Bleached

Chapter 23

Bleached

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Epilogue

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Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I never owned any Bleach.

AN: So...yeah, it's here. I just have to thank all of the 600+ followers, and the 450+ who favorited, and the 350+ reviewers. And this story has, as of now amassed 100,000+ hits. So...yeah! Thanks everyone. Now, to infinity and beyond!

§ Division barracks, 5 years later §

Rukia Inuzuri stared at the man in front of her with complete adoration and respect. He was her sensei of 4 years, and even though he was rough around the edges, he had always always ensured that she learned. He was rude, and insulted her when she couldn't do one particular technique correctly, or stepped a toe out of line, which, considering her upbringing among the 78th-district slums, happened quite often. His favorite insult, she'd learned, was "dunder-headed midget." Normally, Rukia would beat someone up if they called her something similar, and inform them that no, it wasn't she who was small, but they who were freakishly tall, followed by a good kick to the face.

But, unfortunately, she couldn't do that to her sensei, as he was her superior, and would likely be able to kill her before she even contemplated to do such a thing. Her mentor was powerful, said to be one of the strongest shinigamis in existence after all. And Rukia wouldn't trade him for another for all in the Universes. He was like the big brother she'd always wanted, even though she'd had Renji. But since Renji was an idiot, he was immediately disqualified. She was aware that she had some kind of worship complex for her mentor, but thankfully she wasn't as far gone as Kiyone and Sentarou. Rukia shivered. Those two would be the death of her mentor, with their unneeded over-protectiveness and over enthusiasm about everything their mentor did. She swore she'd heard them complimenting his breathing techniques once! It was lucky that their mentor's wife was understanding and even seemed to gather some kind of amusement from the way the Sentarou and Kiyone behaved.

Yes, her mentor Kaien Shiba was all she could've asked for. The scowling man,who was seemingly in a state of constant irritation, was truly a remarkable individual. Though she'd heard from her seniors that Kaien hadn't always been like this. Apparently, her temperamental sensei had been an easy going, happy go-lucky guy until the Great Battle 5 years ago. At first, she'd scoffed at the mere idea. The guy who hadn't smiled since she met him four years ago, easy-going?! But then she'd discovered that Kaien had experienced a terrible tragedy on the day of the Battle.

His brother, Ichigo Shiba, had been gravely injured, and fallen into a deep coma. One he had yet to wake up from. Rukia couldn't help but feel resentful towards Ichigo. Why had he been so weak as to fall for some spineless Quincy's trick to be so injured? Didn't he think of Kaien before recklessly threw himself into mortal peril? Didn't he realize how much he was hurting Kaien, and the rest of the Shiba Clan? So yes, Rukia disliked Ichigo very much.

Today was the annual festival celebrated on the anniversary of the Great Battle. Everybody was mingling, and having a blast, everybody except Kaien, that is. He seemed distraugt. Of course, he interacted with the various nobles as any respectable Head of Family would, but Rukia could see that he was just being courteous as to not start a feud. Finally, barely half an hour into the celebrations, Kaien excused himself. Rukia narrowed her eyes. No doubt, he was going to visit that good for nothing brother of his. She knew that Ichigo had a room for himself at the 4th division barracks, though not exactly where, and that Kaien often spent sleepless nights sitting beside the vegetable. With a determined look on her face, Rukia decided that t was time to confront her mentor's brother. And she'd followed Kaien to the 4th division barracks.

At first she'd been apprehensive of Kaien finding out, but the man had been so preoccupied that he'd missed Rukia completely. Which was now the reason for the small shinigami to be hiding in the shadows of Ichigo's hospital room, staring at the still form of her mentor. She couldn't see Ichigo's face from her vantage point, but as that was sure to be an unpleasant sight, she didn't mind it overly much. A sudden movement snapped her attention back to the situation at hand. Kaien held his brother's hand, breathing deeply. Rukia shifted uncomfortably, not liking to have invaded Kaien's privacy.

" It's been 5 years, Ichigo...5 long years, and I hurt every second, knowing that I won't be able to help, that I have to wait for Reiou knows how long!" Kaien's voice was shaky, but there was no reaction from his brother. Kaien plowed on, as if used to this. Rukia's heart broke when she saw tears in her mentor's eyes, and her dislike for Ichigo quadrupled in that second. How dare he do such a thing to Kaien?!

"You know, Retsu-san says that you can hear us. And I believe her. But...why...do I have to wait so long...to respond?" tears were streaming down his face now, and Rukia felt herself tearing up at the sight of her powerful mentor's state. Kaien seemed to struggle for control, and he let out a shaky breath.

"But I'll wait. I know you'll be back. Cause you're a Shiba. Cause you're more stubborn than I ever could be. Cause you're Ichigo. The one who protects. I'll always be here. Just...hurry up, wouldya? Shinji's been making fun of me since I've been more like you, I suppose, scowling and strict. And responsible." A this, Kaien let out a laugh. He stayed quiet for a while, before he sighed and moved towards the door.

"See ya, Ichigo."he said, smiling a wistful smile before he left. Rukia waited for him to leave the building, before she turned towards Ichigo with fire in her eyes. She gasped in slight surprise when she saw him. He was...ethereal. With orange hair that had been braided and laid over his shoulder, glowing skin, and a face nearly identical to Kaien, he struck an impressive sight something that should've been impossible for a man who'd been lounging on the bed for the past 5 years. Snapping out of her ogling, Rukia glared.

"You are a despicable idiot who doesn't deserve to have a sibling like Kaien-sama! Don't you realize what you're doing? You're killing him! He doesn't smile, doesn't play around like I'm told he once did, and he's so...sad! Truthfully, I don't understand why everybody in the Shiba clan doesn't hate you for doing this to their Head of Family!" Rukia took a deep breath.

"I don't know you, and frankly, I don't care about you! But Kaien-sama does, and you have to wake up! Before he gets delusional, or goes crazy. " Rukia paused, letting out a soft sigh.

"He's slipping, you know? I saw him pouring tea into the vases once, and I asked him what he was doing. He just looked at me like I was the mad one, and told me that he was watering the plants. Do you the best part? The vases were empty!" Rukia paused again, breathing deeply.

"Look, I don't care that you're a vegetable! I don't care how this happened. But you're important to Kaien-sama! And for that, you need to WAKE UP!" she screamed at the man, breathing heavily. Still, there was no reaction. Rukia let out a frustrated sound. Finally deciding that talking to someone who couldn't respond wasn't going to do any good for her mental health.

"I hope you're happy with yourself." she growled, before walking out, slamming the door behind her.

§

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In his room, alone from everybody at last, Ichigo's mouth twitched in amusement. That was the first movement. A frown marred his face as he struggled to move his muscles. Finally, he managed to open his eyes. A smirk graced his lips. Trust Rukia to kick his ass into gear.

§

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The surprised look on Kaien's face when he showed up in the Shiba Mansion was one to savor. And if the bone-crushing was reciprocated by equal force, none of the brothers said anything. And at Kaien's wondering query of how, his answer was simple.

"You needed me. More than ever. Apparently you were going around watering empty vases with tea. The mortification woke me up."

AN: Aaaaaaaand Disco out! It's been an absolute pleasure writing this for you guys. I have a couple of ideas which I am going to work on next. A lot of Noblesse, that's for sure. but you'll have to wait for that. See you next time around!

Imagine Toushiro Hitsugaya with puppy dog eyes, asking for a review.

-iamAdisco