In a city centre of Karakura town, heavily downpour by the sleet storm, everyone grew curious on a Japanese door style portal stood still in the middle of the road. Keitarō and Tanjirō wondered if something happened to either Ichitarō or the girls in the Soul society. Whether it's something bad or the old head Captain Yamamoto had a change of heart.
In contrast to their questions, that's when it all changes. A portal began to open moderately, and saw what it appeared to be a unicorn was about to march out of the portal. That's when, Keitarō reacted immediately. So, she got out of the car and lifted her police badge to avoid any collision related accidents.
Nearly everybody moved back to their own vehicles to keep themselves dry from the weather. Yet, they kept on recording and took photos. Worried about getting exposed, Keitarō was reaching something in her pocket when a unicorn briskly stepped out of the portal and tripped over the eastern side of the road.
Drivers' curiousity grew on what was happening, but she took out a cherry sized bombs and threw it on the ground. It might had complimented on water very well and it's able to block almost the entire road, but it'll take her 5 minutes until the ruby pink coloured smoke diluted. She hurried herself and ran towards the unicorn and its rider. However, to her surprise, she saw a familiar person.
Byakuya struggled to rose himself to his feet after crashing down while the unicorn neighed in pain, turning itself into a ferret. Rangiku got up too and wondered where she was. Ever since Kakuzu, Jupiter, Bezel and Kazumi attacked the Seireitei, she saw Ichitarō laid down on the icy floor, unconscious. In which it's all that she can remember.
Looking around as if she's lost, Rangiku laid against the car and looked around the heavy sleet fall, realising she's back from the spirit world - without any of her twin siblings. At that point, she became so scared, her feet began struggling to move.
" Rangiku?" She heard Keitarō's voice. Rangiku stopped and turned her body sideways. Once she finally saw her mother again, her lips quivered by the cold and sadness. Almost immediately, Rangiku briskly walked to her and hugged her tightly.
"Mom! I've missed you so much!" She cried, trying her best not to. Whilst she buried her face on her tracksuit, it's only a matter of time before she told her to get inside the car. When Byakuya managed to get up, his eyes gazed straight to hers.
' Keitarō. You're still here?' He thought.
' Still standing.' she thought as well, giving him a soft scoff. But then, he noticed Rukia and the little ferret are injured as he senses their spirit energy waking up. Once she woke up, Rukia senses a familiar spirit energy that could be Ichigo. By then, she remembered Ichitarō and Yoshimura were left behind - alone.
Profusely soaked by the rain, she rose up and nearly fell weak to the ground as if her head was splitting into madness. Byakuya grabbed her and held her close to his chest. He calmed her down, not knowing if Ichigo had his power back.
" We left both of them. I endangered their lives. I... I___." She sobbed, yet he stopped her.
" Hey, it's okay. Captain Kyōraku won't let it happen. He's protecting them as we speak. They'll be alright." He softly spoke, which calmed her down but not entirely.
" Hey, this spell won't last long so hurry up and gather what you have!" She shouted. Byakuya's mind was almost foggy and enquired where would he placed Rukia. The door was already opened, so he placed her in the back seat with Rangiku.
The ferret skipped towards him, but its wounds are filled with agony and the sleet storm just made it worse. As soon as the smoke slowly disentigrated, Byakuya grabbed the ferret and went inside. Keitarō got in the driver seat as well before starting the ignition and accelerated in speed.
Whilst questioning and contented at Rangiku's return, Tanjirō was pleased, but at the same time, upset on Ichitarō and Yoshimura's whereabouts. Keitarō commanded for him to stay put in the car.
Looking at Keitarō again, Tanjirō remained silent until they reach home.
~~~~~~~~~~
Silence reigned, yet the downpour sleet remained. Keitarō roughly knocked at the door like any other police officer would do. Calling Isshin's name and banging the door multiple times until he opened it. Isshin wasn't surprised when he saw her and noticed Rangiku was here.
However neither Rukia nor Tanjirō wasted any time to find Ichigo for a different reason. All Tanjirō wanted was answers from Ichigo after the incident, whilst Rukia, whether he could see her or not, wanted help because she feared on Ichitarō and Yoshimura's safety in the Soul society.
" H..Hey! Where are you guys going? Ichigo is not here! " Isshin shouted, but both ignored him. Byakuya placed the ferret to him and went to them, while Keitarō and Rangiku head back to their home. After reaching to Ichigo's room, both of them quarrel.
Pushing each other to reach the door, Rukia did manage to out powered Tanjirō, owing to Jackie's super kick to the stomach. By the time she opened the door, her heart sank when she saw no sign of him. His room was so clean, there wasn't any sign of his presence at all.
" Ichigo?" She mumbled. Tanjirō stood up and stormed towards Ichigo's room while Rukia remained motionless. He noticed Ichigo wasn't here, then he remembered his other friends as well. So, he tried to call them, but no response only voice mails.
When Byakuya reached towards them, he immediately saw Rukia not moving, Tanjirō was confused too. He turned to Isshin and asked if Ichigo had returned. Isshin then shook his head and answered:
" The only thing I can remember he once told me either Chad or Orihime are in danger. He got a message from some guy called Tsukishima somehow kidnapped them or something."
" Then, Ichigo is in grave danger. I'll ask Kisuke Urahara for help." Byakuya spoke, which confuses Isshin.
" Hey, what about your ferret? I run a small clinic here, not a vet clinic for animals."
" You go and heal him."
As Byakuya stormed out of the Kurosaki household, Tanjirō gave a big sigh when he noticed there was some technical difficulties when he tried to reach them. He dropped his phone call and sat down on Ichigo's bed. Scratching in frustration, he looked at Rukia and looked away and mumbled, in which she was snapped back to reality:
" Looks like Ginger isn't coming back after this."
" I'm sorry to ask you, but who is `Ginger` ?" She asked. When his eyes gazed back at her, he nearly got up and trembled. But he was relieved.
" You scared me. It's actually Ichigo, but I named him Ginger for his personality.... and his hair. Oh well, let's go find this son of a bitch. "He explained and finally got up.
" Wait, you're not going to find him in this terrible weather, are you?" She asked again.
" No, not yet. We need to dry ourselves first before we hit the road. " He smirked. He grabbed her hand and headed straight towards his house. Before he reached out to the door, Isshin stopped them.
" Hey. If you guys have any chance on seeing him, just let me know. Alright?" He requested and Tanjirō nodded for an answer before leaving. Now alone with the ferret, Isshin wasn't sure on its gender yet.
~~~~~~~~
{ RUKIA'S POV }
Outside from the cozy house, the storm worsened. Rukia held Tanjirō's jacket as she braced herself. In additional to the cold, robust wind, both of them tried their best walk even further, though it almost seemed impossible.
" Where are we going? You know very well we can't find Ichigo anywhere?!" Rukia shouted, in which Tanjirō replied :
" Of course not! We're going to my house and right next door to the Kurosaki house!"
Both of them hurried inside and opened the door.
Once shut, they quickly spotted Kisuke and Byakuya sitting on the sofa, facing opposite at each other. Right in between them but further apart, laid a fireplace that engulfed fire which warmed the entire lounge, even in the kitchen and dining room.
Whilst discussing on something important, along with a glowing blue katana next to Kisuke, Tanjirō carried Rukia and tiptoed towards his room. That's when he noticed his bedroom door was opened,he immediately backing Rukia and himself away and pushed the door open. By then, he activated his fire power and nearly attacked a certain individual, dressed up in a traditional Korean shaman.
Kurama shrieked in fear, which sparked attention in the house. Rukia panicked, begging Tanjirō to disarm his powers, eventually was the first time she saw him conjuring fire and wondered if Ichitarō and his sisters were quite similar. When he disarmed, his fire disappeared but immediately grabbed Kurama by his blue and grey baksu* clothing.
" Alright, buster. What the fuck are you doing in my room?" He hissed. Kurama looked away as he could smell peppermint scented chewing gum from his mouth, preventing him from blushing.
" N.....Nothing. Just following orders!" He stammered, but he pulled him closer.
During the argument, Rukia attempted to break up the fight when a purple light caught her eye. Searching for where that light came from, Rukia ascertained and only to had discover a Hogyōkū was placed in center of a small Japanese shrine. The light illuminated along with candles and an aromatic infused stick burning incense. That's when all of her memories, both good and bad, came flooding in like a tidal wave.
From her time with her guardian parent to her childhood years in the Rokungai district, even her time in the academy with Renji, furthermore her time with Ichigo in the world of the living. Though she did remembered when she was separated from Renji and graduated immediately after was adopted by Byakuya.
Even the death of Kaien Shiba, moreover her almost died at the hands of her former friend before she was send back to the Soul society. In which case, was almost executed because of Ichigo saving her life.
Once she was back to the present, Rukia staggered and fell on her back. Her memories kept on playing up until there was a very dangerous ghost entity, shaped like a dragon was looking at her soul. As she was about to say something, someone got a hold in her arm and when she was turning towards that figure, she saw her brother among others as well.
~~~~~~~~~
[ FEW HOURS LATER]
The winter sun hadn't risen yet, but the storm was slowly calming down. Rukia covered herself with a warm blanket, while staring at the fire. She took a deep breath and thought about what happened when she encountered the Hogyōkū. Maybe that's the reason why Ichitarō couldn't control his powers.
' But what?', she thought; ' What possessed him?'
She kept on thinking until an audible heavy footsteps was heading towards her. Tilting her head, she saw Kisuke behind her and was smiling at her which was unusual. It's like he was patiently waiting for her to do something, but she turned away from him and paid attention to the fireplace.
"Hey, Lieutenant. Feel like talking?" He asked. Rukia scoffed with question and didn't bother to answer.
Instead, Kisuke persuaded without forcing her.
" You know what happened earlier, that was actually Phantom. I'm not certain if it's actually him inside the Hogyōkū, but if that's actually him then ____." He explained, but Rukia interrupted him.
" Ichitarō would've been saved." She said.
Kisuke looked at her as if she'd knew something.
" Wait, do you mean that same kid that went missing for few weeks? He's now in the Soul society? How the fuck did you know?" He asked. Rukia slowly nodded for answer.
" He was here in the Soul society, but nobody knows how he got here.", she spoke and turned to face him, as if her eyes were filled with dread and misery
" Look, Kisuke. I failed everyone. No matter how much I tried, it's like I failed Ichigo so many times. Now, Ichitarō and Yoshimura are stuck in the Soul society with no way out and..... "
Subsequently, words of emotions were choking on her, and just when she was about to look away, Kisuke's words brought near comfort.
" You don't have to be Ichigo to protect the people he cared about." He remarked.
" What? What do you mean?"
" Don't blame yourself for something that happened beyond your control. Byakuya told me you've been taking care of them all by yourself and even risk your life to save them. It's also natural to be scared when it comes to protecting them but, since Kyōraku and his wife are protecting them, they'll be fine."
" However, I have a request for you. What if I told you there's a way to get them home with Ichigo around? While using this?" He requested, bringing out the blue katana from the couch to her.
With hope, glimmered by tears in her eyes, she turned to him and grabbed it in both of her hands.
" What does it do?" Rukia asked.
" You'll see for yourself." Kisuke chuckled.
~~~~~~~~
[ MEANWHILE]
A few miles away, Rukia was running above buildings and jumed over corners and mostly old air conditioners on her way. She kept on searching for Ichigo with a blue katana glowing through the night as the storm became lighter.
Searching high and low for Ichigo seemed fruitless. Up to a point when she senses his spirit energy slowly fading away. She'd soon realised Ichigo must've worked hard to awakened his soul reaper powers after nearly a year and a half without seeing him. She hurriedly went towards him and was given an instruction - stab Ichigo.
Frogs sang their solo song and the sleet had been stopped. Minutes passed by and a blue katana pierced through his heart. Though it didn't cause any damage either spiritually nor physically.
Ichigo looked back and saw Rukia again after he'd lost his powers, she'd returned to the world of the living. When the blade dissolved inside his soul, he became a soul reaper again, but with a different outfit
Just as he wished to hug her again, suddenly their usual reunion was cut short as Tsukishima clapped his hands with a smuggish smile on his face.
"It took you long enough to get here, soul reaper. Such a beautiful reunion. " He rejoiced sarcastically.
" So what? You just don't know anything about Ichigo's soul!" Rukia shouted with exasperation. Then Tsukishima sniggered.
" With you and what army? I only have gargoyles to stop you." He sneered pridefully.
A car light appeared and Kisuke and the others appeared to help Ichigo. All of them are standing for battle. That's when Ichigo decided to stepped forward and he charged at the gargoyles while the rest of them followed him.
As the fight between Tsukishima and his gargoyles and Ichigo, Rukia, Kisuke and the teams Urahara shop began, in his mind, he said :
' Thank you, Rukia. Now I'll use my powers to protect everyone. Starting with Ichitarō.'