"Save Me, Kuchiki"
by Nathan J Xaxson
Second Tale in the Kuchiki Salvation Trilogy
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters.
Rating: T (15+) - language, emotional themes, action scenes
Summary: Yoruichi sends Rukia to look for Urahara, but uncovers a conspiracy of legendary consequences.
Status: This is the sequel to "Save This For Kuchiki" and is the second story in the Kuchiki Salvation Trilogy. This trilogy follows manga canon until the end of chapter 395, "The Burnout Inferno 3", but assumes a different series of events afterwards.
Please read, review, and recommend! Cheers! -njx
Love means one is near
None should ever die alone
Even death itself
-:-
Kurotsuchi Mayuri slammed his ghost-white hands on his keyboard. "Damn that Urahara!" he swore, gritting his teeth in frustration. "Nemu, get over here!"
-:-
"Ichigo, look out!"
The orange-haired shinigami turned to watch the hollow's tail coming right at him. Swinging Zangetsu harder than the mythological Grim Reaper would wield his scythe, Ichigo cleaved off the appendage with a furious grunt. It started to scream in agony, but it's roar was stifled as Rukia blasted a blaze of blue fire down its throat. Ichigo went in for the kill, bringing his sword down and slicing the hollow in two from head to hole, causing it to explode in a cloud of dust.
The terrified plus shielded its face in terror as a small but imperial woman walked towards him. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," Rukia comforted. The plus let down his guard, and the woman's deep indigo eyes and warm smile disarmed him. Her white scarf blew behind her in the wind, and she put her hand on his shoulder.
Ichigo was strapping Zangetsu onto his back, and huffed over. The plus seemed a bit frightened, seeing as how the funny-haired young man in front of him was somehow strong enough to lift a sword nearly as big as his entire body. Rukia gently patted the lost soul's shoulder to reassure him. "Ready for konso, Ichigo?"
"Nah, you can get it this time," he shrugged as though he couldn't be bothered. "They always freak out when I do it."
Rukia laughed. "Of course they would, after seeing you swinging that freakishly huge thing all over the place," she teased. "You need better bedside manner," invoking Yuzu's common critique at the clinic. Now that it had been summer, the entire Kurosaki family (which included Rukia), was on full-time duty at the clinic.
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, putting his hands behind his head in his usual 'whatever' pose.
Rukia turned back to the lost soul and took his hand carefully. The soul seemed a bit wary of what was going to happen next, but the woman in front of him seemed genuinely good-natured, so he wasn't startled when she took his index finger and placed it on the end of the hilt of her sword, which was still sheathed. The soul could feel some sort of inscription on it.
"You feel it?" she asked. "That's the konso insignia. Now don't be alarmed, okay? I'm just going to take out my sword and tap that little symbol onto your head. Are you ready?"
The soul looked a bit confused but nodded tentatively.
"Don't worry, this won't hurt," Rukia said as she slowly drew her sword from its ivory sheath, pearls silently dangling. Never pointing the blade in the direction of the plus so as not to scare him, she carefully raised it up to his eye level and gently touched it right between his eyes.
The plus seemed more surprised at the fact that she didn't stab him than the fact that he was now surrounded in blue light; but before he could say anything, the carrot-top waved to him and said, "Good luck. Soul Society's not a bad place. Maybe we'll see you there sometime."
Startled at the warrior's soft-hearted tone, the plus broke out into a smile. The last gesture Ichigo and Rukia could see as he disappeared was a return wave, with a soft goodbye that could be seen on his lips but not heard.
"Oi, that's a wrap. Rukia, let's get back to bed, I need to sleep."
"What's a matter, Ichigo? Two months off and all of a sudden a little hollow hunting interferes with the mighty hero's schedule?" she smirked, folding her arms.
"Very funny, bonehead. C'mon, let's go." Ever since they came back after Rukia's promotion, he had replaced his usual taunt of 'midget' with this new one. The bone hairpin that Byakuya had given her was actually quite beautiful - it was a simple yet elegant rectangular clip made from the Ninth Espada's mask, and he knew Rukia treasured it. Still, he couldn't resist. It was too much fun to piss her off.
Rukia seethed, and Ichigo didn't see the kick coming because he had already started walking back home. Chewing on dirt, grass, and feeling the tickle of an ant crawling up his nose, he started to get up when she walked over him, deliberately stepping on the back of his head as she walked past. Ichigo spit out another mouthful of mud and got to his feet, muttering about how at some point he was going to have to remember to control his impulsive mouth.
Rukia hopped back into her gigai on the floor of Ichigo's room a few moments before he crawled in through the window. Cricking her neck and rotating her shoulders to make sure it fit right, she stretched out a bit. Since her promotion, and finding Chappy in a compromising position with Kon, she had reconsidered leaving her gigai lying around without a soul; despite the fact that she had often chastised Ichigo for using his badge instead of futzing around with the perverted lion plushie.
Finding it comfortable, she felt a slight tinge of relief wash over her. As much as she had learned to love the new role she had grown into at Soul Society, she loved the freedom of the real world and the cozy, homey feeling of her gigai. So much had happened since she had donned the 13th division's vice captain badge, but she attributed most of the change to her new Kuchiki attire. She was so proud to finally feel accepted into the family, and her relationship with Nii-sama had subtly changed now that she knew he wasn't ashamed of her; but she hadn't quite anticipated how the white scarf, pin, and sheath would change her life so drastically.
Gone were the days when she was just another shinigami; where she could hide her nobility and where she attracted little attention. Unless they knew she was a Kuchiki, few could pull her out of a crowd. She was never physically intimidating, nor did she have any particular distinguishing characteristics like Matsumoto, Kotetsu Isane, or even Ise Nanao's glasses. Now, though, hiding in a crowd was impossible. She was full-blown royalty now - everyone who passed her treated her with a completely different level of respect. Being treated with the detached demeanor of humility, like they did for Byakuya-sama, was a bit new to her.
Even amongst the lieutenants, whom she considered equals, it had been a bit of a surprise. In her first vice captain meeting, which were held every other weekend, Sasakibe Chojiro had made a motion to make her Head Lieutenant, seeing as how it had been the first time in ages that someone from the Four Houses had become a vice captain. The motion was unsurprisingly seconded by Ise Nanao, who Rukia knew she could not dissuade. Nanao was too much of a feminist to balk at the idea of having a female Head Lieutenant. Matsumoto and Hinamori were on board as well - even though they both knew Rukia would never want such the title - and Yachiru was enamored with the idea. Kotesu Isane (who deeply respected Rukia for both sparing and then saving her younger sister Kiyone, despite the trouble she had caused Rukia) immediately put the issue to a vote; and before Rukia could protest, it was a unanimous decision to elect her as Head Lieutenant. When Rukia asked Sasakibe what additional responsibilities were required of her new role, she was embarrassed to hear that it a nominal position - the title was quite literally nothing more than a way of giving her "the due honor as a member of the Four Houses". She debated personally gouging out Sasakibe's eyes, but the antics that worked with Ichigo likely wouldn't fly with him.
Rukia was never one to chase honor, and that was why she was always relieved when she could return to the real world. The suffocating aspects of her nobility were not relevant here, and she was free to eat ice cream with Orhime, watch a movie with Ichigo, or lounge around in a simple sundress without needing a proverbial royal honor guard.
She was suddenly awoken from her musings when Ichigo let out a yelp. "AAAUGH!" he yipped as his soul went back into his body.
Rukia dashed to his side. "Ichigo! What's wrong!"
Sitting up, Ichigo tried to reorient himself. Rukia had a hand on his shoulder and another on his leg, and her dark eyes were worried. She waited for him to say something. "Ugh," he groaned. "I'm fine."
"What happened?" she asked, not relaxing even in the slightest.
"Nothing, I just got jolted. I must've been sleeping funny or something."
Rukia shriveled her brow. "Do you want to see Urahara-san tomorrow?"
"Nah, I'm fine, really." He was exhausted, though. "Ugh, I gotta sleep," he said, lying back down. "Rukia, wake me up in the morning, 'kay?"
"Sure thing," she said, and then tucked him in. It was one of those odd, lovingly gestures that she was trying to get used to giving him, but she was too worried to let her discomfort get in the way. She wanted to stroke a loose strand of fiery hair out of his eyes, but the gesture would have been too intimate for her. Rukia was still trying to sort out exactly what she was and was not comfortable with.
This is all my fault. If I hadn't asked him to let me do this on my own, he'd probably be fine. But no, I have my stupid pride. Two months without any shinigami action must have done something to him, she fretted.
When Rukia and Ichigo came back after her promotion, Rukia made Ichigo promise her that for the next two months, he would leave her to do all of the hollow slaying on her own. Ishida-kun and Sado-kun would take the weekends when she was back in Soul Society, but Rukia needed to do these two months without his help. She knew that he didn't like the idea, mostly because he hated staying home when he felt it was his job to protect everyone, but she insisted. The whole affair had started when she was on assignment in Karakura, and she failed to complete her assignment properly because she was nearly killed. When she explained it to Ichigo, he reluctantly agreed. Rukia needed to come full-circle; she needed closure from that fateful day.
Not that she wasn't grateful - Rukia didn't want to imagine what her life would have been like had she not stabbed Ichigo through his heart that day. She was too bound to him, this part shinigami, part human, part hollow soul that had filled some deep void in her she had since the death of the previous 13th division vice captain. Despite this, Rukia needed these two months for herself, almost to prove to herself that she was capable. It wasn't that she doubted herself - she didn't, not even for one second - but in her subconscious, it was as if the day she brought Ichigo into the world of the shinigami was the very beginning of the Winter War, and this was the last thing she needed to do to attain closure.
Closure, she thought. It's all because of that stupid pride of mine that there's something wrong with him. Rukia waited another moment to make sure Ichigo was sleeping soundly. She then used the bathroom and went back to bed, gazing over at her 'twin sisters'. She was very fond of both of them and was glad that they were both still sleeping.
Her anxiety made it hard to fall back to sleep. She considered pulling out her glove so she could keep watch over Ichigo in shinigami form, but she knew he would hate that. Anyway, if something really was wrong, he would tell me, she reasoned, and drifted off to sleep.
Ah, foreshadowing. More to come soon! If you like it so far, now's a good time to read "Save This for Kuchiki" [shameless plug, I know].