Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Bleeding Love ❯ Legends ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

There's superstition in Rukongai. They say when you see a cat catch its own tail, or if your morning tea reflects the sun, the gods will return to the forsaken land. Or when the river freezes over in the shape of a crescent and the turtles come out to sing in the spring. But everyone knows these are all untrue. What everyone does know is that cat eyes are actually black, and the moon doesn't have a face. It goes on and on.

[ THE MINE ]

"Huh? He never came back?"
Ichigo opened both eyes sleepily, blinking at the sight of Yumichika's face hovering near his.
"That's what I said, isn't it? What's the surprise? He always stays out for a day or two. No need to worry," Ichigo rolled off the uncomfortable rock ledge he had been sleeping on. He grunted as he landed on the straw-matted ground. It scratched the soles of his feet and made him dislike mornings even more. He hated mornings to begin with. Ever since...
"Yes, but that's only when he's scouting out the fort. He said he was going to the marketplace, remember?"
His orange-haired companion scratched the back of his head lazily.
"Yeah, so? He probably just messed up and got his ass bea--"
He paused.
And put two and two together.
Yumichika leaned against the ledge, a smug but grim smirk on his face.
"Oh god. He really didn't get caught, did he?"
"Who knows...maybe he slipped off to infiltrate the fort himself. You know how he is--everyday it gets harder for him to not take his vengeance."
They were silent for a moment.
Both were recalling how Hisagi's family had been cruelly killed by Lord Aizen in a series of experiments that were supposed to produce the ultimate soldier. A Neo.
Yumichika had been the one to find Hisagi, and at the time, he had been travelling with his close companion and step-brother, Ikkaku. The trio had passed through dangerous terrain to get to Rukongai. Ikkaku had been slain at the mountain fortress of Karakura, providing the other two with a chance to escape while he distracted the wall guards.
"Took down four score of them bare-handed," Yumichika would remark softly everytime Hisagi had brought it up accidentally. (Shuhei was not one for tact.)
"At any rate," Ichigo cleared his throat, "we'll have to go after him." He knit his fingers together and cracked his knuckles. "Damn idiot," he muttered, striding over to the opposite side of the room. Yumichika still hadn't made a move.
The object of Ichigo's attention was a magnificent sword leaning against the wall.
It was massive; glittering at a height that was as tall as Ichigo from hilt to tip. It was of a strange build, possessing no hilt guard and taking on a shark fin shape for its blade.
Ichigo ran the hilt wrap through his fingers; the worn, off-white silk material was bloodstained and tattered.
"Ichigo."
The man in question turned around at the sound of his friend's solemn voice.
"Be careful."
Ichigo's copper eyes widened; "What do you mean?!"
Yumichika shifted off the ledge, adjusting his impressively well-kept wisteria-purple tunic. His eyes flashed dangerously as he lifted a pale finger and pointed at Ichigo.
"I have...somewhere I need to go. Don't follow me."
"Where?"
It seemed Ichigo's vocabulary had dwindled to ten or so words.
"Somewhere that doesn't concern you or Hisagi."
The dove-grey orbs closed; restoring his calm demeanor on his eyelids. Then, once more, they hardened into glinting shards of glass.
"This is something I have to do alone. Just make sure that fool is safe and don't--" he punctuated his point by narrowing his eyes, "follow me. Whatever you do. Don't you dare follow me!"
Ichigo echoed his words, confusion and panic beginning to take over. He's leaving... "Don't follow you?"
The boy with the fiery hair shook his head stubbornly, lifting the sword from its relaxed stance with a twist of his wrist.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do something this dangerous alone. You're my friend. Hisagi's my friend."
Ichigo gritted his teeth, aware that what he was going to say was going to sound impossibly weak, "You guys are the only ones I have left. Don't you dare do this to me! Who's going to watch your back?!"
Yumichika chuckled drily, "Don't try reversing the situation on me, Ichigo. It's yourself that you need to watch."
With that, he vanished.
Bastard! Ichigo sprinted after him, sword in hand.

[ OUTSKIRTS OF RUKONGAI ]

Rukia's eyes widened.
At that precise moment, the sky seemed to drop like an osprey who had spotted its next catch. Her pale lips formed a trembling circle as the intimidating man loomed over her, "L-lord Aizen?!"
"Hello there, Kuchiki."
There was scrabbling of unlaced, steel-toed boots as Rukia sprang upright.
She dipped low at the waist, courtesying quickly before kneeling before the silent figure.
"It's...wonderful...to see you again," she murmured. Memories from the past flashed by in her head.
His voice, a comfortable, deep tone, was thunder on a distant horizon.
"Oh yes. But I come to you today not to seek conversation with an old friend."
Feral, burnt-orchid eyes gleamed dangerously. "I require you to do something for me."
Rukia flinched, but did not move from her position.
"I'm sure you remember your sister."
A particular memory slipped, broke, and impaled Rukia with shards of bitter pain.
She merely nodded.
"I'm asking you to do as your sister agreed to do, several decades before you, yourself.
Her throat dropped.
Trembling, Rukia bowed her head.
"Yes...my lord."
With that, she stood upright, fighting to keep her knees from buckling as she followed Aizen back into the line of trees he had emerged from. She cast a look backward; Renji.
Be safe, she urged mentally, clenching her jaw.
A line of crimson wine oozed slowly down the face boulder she had just abandoned.
Overhead, lightning rippled like a pouncing lion, tail lashing in a resounding crack of thunder.


[ THE TUNNEL SYSTEM UNDERNEATH RUKONGAI ]
"Yumichika!"
Drip.
"Damn, Ayasegawa!"
Drip.
"Come back!"
Drip.
Ichigo slid to a halt, the wet gravel underneath his feet providing little purchase.
He strained his eyes to see through the murky tunnel that wound to both sides of him.
No sign of a fleeing figure.
Kurosaki sighed exasperatedly, stabbing his sword into the ground and plopping down next to it. He crossed his arms bitterly across his broad chest and closed his eyes in deep concentration.
Where was one to go in this vast tunnel system?
God knows where Yumichika was by now; the young man endured months of trekking along the tunnels carefully and marking down a map that would someday be of use. (Which proved to be quite rewarding in the end.)
Drip.
It was the sound of rainwater dropping like silver snail-tears from the plant roots poking out of the ceiling.
Ichigo furrowed his brow in irritation as one drop hit him square on the nose.
Drip.
And now, two had landed solidly on the crown of his bright orange head.
He exhaled violently, shaking the droplets off.
In retaliation, a whole slew of water pelted the nape of neck.
Ichigo leapt upright, seizing his sword and bristling with indignation.
He hated the rain; this situation just made him despise the uncompromising weather even more.
With snakes coiling deep in his belly, he looked once, twice, thrice, in both directions, then chose to go to the left, back where he had come from. (Right?)
Ichigo cursed; if only he or Hisagi had wheedled a copy of that map out of Yumichika.
Hisagi.
Ichigo took off at full speed, sandals clacking on the wet pebbles and clots of packed soil.
Was he back?
Would he know where Yumichika was headed and what he had meant by his last words?
Hope sprung anew within the running man.
Overhead, the echo of something sinister, a dark presence, planted its feet solidly into the ground and sank its claws into the loamy earth.