Eternal Bonds

(With Rukia)

She was sitting on the rooftop of the ramshackle hut she and the siblings were using as a home, shifting through the memories she had to try and remember their names and who that dark figure was. The thick morning fog was slowly dispersing, revealing the destitute buildings in the district. For some reason she just felt empty, like so much was lost. Part of her felt like the siblings were lying when they said she was simply asleep after an accident, but she couldn't think of them doing such a thing from the sweet kids she knew. That dark figure is the key to whatever is going on with her, now if only she knew where he was.

"Rukia." The girl called as she joined Rukia on the roof. "Can I... join you?" She asked timidly. Rukia nodded and the girl went to her said. "Rukia, is something wrong?" She asked, concern deep in her voice.

'So many things.' Part of Rukia wanted to scream out. Her headaches were mild dull throbs, but when she thought she got close to something that might resemble an answer they became unbearable. "It's odd that I've come home to this town for the first time in ages." She said, trying to coax something out of the girl. "I feel like a stranger, because I know almost nothing about myself." The girl laid her head on Rukia's shoulder, looking worried for her or maybe guilt the amnesiac Soul Reaper had to wonder. "The two of you waited for me, waited for the names I said I would give you after so many years." The girl looked up to her sister figure, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "I will give you those names. I promise." She said, confident that her memories would return.

"Thank you." The girl whispered as she wiped the wetness from her eyes as the morning sun rose. The fog dispersed under it's rays as the scenery became clearer. The most important to Rukia, was a plateau that overlooked the district. "What is it?" The girl asked as Rukia stood up, memories of her other friends coming back to her. The friends she had to bury after they were lost to the cruel life of the lower districts.

"That place, I remember it." She said, looking at the steep earthly formation. The girl's brother revealed himself and came out to join them after patrolling the area as Rukia turned to face the two. "I have to go there, I might remember something." She said, pointing at where she remembered burying her other friends. The siblings looked nervous before nodding in agreement.

(With Ichigo)

"I heard the lower districts were the worst but actually seeing it?" Ichigo started as he and Renji were walking through his old hometown. "I can understand the animosity between the Rukon and Seireitei." The people were giving them a wide berth and many were glaring daggers at the two, some with actual daggers out and ready. "I almost forgot how bad it was." Ichigo said, only going through the renovated districts that was squad 14's territory.

"Everyday was a struggle for survival." Renji said, less than happy to be back in the district. "Stealing and killing was common here. You could only rely on the few friends you made. Kids risk their lives everyday, just to get enough food and water to survive. I'd be lying if I said I missed this place. Lot of bad memories here." He looked up to an overlooking plateau that stood watch over the entire district. Like a silent guardian, for all the good it did for the street rats and bums that littered the district of Hanging Dog. "That spot," He said, pointing at the extended ledge of the formation, "is where I had to build graves for my friends and where I swore to become a Soul Reaper." Ichigo looked to where he pointed, and took a wild guess.

"Rukia told me you were childhood friends. Think she'd be there?" She did tell him about growing up in the slums of the Rukon districts, how harsh it was, how Renji was happy for her when she had a chance to live the life of luxury being a Kuchiki could give. The day she and Renji buried their friends and swore to become Soul Reapers.

"If what you said is true then it's possible." Renji said, crossing his arms in thought. "Thinking back, there was someone else with me when I decided to become a Shinigami." The two lieutenants looked at each other and nodded, flash stepping their way to the old graves to try and find clues. It took the two little time to reach the path that led to the overlook and a little more to reach the old grave site. Once they reached it they found Rukia, praying over the stakes that served as the gravestones of her and Renji's friends. She stood up and saw them, her eyes widening in recognition of the two. Ichigo stepped forward with a smile on his face. "I was getting worried about you. Are you okay?" He asked as she nodded. Just then, smoke appeared in front of Rukia as the sibling appeared and took an aggressive stance. The brother with the scythe and the sister with her teleportation abilities.

"Soul Reaper!" She growled accusingly.

"Why did you come here?" The brother asked, far more calmly. Ichigo felt the Hollow Reishi within them, almost perfectly tied to their souls. Almost like a Vizard with Hollowfication, almost. Renji glared and got ready to attack before Ichigo raised his hand, making him relax albeit unwillingly. Ichigo wanted to resolve this peacefully, but he doubted that would happen. He needed to destroy the Hollow that infected those two.

"We've seen the video recording of you two in action." Ichigo said, trying to appeal to them. From their recent actions and the fact that Rukia was unharmed, he judged that they weren't bad and simply desperate. He needed them calm, then they could do something about that Hollow infecting them. "Had it been anyone but Kisuke guarding what you attacked then Seireitei would be a mess right now." The two tensed up just a little more, while Rukia looked at them in confusion. "We can offer you two a place among the Shinigami. Stable lives, income, home, and you can stay by Rukia's side after she gets her memories back." The look on the two's faces were almost comical with their disbelief. The brother was considering it while the sister soon became enraged.

"You think you can trick us Soul Reaper!?" She roared, looking furious at the two. "All you do is take and take!" She was about to say more, but the next words just slipped out of Ichigo mouth.

"Like how you took Rukia's memories?" He said, making everyone widen their eyes in shock. Rukia out of a sense of betrayal, the siblings for realizing that Rukia might not trust them anymore, and Ichigo and Renji for just how stupid it was to say that. "Crap." He groaned as he facepalmed, letting Rukia see a glint on his finger. Wordlessly she charged forward, past the siblings and grabbed his hand. She looked at his ring, her own, and then back to him.

"Ichi-" She started before her head threatened to split apart, "AHHH!" The siblings rushed to her side.

"Rukia!" The sister cried, going to her side, hugging her and pulling her back.

"Damn Soul Reaper!" The brother cried, charging and teleporting in front of Ichigo.

"Renji, watch and analyze!" Ichigo yelled out as he drew his blade to block the scythe. There was a loud clang as the two weapons clashed, the calcified matter of that red and white scythe against the Reishi construct of Ichigo's Zanpakuto. The scythe wielder suddenly disappeared and everything in Ichigo screamed to turn and dodge. He obeyed his instinct just in time to dodge the crimson blade from cutting off his head.

"Roar, Zabimaru." Ichigo heard Renji whisper as the segmented blade attacked the boy. He blocked and jumped back using the force of the blow to join his sister. "Damn it." He cursed as he joined Ichigo's side.

"I thought I said stay back and watch." Ichigo growled as the siblings disappeared, taking Rukia with them. "That ain't good." He groaned as his mission became so much harder than it needed to be.

"Any ideas where they might have gone?" Renji asked, taking a small moment to go to his friends' graves and pray.

"No... but I can find out." Ichigo sighed, hating the incoming headache. "I can sense people's Reishi if I'm familiar enough with it, but whatever those two did messed up Rukia's so I can't find her specifically. My alternative is my Pesquisa," Renji took a moment to look at him with confusion, "spirit sonar, to try and find them. Problem is there are so many strong spirits around us and I'll get a bitch of a headache doing it."

"Do you have any other option?" Renji asked, prompting a sigh from Ichigo. He closed his eyes and sent out a pulse of Reishi. He found dozens of potential recruits, but it wasn't until he felt something traveling through the districts to the SRDI at high spreads. "Found them." Ichigo grunted as he grasped his head in agony. "They're heading for Tower 7." Ichigo said as Renji supported the hybrid and began moving as fast as he could to their destination.

(SRDI: Tower 7)

"Damn it!" The girl cursed as she and her brother carried Rukia and flew through the air, back to where they tried to attain a powerful weapon, back to where they were proven to be vulnerable. She thought they were unstoppable, they could teleport across the battlefield on their own, she could displace practically anything, and he could undo memories and bonds with a swing of his scythe. They were forced to flee by that one captain as he matched their combat prowess and crippled them with a drug that filled the air. They were stonewalled by a single lieutenant before his friend decided to help. They weren't going to be able to keep Rukia to themselves, get the names she promised, if things continued this way. They had to get that weapon under their control, then they would be invincible. They had the key, they just had to activate it. The tower came into sight when she noticed her brother slowing down. "What's wrong?" She asked, calmer now that they escaped the Shinigami for the moment.

"Maybe we went too far." He finally said, looking back at their elder sister figure he carried and earning a gasp from his sister. "Maybe we took so much of her memories that she'd never remember our names for all eternity?" He wondered as he looked to his sister. "That would be horrible-!"

"Stop it!" She yelled, looking on the verge of tears. "She can't remember what happened that day, no matter what." She shivered from the thought of losing her sister, already a giant risk from that Soul Reaper accusing them of taking Rukia's memories. They couldn't let her remember how they died, how they lost her to a Soul Reaper with some weird creature. She'd abandon them, they'd lose her again and she couldn't live with that. Even if it meant never getting their names. The offer that lieutenant made seemed tempting, but she couldn't remove her hate for the Shinigami. They took their sister and they would pay for it. "We can't take that chance. We must destroy the Soul Reapers." She said with conviction as they teleported inside the tower, to where the Reishi device was located. Oddly enough, completely vacant, but they just counted that as a blessing. They made their way to the device as the brother tried to activate it with the vial.

"Seems like it works." He said, after watching electricity spark from the machine. He went closer and closer to the machine, ready to do whatever it took to activate it and stop the Shinigami. Then a voice called out that made them pause.

"Stop." Rukia said as she came into the room, clutching her head in pain. The girl was simply happy to see their sister awake and worried about her health.

"Rukia, are you alright?" She said, going to the Soul Reaper's side.

"I'm fine. I'm remembering so much." She said through gritted teeth, scaring the siblings. "You can't activate whatever that is. It'll destroy the whole Seireitei." The sibling reeled in shock at her statement, not so much of the potential destruction but that she cared so much about the Shinigami that made their lives miserable.

"Rukia I-" The girl said as she started crying. "I can't. They must be destroyed. They'll take you away again! I can't bear that!" She said as she started breaking down, only to be enveloped in a hug by the petite Soul Reaper.

"I won't abandon you." She said reassuringly, rubbing the girl's back soothingly. "Ichigo said you'd be with us. Trust me, my husband would never lie." She said, hoping to calm the girl down. She never saw the look of shock and betrayal on their faces.

"Your... your... your what?" The girl asked, grasping Rukia tighter and tighter as her Reiatsu started fluctuating out of control.

'Oh no.' Rukia thought as the girl's Reiatsu exploded as she screamed in sorrow and madness. Her embrace was becoming almost painful as she continued screaming.

"Sister! Rukia!" The brother called out, worried about the both of them. Scared that his sister cracked and scared that Rukia was going to get badly hurt.

"They won't take you away! We won't you lose you again!" She cried out, her voice becoming twisted with a distortion. The brother felt a spike of agony as if something tried to force him under control. The wall exploded as Ichigo came through, accompanied by Renji and Byakuya, who came as soon as buildings started disappearing and fall from the sky.

"Rukia!" The three yelled out as the torrent of power blew a powerful gust of wind.

"Rukia is ours Soul Reapers!" The girl screamed through her warped voice. "You hear me! MINE!" The swirling power grew more violent as the brother went to his sister's side, moving like a marionette on strings.

'Insight Zangetsu?' Ichigo called out to his inner spirit, hoping that the Hollow side could come up with something.

"Clearly that pathetic Hollow that infected those two was driving them insane." Zangetsu said, watching the creature he found disgusting perform it's wretched acts. "Chances are it's behind everything and it scrapped away enough of their sanity to make them do it's bidding. And you should stop this right now!" He said with urgency as the brother reached his sister and Rukia, exploding in a torrent of dark Reishi. The last Ichigo saw of them was their eyes, screaming for help. The energy soon settled to reveal a dark version of Rukia. She wore a tattered white Kimono with a high collar, with a red cape and gold obi. She had lavender hair and eyes that were cat like in appearance, looking at them with no emotion other than cold hate, wielding that large white and crimson scythe.

"Crap." Ichigo muttered under his breath as the figure before him ripped off the control vial and was about to slam it back into the pedestal of its creation, surely to cause an overload to the systems. Acting quickly, Ichigo shot a Bala at the control panel and destroyed it, which prompted Rukia to turn and glare at him before attacking. The strike was harder than he expected, sending him flying back as the corrupted Rukia followed. Deeming this as an emergency situation, he undid his second seal and met his wife on the battlefield. They danced a violent dance; she attacked, he dodged, she teleported, he kept up with her, she struck him with a violent blast of energy from a swing of that scythe, he weathered it, grabbed it, and tossed it aside. She tried to impale him and he blocked, locking the blades to each other. 'Any ideas how to stop this without killing her!?' Ichigo asked his Zanpakuto spirit.

"One, but it involves you implanting your Reishi into her." Zangetsu said, sounding bloodthirsty at the prospect of a coming battle. "Go as you will." He said, leaving Ichigo to figure out how to do as his blade suggested. He tried to ponder as the ground beneath them cracked under the combined pressure, until he looked at his dear wife's eyes. Beyond the Hollow's control, they were screaming for help.

'Damn cliches.' He thought as he grabbed her behind the neck. His Hollow Reishi flaring to it's maximum to match and overpower Rukia's own as he pulled her in for a kiss, pouring his Reishi into her. The last sound anyone heard was a twisted laughing in Ichigo's own tone.

(Illustrated Guide to Soul Reapers!)

Dark Rukia alternative line

The energy soon settled to reveal a dark version of Rukia. She wore a tattered white Kimono with a high collar, with a red cape and gold obi. She had lavender hair and eyes that were cat like in appearance, looking at them with no emotion other than cold hate, wielding that large white and crimson scythe.

"Holy!" Byakuya exclaimed in shock.

"Shit!" Ichigo cursed at being too late.

"Exclamation mark!" Renji said, prompting the other two to look at him before punching him in his face.

Masaki's current state

After Ichigo ran off to do whatever mission is was to save the world or whatever, Masaki needed time to process what happen. She was frozen in place and stayed like that through dinner. And then through family time with her daughters. Then they had a bath where they had to clean her and put her to bed. Morning came and she was still frozen by the time Isshin returned. After a few hours they called Ryuuken who came by to take a look.

"You know what's wrong?" Isshin asked, having to put his clinic doctor skills on hold as Ryuuken was a higher authority there.

"It's less medical and more psychological." Ryuuken said as he finished his examination. "She must've heard something that was too shocking for her to handle." The doctors turned to the girls. "Any idea what it was?"

"Well, Ichi-nii did mention he was married." Karin suggested. This caught Masaki's attention as she began to choke and shake Isshin, demanding what happened to her baby boy.

"Well, she's better now." The senior Quincy said, packing up his things. "Let's get some ice cream before we become witnesses to a murder."