings, Rangiku..." He said
with a saddened class=SpellE>tone in his voice,
moving himself to class=SpellE>sit on the porch class=SpellE>now. "But I expected for class=SpellE>your forgiveness to have the class=SpellE>highest price of class=SpellE>them all."

Shestyle='font-family:Georgia'> didn't class=SpellE>answer him, but class=SpellE>simply walked on.

"Rangiku," Gin class=SpellE>whispered, standing now as class=SpellE>she was about to class=SpellE>pass him. " I class=SpellE>didn’t get a chance to talk to class=SpellE>you back in there… "

Rangiku held
back a gasp at class=SpellE>his sudden movement
and halted briefly. "class=SpellE>Ichimaru-san," class=SpellE>she insisted as class=SpellE>he kept her
from moving on class=SpellE>with an arm stretched out in
front of her.

"Have I lost
it completely?" He class=SpellE>whispered almost class=SpellE>pleadingly, not looking class=SpellE>at her, "Ne, Rangiku, class=SpellE>is it really
gone?"

Shestyle='font-family:Georgia'> closed class=SpellE>her eyes and bent
her head, class=SpellE>bringing one arm up to his class=SpellE>still holding her back. "class=SpellE>I'm not sure if it class=SpellE>really was there
to begin with... The class=SpellE>person I gave it to class=SpellE>doesn't seem to class=SpellE>exist anymore, class=SpellE>Ichimaru-san," Rangiku class=SpellE>whispered, pushing class=SpellE>his arm aside now
and walking back inside the
house.

A new grin class=SpellE>formed on his features
and he sat class=SpellE>himself back down. "Then class=SpellE>you won't be
there to hold me back class=SpellE>when I walk away
again, huh?" The class=SpellE>smirk then dissappeared
as suddenly as it class=SpellE>appeared and he class=SpellE>bent his head.
"This time, I truly am
alone."

The rain had fallen once more during nigh time and had
left the asphalt paths of the small park wet and abandoned in the early hours
of the next day.

Minding her steps and controlling her breathing and
tempo, a young black haired woman ran her daily jog. Up beat tracks played
directly into her ear and she let herself go into the rhythmic of the current
song, briefly forgetting about the troublesome night she left behind her.

About a week ago, Tatsuki received a letter from her
best friend in which she told her that she left for some remote all girls
college. Not only had it been unexpected to receive such news from her, but it
had also caused a growing feeling of worry to surface within her.

It hadn’t been the first time her friend left abruptly
like this and the last time nearly ended in her being killed. If it hadn’t been
for her boyfriend bringing her back, she wouldn’t have known what to do without
her. Tatsuki had discovered that both Orihime and Ichigo possessed supernatural
abilities and that the world they belonged to was far beyond her level of
understanding. She usually felt very protective of her best friend, but when it
came to matters like white masked monsters and sword flinging individuals, she
preferred not to get in the way.

So, when she read the letter she received from
Orihime, she secretly knew it had something to do with those other matters and
that she’d be safe with Ichigo.

But last night, when she came back from a karate
tournament, she could’ve sworn to have seen Ichigo in his Shinigami form
leaping over a roof, holding someone in his arms. From the flailing light hair
he held against his chest, she had deduced it to be Orihime, but she had felt
something strange about it. Usually, she always could sense Orihime’s presence,
but when Ichigo flew over her last night, she couldn’t feel Orihime’s aura even
though she could’ve sworn that she was the one in Ichigo’s arms.

When she went to check at Orihime’s apartment, she
only found a notice pinned against her door saying that the apartment was up
for renting.

She had shrugged her suspiciousness off to weariness
and returned home for a good night of sleep. Yet her dreams seemed to have
chosen to torment her further and by the time it was morning, her initial worry
had taken over thoughts and feelings.

“Ohayou, Karin,” she said
into the phone after she had dialled the Kurosaki’s house phone number, “is
Ichigo home? It’s Tatsuki.”

style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>“Sure.”

A few screeching ‘Ichi-nii’s’
later, she received a groggy sounding Ichigo on the other line.

lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>“Orihime?style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> Yeah, of course she’s fine. We talked
over the phone last night. She seems to like it at her new school—”

At that Tatsuki had raised a sceptic eyebrow. “I saw
you flying over rooftops last night with her in your arms.”

style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>“Last night?
You must’ve seen me rescue someone else. Orihime is not here, Tatsuki. What are
you insinuating?”

“I—” she halted in her words as she thought about his
words. What was she insinuating anyway? Orihime told her she left for a new
school, so why was she even questioning it? “Ichigo,” she then whispered, “If
something was wrong, you’d tell me, right?”

There was a soft sigh on the other side of the line
and then he chuckled, “You worry too
much, baka. She’s fine.”

“Yeah,” Tatsuki smiled briefly, but still didn’t feel
completely reassured. “If you say so… you’re more capable of protecting her
anyway, eh?”

style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>“Yeah… Bye
Tatsuki.”

 “Bye.”

Tatsuki frowned slightly at that. Those last words of
his had sounded almost… sad?

The phone call hadn’t had the effect she had been
hoping for and therefore, she chose to go clear her mind with a good jogging
session, and that explained the reason she was now jumping over a puddle of
mud.

Thick drops of water dripped down the hanging leaves
of the trees above her and she breathed in the moist and fresh air. Though it
was now mid-March** and officially spring, it was still a bit too cold for this
time of the year.

A sudden strong wind blew through the trees, making
the leaves rustle in the restless air. Tatsuki shielded her eyes against the
unexpected meteorological change and took a few steps back. “Maybe this wasn’t
such a good idea after all…?”

She turned off her mp3-player and sighed, bending over
to catch her breath.

A pair of black, point tip leather shoes then suddenly
appeared in her eye sight and Tatsuki slowly lifted her head to see who it was
that so rudely invaded her personal space. Her gaze went up a pair of knee high
boots and a pair of black skin tight jeans. A bright scarlet jacket was the
next thing she saw, covering a black button shirt. She took a step back when
she recognised the impressive cleavage and gasped in surprise when she finally
rested her eyes on an all too familiar face.

“Hey Tatsuki!”lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>

Tatsuki was suddenly taken into a tight embrace. class=GramE>“Orihime!” She lifted her arms up her body in response to
her amicable greeting. “I thought you were at Nakase!
What are you doing here?”

Orihime giggled and let go of her, shaking her long
light brown hair back. “I just went to check it out; I’ll be going over there
in a week to get settled in. Didn’t I tell you so in the letter?”

Tatsuki only smiled and shrugged, “I’m just so glad
you’re here! You left so suddenly!” She then growled and made a fist. “I’m
going to kill that useless boyfriend of yours!”

Orihime cocked her head to the side and giggled, “class=SpellE>Doushite?”

“He never told me you were coming back today! We
talked over the phone this morning and he didn’t tell me anything!”

Orihime chuckled and shrugged, “Maybe he wanted it to
be a surprise of some sort.”

“Yeah right, that guy has lousy ways of surprising
people.” Tatsuki rolled her eyes. Then something hit her. “Demo, Orihime, where
will you be staying? I passed by your apartment—”

“That’s all taken care of, Tatsuki,” The brown haired
girl said with a soft grin. “I’m staying at a hotel with a few friends from
school.”

“Oh,” Tatsuki said, feeling a little disappointed.
“You already made friends?”

“Ne, Tatsuki-chan,lang=EN-US style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>
don’t be jealous!” Orihime happily exclaimed, "lang=EN-US style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>I
just thought it'd be better this way so I wouldn't disturb the peace at your
house."

"Hmm…" Tatsuki pouted slightly but soon
melted before Orihime's apologizing smile. "Okay, but I get visitation
rights!"

"You got it!" Orihime said with a smirk.

"So then, have you seen Ichigo yet?"

The other girl shook her head, "Let him wait a
while longer, you're the one I missed a lot, Tatsuki."

"Come on," Tatsuki said, "so you can
tell me all about that new school of yours," she let her eyes go over
Orihime's unusual get up with an impressed expression,style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  "and your new clothing style at my
place."

Orihime chuckled and they began to walk towards the
exit of the park. She hooked her right arm into her friend's left one before
she cast a look behind her briefly. She then turned again and smiled a
satisfied smile that went unknown by Tatsuki.

Hidden between the thick branches of a tall tree, a
white spiky haired young man watched the two women walk away, a growing sneer
appearing on his lips.

Her eyes blinked open with the first ray of the sun
that managed to break through the packed sky and shine into the room she
occupied, the memories of the past night still present in the back of her head.

Rukia sighed out softly, taking in the position she
was in. A warm hand was resting against her stomach and spooning her against a
strong and muscled body. Her nose picked up his scent and for a fleeting second
she remembered the one good thing that happened the past night.

She placed a hand over his and smiled, feeling how he
took a deep breath, shifted a little and sighed. "Ohayou…"

"Aa… slept well?"
Renji asked groggily, leaning up onto his left elbow so he could look at her
with a small smirk.

Rukia glanced up at him briefly and vainly oppressed a
smile. "Thank you…" she then whispered, looking up to the window
again.

"My pleasure," he whispered back, brushing a
few strands of her hair off her right cheek. Renji smiled lovingly at her,
watching her close her eyes as she sunk deeper into her private thoughts. She
was still worried, he could easily tell and he knew that no words he could come
up with would change that because he was worried too. "Rukia."

She turned her head to his still hovering above hers.

"Let's go search for them later on," he
offered, "Hitsugaya-taichou and Rangiku are
going to stay here to report to the Soul Society and I think that Urahara-san
is going to investigate on the missing Gigai. Why don't you and I go search for
Ichigo and Inoue-san?"

Rukia'slang=EN-US style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>
eyes lit up at that and she nodded. "But, where to look first?"

The redhead gave her a knowing smile and brought his
head closer to hers, "Last time Ichigo disappeared, where did he go?"

"The Vaizard's
lair," Rukia answered with a hopeful smile.

Renji nodded, "It's worth a shot, right?"

She grinned and brought a hand up into his loose hair,
"I never thought you'd be so insightful, I must admit."

He gave her a crooked smile and stole a kiss from her
lips, "I never thought I'd see you act so feminine. Not in a million
years."

"W-what?!" she exclaimed, pushing her off of
him. "I was just worried!"

Renji laughed and crawled on top of her again,
rendering her defenseless as he pinned her wrists on each side of her head onto
the futon with his hands. "I wasn't only talking about that…" he bent
over again and enmeshed their lips into a sultry kiss.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  "I don't know if it was because you were
worried or not, but I loved the way you felt against me last night."

Rukia blushed and opened her eyes to stare into his
warm chocolate ones. "Renji…"

"I can't stand to see you tormenting yourself
like that…" he whispered, trailing kisses the long her jaw line.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  "I want to be there to take those
worries away, Rukia… Please let me."

"Renji…" Rukia smiled, "I don't mean to
be like this… I'm still learning to depend on others and you're the only one
that makes me feel like…" she chuckled in embarrassment and rolled her
eyes as she realized how sappy she sounded.

"Come on…" Renji encouraged with a smile of
his own, "I'm here now, just say it… Feel like what?"

"I'm not used to this!" she laughed,
"I'm not good at explaining how I feel…"

"Daijobou," he
laughed in turn, "then just show me."

Rukia blushed even harder and turned her head away.
"Wasn't last night enough?"

"Last night was last night. It's morning
now."

She chuckled. "Smartass…"

"Then let me go first, okay?" he whispered,
rubbing the tip of their noses together.

Before she could even answer him, he captured her lips
again and kissed her gently; making gentle movements of his lips so she could
follow his lead. Then, he tentatively let his tongue brush against her lips,
taking advantage of her soft gasp to explore her mouth with it. She groaned
softly at the warm tongue tenderly caressing hers and a flash of heat that
pooled into the pit of her stomach made her arch slightly, earning her an
approving grunt from his part. Her hands instinctively dug themselves into his
broad upper arms and she gasped at the little movement of hips he produced
underneath the covers.

"R-Renji…!"

"Shh…" he
soothingly whispered against her cheek, "It's alright… do you feel
good?"

"Hnnn…" Rukia
arched again and bit her lower lip at the pleasure that now coursed through her
system. "This is so not the time for this…"

"Then why are you making all those sexy sounds…?"

She blushed harder at that and hit him over his head, “J-just
shut up…”

Renji chuckled deep in his throat and kissed her again;
rolling them over the futon so she was on top of him. “You know, I think I
prefer you expressing your feelings this way than with words.”

A small vein popped on the back of her head and she
grinned evilly, “Oh really?”

“Yes, most definitely,” he answered back with a
satisfied smile.

“Then let’s see how much you prefer this over a simple
word.” She suddenly grabbed his crotch in her right hand and gave a harsh
squeeze, making the Vice-Captain of the 6^th Squad squeal in horrible
pain.

Rukia demounted him and quickly made her way to the
shoji door, laughing her way out of the room as he set in the pursuit with a
murderous glint in his eyes.

The skies were still packed with the heavy grey clouds
from the past night as the day progressed into late morning, as if wondering
whether they'd let it rain again or not.

A middle aged man was standing on the most southern
bridge tiding over Karasu River, leaning over the
rampart to look at the dark water that tranquilly flowed beneath him.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  He sighed softly and stood up right again,
placing his hands in the pockets of his black pants.

"Dad."lang=EN-US style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>

He turned to look at the orange haired youth that
slowly approached him and gave a stern nod of his head. "How is she?"

Ichigo shifted his gaze to the side and sighed out silently.
"Hachi-san is still keeping her body from
completely dying."

"Then we have 5 days, at most."

Ichigo nodded silently.

"Let me tell you this in advance, Ichigo," class=SpellE>Isshin seriously said, giving his son a brief glance.
"And don't think I'm only saying this because you're my son and I'd have a
lot of explaining to do if something went wrong afterwards, but I'm warning
you. The training I'm going to subdue you to will most likely kill you if you
don't manage to adapt yourself to it the moment it begins."

There was a short silence after those words and then
the young Shinigami took a step forwards. "If I don't succeed with this,
then I'm not worthy of all these powers that have been given to me,"
Ichigo replied with an equally serious expression. "I have
responsibilities and I'm not planning on running away from them."

Isshinlang=EN-US style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>
only gave him a testing look and then turned away from him, snapping his
fingers.

A burst of wind then suddenly blew over the bridge and
Ichigo took in a steadying position against it, keeping his right arm up to
shelter his eyes.

Next to his father a black hole materialized and the
direction of the wind shifted, now sucking the air into it instead of pushing
it away.

Ichigo cast his father a doubtful stare that got
returned with a reassuring one and he quit fighting the pulling force, letting
himself be sucked into the darkness of the hole.

Isshinlang=EN-US style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>
followed his son soon after, walking through the dimensional gate calmly before
it disappeared into a haze of white light.

Japanese Vocabulary List

-Aa / class=GramE>Hai : Yes

-Arigatouclass=GramE> : Thanks

-Bakaclass=GramE> : Idiot

-Chigauclass=GramE> : Wrong/different

-Daijobou: Alright

-Demo: But

-Doushiteclass=GramE> : Why?

-Gomen / Sumimasen:
I’m sorry/ Excuse me

-Hai desu/
Sou desuclass=GramE> : That’s right

-Koboshi: Little star

-Mou ii :
That’s enough

-Nandeclass=GramE> : What

-Ne:style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399'>an Interjection that
can be loosely
translated in English as ‘So’, ‘Well’,
‘And?’, ‘Hey’ or ‘No?’, depending on class=SpellE>its position in the phrasestyle='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>

-Ohayouclass=GramE> : Good morning

-Sayonara : Goodbye

-Shoten: Shop

-Taichou : Captain

style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>Additional
Facts (Facts I learned myself while writing this chapter)

1. Bleach Facts

The Saketsu, or Spirit
boost, is style='mso-ansi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:#333399'>wherestyle='mso-ansi-font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:#333399'> the Chain of Fate is
attached to on Spirits, when
damaged, it class=SpellE>will reduce the class=SpellE>victim's Spiritual Power considerably,
and while it's class=SpellE>very difficult to destroy class=SpellE>it without taking
the Hakusui with class=SpellE>it, it is
rumored that the total
destruction of the Saketsu is
what creates class=SpellE>Hollows.

The Hakusui, tclass=SpellE>heclass=postbody1> "Soul's
Soul", isclass=GramE>  roughly
located in the same
location as where the heart
would be on a living class=SpellE>being. It is the source of
Spiritual Strength, enough
damage sustained there class=SpellE>would remove the class=SpellE>victim's spiritual power. In addition, it's
total destruction would spell
the certain end of that soul for all class=SpellE>eternity...

Excerpts taken from the Bleach/ Advent Forum

2. Japanese Facts

In href="http://www.answers.com/topic/japan" target="_top">style='color:#333399;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Japan,
almost all schools class=SpellE>run a three-term
school year. Most class=SpellE>schools have a first class=SpellE>term from href="http://www.answers.com/topic/april-1" target="_top">style='color:#333399;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>April 1
to mid-July. The exact date of the class=SpellE>beginning of the summer break and
its duration class=SpellE>vary across regions,
but commonly the break lasts
for about one or two months.
The break originated to avoid
the heat in summer, class=SpellE>so elementary and middle class=SpellE>schools in target="_top">Hokkaidō tend to have a shorter
summer break than the class=SpellE>rest of schools in class=SpellE>Japan. A second term class=SpellE>lasts from early
September to late class=SpellE>December with a class=SpellE>winter break at the end of the class=SpellE>year. The term class=SpellE>is followed by a class=SpellE>third term from
early January to class=SpellE>early March and a class=SpellE>brief spring break lasting class=SpellE>several weeks. The href="http://www.answers.com/topic/graduation" target="_top">style='color:#333399;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>graduation class=SpellE>ceremony occurs in
March, and the enrollment ceremony
in early April.style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>

Excerpt taken from Answers.com

Whoa so there you have it, you guys! Yay, I’m
back (finally)! I hope you enjoyed the opening for season 2 of this story (class=SpellE>lol)! A lot of things got revealed here, but the story is
no way near completion yet!

Some of you may have heard it from m ‘secretary’ on msn, but I recently
had a climbing accident and uh… my writing process got slowed down quite a bit
by it, which has resulted in the fact that I won’t be able to update every week
on this story like I previously used to because I haven’t defined the upcoming
chapters yet even if I know for myself what’s next. So I’ll be updating
sporadically from now on, sumimasen!

style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Hontostyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>lang=EN-US style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> class=SpellE>ni arigatou
though for the amount of reviews and levels of support I got so far for this! And
rest assure, I’m not giving up on this! Not ever!

style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>Jastyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>lang=EN-US style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> class=SpellE>ne!

style='font-family:Georgia;color:#333399;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>Upcoming chapter:
9. Majestic Consort – The Obsidian Queen

To be Continued…