第34章: The Scarlet Division: Team Erza

When Ichigo opened his eyes, the first thing his mind registered was the warmth. Then how tired he felt. Lying perfectly still, he slowly came to sit, his mind scattered and distracted. He felt the pain, and it was enough of a jolt to trigger a thought.

"It hurt". Dulled, its edge taken off, but it hurt. He looked around, and forced the place around him to come into focus. At first, he assumed it would be a hospital, because it seemed the most logical place. But no "this looked like the shop"

The shop. Where he'd been brought after he was cut. Hazy memory images, cut and unclear like dirtied movie tape, of him being carried inside by strong arm. Carried inside, and the memory hit him, like a truck. He had fought those shinigami. He had lost. He sat bolt upright. Immediately, he was overwhelmed with pain. Blood seeped through his bandages, and he fell back onto the bed, unable to focus on anything but the hurt.

"My, my," came a voice, quiet and restrained, and Ichigo managed to recognize it as Urahara Kisuke's through his pained daze, "look at you, trying your best to undo all our hard work."

Ichigo murmured something incomprehensible, wanting and feeling too many things to say anything coherent.

"Take it easy, now," Erza said. There was a gentle touch to Ichigo's chest, and a surge of energy. After a minute or so, although it might have been an hour for all Ichigo could tell, the pain eased. Finally able to move his head, he looked up. The Scarlet woman was slowly running a hand over his injury, a slight green light emanating from it.

"It's a medical kido," Urahara explained calmly. "I am no expert, but you pick up a little bit of this and a little bit of that in my line of work. I know enough to stop that injury from rupturing any further, for example, and how to dull your pain. It really wouldn't do for you to bleed to death after all our hard work." Erza added.

"Rukia" he mumbled. "I need to save her" he continued "Yes, I understand. Let me help you. Take my hand, and very gently, sit up just a little." Struggling, Ichigo reached out with a hand, and Urahara took it. Gently and slowly, he was pulled into a semi-sitting position, and Urahara gestured toward the rest of the room. "You will recover soon enough." Urahara explained. "It's chiefly about replacing the blood you lost. Your injuries will soon be healed. The kido was effective. We took the liberty of fusing your soul with your body again- effectively, you are human once more." Erza nodded before "once you're t recovered and done with your training, we will go and save Rukia, but for now you have to be strong so you wouldn't have to be a nuisance"

Given the greying lights outside, it had to be early morning. Ichigo nearly fell asleep again. The pain had gone away, remarkably so, and though the futon was a bit harder than what he was used to, he didn't mind. He had almost fallen asleep, when he registered that there were voices in the distance. Erza, he realized, and the shopkeeper, conversing in tones that were at the same time hushed and heated. His urge to sleep finally being overwhelmed by a growing curiosity, Ichigo opened his eyes, suppressed a yawn, and sat up. He still ached a little, but nothing close to what had happened the last time he had tried to sit up on his own. Carefully making his way toward the sliding doors he listened in.

"…I keep telling you, it's a fool's errand." Urahara said calmly, although there was an urgency in his voice. "You maybe powerful enough to destroy seireitei on your own but still I won't let you go alone"

"I know but someone has to go and get her" Erza said fiercely, "Rukia is going to be executed, and she doesn't deserve it. I have to try and help, no matter what." She added. "It's a suicide run, and you know it." Urahara warned her. "I've spit in the face of the impossible before." Erza said stubbornly. "I'm going to try, and you're not going to stop me." Urahara covered his face with his fan before saying "All alone, leaving all your precious people behind without even saying goodbye?"

"Do not try to manipulate me!" Erza sneered, her voice rising for just a second. "They have no idea what I'm heading into. If they knew, they'd insist on talking me out of it, or worse, come along. They are not ready."

"Erza." Ichigo said quietly.

"I-Ichigo." Erza said, almost sounding guilty. "You should be in bed."

"You're leaving?" He said. Emotion was welling up inside him, no doubt aided by his damaged, confused state of mind. How could she?

"Look, Ichigo…" Erza said, trailing off. The guilty look on her face said it all, and Ichigo knew exactly what the shopkeeper had planned- but he didn't care the least bit.

"You're leaving us behind?" He hissed, slowly walking toward her. "After all of this, you're going to leave us? Go after Rukia on what, a suicide run? Or was he just full of shit?"

"You don't understand!" Erza said, almost desperately. "Rukia is a friend, and I can not stand by and let this happen"

"What about the rest of us, huh?" Ichigo said angrily. "What are we going to do without you? What about Orihime? Rukia's your friend- our friend- sure, but what good will it do anyone if you go ahead and what if you get hurt? I won't forgive myself if something happens to you"

Erza balled her fists, and infuriated look on her face. She shot Urahara a vicious glare, and then looked back at Ichigo.

"Look…"

"No, don't you 'look' me!" Ichigo said angrily, his temper slowly building up. "Like hell you're going to leave all of us behind to go alone!"

"Why don't we postpone this little spat until after breakfast, yes?" Urahara cut in smoothly, before it could escalate. "Let's not have harsh words when we're not thinking clearly. Talk this out when you're all thinking clearly."

"Don't you leave us." Ichigo said, and his tone was stubborn enough to rival Erza's. "Don't."

Erza looked at him helplessly, and kept her fists balled."Fine." She said frustratedly. "Fine. Breakfast. Whatever."

After a hearty breakfast, Orihime, Uryū and Chad showed up, no doubt having been conveniently notified by the shopkeeper, and Ichigo was, despite himself, a little impressed with Urahara's manipulative skills. Erza was sulking in a corner, looking like she had nowhere to go, arms crossed over her chest.

"So," Urahara said, after the obligatory exchanges of oh-my-god-are-you-okay had mostly passed, "I think we all have things to discuss."

"A good enough attitude," Urahara said with a smirk. "Let's start with what we know." Stepping into the middle of the room, he flicked out a fan. Looking like he rather enjoyed the attention, he continued, "Late last night, Rukia was taken back to the soul society by the leader of her own clan, also her brother. Mister Ishida here mistook the situation for something it was not, attacked, and things went downhill from there. Mister Kurosaki here was badly bloodied, and Mrs. Erza almost killed a shinigami"

"That in itself is not too bad, horrible injuries aside," Urahara continued, "except I have it confirmed that Rukia faces execution."

Ichigo had already heard the news, but the rest of them flinched.

"But- but why?" Orihime exclaimed. "She didn't do anything wrong, did she? Not that bad, right?"

"Indeed she did not," Urahara said. "We suspect foul play. Which leads me to our second point." He pointed his fan at Erza.

"Scarlet Reaper…"

"She was about to run off in the night." Ichigo said bluntly.

"What?!" Orihime said.

"Indeed, we've all been there, overwhelmed with passion. Et cetera, and so forth," Urahara said dismissively. "However, I think Erza will still insist on attempting to save Rukia. Is that correct?"

"I have to try." Erza said stubbornly. "It's just… it's a Fairy Tail thing. We never leave our nakama"

"Fairy Tale?" Orihime said confusedly. "Erza, what's going on?"

"A rescue mission." Urahara said, shooting them a grin. "It's only right. Save the maiden fair, and all that. Unfairly sentenced to death by a tyrannical government- how could a group of such upstanding heroes not act?"

"This is not a joke!" Erza snarled. "You have no idea-"

"Actually, I very much do," Urahara cut in. "Now, why don't we ask the others. Who here intends to let Erza attempt this alone?"

"Hell no." Ichigo said flatly. "Rukia's not just your friend. She's mine, too, and she saved my life. I'm coming too."

"If Erza is going, so am I." Orihime said resolutely.

"Then I say the same for Ichigo." Chad said. "I will come with you, and lend whatever aid I can."

"On my honour as a quincy, I swear that I too will come," Uryu said, having remained silent until now. "I owe the shinigami a debt of pain, and it would shame me to watch all of my… friends stand up to this injustice while I am left wanting."

"You can't." She said. "You can't. The people in the Gotei… the soldiers they command, there are true monsters there. You think you are strong? Ichigo, you saw a captain- at one fifth of his power, not even using half of his arsenal. You were chanceless. What good would it do if you all went in and died?!"

"If indeed this was a loud and hard mission to bust them out with force, I would agree," Urahara said, looking amused. "But… I have a better idea."

"Like what?" Erza snapped.

"A quick in-and-out," Urahara said smoothly. "Yoruichi will lead you. Like myself, she has an intimate knowledge of the Gotei's inner working, including its city layout. You go in, cause some chaos, and your fastest members scurry away to secure Rukia in the confusion. There's more to it than this, of course, but that is the plan."