Schism

Chapter 1: Portents

Ichigo Kurosaki stared down at the pile of paperwork on the desk in front of him, dismayed at how blank all of it was. He'd been toiling at it for what felt like hours, but the stack just never seemed to shrink.

He tried to refocus himself on the task at hand, but Ichigo's mind kept wandering back to the fact that his mother had finally drawn the short straw for frontline medical work out in the field. No matter how many times she'd told Ichigo that she could handle herself, it still didn't change the fact that every fatality suffered by the Fourth Division for the past century had occurred on the frontlines of an expedition.

Sighing, he blinked and looked back down at the top form on the stack.

His brush had dripped ink on the paper, covering whole sections of the form with black splotches.

"Shit!"

"Lieutenant Kurosaki," a calm, controlled voice called out from the doorway, "would you like me to take care of those?"

"No thanks, Toshiro," Ichigo called over, not looking up as he tried to start on a new sheet. "You deserve a break more than anyone in this Division."

An errant brushstroke brought another few curses screaming out of Ichigo, and Toshiro Hitsugaya sighed.

"Please, Lieutenant," he said, walking the rest of the way up to the desk, "I insist. You might want to get some air."

Ichigo thought about protesting, but in the end even he had to admit that his concentration was completely shot.

"Thanks," he said as he rose, making his way slowly towards the door. "When Rangiku gets here, could you tell her I left those persimmons she asked for in the cupboard? Second shelf down."

"Of course."

Ichigo left without another word, feeling as guilty as he always did when this happened. He didn't know if Toshiro had a compulsion to fill out forms, the rest of the Tenth Division's top brass was just lazy, or both, but that kid seemed to do about ninety percent of all of their paperwork.

But what unnerved Ichigo even more than that was Toshiro's absolutely perfect track record. Not a single error, on any form, ever.

"I bet he's some sort of machine-Shinigami Captain Urahara invented," Ichigo mumbled, his thoughts in three places at once while the afternoon sun shined down on him.

"Toshiro pickin' up all your paperwork again, Ichigo?"

The unexpected question yanked the Lieutenant out of his thoughts, and he looked over to see the face of the Fifth Division Captain, Shinji Hirako, smiling back at him. Ichigo did his best to look properly embarrassed at being found out, but he was too worried to care about putting on appearances. And it must have showed, because the smile quickly faded from Shinji's face.

"What's eating ya?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit," Shinji was quick to reply, cutting off Ichigo's forward stride with an arm raised in front of the Lieutenant's chest. "Tell me."

Ichigo relented with a sigh.

"My mom drew frontline duty today."

Shinji said nothing for a moment, his eyes questioning.

"That's it?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said, surprised and taken aback by how dismissive the Captain sounded. "That's a big deal, Shinji."

"For a Fourth Seat, maybe," Shinji allowed, "but your mamma ain't no Fourth Seat. She'll be fine."

"People keep saying that like it'll actually make a difference," Ichigo said glumly, completely missing a round of greetings that some Tenth Division troops sent his way. They left looking disappointed, and Ichigo kept on walking.

"What're you doing over here, Shinji?" he asked after a few more moments, sounding like himself again. "Any message you need to give to my dad?"

"Nah," Shinji answered, looking up appreciatively at a tall oak tree, its leaves glinting red and gold in the sun. "Just felt like a change of scene."

Ichigo was almost certain the Captain wasn't telling him the whole truth, but he knew better than to try and pry something out of Shinji when he wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Where's Lieutenant Aizen?" Ichigo asked, deftly changing the subject. Shinji shrugged.

"Off showing his shikai to the new grads. It's that time a' year again."

"Why do you think he keeps bothering? His shikai isn't even that impressive."

Shinji snorted.

"Why do you think? He loves the attention."

"Really? I didn't think he was that kind of guy."

"That's 'cause you don't know Sousuke like I do, Ichigo," Shinji said, looking the Lieutenant in the eyes. "And if yer smart, you'll keep it that way."

Ichigo was caught off-guard by the seriousness in Shinji's voice, and knew he should probably try to change the subject again.

Before he could say anything else, though, a startled chorus of voices nearby broke the awkward silence.

"Captain Shiba! Welcome back, sir!"

"At ease, boys," Ichigo heard his father say, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"There he is. Hopefully Toshiro left some paperwork for him to do, but I doubt it."

Isshin came walking into view a few moments later, his pace hurried and expression intense.

"Hey, Ichigo," he said shortly, before turning to Shinji. "I saw one. Out in Hueco Mundo, with my own eyes," the Captain of the Tenth Division told his friend. "She had the same kind of reiatsu as the mask fragments Kisuke keeps around in his lab. That can't be a coincidence. They're real."

The two Captains lapsed into silence, Isshin looking as troubled as Shinji did contemplative. Ichigo quickly got the sense that he wasn't supposed to be there, and turned to leave without saying goodbye. He made his way back inside the halls of Tenth Division, not feeling much better than he had when he'd left.

"Ichigo? Hey, Ichigo!"

"What's up, Rangiku?"

"A butterfly came for you," the Tenth's Third Seat, Rangiku Matsumoto, told her Lieutenant. "Looks like Captain Kuchiki's working late tonight, so Hisana's having a get-together at her place." Rangiku paused, her eyes slowly taking on a gleam that Ichigo was all too familiar with.

"Say, Ichigo," she said sweetly, "are you sure—"

"Yes, I'm sure I can't bring you with me," Ichigo interrupted her, "and I can't smuggle back any of the Kuchiki House sake, either."

"You're as mean as your father," Rangiku pouted, but Ichigo just laughed.

"No," he said, "I'm not." His smile widened. "I just don't want Lieutenant Ichimaru getting the wrong idea."

Rangiku instantly turned scarlet, and Ichigo left in a hurry before she could say anything else.

"Look," Kukaku Shiba said after she'd finished off a swig of sake, "all I'm saying is this— we need to get you a girlfriend, bro. Our clan's gonna die off at this rate."

"That ain't something you can rush, and you know it," Kaien Shiba replied, while Rukia Kuchiki tried and failed to completely hold in a snicker. "Don't think I didn't hear that, Kuchiki. Extra paperwork for you tomorrow."

"Still worth it," Rukia said, drawing a laugh from her older sister, who sat near the head of the table across from Kukaku.

"She has a point, Kaien-dono," Hisana said. "And you can't even blame Ichigo for doing the same thing, since he gave you his place in the succession… but still, I'm not sure how long he'll be alone for," she finished, flashing Ichigo a sidelong, mischievous smirk that reminded him uncomfortably of Rukia. He fought not to blush, failing miserably. Kaien was quick to come to his cousin's rescue, laughing and waving his hand dismissively.

"You can drop the 'dono', Hisana-chan," the Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division said. "I'm not the clan head yet, and hopefully I won't be for a long time."

"I'll drink to that," Renji Abarai broke in, raising his cup in a toast. "To Isshin Shiba!"

"You'll drink to anything, Renji," Kaien said from across the table, taking a measured sip of his own sake.

"Like you're any better," Kukaku said, finishing her cup with a gulp that almost made Hisana wince. "How you can even keep a girlfriend for more than a week, I have no idea."

"Must be that natural Shiba charm," Kaien said, the theatricality in his voice thick enough to make Rukia laugh so hard she spat half a mouthful of sake across the table, all over Ichigo.

"Maybe you're on to something," Hisana said with a smile, as Ichigo looked in vain for something to wipe himself off with. "He does look a lot more charming now."

Kukaku howled with laughter, and Ichigo just wanted to sink underneath the table. Unfortunately, that method of escape was impossible. Sighing, he quickly finished the rest of his dinner and excused himself. As he walked toward the washroom Ichigo could vaguely hear the others begin to leave the table as well, signaling the end of the meal. He tried not to feel anxious as he splashed water on his face, but couldn't ignore his instincts.

Ichigo walked out into the hallway and found Rukia leaning against the wall opposite him, looking apologetic.

"Sorry," she said, pushing herself forward and walking towards Ichigo. "Did it all come off?"

"Yeah," he answered as he took a step of his own, stopping close enough to her for a whisper to be heard clearly. "I forgive you."

"Lucky me," Rukia said with a smile. She leaned forward and kissed him, and Ichigo leaned into it gratefully. He was glad to have something to take his mind away from his worries, if only for a moment.

But Rukia suddenly stepped back just a few moments later, when she noticed how tense Ichigo was.

"What's wrong?"

Ichigo hesitated for a moment, his eyes a mess of conflicted emotions.

"I'm worried about my mom," he said, and Rukia's concern was instantly plain on her face.

"I need to go make sure she's gotten back safe," Ichigo finished.

Rukia nodded.

"I understand." She hugged him. "Be careful, if you go out looking for her."

"I will."

Rukia smiled into his shoulder, his warmth as comforting as ever.

"Love you."

"Love you, too," Ichigo said, and then he was gone.

On his way out, Ichigo passed by Hisana, who was watching Kukaku and Renji talking on a nearby couch with a smile on her face.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she replied. "I'm just wondering how long it'll take him to screw up his guts and just tell her."

Ichigo shook his head.

"Any other woman, I'd agree. But you don't know Kukaku like we do, Hisana."

She shrugged, turning her attention to Ichigo.

"And you," she said to him, "you're no better. You going to make her wait forever?"

Now it was Ichigo's turn to smile, and he flashed a smirk that rivaled Hisana's best.

"What makes you think she's still waiting?" he said quietly, before turning around and walking away without another word.

Behind him, Hisana's look of stunned understanding slowly turned into a grin, and she shook her head.

"Kids," she muttered. "Good thing Byakuya doesn't know yet, or he'd go nuts."

Outside, Ichigo closed his shihakusho against a sudden gust of wind. He was about to go hurrying off into the night when he heard Rukia call out from behind him.

"Ichigo!"

He turned to see her heading swiftly towards the door of the Kuchiki household, crossing the threshold to stand next to him outside.

"Do you want some company?" Rukia asked, pulling a thicker robe the rest of the way on to protect against the cold. Ichigo smiled.

"Sure. Let's go."

They made their way in the direction of the Fourth Division, moving at an easy jog in order to travel quickly over the uneven ground, and more safely than using shunpo.

"She definitely should have sent a butterfly by now," Ichigo said as they moved along, Rukia easily keeping pace next to him. "Something's not right."

"I'm sure Captain Unohana would've let us know if something had happened to her," Rukia said reassuringly. "She's probably just getting formally relieved over at the Fourth Division."

They traveled the rest of the way in silence, glad to see that the lights of the Fourth Division's headquarters were still lit when they arrived.

Ichigo all but ran down hallway after hallway looking for someone on duty, Rukia hurrying along behind him. Ichigo could feel his anxiety rising with each passing minute that no one appeared, fearing the worst.

"Can I help you, Ichigo? Rukia?"

The immaculately calm voice of Captain Unohana stopped the Lieutenant and the Third Seat dead in their tracks, and they turned to face her.

"Is my mom back yet?" Ichigo asked, his heart sinking when Unohana shook her head.

"There were many more wounded than we expected," the Captain explained. "Lieutenant Kurosaki insisted on going back out into the field to keep treating as many as she could."

Ichigo and Rukia gave polite nods of thanks in parting and walked away, waiting until they were around the corner to break into a run. The halls of the Fourth Division rushed by them, and soon enough they were back outside again.

Ichigo stopped for a moment, focusing just long enough to locate his father's reiatsu near the Twelfth Division's building.

"Come on," he said. "We're going over to the Twelfth Division."

Using shunpo to speed through the streets and just barely avoiding a few crashes with drunken pedestrians, Ichigo and Rukia skidded to a halt not far from Isshin, who was in the middle of a conversation with his fellow Captains, Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihoin.

"… and do you think the reverse might be possible, Kisuke?"

"I've come across some theories that suggest it might be, but I have no idea how it'd be done. Not to mention, it'd be incredibly dangerous…" His eyes caught sight of the new arrival, and Kisuke stopped mid-thought. "Ichigo-kun? Rukia-chan? What're you doing all the way out here?"

"Sorry for interrupting, Urahara-san," Ichigo apologized, before looking over at his father. "Captain Unohana said mom had gone back out to heal some more people," he said. "Have you seen her at all?"

"Yeah, a little while ago," Isshin answered. "She was tired, but all she told me was that she had more work to do. Then she went back into the forest. You worried?"

"Yeah," Ichigo admitted, not bothering to hide his unease in front of them. "I'm gonna go check it out."

"Ichigo," his father called out to him, stopping his son as he was about to leave, "If your mother can handle being married to someone like me, she can handle a couple of Hollow. If you're ever gonna take my place someday, you have to learn to have some faith in what other people can do."

Ichigo only hesitated for a moment before he vanished anyway, and Rukia was quick to follow him. Yoruichi looked over at Isshin, ready to move.

"Want me go with them?"

Isshin shook his head.

"They can handle themselves. Besides," the Captain continued, shifting his gaze as he picked up on Kaien's reiatsu signature nearby, following in the wake of Ichigo and Rukia's, "it looks like they already have some backup."

…

…

A/N: And there's Chapter 1! Hope you enjoyed it, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Big shout-out as always to JasoTheArtisan, beta extraordinaire. Without him, this chapter would have not been nearly what it turned out to be.

Catch you next time, and thanks for reading!

- Jazz