Two Souls, One Story

Chapter 21

The next time Ichigo woke up, he was in an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar sense of pressure on top of him. Tessai, someone he knew through his nee-chan and aniki, was lying on top of him causing the boy to freak out and shove the rather large man off of him. His body burned with pain and he fell back onto the futon with a groan.

"Kisuke! You said to let you know when he was awake!" Tessai called out, "Well, he's awake!"

"Good good!" Kisuke entered the room, a big grin plastered on his face. He unfolded his fan, lightly letting the breeze hit his face. "Good to see you're finally awake, Ichigo! You took quite the beating from Byakuya there! Luckily, I showed up in time to save your life."

Ichigo gave Kisuke a blank stare. "Thanks... I guess." He muttered and scratched his chin. The movement didn't hurt as much. "Where even are we, Hat n' Clogs?"

"Why, in my shop of course! Urahara Shop! I already took the trouble of alerting your father you were here, so no worries about that~!" Kisuke knelt down next to the teen. "Sadly, I couldn't save your powers. It took me hours just to save your life! But I guess being able to breathe is more important- you would have Hollowfied immediately upon death anyway, with how damaged your soul is. You'd think with how much you meant to Rukia, he would have taken your powers a bit more gently~!"

Ichigo grunted, wincing slightly from the pain in his chest. "So what happens now?" He asked.

"That depends on you, Ichigo," Kisuke's playful tone dropped like a brick. "You can either go on with your life... acting like you've never met Rukia in your life- letting her succumb to her fate ... or, you can train with me, and get your power back."

"Well, duh!" Ichigo made a face. His mind was sluggish, registering words at a slower rate than normal. "Wait... what do you mean... succumb to her fate?"

"My dear boy... Do you really think they collected her- a helpless, powerless Soul Reaper who would die to the first Hollow that came after her, just to throw her into a prison? Sending a Captain and Lieutenant rank at that? No, the Seireitei doesn't work like that. They only do that for prisoners sentenced to die." For once, Kisuke's eyes met Ichigo. "Rukia will be executed... in time."

Ichigo's blood ran cold. Execution... She was going to be killed, because she gave her powers to him? "What...?" He said softly. His hands twitched, demanding he move. He placed his palms flat against the ground, trying to push himself into a standing position. "Then duh! I have to train so I can rescue her!"

Kisuke smiled brightly, that joyful personality coming back. "Good good! Now the first step of training-" He shoved Ichigo back into a lying position with ease. The boy had no balance, after all. "Get more sleep and heal up!"

Ichigo groaned softly. He relaxed back. Really what he wanted was to start training right away! But he knew training while Injured would just be stupid. He only prayed he wouldn't be too late getting to Rukia in time.

(Linebreak)

Renji wasn't sure what happened. One minute, he was waving to his good buddy, Izuru, and the next, he was on the ground with a possibly bruised stomach. Why did Izuru's legs feel like they were made of lead?!

"Bastard! You claim to love Rukia and you do this?! You..." With a yell, Izuru slammed his foot against Renji's side again. Renji, through squinted eyes filled with pain, saw the blond scare onlookers away with a single glare. "Traitor! If I had been sent with my Captain, I would have sooner let him kill me before I even let Rukia pass the gates!"

"Dude, what the hell! What are you even talking about?!" Renji rubbed at his stomach as he glared up at the blond. He felt himself wilt at the... look Izuru had.