Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Epilogue ❯ Sacrifices ( Chapter 7 )

Epilogue

 

Chapter Seven: Sacrifices

 

“I've come to kill you, Ichigo.”

 

Rukia's words echo in his head. In all the time he's known her, he has never heard her say anything with such conviction in her voice. Her sword, shimmering in the darkened room, is pointed at him with no hesitation. The expression on her face betrays none of her emotions, instead only showing cold, calculated determination.

 

She was going to kill him.

 

“Why?” he asks, breaking the silence that had overtaken the room. He looks at her, no longer filled with rage at her absence, but with disbelief instead. It is the first time he's seen her in years, but instead of reconciliation he finds himself staring down her blade. He can almost hear Sode no Shirayuki begging for his blood, wanting to cut and stab him until he was no longer breathing.

 

Although Ichigo has been near-death numerous times in his life, he has never been able to get over his fear of it finally happening. He knows that if anything, he would go to Soul Society, but the memories associated with dying stick with him even now.

 

His mother is lying dead on top of him, her blood seeping into his clothes, mixing with the rain drops falling from above. She is cold to the touch, almost as a cold as the water that refuses to stop falling. He can no longer sense her spirit. It feels like there is a hole in the world.

 

His mother is dead because of him.

 

His instinct is to run, as far away as possible, to avoid being cut or slashed or stabbed. Another part of him tells him to stay put, that he is a man and he has faced far worse adversaries. Then a voice inside reminds him that Rukia Kuchiki is not an adversary, but a woman he used to love.

 

Or was that, a woman he still loved?

 

“Why does it matter, Ichigo?” she responds, answering his question with a question of her own. She studies him carefully, watching his movements to ensure that he won't suddenly escape. His spirit energy is strong, possibly stronger than the last time she saw him. It's only a minor detail, though.

 

The office is too small to fight in, and there is only one exit minus the window that Rukia undoubtedly came through. There is no way he can escape, because he knows that she is faster than him.

 

“You may not have realized it Ichigo, but they have lifted the limit on my powers,” she says, confirming his suspicions. “Your death is important enough to require such things.”

 

Rukia's right; he would have never noticed how much more powerful she had become, if she hadn't revealed it. Despite all the power he wields, he has never been good with detecting spiritual energy like Ishida or Inoue. Now, however, he feels something strange emanating from her, an energy that he's felt before, but until now never associated with Rukia.

 

He sits up from his chair, trying to hide the fact that his whole body is shaking. Ichigo didn't really need an answer to begin with; they both know why she is here.

 

“You've never been able to control your spirit energy. In the past this major flaw has affected the people around you, granting them power,” she explains, never lowering her sword. “Just imagine what could occur if that dark side of you emerged. What do you think would happen, Ichigo?”

 

He refuses to believe her words.

 

She smiles sweetly. “I love you.”

 

He smiles back at her, but a part of him wonders if her words are true.

 

“You're lying,” he growls angrily. His fits are balled up tightly, desperately trying to keep his rage in check. He doesn't want to let the dark side of him out again, like it almost did the other day. “I don't believe you.”

 

“It does not matter if you believe me or not. Only know that I will do what I must to ensure the safety of the world,” she tells him, entering a battle stance, “one way or another.”

 

Rukia flies towards him, using her entire body to smash against his own, knocking the wind out of him. He scrambles to his feet, his breathing uneven, and his body, no longer youthful, suddenly feels hard to move around in.

 

Since when did she have so much power? he thinks, trying to figure out where he put that soul reaper representative license. His memory has only gotten worse as the years went by, and for the life of him he cannot remember where he put the damn thing. He hasn't used it in years, so it could've been anywhere in his house, but he didn't have time to look.

 

Rukia's movements are graceful as she lands another blow on him with the hilt of her sword, sending him flying back into a wall.

 

“Where should I put this?” Rukia sighs, holding a peculiar object in her hands. He blinks for a moment, then remembers he used to use it frequently back in his youth.

 

He takes it from her, looking at it with a mix of anger and regret. It's helped him save countless lives in the past, but at the same he hates everything it represents.

 

“I don't ever want to have to use this again,” he says quietly. She nods slowly, taking it from him and putting it away carefully.

 

He's leaning against the wall for support, his vision blurry from the impact. He feels the back of his head and finds that it's wet with blood. Years of medical school have taught him that he's probably going to suffer a concussion if takes a few more hits like that.

 

“You've become so weak, doctor,” she says spitefully, readying herself for another attack. “I haven't even used my sword and you're already bleeding.”

 

He narrows his eyes at her, pushing aside his feelings for her for the moment. “Bastard…”

 

She executes a flash step combined with a punch, knocking him against a book case, causing its contents to pile up on top of him. He struggles to stand, but the weight of the books is too much for him, until he feels something under his fingertips. He closes his eyes and slams his hand hard on the object, leaving him with a sense of weightlessness for only a brief moment.

 

Rukia jumps back as the bookcase explodes into splinters, revealing a sight she has not seen in years. Ichigo stands before her dressed in black robes, one hand behind his back clutching the hilt of his sword, glowing with spiritual energy. His human body lies lifelessly under the few books that were not destroyed.

 

Her heart swells up with an odd sense of pride as she watches him gain back the confidence he had lost.

 

“This is the you that I keep in my heart,” she yells to him, hoping her words will inspire him even more.

 

He looks at her with that self-assured grin of his.

 

“Rukia,” he says slowly, the fear on his face replaced with determination, “I'm not ready to die just yet.” He blocks her next attack instinctively, without even needing to see her movements. The rush of power is intoxicating to him, but he tries to ignore it because the darkness within could overwhelm him at any time.

 

Their swords clash, sparks illuminating the room every few seconds, though neither of the combatants are fazed by it. Their blades are complete opposites; his is larger and the color of death, while hers is thinner and symbolized life.

 

They run toward each other, blades held high, once again meeting each other with sparks and the sound of metal against metal. Rukia lets out an annoyed grunt, before parrying his attack and performing a spin, her movements graceful and elegant like the captain's robes that she now wears. She gets in a few slashes on his chest and arms, catching him off guard as he tries to defend against her strange movements.

 

“I've learned much,” she explains, bringing her sword down against him. “You haven't changed as much as I thought you would've. You still have no finesse in your attacks.”

 

“You're too predictable, Ichigo! I've already memorized all of your moves,” Rukia complains, pointing at him accusingly.

 

He frowns, holding his sword lazily. “I thought we were only sparring.”

 

She sighs, readying herself for another attack. “In a real battle you must be willing to improvise sometimes, idiot.”

 

“Doesn't matter,” he mutters, overpowering her with a kick to her midsection. “As long as my attacks are more powerful than yours, I have no need to worry.”

 

She staggers back, caught off guard by his attack. She can taste blood in her mouth, but ignores it for now. “That's all you've got?” Snowflakes begin to radiate from her blade, covering it with a thin layer of ice; it is reminiscent of Captain Hitsugaya's sword when his power was at full strength.

 

“I'll show you what power really is, Ichigo!” She bounces off a wall and onto the ceiling, before grabbing him by the back of his head and throwing him out the window. She follows him as he lands with a grunt on the streets outside the clinic, allowing the two of them far greater movement. If they had stayed there any longer, she would've been unable to use her superior speed against his brute strength.

 

“It's almost time,” she whispers more to herself than to him.

 

He struggles to get up, using his sword as a crutch. “Time for what?” he inquires, knowing he won't get an answer. He can't give up now, even though Rukia may be right about killing him. He's unsure if he can suppress the Hollow inside of him, but he would rather try than die.

 

“I'm losing control of myself,” he says in a half crazed tone. “I don't know what to do.”

 

“Then let me help you,” Tatsuki says soothingly.

 

His eyes widen when she places a hand against his cheek.

 

In another time, he would've gladly let Rukia end his life. But now, he has something to live for, something that was worth protecting with all his power.

 

He's lying in bed with her, his arms placed around her protectively.

 

“Ichigo,” she whispers. “I have something I've been…meaning to tell you.”

 

“What is it?”

 

He can hear her swallowing hard. What could it be?

 

“Five years ago, you and I…” she trails off, but his mind finishes the sentence for him.

 

He is the father of Tatsuki's child. A strange feeling washes over him, covering the darkness that was threatening to overtake him for the last few days.

 

Tatsuki shifts uncomfortably. “Ichigo…how do you feel about that?” Her voice is fearful, as if she expects him to be angry over the revelation. It surprises him to hear an emotion like fear in her voice, because she's always been the strongest.

 

“It makes things easier,” he answers, holding her closer to him. He can feel her relaxing in his embrace.

 

“I think it's finally time I let go of the past, and think about the future,” he whispers, moving his head closer to hers. “I want you two to move in with me.”

 

She turns around to meet his eyes. “Ichigo…?”

 

“There's plenty of room for you and Orihime to live here. How about it?”

 

He can't leave them behind.

 

“That would make us a family or something, wouldn't it…?” she ponders aloud.

 

He like the sound of it: family.

 

He won't leave them behind.

 

Their swords clash against each other over and over, each of them becoming a blur as they flash stepped their way across the city, running on the sides of buildings and leaping into the air, never letting up, the two of them equally matched.

 

“You lack the power to protect, Ichigo!” she yells accusingly, catching him momentarily off guard as he tries to parry another slash.

 

“You couldn't save them.”

 

“Inoue!” Ichigo yells out, but she can no longer hear him.

 

Her triangular shield is the only thing protecting her and the wounded soul reapers behind her from Aizen's assault. His power is immense, but her shield is holding despite that. The power she's wielding shocks even Ichigo, who figures that somehow her powers have increased tenfold.

 

A crack appears in the shield, allowing one of Aizen's attacks to break through and hit her in the abdomen. She falls to the ground with a high pitched scream of pain, blood pouring from the large wound.

 

He stumbles, allowing for her to shoot off a few demon art spells at him in quick succession. “They depended on you to be there for them!”

 

Chad grapples with Aizen, while the others try desperately to help him. Aizen smiles and crushes Chad's hands, causing the foreigner to scream in agony. Chad falls to the ground, while Aizen calmly takes out his sword and stabs him in the heart.

 

“You failed them! They all died because of you, Ichigo!” His guard is down, and Rukia takes the opportunity to send him crashing to the ground.

 

The Quincy symbol on Ishida's chest begins to fade. Ishida breathes heavily, almost completely drained of energy. That last arrow he released should've been enough, but it only managed to slow Aizen down. The earlier fight with Gin Ichimaru made him use up most of his energy earlier; now he was completely powerless after his final attack on Aizen.

 

Aizen makes quick work of Ishida with a high level demon arts spell. The Quincy disappears in a flash of blue light, leaving behind only the cross that was given to him by his grandfather.

 

She stands over him, sword at his throat. “You didn't have the power to save them. You've always been weak.”

 

He looks up at her, his breathing becoming more erratic. His eyes start glowing unnaturally, causing Rukia to step back. The time has come, she thinks to herself.

 

“I'll lend you my power, Ichigo,” Ichigo says, although it's not his voice. He stands up, his posture different than before.

 

“Hollow,” Rukia says simply. She watches as the mask starts to materialize, blobs of white forming around its face.

 

“All those bad things you said made Ichigo very mad and confused…so I came out to play,” Hollow-Ichigo says in a higher pitched voice than Ichigo's.

 

Rukia remains indifferent. “Good,” she says, “I was wondering how long it'd would take.”

 

“Huh?” the Hollow says, unable to act in time as Rukia flash steps toward the Hollow, carrying a strange item in her hand. Before the Hollow can even lift its soul slayer she's attached a collar around its neck.

 

She steps back as the collar does its work, bringing the Hollow-Ichigo to its knees after a few painful seconds.

 

“What the hell is this?” the Hollow rasps out, tugging on the collar. “What did you do you bitch!”

 

“That thing you're wearing has removed a majority of your power.”

 

It was always about power.

 

She's behind Captain Kurotsuchi before he even realizes she's in the room; her sword is around his neck so that he can't escape. She will make him listen.

 

“I need you to fashion me a spirit sucking device, like the collar that was forced upon me years before. I want you to create it using the technology that was used to make former Captain Kenpachi's eye patch.”

 

Kurotsuchi, despite the predicament he's in, laughs heartily. “And why should I do that?”

 

She presses the blade against his throat, drawing blood. “I will not hesitate to kill you.” She presses harder until he makes a pained sound.

 

“Very well,” he grumbles, applying a hand to his neck.

 

“I will require two of these devices,” she adds.

 

“In fact, you barely have enough energy to breath,” she says, bending down. She's almost surprised that Hollow-Ichigo is down; she expected it to put up more of a fight.

 

“You bitch! You tricked me into coming out, didn't you?” the Hollow roars in pain.

 

“I'm a very good actor,” Rukia says.

 

“I've finished it,” Kurotsuchi said gleefully. “What will you use it on? The human?”

 

He hands the two collars to her, both of them using the same creatures used in Zaraki Kenpachi's spirit sucking eye patch. She inspects them thoroughly, as she's not sure if they're legitimate.

 

“How do I know these really work?” she asks.

 

“Of course they work! Don't you trust me?” he yells, his masked face visibly showing signs of anger.

 

Without warning she attaches one of the collars on to Kurotsuchi, noting with interest that his spirit energy immediately drops close to zero.

 

“No,” she answers as she heads for the door, sensing Captain Ukitake close by. “I've never trusted you.”

 

“What are you gonna do now, huh?” The Hollow spits out, looking up with defiant, orange colored eyes. “You can't kill me, cause if you do you'll kill Ichigo…and we both know that you love him. That idiot is too dense to realize it, though!”

 

It begins to rain.

 

Rukia stands over the Hollow-Ichigo, her hair starting to stick to her face due to dampness. “I love you.”

 

She picks up Ichigo by his hair and gives him a deep kiss, before thrusting her sword into his heart. She closes her eyes as the Hollow roars out in pain, its voice a mixture of his own and Ichigo's real voice. She holds him close as he convulses violently.

 

She starts to cry when she feels Kaien beginning to convulse violently in her arms. She wants to remove her blade from his body, but she doesn't know what good it will do now.

 

He's already dead by the time she opens her eyes again.

 

Her eyes open wide in shock when she feels a coldness enter her body. She looks down to find Ichigo's blade impaling her through the stomach.

 

“I improvised,” the Hollow-Ichigo sneered. Its mask was cracked in many places and was no longer forming.

 

She feels like passing out from the sheer pain but continues to keep her sword in place, because she's almost done. After a few more moments, she feels Ichigo begin to fade. After awhile he finally slumps against her blade, no longer moving.

 

Rukia grits her teeth and murmurs a few words, causing a bright light to appear around her. She can feel energy surging into her, revitalizing her with renewed strength and power. The wound she received only moments before is gone, leaving behind no scars.

 

Her sword is removed from Ichigo, causing him to crumple to the floor in a heap.

 

The rain is getting heavier. Rukia finds it fitting.

 

“I love you,” she tells him again. “I'm sorry Ichigo.”

 

She takes one last good look at him, admiring the peaceful expression on his now mask-less face.

 

“Live,” is the last thing she tells him, before disappearing in a gust of icy wind.

 

Moments later, Ichigo stirs.

 

“Ru-Rukia…?” he moans, opening his eyes.

 

He can no longer feel the darkness in his heart…and he fully understands why.

 

“I love you,” he answers, even though she's long gone. “Thank you.”

 

He can feel the rain drops on his head.

 

It rained like this a long time ago, when someone very dear to him protected him from a Hollow.

 

It happened again tonight.

 

Things had a way of coming full circle.

 

-

 

Captain Rukia Kuchiki stands atop a telephone poll, the same one she stood on years before when it all began.

 

She feels so much power now, more than she's ever felt before. It surges through her body like electricity. She supposes that she's probably the most powerful Soul Reaper in existence now.

 

If she wanted to, she could take over Soul Society. None of them would be able to stop her.

 

She laughs softly at the thought. Her mind is being influenced by the Hollow that was now inside of her, but she's strong enough to resist.

 

“It always rains when you're sad, doesn't it?” a voice from within says.

 

“Yes,” she answers. She takes out the Quincy poison that Kurotsuchi developed so that Ichigo wouldn't be able to enter Soul Society. She examines the vial of spiritual liquid, looking at it with some disdain.

 

“You have so much power…use it,” the voice tells her again.

 

All of the captains told her that one life could be sacrificed for the good of everyone else. She fully agrees with this statement…but it was never her intention to kill Ichigo Kurosaki.

 

“How did you do it, anyways?” the voice asks.

 

“There was a residual trace of my own power still inside of Ichigo. I merely used that as a key to open the door inside of him, so that I could take you out of him and into me,” she explains, as if she was talking to a small child.

 

It was always about power.

 

She opens the vial of liquid and soaks her blade with it.

 

She can feel the Hollow inside grow fearful. “What are you doing?”

 

“Ending this,” she answers. She plunges her blade inside of herself, the other side protruding out of her back.

 

Strangely, she doesn't feel any pain as her spirit fades slowly from existence. There will be no butterfly to lead her to Soul Society, but she feels at peace knowing that Ichigo will be alive and able to finally live a normal life.

 

She can feel the Hollow disintegrate inside of her, and she allows herself to breathe a sigh of relief even as she's fading faster. She wonders what it will feel like when she's reduced to nothingness.

 

She hopes it won't be cold.

 

“Ichigo,” she finds herself saying lovingly, “I wish we could've worked.”

 

Rukia watches Ichigo as he plays with a child.

 

She wishes she could've been able to give him children, but she's dead. The dead weren't able to bring life into the living world. It was part of the balance.

 

Ichigo looks back and smiles at her, even though the child has him down for the count. She waves to him and smiles back.

 

Her brother recently called for her to return, because he needs her to take over the family due to his failing health, but she's been reluctant to leave the man she loves behind.

 

But what good is she to him, if she can't even be normal?

 

She will leave tonight. It'll be easier for the both of them.

 

“I love you Ichigo,” she says while closing her eyes.

 

The telephone poll is now empty.

 

Rukia Kuchiki is gone.

 

End