I Am The King | By : HollowedRose Category: Bleach > General Views: 9190 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and its characters. They belong to Tite Kubo. They are a work of fiction. I do not make any money out of this. |
Chapter 2 - Unexpected Events
Uryū was still slightly shocked after finding out that Ryūken, his father, not only had Quincy powers, but that he was well versed in the art of fighting Hollows. When Ryūken had told him that he could help him get his powers back, Uryū agreed, even if the condition imposed by Ryūken was that his only son would no longer involve himself with the Shinigami. Uryū’s pride still felt wounded after he ended up getting saved by a man who always gave him the impression of being someone who hated everything related to the Quincy powers. What a hypocrite, Uryū thought.
Uryū hated being weak. He never regretted what he did in Soul Society, it was a matter of honor after all, but it didn't mean that he was happy about it. If Ryūken could really help him get his powers back, then maybe Uryū would even one day forgive for being such an asshole of a father.
The man didn’t waste any time after they made the deal, so the two of them were on their way to wherever it was that Ryūken would help Uryū get his power back. They kept walking for a while, and judging by the direction in which they were heading, it looked like the hospital was their destination.
Then something very strange happened, so strange that Uryū didn't even know what it was at first. He stopped in his tracks, confused, and he kept on staring into a certain direction until his father called his name a few times and he finally snapped out of it.
"Uryū, what are you doing?"
"I... something is wrong."
"It appears as though they are fighting, the Shinigami I mean,” Ryūken said, and he was a bit surprised when he saw the worried expression on his son’s face when Uryū turned around.
"We were on our way to the hospital, right?" Uryū inquired.
"Yes."
"Then go ahead and I'll be there shortly."
"You promised you won't get involved with the Shinigami anymore. Do you intend to break your promise?" Ryūken asked in a rather annoyed tone. Uryū looked taken aback for a second, as though he had forgotten about the promise, and now that he was reminded of it, he was torn between keeping it promise and going to aid his friend.
"This has nothing to do with the Shinigami,” Uryū stated. “Before being a Shinigami, Kurosaki is my classmate and my friend. He isn't even a real Shinigami. How can I stand idle when something is very wrong with him? Are you telling me to abandon my friend? If that is the case, I don't want your help anymore.”
Ryūken slipped a hand into his pants pocket and regarded his son with a calm expression. "I think the boy can take care of himself. What makes you think that something is wrong? He is a Shinigami, whether you like it or not, and his job is to fight Hollows.”
Uryū shook his head. "You don't understand. I've seen and felt Kurosaki fight before. Even if I don’t have my powers anymore, I can still somewhat feel his reiatsu. This might have something to do with what happened in the past when we had a duel; it was a very long time ago, but you don't need to hear about it. I understand your answer perfectly. Good bye," Uryū fought to not hiss before he turned around and broke into a sprint towards the direction in which he was staring earlier.
Ryūken watched Uryū’s retreating back for a few moments before he sighed and went on his way.
Uryū was upset that he threw away the chance to get his powers back, but he couldn’t ignore the feeling that something was wrong. For the first time in his life, he hoped that he’d made a mistake and that Ichigo was fine. Earlier he’d felt a sudden rise in Ichigo's reiatsu, but it wasn't like anything he had ever felt before, and it appeared to him like a cry for help. He knew that sounded insane, since Ichigo never asked for help during one of his battles, nor did he want others interfering, but that was what it felt like to him and he was going to check it out. He couldn't pinpoint the exact location, but he was still very far away from Ichigo. After a while, when Ichigo's reiatsu disappeared like it wasn't even there to begin with, Uryū felt panic rise within him, thinking that Ichigo was either dead or very close to dying; there really was no other explanation for his reiatsu disappearing all of a sudden.
He didn’t give up though, and he kept looking around for felt like an eternity. Just when he was about to give up and go back to look for Orihime and the rest to help him find Ichigo, he thought he saw something in the distance, so he called Ichigo's name, but unfortunately, he got no answer. As he approached the shadow he saw in the distance, that someone disappeared, so he rushed there, pushing his body to its limits until he reached the place. What he found there worried him. There was blood everywhere, and he could tell that it belonged to Ichigo. His heart wildly ratcheted inside his chest as he spent a few minutes to catch his breath. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. If Ichigo was dead, then his body should’ve been there, but it wasn’t, which meant that someone took it. No, Kurosaki can’t be dead, he told himself as he shook his head in denial. He much rather preferred to believe that Ichigo had been injured and that he’d been carried to Soul Society to receive medical treatment. It would certainly explain why his reiatsu disappear. Uryū decided to get a few more minutes of rest before he’d go looking for Rukia.
To his surprise, Ichigo's reiatsu appeared again, but it seemed to be much further away than before. Uryū realized that he needed to calm down if he wanted to figure out how far he was from Ichigo. It wasn't something easy to do, but after a few minutes of searching, he concluded that it was not in Karakura Town anymore.
"Kurosaki, what’s going on?" Uryū wondered out loud. "I hope you're all right." The reiatsu was much weaker than before, so he knew that he had to get to Ichigo fast. There was only one option, and he didn't like it one bit.
After some more running, Uryū found himself in front of a door. Oh, how he hated it! Many times in the past he stood in front of it being as nervous as he was at that moment. He kept telling himself there was no other way, or maybe there was, but none that would help him get to Ichigo in time. He knocked on the door three times and waited until he heard a voice inviting him inside.
"Yes? What do you want?"
"Ryūken..." Uryū said, almost sure that he somewhat hated the man.
"Is there something you want?"
"As a matter of fact, there is. You and I will get in the car and you will drive until I find my friend Ichigo," Uryū announced.
"I don't want to have anything to do with the Shinigami," Ryūken stated calmly.
"How can you say such a thing? Ichigo is my friend and he needs help. For once in your life, act like a father and help me! I can't drive. If I could, do you think I'd be here making a fool of myself by asking for your help?"
"But he is a Shinigami, and he got injured during a fight between him, a Shinigami, and his enemy, a Hollow. He wouldn't have been fighting if he wasn't one. So it was his status as a Shinigami that had led to this."
Uryū couldn't believe it. His father, Ryūken, wasn't going to help him. On second thought, he could believe it. He was sure Ryūken didn't even believe something was wrong with Ichigo. His father could go to hell for all he cared, because he was decided to take care of things by himself. He turned around and opened the door, walked out and then slammed it as hard as he could. It only took him a few minutes to find Ryūken’s car in the parking lot, and once he located it he quickly smashed the window, opened the door, and got inside. He knew there had to be a key somewhere, so he looked in several places until he finally found it when he checked under the driver's seat. It was his first time driving a car, but he knew the theory and he’d played some racing games before, so he was confident that he could do it. As he left the building, Ryūken saw him drive into the night from behind the window of his office.
"Why am I not surprised? You'd think he's a role model for a teenager," the man said out loud, not at all surprised by his son’s behavior. He was serious about what he had said though; he wanted nothing to do with the Shinigami and their fights. The only reason why he offered to help Uryū was because he was his son, and Ryūken didn't want him to be in danger of losing his life because he was weak, especially when he, as a father, could do something about it.
Uryū drove at high speed through the streets, doing his best to not run into something or someone. He’d lost track of time once again, so worried about Ichigo that he could hardly think. "Kurosaki, you'd better be fine, because if you aren't, I'm going to kill you myself," Uryū muttered as he approached the other city. He drove for a while longer, until he finally stopped outside a park where he thought Ichigo’s reiatsu was coming from. He got out of the car and walked inside, and before he knew it, he was running again, only stopping when the Shinigami finally came into view. Ichigo was injured so badly that Uryū could hardly see a spot on his body that wasn’t bleeding. Worried sick, he knelt beside him and gently brushed a few bloody strands out of his face.
"Kurosaki... Kurosaki! Kurosaki!! Come back to your senses!" Uryū called his name louder and louder until he was shouting, but Ichigo couldn’t hear him. Left with no other choice, he placed his hands on Ichigo’s shoulders and shook him a few times until Ichigo’s eyes slowly fluttered open. Instead of seeing relief on the Shinigami’s face, Ichigo roughly pushed him away and shouted at him to get leave him alone. Uryū suspected that in his confused state of mind, Ichigo couldn’t recognize him, and he was soon convinced that he’d been right in his assumption when he saw Ichigo desperately looking around for his Zanpakutō.
"Stop it Kurosaki! It's me, Uryū!"
The Shinigami didn't stop his search though; it was as though he couldn't even hear him.
"Dammit, Kurosaki! I know you're injured and that it's normal to react like a wounded animal when you feel threatened, but it's me, URYŪ! U-RY-U! Your friend!"
"F-Friend?" Ichigo spoke brokenly as he turned towards the person who was talking to him, a small trail of fresh blood making its way down his chin.
The sight worried Uryū greatly, because he suspected that Ichigo was suffering from internal damage. "Kurosaki, I'm going to find a phone and call Urahara-san and ask him to bring Inoue-san here.” He barely managed to finish the sentence when he heard Ichigo wail, the sound so strange and unexpected that Uryū tried to convince himself that Ichigo had hit his head, which would account for the strange behavior. "Kurosaki, listen to me. If I don't make the call, you’ll most likely end up dead. Honestly, I'm surprised you're still breathing.”
"I d-don't want h-her here!" Ichigo pleaded.
In Uryū’s opinion, the request didn't make any sense. Ichigo must be out of his mind, he thought and got up with the sole intent of finding a phone.
Ichigo on the other hand, who had somewhat gotten back to his senses and who at first thought that Uryū was Grimmjow, was in no way going to let the Quincy call Orihime. He didn't even want to see Uryū, but his classmate had somehow found him and now he had to at least prevent him from making that call.
"D-Don't call!" Ichigo shouted and struggled to get on his knees using his own Zanpakutō for support, which had returned to normal while he was unconscious. Uryū's eyes were wide, and Ichigo could read the worry in them. It was very hard to speak because of how dizzy he felt and because of the excruciating pain tearing his sanity apart, but he still asked Uryū not to go once more. Ichigo turned desperate when the Quincy ignored him. He had to stop him no matter what, but he couldn't get up, not anymore, not when the simple act of getting on his knees had drained him of the last remnants of his strength. The whole thing was extremely frustrating, and he was terrified by the prospect of his friends finding out what happened to him, especially Orihime, because he knew that something so horrible would scar someone as pure and innocent as she was.
As Uryū got further away, Ichigo swung a very weak Getsuga Tenshō towards him out of desperation and on sheer will alone. He immediately collapsed on the ground, coughing blood and writhing in pain. He knew that his friend would be able to dodge it, and he hoped Uryū could tell that his intention hadn't been to kill him; it was a weak Getsuga Tenshō after all.
"Kurosaki, what’s the matter with you?! Are you trying to kill me? At least tell me why I can't call Inoue-san! Your behavior makes no sense! Do you wish to die so badly?"
"YES!" was the only word that came out of Ichigo's mouth, and Uryū concluded that something really bad must've happened if it made Ichigo wish for death.
He left the poor Shinigami writhing in pain and rushed to his father's car. Just as he thought, there were a lot of things that could be used to treat the wounds of both humans and spiritual beings, so he threw everything he thought he might need into a bag and ran back to Ichigo who was muttering "don't call," or something along those lines. Leaving the Shinigami on the ground was not a very good idea, so Uryū decided to move him to a nearby bench.
"Kurosaki, can you hear me? I'm going to have to move you to that bench over there so that I can clean your wounds, but I'm going to have to carry you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Ichigo's only answer was a grunt of pain. Uryū had never carried another guy before, so he wasn't sure that he could do it. He dropped on one knee and slowly put his arms under Ichigo's legs and back. He could've sworn that for a fraction of a second, when their eyes met, Ichigo was scared of him, but he quickly dismissed it, thinking that it must’ve been his imagination. With some effort, he successfully got on his feet and he slowly carried the Shinigami to the stone bench. He put him down as gently as he could before he proceeded to clean his wounds, but the more he cleaned, the worse the wounds appeared to be. Ichigo's eyes were on him, following his every move, flinching from time to time even though he was fighting to stay as still as possible. When Uryū cleaned Ichigo's right hand, he ended up gasping when he saw the hole going right though it. He quickly checked the other one and found the same thing. So cruel, he thought sorrowfully as he looked into Ichigo’s eyes.
“Kurosaki, who did this to you?” he asked, but Ichigo didn't answer. Uryū however saw tears gathering in his friend's eyes. "Is it that bad? You can cry if you want, I won't tell anyone,” he assured him, but Ichigo looked away and then closed his eyes. Uryū worked on cleaning and bandaging for a very long time, until everything appeared to be good except for what looked like a deep gash that went from the Shinigami's navel and down towards the crotch. Uryū cringed, knowing that the next conversation with his friend would be extremely awkward. "Uhm... Kurosaki, look at me. Ok, good. I'm going to have to, you know, take care of the rest of the wounds, but to do that, I'm going to have to remove the rest of your Shinigami robe."
Ichigo opened his eyes and glowered at the Quincy while he tried to come up with a way to prevent Uryū from removing the rest of his clothes. He had been thinking about that for a while, but he still came up empty even though he was feeling much better after taking the painkillers the Quincy had given him. "No," he finally said in a clear voice.
"Come on, Kurosaki, we're both guys here, and I've already put up with too much of your stubbornness, so shut the hell up for once!" Uryū snapped and slowly moved his hand to grab the sash around his friend's waist, only to be stopped by Ichigo who grabbed his wrist. "You must be kidding me... I just bandaged that hand!" Uryū nearly barked, forcibly taking the Shinigami's hand away from his and grabbing the hakama's sash with the other.
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