R&R

the o'erflow

The journey across the vast lands separating Seireitei from Las Noches wasn't one Ichigo expected to make anytime soon, nor was it one he expected to be as easy as it was with Chile spiriting him across the sky. Unlike the last time he made this arduous trip, it only took a little over half a day to reach Las Noches. Chile truly was heaven-sent to devotedly carry him aloft so many miles the way he had.

Chile panted in the sweltering heat as he flapped his wings, not really having expected to grow so tired from hauling about a hundred and sixty pounds across such a distance. It wasn't really the weight, though Inoue notably weighed less than Ichigo and their journey was far less desperate (after they'd escaped the Capital and gotten a good distance away from it). But he would persist under any circumstance to make himself useful to Ichigo—the human who meant the world to him and more.

At last, Las Noches was in sight, less than a mile away now.

"I can run from here!" Ichigo shouted, trying to be heard over the wild winds whipping past them.

Chile nodded and descended carefully with Ichigo, letting him get a running start as they transitioned from flight to ground travel.

Ichigo took Chile under wing to let him rest as he made tracks in the sand. It had been a while since he last spent time in Las Noches, so he didn't know if he'd be able to just walk through the front gates, especially considering the political climate was awash with mistrust, antagonism, and uncertainty.

But if Inoue was just beyond those walls, he would get through them no matter the cost.

He slowed his pace and found a hiding spot among the plateaus just outside the kingdom's west side where he had a good view of the kingdom's main gate.

"Can I fly you inside?" Chile asked, looking up at his sweat-dripping human counterpart.

Shaking his head disapprovingly, Ichigo continued scouting the area. "I don't look anything like a citizen of this kingdom, and they'd know something was amiss the second they saw me slipping over the walls. We need to find a way to slip inside undetected."

"Should I make a distraction?" the phoenix offered.

Ichigo looked down to him protectively, "I don't need you to put yourself at risk like that. This…" he paused for a moment, "I don't blame you for what happened. You were just trying to help, Chile. I'm not mad about it. Just be more careful going forward, okay?"

Chile nodded, growing emotional and silent.

"Thank you for getting me here so quickly, by the way. You're one amazing creature, you know." A genuine smile of gratitude and awe was presented to him.

The zipper on Ichigo's booksack came undone as Kon looked out.

"The desert?! What the-"

"Quiet, Kon!" the orange-head snipped.

"You REALLY had to come all the way out here… Did you come just to save Orihime, or were you looking to get your royal, asshole of a dickbag boyfriend back in the process?"

"Shut it! Don't make me leave you out here by yourself."

"You wouldn't dare!" the little lion defied, "I have all your little crystals. You can't risk losing those!"

"I could always… take them out of you. Now shut up before I leave you for the buzzards."

Kon squinted in annoyance. Ichigo was the devil incarnate…

Though, if that was the case, what did that make Grimmjow?

"What the hell is that?!" Kon shouted.

Ichigo turned, "I thought I told you to-"

Before he could finish his statement, his brown eyes widened a bit at the sight of a wave of sand approaching at high speed from the east. He was shocked to see young girl at the head of this disturbance, crying her eyes out. She had light teal hair, similar to Nel's. In fact, she looked like she could be related to Nel in some way.

The girl appeared to be running from something, a large monstrous snake-like creature.

As they got closer, he could hear her whining and crying growing louder and louder.

"ICHIIGOOOOOOO!" he heard someone call from the direction he'd just come from. He knew that voice, it was-

"R-RENJI!?" he shouted in confusion.

"So much for being quiet!" Kon snapped from inside the backpack.

Indeed, Renji was fast approaching, riding on Pantera—who was dashing their way with sonic speed, tearing through the desert sand like a cannon ball.

When they reached his location, Ichigo was shocked to see Chad and Rukia also atop Pantera's pack, and Ishida sliding along on Reishi he'd created in a paddleboard-like fashion.

"Yo!" Renji greeted casually.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?!" Ichigo shouted.

"We came to help you, obviously." Ishida informed, "Inoue-san is our friend, too. We're here to help her. And besides that, you've been doing way too much on your own lately. Like we don't exist."

Rukia dismounted and dusted her uniform off, "That's right. Plus, you're clearly either disregarding or are unaware that we're currently at war with Las Noches."

Her words hung in the air, deafening in the unforgiving desert heat. Ichigo stood staring at her for a good minute before speaking again, "What?" he asked, clearly shocked.

"Your idiot boyfriend's little stunt of somehow stealing Inoue from the Capital and bringing her here didn't take long for Seireitei to find out about." Renji told him, dismounting Pantera, followed by Chad.

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo squinted.

"He means they took her and are holding her hostage here so we won't attack, but we all know the Captains are already deliberating on their move to deal with Las Noches once and for all. It's been all over the newspapers and news outlets. The fact that you weren't home when we all came to see you was suspicious, so we made the decision to track you." Ishida said, coming over to Ichigo, looking him over, "On a separate note, there's something… different about you…" he observed, trying to pinpoint what it was.

"Okay, first, Grimmjow had nothing to do with Inoue being brought here." The orange-head corrected.

"How do you know that?" Renji asked.

"Because it was me who had her taken from the Capital." Ichigo lied, "She was just captured before she could make it home. Second, why are you all here if we're at war with them? Was Senna the only one who knew it was a bad idea to follow me?"

"We just told you we're here to help rescue Inoue." Ishida shook his head, "Still missing details, as usual."

"Also, we didn't inform Senna…" Renji admitted, "Her being a Substitute and all, we couldn't risk her joining on this one."

"But civilians are okay?" Ichigo asked.

"We couldn't prevent Ishida and Chad from coming without causing a scene, so here they are." The tattooed Vice-Captain nodded to himself at that sound reasoning.

"What's going on over there?" Chad asked, pointing to the chase ensuing a ways off as Pantera came over to Ichigo's side.

"I… actually don't know..." Ichigo replied.

"How do you plan to infiltrate the kingdom, Ichigo?" Rukia asked, noting the only visible entrance did seem to be heavily guarded.

"Dunno that yet, either."

"Perhaps we could make use of that circus act to be a distraction." Ishida suggested. "There's a lot of sand being kicked up, which could act as the perfect cover for us to slip inside."

"Good idea." Ichigo nodded. "We just have to wait 'til the sand is-"

Suddenly, Pantera let out a resounding roar in the direction of the massive gates. In the wake of his outcry, sand tore into the air and danced about, setting a thick haze in the atmosphere.

"Ooooor we could just go now!" the orange-head declared, making a desperate dash for the kingdom gates. The others hastily tailed after him, not wanting to lose sight of him and become separated… again.

As the guards coughed and fell from the sudden wave of sand, the group all slipped in past them with ease. Ichigo quickly made for cover in the shade of an alleyway where they might not be noticed and reported by any civilians, and the others followed suit.

Peeking out, brown eyes caught sight of the inimitable desert palace in the distance. There, he would find Inoue… and there, he would also find Grimmjow.

"Let's go." He ordered.

"You wanna walk up to the front door and ask for a cup of tea?" Ishida scoffed. "Foreigners who are currently at war with the kingdom, no less-"

"Alright, I get it…"

"We could distract the guards while you sneak in?" Chad offered.

"…No, we'd need official entry." Ichigo informed, "There's more than likely a barrier surrounding the palace, so sneaking in isn't a realistic plan."

"How do you know that?" Rukia asked, looking to see this barrier. "I don't see anything there."

Ichigo recalled Grimmjow showing him the barrier for the first time… or, more precisely, the means to effectively keep him locked in Las Noches like a bird in a cage…

"I've had experience with it in the past." He replied, leaving it at that.

It wasn't like he hadn't broken it before, but breaking it now would give away their clandestine operation.

"Excuse me…?" someone called from behind.

The entire group was taken by surprise and whipped around one by one to find a young boy standing there, looking them over cautiously.

"Shit! A kid?!" Renji cursed.

"We'll have to detain him," Rukia stated.

"N—no! Don't!" Ichigo told them before they could. "I know him…"

The boy was breathing a bit heavily in fear now, but he seemed to calm as he took a better look at Ichigo. He slowly began to smile as he recounted that bright head of orange hair from all that time ago.

"You're that guy! I remember you!" the boy said.

"How's things? Everyone okay at home?" A quick and happy nod was the response he got. "Glad that's the case."

"What are you doing back here? Are you going to attack the kingdom?" the boy asked, clearly hoping otherwise.

"No, we wouldn't do that. We're here to see Grimmjow." The sound of Grimmjow's name encouraged a sour look from the child. Ichigo grinned at his reaction. "Can you help us? We really need to talk to him."

"More like 'I really want to see him again'!" Kon's voice rang from Ichigo's bag.

The boy nodded, "Sure! But you won't get in wearing those clothes. You need something from around here."

After sneaking through the kingdom into the boy's humble little home, Ichigo and the others managed to obtain proper Las Noches attire to blend in with the civilians in these desert lands. Ichigo and Renji, of course, had to cover their hair with turbans to avoid arousing too much suspicion. Red and orange hair weren't particularly common in these areas, nor was a body full of tattoos.

While they waited for Rukia to finish changing, the men stood about in the boy's home. His mother was made aware of them and informed that Ichigo was the one who saved her son that day—a day the townsfolk who witnessed it would never forget.

She offered them what little she had in food and drink, only to be politely turned down (though all of them could have used some water to rehydrate in this unforgiving heat).

"I can't thank you enough for what you did for my Daheli. He's alive because of you. I'm alive because of you." She told Ichigo, offering him a hug.

"It was no big deal, I promise." The orange-head blushed as they parted. "I didn't give him the money to help you, though. The other prince did… the one with pale skin and green eyes."

"Well, if you hadn't stepped in, Daheli would have been killed and I would have died shortly after. So you did more than a little when it came to helping us. And for that, I'm forever grateful to you."

"…Can I ask you something?"

"Certainly." The woman replied.

"How do you feel about Grimmjow? And Aizen?"

Her eyes shifted a tad nervously before the woman spoke again. "Well, Aizen isn't king anymore. Grimmjow is. I haven't had much improvement from one king to the next. Things are still a struggle, and our strained relationship with your kingdom only makes it worse. But a few of the people around here said they had audiences with Grimmjow before he left, and he did try to help make their situations better for them in what ways he could. So maybe something changed about him from the time Daheli encountered him in the streets to now. Must've been something quite profound to make him change his 'kill all beggars' tune to 'they're people in need and we should help them'."

Ichigo smiled for a second, but was swiftly taken aback. "Wait, what? You said, 'before he left'?" he repeated in confusion.

"Oh, yes. He's been away for a couple days now, actually. I think he and his intended were invited out to the desert ruins by Aizen, or something like that… We only hear rumors in town, but many say they saw the royal procession exit through the main gate early one morning before sunrise. You should have seen this girl, though; absolutely gorgeous. I saw her when she first arrived here… She must've been from some faraway land to be that lovely. She's truly a bride worthy of queendom." The woman spoke with fondness… and perhaps a hint of envy that there were apparently no women like that suitable for the king within their own walls.

She couldn't have known what all this information she was innocently divulging had done to the others in the room, most of all to Ichigo.

Gentle winds blew across the vast and blistering desert, from Las Noches to the empty dunes, and even inside the hollow desert ruins. Low howls echoed in the many hallways as it traveled throughout the ancient and near forgotten splendor.

While noticeable, the howling wind was far from the only sounds coming from the majestic ruins. The sound of incessant chattering from the royal procession was something Grimmjow was most unfortunately privy to. The majority of them had come to tend to the Inoue girl, as recommended by Gin and Tousen. She wasn't from a world as unforgiving as the desert, so they imagined the journey here might be one she wouldn't be able to endure alone.

To everyone's surprise, she was quite fine; even offered her water to the servants.

She was very much like Kurosaki, Grimmjow noticed. Maybe it was a Seireitei thing to be so unusually kind. Grimmjow didn't know. All he did know was the wait for Aizen had been too long, the trip here too unnecessary, and the fact that he was asked to bring this girl was too inconvenient.

Not that he'd really paid any attention to her until now, when he had no choice with everyone yapping their heads off to her, asking her a million questions and such.

After a while, he'd had enough and decided to go venturing on his own. Before he could even act on the impulse, everyone suddenly became attentive and the chatting died off.

Turning, cerulean eyes met pale brown ones as Aizen emerged from the main hall, a couple attendants at his side.

It was the first time in what felt like ages since they'd seen each other, and Aizen still had that air about him that was so cold and dark. Not that Grimmjow was particularly intimidated by it, he just knew he'd been called here for a reason. Now it was just a matter of figuring out what it was.

"Greetings, Grimmjow. It's been quite a long time, hasn't it?" Aizen said calmly as he reached their party.

"Yea. What's with the summon?" the bluenette asked, not really in the mood for niceties.

"Forward as always…" the former king observed, "I'd like to discuss something with you… after I have a moment to meet with the young lady, Inoue Orihime. Please go with my attendants to the room we've appropriated for our meeting."

Suspicious…

Grimmjow nodded and let Aizen's little servants guide him. He didn't miss the chance to look over his shoulder and catch the first meeting between Aizen and Inoue.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Inoue Orihime," Aizen began courteously with a quick nod after reaching said girl. "I hope the trip here wasn't too wearying."

It was hot.

Scorching hot.

And that fact was something Renji happened to bring up as a reminder to Ichigo as their party carried on towards the desert ruins—which were in sight, close on the sun-hazed horizon.

"Do you realize what good friends we are to not only come all the way out here for you and Inoue, but to also be basically betraying our kingdom to even try negotiating under our superiors' noses?" the redhead asked.

"I'm more than aware of the tribulations imposed on your being here. Which has me wondering why you didn't just let me come alone." Ichigo retorted, rolling his eyes. It was too hot to have another one of Renji's back and forths…

"I can't knowingly let you—a Substitute Court Guard—come all the way out here into enemy territory by yourself on an incredibly dangerous mission to retrieve a citizen of our very own. You could die! Then what would I do? Lie and pretend I didn't know anything?"

"A sure way to have your conscious eat away at you for the rest of your tenure as a Court Guard. Probably the rest of your life." Ishida chimed casually.

"GEE, THANKS, ISHIDA!" Renji shouted, briefly looking over his shoulder at the bespectacled man.

Ishida nodded in compliance, then fanned himself for a moment—the sweltering heat even getting to him at this point.

"Quiet, we're getting close to the ruins. Also, it seems the information we received was accurate. Look at all the footprints." Rukia told them.

Renji slowed his pace, urging everyone to do the same. "Everyone, keep your guard up."

The child from earlier clung to Ichigo as they neared their destination. She seemed to trust him implicitly. She hadn't really told them what was going on earlier, and when they made their way out of the kingdom, she seemed to just conveniently find them and follow without question.

"It'll be okay." He assured her.

The girl smiled, and after a few seconds, she cautiously began walking again, feeling safer with Ichigo and the others around. However, as soon as she let her guard down, she found herself sinking slowly into the sand.

"Ah! Itsygo!" she shouted, looking back at him in pure horror.

Though he meant to speed up and help the girl, Ichigo found it increasingly difficult to move his feet.

"We've stumbled into quick sand!" Ishida shouted, trying desperately to pull his feet out from the trap.

"Why can't we get out of it?" Rukia asked. Normally, they should've just been able to Flash Step out of something like this, but that wasn't the case this time. It was as if their energy was being bound to the land.

"Why does this always happen when we go somewhere under Abarai's command?!" Ishida shouted, falling over in his continued attempts to free himself.

Chad tried to help him up to no avail, as he began sinking even quicker than Ishida had.

"Shut up!" Renji snapped, sinking even faster than the rest.

Ichigo looked back and saw even Pantera was struggling to escape.

The young girl ahead cried out even louder before opening her mouth and firing what appeared to be a Cero, propelling herself backwards and crashing directly into Ichigo. The force pushed them back, but by this time they were all so submerged that it didn't manage to actually help them so much as it put more distance between them and the others.

"Ichigo! Aaah-" Rukia cried out as she was the first to fully be consumed by the sands.

"No, Rukia!" Ichigo shouted.

"RUKIAAAA!" Renji raged as he, too, succumbed to the sand.

Ichigo grabbed onto the little girl, holding her tightly as Ishida, Chad, and Pantera sunk. Then, even as he struggled and tried his damndest to escape, his struggle was quickly ended as the sand pulled him under.

~O~

Darkness in any direction was the only thing Ichigo could see. It was incredibly wet and grimy, not to mention hard to breathe… Ichigo stood as much as he could after his head grazed what he imagined was wet sand. Holding the girl under his arm, he trudged his way forward, trying to reach his friends' faint Reiatsu signals. Hopefully they were alright.

It took a while to come to a place where there was actual sunlight again, yet Ichigo still hadn't reached a single one of his friends.

He did arrive in a very large very dry room, digging his way up into it. After placing the girl onto solid ground, he climbed up and took a moment to catch his breath in the more breathable atmosphere.

Taking a look around, he noticed the various ancient markings where the sun shined into the room through the cracks and openings in the ceiling. If he'd been here under different circumstances, perhaps documenting these hieroglyphs would be appropriate for study.

Along the floor, from the spots he could see in the sunlight, there was an intricate pattern crissing and crossing its way to the center of the massive hall. He slowly made his way to the center and stared down at what appeared to be a hole of sorts with a faint glimmer inside.

"What is this…?" he asked, kneeling to investigate further.

The sound of footsteps echoed off the walls in the empty room, and Ichigo turned to face the intruder.

"Kurosaki-kun…?"

Ichigo felt his breath hitch in his throat to see Inoue at the entrance to the chamber. She hurried his way the moment she knew it was him standing there under sunlight.

Her arms wrapped around him tightly and warmly in the sun. Ichigo stood frozen for a second at this sudden reunion, and quickly returned the hug and buried his nose in her soft hair as the impairment wore off. It felt so good to have her this close to him again after all they'd been through. Just to feel her soft body against his own again tugged at his heartstrings.

"Inoue… Are you alright?" he asked, parting from her to carefully look her over. She was wearing an all-white, princess cut gown that spoke to notions of royalty. It seemed very breathable with openings in the arms and stomach, probably for comfort in this desert heat.

With a nod, Inoue wiped a tear from her eye. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm here to bring you home where you belong. For good."

The mere idea brought shock to the girl's face. "I—"

"You want to go home, right?"

"Of course! But… don't you think it'll be hard to—"

Before Inoue could finish, a sudden and low rumbling began in the area. Ichigo grabbed hold of her protectively.

"Taf'hael," a cool voice echoed in the hall.

Ichigo spun around to locate the source, but the floor began glowing a faint gold in the shapes of the intricate pattern from before. From the high-climbing stairway at the other end of the hall, a figure descended. And when he stepped into the light, Ichigo moved to the center in an attempt to draw attention away from Inoue.

"Aizen!" he hissed.

There he was, the man behind it all. The one behind the treachery, chaos, and warfare that Seireitei and even Las Noches had been plunged into dating all the way back to his departure from his station as a Court Guard Captain.

"Kurosaki." Said man greeted ever so calmly, offering a handsome smile after doing so.

"You're the one behind all this… What do you want with Inoue!? Why are you causing all this chaos between the kingdoms!? Don't you even care about the citizens who suffer as a result of your actions!?"

"You have many questions, but after today, I don't think any of your inquisitions or their answers will hold any relevance to you." Aizen replied as he stopped his descent midway.

His brown eyes moved between Ichigo and Inoue for a moment, then he raised his hand in their direction.

Ichigo made to draw his sword, but the feeling of something cold and abrupt against his skin stopped him. He faltered for a moment, blinking and suddenly breathing erratically. After his breathing began to hitch, he coughed and saw blood splatter to the glowing ground below. It was then he noticed what had happened.

His chest had been pierced from behind; a blade of silver-white stained in blood sticking out from his chest.

He stood there growing weak, and lifted his hand to the blade. Removing it might do more harm than good, but why had this happened in the first place?

"KUROSAKI-KUN!" Inoue's bloodcurdling scream tore across the hall as he fell to his knees.

The walls began glowing in what appeared to be a type of forcefield as more footsteps began echoing in the hall.

Ichigo turned slowly and he nearly fell over to see the man he loved stepping into the sunlight. Grimmjow's gaze was cold and distant as he reached Ichigo, knelt beside him, and quickly removed the sword from Ichigo's back.

"G—Grimm—Grimmjow…?!" he coughed as more blood spewed from his lips.

"Ichigo!" Rukia cried out.

Those within the forcefield turned and saw Renji's group entering the hall, only to be halted dead in their tracks by the divine wall of energy.

Renji began punching it desperately, bloodying his fists in the process, "NO! ICHIGO! I KNEW THAT BASTARD WAS NO GOOD! LET US INTO THIS DAMN HALL!" he roared.

Rukia began chanting incantations for Kido as Ishida and Chad began attacking the wall as well to try shattering it.

Grimmjow stood and watched the blood begin to slowly leave Kurosaki and run the pattern on the floor.

Aizen stood on the stairway above, watching Kurosaki bleed out at Grimmjow's hand. It was the choice he hadn't expected Grimmjow to make, but either way it went, he was going to get what he wanted.

A second doorway appeared at the top of the stairs, filling the room with light as it slowly opened. He turned and a genuine smile found its way to his face. This was the result he'd been waiting for all these years. The culmination of years of research and planning and waiting, it all came together here and now.

Before Inoue could approach, Grimmjow aimed his sword—still dripping in Ichigo's blood—in her direction. "Heal him and die." He told her with death in his eyes.

Inoue took in a breath and fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she was forced to watch Ichigo bleed to death right before her very eyes.

After meeting Ichigo's hurt and betrayed eyes one last time, watching the life drain from them, Grimmjow started on to meet Aizen on the stairway.

"DON'T YOU—WALK AWAY FROM ME, GRIMMJOW!" Ichigo shouted, trying to get up on to his feet and failing miserably.

Grimmjow halted, yet kept his back to Ichigo.

"LOOK AT ME! HOW COULD YOU—ABANDON ME AND HAVE THE NERVE TO TAKE INOUE!?" he coughed his question out, "I THOUGHT—I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO BE TOGETHER!" he cried, falling onto his arms in pain. "I LOVED YOU! I WAS THERE FOR YOU WHEN THE WHOLE WORLD TURNED ITS BACK ON YOU!"

He coughed out more blood and let the tears fall even more. The blood was inhibiting his speech a little, but he had to get this out, "I HATED YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME AND MY FRIENDS! I HATED YOUR ATTITUDE! I HATED YOUR DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE! BUT I THOUGHT YOU'D CHANGED SINCE WE SPENT ALL THAT TIME TOGETHER! I THOUGHT—YOU LOVED ME, TOO! WAS I WRONG!? DID YOU JUST USE ME TO GET YOUR POWER BACK?! YOU KNOW YOU MEANT THE WORLD TO ME AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME!? ANSWER ME YOU DAMN TRAITOR!"

Grimmjow turned and made his way back to Ichigo before kneeling in front of him. Leaning in he took him by the chin and looked into his eyes for the last time.

All the others watched frozen in horror and suspense as Grimmjow leaned in and seemed to speak something into Ichigo's ear that left him crippled in place without a single further objection.

After he'd spoken his silent piece, Grimmjow stood and headed to meet Aizen again. This time, Ichigo couldn't protest at all. He was frozen in time, processing and coming to understand what Grimmjow had told him. The moment eventually passed, and Ichigo collapsed, motionless and blood filling the floor.

Inoue sat paralyzed from the trauma she'd bore witness to. The only thing in motion were the tears still steadily running down her cheeks.

Aizen exited the chamber, entering the light with a satisfied look on his face. Grimmjow followed after, exiting the room without a single glance over his shoulder. It was all in the past now, and the future—his future… was just ahead…

"INOOOOOUUUEE!" Renji shouted, trying to shake her from the utter mental breakdown she was certainly cast into. "HEAL ICHIGO!" he desperately ordered.

"INOUE, PLEASE!" Rukia called.

Inoue trembled and shook, trying to call Ayame and Shun'o forth…

A great rumbling began in the chamber, and suddenly it began to crumble. The entire ceiling started to cave in piece by piece. Renji and the others dodged as many as they could as they watched Inoue collapse from the trauma. It wasn't long before the entire chamber gave in to its own weight and buried them in the hot dire sands of fate.

"To be asked to take this plunge: to forgive and forget, and be the better man. To be a better man. To be a better man [...] Make all your last demands, for I will forsake you. And I'll meet your eyes for the very first time, for the very last…" – Of Monsters and Men