"Hey,"
"Hi,"
Silence.
"So..." Ichigo muttered, more to himself than to the Kuchiki in front of him. "Ah... don't you work at Kaze? Why're you here, in Sereitei?"
"Oh... you see, the owner of Sereitei, Shunsui-san, wanted me to preform here... for business purposes. Apparently, I'm pretty popular in the singing community!" She laughed awkwardly. Ichigo tilted his head to the side curiously.
"But... what are you doing here?" It was her turn for questions.
"Oh... yeah. I just had a really tough day at work... so I decided to come here... my friends dragged me along!" It wasn't a total lie, his old friend (A human one, anyway), Renji, had dragged him here with another friend from his work, Chad. They had left two hours earlier.
"Ah." Rukia nodded. "Well, Ichigo," She made sure to use his first name, "I should be going. I hope to see you at Kaze... soon." She smiled at him, and slowly made her way towards the stage.
"Yeah... later."
TMU**********************************************
"Yoruichi, I have to talk to you!" Mitsuki practically screamed, marching up to Kaze's co-owner.
"Yes?" She sighed, then realized something, her eyes widening in horror. "Where's Mikoto?"
"Miki is with Inoue-san." She sighed and looked at the Shihoin with dead eyes. She looked like she hadn't slept in days.
"My god... Kuchiki, what the hell happened? When did you die and come back to life?" Yoruichi asked, almost completely serious. "Ha ha, very funny. I'm here to tell you about another vision I had. The reason I look like this is because I'm too terrified to go back to sleep. Although now I guess the visions have found a way to attack, even when I'm awake. But you see... here's the twist. When I'm awake, I have visions from the past."
Yoruichi just stared at her for a second. "From the... past? Like, past? As in... before the present?" She looked confused. "What was it about?"
"It was around... one thousand years ago, if I recall. In Japan's feudal era. If all my assumptions are correct, the girl, Reiko, was a village priestess."
Flashback/vision
Ichigo Kurosaki, now twenty-six years old. Vampire of eight years. He was walking around what used to be Ankara Village. It was in ruins. All because of one man.
Gin Ichimaru. ...Or at least, Gin's master.
He growled, and kept walking. He had to get back to the safe house... no matter what. Why? She was there. Reiko Kazuki.
And before you lovely readers even think about asking, yes. She was his little girlfriend. His little human girlfriend. His little weak... okay, maybe not weak... girlfriend. She was a Slayer, and quite possibly, the last one in Japan at the moment.
"Reiko? Oi, Reiko, you here? Its Ichigo." He whispered sharply in a small hut, about three miles away from what used to be the village she and her sister Minako ruled. "I-Ich..." A weak voice coughed, and he stumbled forward, looking around sharply. Then, he saw her.
"Reiko!"
She was slumped forward, blood oozing out of her stomach. "Minako... she-she's..." She coughed some more, and looked at the dead woman a few feet away. Her mouth was set in a tight line, her eyes closed almost peacfully. Her bluish- white hair was spread out, framing her face. She would have looked beautiful, if not for the blood matting her hair and dripping from her head and neck to the dirt below her. "Check... check and see..." Reiko gasped, motioning towards her sister.
Ichigo nodded, and sprinted towards the woman who had been like an older sister to him for as long as he could remember. "Minako?" He called out cautiously. She lay, unmoving. He checked her pulse, and found nothing. He shook his head sadly, and turned back to Reiko.
"Nothing?" She gasped, more out of shock than sadness. He nodded. "Nothin'."
She looked at the woman with rueful eyes, holding an ounce of anger. "Bitch... how could she leave me like this? Ah... what does it matter anyway... I'll be with her soon enough... soon enough..." She said the words bitterly, tears pouring from her glassy blue eyes.
"I'm sorry... Ichigo. Don't look at me like that. You are immortal. And in a way... so am I. Remember the pact we made?" He knew what she was talking about. The pact. The pact that said that she'd by reborn. Every one hundred years. "For... as long... as you live... on this green Earth... I will be reborn. With new memories, and a new life. And... every time I'm reborn, I'll keep... falling... in love... with... you." Her eyes drifted shut, and Ichigo just stood there, watching her, his eyes wide.
He bit his lip to keep from screaming. He could hear the horses outside. The pounding hooves. The screaming villagers.
"SEARCH THE HOUSE!" He knew that voice all to well. It was Temperance. Reiko's supposed 'best friend'. But she was the one who shattered the peace. The one who tipped Gin off that a human had fallen in love with a vampire. The one who was guaranteed a spot in the new world order. She started this hell.
Because she claimed she loved him. Claimed she loved the idea of a one thousand year long darkness enveloping the Earth. Claimed she and Ichigo were a match made in Gin's artificial heaven.
His eyes turned red.
"Wh- wait, hold on a second," Yoruichi stopped the gray-eyed woman. "Did you say... orange hair? Brown eyes? Vampire?"
Mitsuki nodded. "Yeah. I think that girl in the vision... Reiko said his name was Ichigo. Why? Does it matter?"
Yoruichi thought about a conversation she had with Rukia, just two weeks earlier...
"So, sweetie. Who's the orange-haired hunk?" Yoruichi said suggestively.
Rukia rolled her eyes. "His name is Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo."
Yoruichi already knew this, already knew what he was. But she decided to play along. For Rukia's sake. And probably, her sanity. "Ah... I see. He's cute." And with that, she walked away, giving Rukia nothing but a semi-sad smile. Rukia tilted her head to the side. What the hell? No jab or silly banter? No 'hey did you get laid yet? Or do I have to spike one of your drinks?'
Something was definatly wrong.
"Oi! Y-Yoruichi? Where the hell are ya goin'?" Mitsuki screamed. She was pretty frustrated with everything that had been going on the past month.
"Um... somewhere! Do me a favor and find Rukia! She's up on Cora Drive right now I think, up in Sereitei! I'm sure you remember Shunsui! Tell him Kisuke and I need Rukia back here!"
Mitsuki just stared blankly ahead. "Okay... hey! Wait! Hold on! What about..." But Yoruichi was already gone.
"...Mikoto?"
TMU*-
"kaze ni hana sou kokoro yuuru shite- "I'll talk to the wind, my heart accepts fate
dare mo shireba ii ino na no dakara- Because, no one really knows why, now
mito meta koto wo kitszuite koto mo- I'm aware, and I've admitted this
kono aozora to - Compared to the blue, blue sky,
mune ni hime koto"- My heart is dying, oh so fast"
"Rukia. What's with the sad music all of a sudden? You have a great voice, but come on, that was just depressing." Ichigo laughed. Against his better judgement, he decided to stay during the rest of her songs, enduring the whining whores and jealous guys.
"S-sorry, Ichigo! I've just had this song stuck in my head for days now. It's something my mother sang to me whenever my father..." She looked at the orange haired man. "N-never mind. Sorry." She decided it was still too early to share her past. Hell, she hadn't even shared it with Orihime yet! As far as the Inoue knew, Rukia had just been a normal girl up till her brother in law's murder.
She stared up at the quarter moon. It was so beautiful. She faintly saw Hisana's laughing face in its depths. She and Rukia always used to sneak out of the house around midnight, and watch the moon. It was the girls' favorite past time.
"It sure is beautiful." Ichigo mused quietly, and Rukia blinked. "The moon," he clarified. "My... my mother and I... we used to watch it every night."
"How sweet. What happened? You probably just grew up, huh?" Rukia asked, frowning a bit. "No," He chuckled darkly. "She... she died. Was killed, actually." This got Rukia interested. Was it a Vampire? "I was barely nine... I'm sorry... I really shouldn't be bumming you out like this!" He laughed lightly.
Rukia was silent for a moment. "It's fine. In a way... I think you're kind of lucky." Ichigo looked at her, an eyebrow quirked.
"I mean... your mom cared. Mine... she tried to act like she loved me and my sister, she really did, but we all knew that she was just acting. She didn't hate us... she just... didn't care. And my dad... well, he was a lunatic. I thought he belonged in a nut house, but my mom never admitted him. She just stayed away. And... well... my dad... he beat us, too. He kept saying we were demons, that we deserved it. My mom didn't do a thing. I mean, when my sister went into hysterics, or when I was sobbing my brains out, she was always there, singing a lullaby. But that was really the only time she was ever really a mother."
Ichigo stared at her for a long while. So this girl had felt pain, too? "She cared."
Rukia looked up, questioningly.
"She probably cared a lot, she most likely loved you guys to death. She just... didn't know how to show it, is all."
As Rukia thought, it made sense. A lot of sense. After all, her mom had Hisana when she was barely fifteen. It was beyond likely. At least she wasn't one of those party moms who came home drunk and had affairs. No, she tried. She was probably just too afraid of her husband.
She was even there for Hisana's wedding.
Rukia looked at Ichigo. "You... you're probably right. Thanks, Ichigo." And with that, she leaned forward, brushing her lips against his.
TMU*-
"Hello, Shunsui-san." Mitsuki said, bowing respectively. "Um... if you don't mind me asking, where's Rukia? Kisuke-kun and Yoruichi want her." Mikoto was behind her, smiling slightly at the older man. He seemed nice enough, and for a seven year old, that was good enough.
"Rukia-chan? Nanao-chaaaan, where's Ru-"
"Last I saw of her she was leaving Sereitei with a young man with bright, spiky, orange hair and brown eyes." Nanao said before her boss could say anything more.
"Oh... okay, I guess I'll talk to her when she gets ba... hold on, did you say orange hair? Brown eyes?" Her own stormy irises were wide with shock and nervousness.
"Yeah. Why? Is something the matter, Mitsuki-chan?" Nanao asked, confused.
"Uh... I think so. W-watch Mikoto for me, guys." And without another word, she pushed her seven year old niece into Shunsui's arms. "W-wait! Mitsu..."
But she was gone.
"...Ki?"
TMU*-
"Thanks for walking me home, Ichigo." Rukia smiled at the man. "So... does this count as our, like, third date or something?"
He bit his lip in mock thought. "Well, I'd actually say second, seeing as that incident at Kaze two weeks ago counted as our official 'first date'." He smiled at her.
"Whatever. So... see you later, then."
"See you."
And he watched Rukia slowly retreat inside Shunsui and Nanao's home, where she was currently staying until her mission was over.
As soon as she was inside, Ichigo sighed audibly. "So, when are you going to come out?"
Mitsuki emerged from a grouping of trees about twenty feet away, a slightly shocked look on her face. "I can't say I'm surprised you caught me, Ichigo-kun." She smirked, and pulled out a saintrix. He looked at the high powered gun in the woman's hands. They were shaking lightly.
"Mitsuki-san, is it? Aren't you Hitsugaya's new servent?" Ichigo asked exasperatedly.
She glared harder. "If you're going to refer to me by him, I'd prefer you not knowing me. So, what, are you friends with that bastard?" She almost yelled, but was careful not to. The last thing she needed was for Mikoto and Rukia to come charging out, and see them like this.
That would be awkward.
He shrugged. "Sort of. My sister seems to like him. I'm sure you remember her... Karin Kurosaki?"
Mitsuki didn't bother to hide her disgust. It wasn't that she hated Karin. No, actually, she had taken a liking to the young vampire among her many visits to Hiitsugaya's estate, despite her being one of the reasons Mitsuki was now like this. She was kind of like Rukia, in some ways. It was Hitsugaya himself Mitsuki despised.
"Yes. I do. And, it just so happens my sister has taken a liking to you, as well. So, I guess I can't kill you. I won't tell her what you are, either. Just... just don't do to her what Toshirou did to me. Can you promise me that, at the very least?" She sighed, and put her gun back into her holster.
He nodded. "Of course."
Her glare softened somewhat. There was a sincerity in his voice that made him... different. Ichigo really was nice... for a vampire. And she knew, deep in her heart, that she could trust this man with all her being.
"Thank you." And with that, she walked past him, to the house. "Goodnight, Kurosaki-san."
"Hn." The vampire grumbled out, starting to walk away.
Mitsuki hesitated. "Kurosaki-san?" She heard his footsteps stop.
"Yeah, Mitsuki-san?" She gulped softly.
"Ano... your old master. Gin. Do you know where we can find him?"
"We?" He asked softly, quirking a brow. They still weren't facing each other.
"I'm sorry... I." She corrected. She wouldn't tell anyone. She would try and kill Gin herself. From what Mitsuki had seen so far, he was the cause of all this. The visions, Hitsugaya suddenly re-appearing, and the sudden outbreak of demons. She wasn't trying to play hero purposely, no, she just wanted all of this to end as quickly as possible.
He was silent. For a moment, she was afraid he had walked away. But then he spoke. "Why?"
"Just... tell me." Her voice was soft, almost sympathetic. "Where is he, Ichigo? Where is Gin? Where is..." She gulped, "...Aizen?"
She heard a sharp intake of breath come from his direction. So, it was Aizen. Sosuke Aizen, to be exact. A Vampire who had eluded Slayers since the ending of the Nara Period. A man who was once a human. A man who started out like anyone else.
He was silent once more. Then he muttered, "Hell. They're in Hell." And with that, he dissappeared.
Mitsuki blinked. Hell? As in... the underworld? She growled softly, then glared at nothing in particular, as her hands started to shake.
"Dammit!"
TMU*-
"Why did we leave like that, auntie?"
In the end, Mitsuki had decided to let Rukia finish her mission. Ichigo was a nice guy, even if he was trained by Vampires.
Mitsuki didn't answer her niece. Instead, she just kept driving, Kisuke's 1942 Buick humming softly. One word was echoing through her head...
Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, damn this whole thing...
TMU*-
[Unknown POV]
[Present Day, 2009]
There it is again... the sweet lullaby... from my dreams...
"That day, deep in your eyes,
I saw the loneliness... Are the two of us really alike? If I'd realized it, you were always by my side
Why do I love you so much? Your voice rings inside me so much it makes me sad Just what it was that supported me so much From afar, I realize it now"
I look up, into the gray sky. It seems so far away, now. The young man behind me, sighed once.
"Kohaku." I said, softly. "How is your father." It was more a statement than question. He shrugged. My back was turned, but I could still hear the swishing fabric of his navy jacket. These days, nothing can escape my ears. "Fine." He said, nonchalantly. Like he didn't care about anything, anyone. I felt my blood boil involuntarily.
"Is that so?" I half-growl. This... child was a disgrace. I mean... he's been like my son, these few past years... but he's so... infuriating.
It drives me crazy.
"Your mother?" I ask again. In a way... I'm jealous. She had always been by his side... by Kohaku's side. Even when I wasn't. She was there. I never was. I hadn't seen her since... well, that day. Almost seventy years ago.
"She is fine, too."
I smile bitterly. "Good. Take care of them, you hear me? They'll die eventually."
I turn slightly, to look at his shocked face. "I thought Vampires were immortal." He says, his voice hoarse. I laugh bitterly, as rain starts to fall. I briefly wonder how two of the most powerful Vampires in the history of the world could concieve such a stupid child.
I sigh, still laughing lightly.
"They are, Kohaku-kun. To old age. To sickness. To objects such as iron swords and daggers. To poison. To suffication. Sometimes even to Hunters. But not to blessed silver bullets. Not to wooden stakes. Not to sunlight. Not to Slayers... never ever to Slayers. For, they will never rest. They won't rest until every last one of us is turned to ashes, buried six feet under Suzaku Stream, or has stake in their hearts."
"Us." He stated, a faraway tone in his voice.
"Hm?" I ask, and turn to face him.
"You said... us. Are... does that mean, you're one, too?" He sounded slightly shocked.
I sighed. "Yes. Kohaku-kun, I am. And I've survived a short seventy years, narrowly avoiding those who used to be my allies. The only kind faces I ever see nowadays is yours, and..." I shook my head, realizing I was about to make a huge mistake. Break a promise.
I could never do that.
"Never mind. She's dead."
Liar. She survived. She's in Tokyo. With her new family. With a daughter. A granddaughter. A son-in-law. A three month old grandson.
"How?"
"... The Turok Han. She was killed, along with her mother. A friend of mine... tried to save them. She couldn't. She died too."
Lies. She never died. And what mother? As far as anyone knows, that child was an orphan from Karakura.
"It happened during the war. Before you were born."
You're such a liar. Lies... all lies. You've been lying so much, do you even know what's the truth anymore?
"Oh."
I glared up at the sky. Oh, how I hated rain. It reminds me so much of the past. I think back at the question I asked myself earlier.
"Do you even know what's the truth anymore?"
Do I?
...No. I don't.
I smile bitterly once more, and stand up from my crouching position. I look down at the stone tablet before me.
Mitsuki
1916- 1949
That's it. Plain and simple. Not even a simple last name to identify this 'Mitsuki'. I remember her so well. She was so arrogant. So cocky. So... wild. It amazes me she lived for so long.
"Oh, please. Is that all you got? I'm a Vampire, sweetie. You really think something as flimsy as a katana sword through the chest is gonna kill me? Nice try, but no. Next time, if you're gonna impale me with something, use wood."
She had ripped me of my pride as a Hunter**. But she was, by far, the only Vampire I had met with a decent heart. She had let me go, reccommending the Slayer Academy. Said the Hunter business was not for me. And I had to admit, she was correct.
"You're pretty nice, for a Vampire, that is."
"Sweetheart. You classify us. You think the term 'Vampire' means blood-sucking monster. I was once like you, a human. Vampires are just like humans, really. Some are good, some are evil. I know a lot of other good Vampires, like me."
"Who?"
"I can only tell you of one. His name is Ichigo Kurosaki."
Kohaku looks at the grave. "Mitsuki. Huh. Was she a friend? An ally? A... a Slayer?" My eyes glaze over, and I nod. "Yes. She was. She had a brother, you know. Name was Byakuya. A cold hearted bastard... but I loved him. Loved him like a father."
He tilted his head to the side. "You knew him?"
I look down at the grave. The grave with no body lying underneath. Mitsuki... she is gone. Long gone. Well... not gone, so to speak, she is here, in this city physically, but not mentally. Her mind is caught in another time. Another place. This grave is only here to avert our eyes to what should remain unseen.
"Yes. I do..." I barely noticed I was speaking in present tense.
I don't know what the truth is anymore. I never did, really. Even when I was human, I lived a lie.
"And I'm determined to keep it that way."
A/N: Call me psychotic, but I like writing in the Unknown POV. Its so mysterious.
Any guesses to who it might be? Whoever it is is alive in Rukia's timeline. It may even be a future character! Oh, and NO it isn't Mitsuki. But yeah, she's alive in the current timeline. I'll only give you ONE hint... it's a girl. Not a very good hint, but it's something.
And HOW WAS THE ICHIRUKI FLUFF? I thought it was cute :)
**Hunter- Kind of like a Slayer, only instead of using high tech guns and the traditional stakes, they arm themselves with things such as holy water, crusifixes, and the ever popular garlic and salt. They also carry nail guns, for entrapping Vampires in their coffins. Instead of academys, it's usually a family business (With the exeption of the person from the unknown POV). And, it's also a lot more scattered. No assigned cases or missions, they're basically the loners of the Slayer World. The Hunters have the same relationship with Slayers as Quincys do Shinigami. For Hunters and Slayers, it's just one big race.
Anyhoo... REVIEW?
...Pretty please?
-TMUchiha-chan
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