Message of Regret II

PART TWO!!!! Yeah, in this chapter, three things happen: Konata annoys the hell out of Sora, Yumichika has a beauty attack, and Heartless attack Karakura.</i>

And I am really sorry about not updating soon. I’ve started high school, and we’ve recently had family turmoil, via cancer, so I haven’t been writing lately. I promise, I will try to keep updates coming this month (meaning September). So, let’s get on with the fanfiction!</i>

The first thing they saw in the tiny apartment was a giant TV and purple wires (?!) attached to it. Then, a girl with orange blond hair and grayish eyes. She looked up with wide eyes.

“Rangiku…”

“These two. Feel for their reiatsu.” she ordered. The girl nodded, then closed her eyes. Sora froze as what felt like a cold mist run over his body. Then, Kairi shivered and dug herself a safety pit in Sora’s side. To comfort her, he put his arm around the girl. She did the same with both of hers, and the other girl opened her eyes.

“Sorry, Rangiku, but I can’t feel it.” she sighed dejectedly. Rangiku nodded, and the boy stepped forward. He was wearing a black shirt and light blue jeans. He faced them for a moment.

“So, who are you?” he demanded.

“I believe that’s our question.” Sora snapped. The boy looked a little surprised to be spoken to in that way, but he waved it away in an instant.

“Right. We did, after all, forcefully remove you from your home. Well, this is quite new. You have no spiritual pressure, yet you can see us.”

“Why is that so strange?” Kairi asked. Before he could answer, a lattice slid open, and two men (?) walked in. The one with hair looked at Kairi with shock and admiration, placing his groceries on the counter. He picked up her hand.

“Such smooth skin, what gorgeous eyes! She is truly a symbol of pure beauty!” he gasped. The bald man with eye makeup rolled his eyes and took four bentos out of a plastic bag.

“Excuse me, Lieutenant,” he sneered at the woman. “You should have told me we were having guests.”

“Just go get more food.”

“You two wouldn’t happen to be together, by chance?!” the man continued. Kairi, her hand still being held hostage, nodded firmly, taking Sora by surprise. “Oh, look how your cheeks glow in this dim lighting!”

“Shut up!” Matsumoto and the boy shouted. He jumped, letting go of Kairi. She took Sora’s hand in hers. They cautiously sat next to the girl in front of the table when she invited them.

“I’m Orihime Inoue.” she said, nodding her head once. Sora did the same, introducing the both of them.

*~*~*

Ichigo and Rukia were awkward around each other now. When they were alone, it seemed she had a hard time looking him in the eye. He’d tried speaking to her several times about her talk with Byakuya, but then she’d lie about some report she had to fill out. It pissed him off to no end.

“Rukia—” he began, but stopped when her phone began ringing. She walked past him and flipped it open.

“Captain!” she cried, immediately standing at attention. “Understood…yes, sir, we’ll be there.” The phone closed shut with a loud snap!, and then Rukia looked back at Ichigo. “Captain Hitsugaya has a favor to ask of you.”

“Um, okay.” he said. Rukia swallowed Chappy and Ichigo fought with Kon for five minutes before he finally gave up. Ichigo didn’t even want to fool with Kon. He slipped the bright green candy into his pocket and followed a kimonoed Rukia down the streets of Tokyo. About halfway, they met up with Rangiku.

“Oh, good, you’re here.” she said, and led the two to Orihime’s apartment. There, Yumichika, Ikkaku, Toshiro, Orihime, and two strangers were crowded in front of the giant screen. The female newbie was holding onto the boy. He had his arms around her protectively, scowling at anyone who came close. Captain Hitsugaya stood up, motioning a hand to the couple.

“Ichigo, you have a knack for detecting spiritual energy. Try to feel for these two’s.”

Ichigo stood there for a minute, trying to figure out why a captain (who was supposed to be able to do this when they simply looked at a person) was asking him a favor. He nodded, closed his eyes, and reached out for any sign of spiritual pressure that was unusual. He could feel Rukia’s, Rangiku’s, and Toshiro’s. Behind him were Ikkaku’s and very obviously Yumichika’s. But that was it. A power only slightly similar emanated from the boy. A light, easygoing calm settled over him when he felt for the girl’s. They didn’t have reiatsu, but a different kind of power as strong. He reported this to Toshiro.

“I see. This is quite troublesome.” he muttered. “I’ll report this to General Yamamoto.”

Something caught Ichigo’s attention. In the corner of his eye, a shadow trembled. He looked at it, and almost screamed. A black-as-night shadow sat in the middle of the floor. Rukia followed her lover’s shocked gaze, and put on the same expression.

“What the—?!”

Everyone’s attention was held by the collar as the thing began convulsing, actually rising from the floor, and up popped a tiny little…well, gremlin was the word that came to Ichigo’s mind. The boy jumped up as it scuttled out of the window.

“Heartless…” he muttered, his fists clenched. He looked at Toshiro. “How long have the Heartless been here?!”

“Heartless? We’ve seen those little things around for about a month. Nothing we do can kill them.”

The boy gave him a look that questioned Toshiro’s intelligence. “Kairi, we’ve been kidnapped by idiots.” he told the girl. Toshiro glared at him.

“Just what the hell do you mean by that?!” he demanded, ready to start a fight. Screams erupted from the throats of the living, and the girl called Kairi looked out the window.

“Sora!” she cried, but the boy was ahead of her, already out of the window. He brought his hand up, and in a flash of light some giant key appeared in his hand. He began mowing down the things. Larger and harder ones began appearing.

“What’s going on?!” Toshiro demanded. The girl clenched her fists.

“The Darkness.” she finally said. “It’s going to swallow this world.”

“What?”

“If there is any way to get people off of this world, then use it!” she ordered. There was a jolt, a shaking of the earth, and the girl started falling back. Rukia rushed to help her to her feet. The boy called Sora was missing now as they scurried from the apartment. Orihime and Ichigo had gotten separated from them, saying they’d fetch Sora. Rukia looked worried, but she didn’t release Kairi.

“Where are we going?” she asked, watching a large, strange door open in front of them.

“The Seireitei.” Rukia answered.

*~*~*
Ichigo and Sora looked around at what Karakura Town used to be. All that was left, after what Sora had called “The Darkness,” had “swallowed the world.” It seemed that pieces of dark violet rock were levitating and a river of purple liquid flowed from between them. A dome of orchid light hung over them. Ichigo stared at this the longest.

“Damn…” he whispered.

“It’s too late to save this world.” the small boy next to him sighed sadly. Ichigo looked down at his spiky head, suddenly pissed off at his pessimistic attitude.

“What do you mean it’s too late?!” he demanded, grabbing his collar. The boy looked surprised, almost scared, at his sudden reaction. “It can’t be too late!”

“I’m sorry.” he insisted, “but this world has had its heart taken by the Darkness. It and its people are gone.”

“That’s not true!”

“Will you please put me down a listen to me?” he asked. “You can save this world.”

“How?” Ichigo asked, dropping him. The boy cheekily adjusted his shirt and the proceeded to wipe the dust from the cloth. “How can I save it?”

“Well, it had its heart stolen. We have to get it back.”

“How !!?”

“If you come with me to find Organization XIII, then we can restore the world to the way it was. Of course, you’ll have to help me lock the other worlds.”

“‘Lock’?”

“It means that the Organization can’t obtain the world’s heart. We have to find the Keyhole and then protect it.”

“I see. And how will we travel to these ‘worlds’?”

“Sora, you called?” a weird voice asked from behind him. The boy called Sora grinned around him, and Ichigo spun to meet the smiling faces of a human sized dog and a duck three times larger than it should have been. Behind them was a large, crazy looking type of space ship.

“Yeah, thanks for coming.” he said, motioning for Ichigo to follow. He put his hands in his pockets and walked behind him. Something hard brushed the teen’s fingertips. Ichigo curled his hand around it and brought it into the light. A bright green Soul Candy glimmered against his peach skin. Ichigo smiled to himself and shoved his only friend gently back into his pocket.

*~*~*

Rukia held the girl’s hair back as she spit the rest of the foul bile from her lips. She felt sorry for the poor thing. She’d cried for hours about the Sora boy, and now she was vomiting. Rukia figure the move took a huge toll on her body.

“I’m sorry.” she said in a small voice. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Rukia asked, taking one of the towels next to her and giving it to the girl. She took it gratefully. She’d regained the color in her cheeks, finally. The girl had been pale for so long Rukia thought that she was going to fall over dead.

“For this. For making you baby-sit me.”

“No one’s making me do this.”

“Okay. I’m Kairi.”

“My name is Rukia Kuchiki.”

The two girls smiled at each other. Kairi dropped the towel, standing up. Rukia followed, her eyebrows raised in confusion. “Where am I?”

“The Kuchiki manor in the Seireitei.” Byakuya Kuchiki answered, standing in the doorway. The two girls looked in his direction. “If you will please follow me, Rukia, Kairi. I have something to show you.”

“Yes, Byakuya nii-sama.” Rukia answered, bowing. Kairi did the same. Byakuya turned around and led them out. Kairi stayed right beside Rukia, looking around. Everyone was wearing black hakama. Because she was the only one not doing so, she felt weird and awkward being stared at.

Byakuya made a sudden turn the two teens almost missed. Rukia pulled the girl with her and they followed the captain, once again pressed together. When Byakuya stopped them, Rukia noticed that she was in a part of the Seireitei that she’d never seen before. Byakuya slid the lattice open, stepping inside. Bravely, Rukia and Kari followed him in. The door shut itself behind them. Kairi jumped, looking behind her. ‘Like a horror movie, the door closes on its own. This means, if I’m correct, we’re either going to die or learn something important,’ Rukia thought, looking at the Gotei Thirteen. All captains were in the room, standing in order. Yamamoto stood there, his usual blank expression and his eyes closed had not faltered.

“Nii-sama?” Rukia asked daringly. Byakuya took his place next to Unohana. She watched the stranger with careful eyes.

“Kuchiki-san,” Yamamoto said, opening an eye. Kairi began trembling next to her. “Karakura Town has been swallowed by Darkness.”

Rukia stayed still, clenching her fists. Her nails bit the skin on her palms. She made no notice to the drops of blood slowly winding down her fingers.

“We have a need of regaining the light of the town.”

“It’s light?”

“The same thing as the heart of the world.” Kairi whispered beside her. “What allows it to exist.”

“Correct, miss.” Yamamoto said. “I believe you were taken from your world by Hitsugaya Taicho, am I correct?”

As Hitsugaya became suddenly interested in the straw sandals on his feet, Yamamoto smiled when she nodded slowly. “It was a good idea. We are grateful that one of the seven Princesses of Heart has appeared before us.”

All captains bowed quickly, serious expressions on their faces. Rukia was busy trying to figure out what a Princess of Heart was.

“We understand that your friend and Kurosaki-san were lost?”

“They have been missing.” Byakuya allowed, eyeing his younger sister carefully. She kept herself composed and stable in front of the Soutaicho.

“Yes, sir.” Rukia answered in a strong and clear voice, maybe a volume level too loud.

“If I am correct, they will be traveling among all the worlds in our universe.”

“Worlds, sir?” Rukia asked, slightly raising her eyebrow. The sleeve of her kimono brushed Kairi’s arm as she shifted her weight.

“I fear we do not have time to explain. All I can do is hope you will one day step through into the world Kurosaki-san and the young Princess’s friend.”

“Step?” Kairi asked, and Kurotsuchi grinned, showing them the many sliding lattices behind them.

“Pick a world, any world.” he cackled dangerously.

*

Sora walked the streets of the city, wondering where he was. It was obviously a world, but it was not one he’d been to. Ichigo waited in the gummi ship with Donald and Goofy, waiting to see if he needed their help.

“COSPLAY!!!” he heard a voice scream. He looked around. A small girl in sailor fuku stood behind him, a finger jabbed in his direction. Her green eyes were wide with excitement.

“…What did you just call me?”

“Cosplay. You’re cosplaying as Sora from Kingdom Hearts.”

“ ‘Cosplay?’ I am Sora.”

“Oh, I see. You’re one of the freaks who dresses up like the character and goes around saying you are the character.” she said. Sora sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

“No, I’m Sora. See?” he said, showing her his Keyblade. Her green eyes went wide.

“No way! This looks totally real! What’d you make it out of?!” she demanded, snatching it from him. He stared at her, wondering what planet she had come from.

“I gotta go.” he said, and ran off. Only when Donald asked him what happened did he realize he left his Keyblade behind. Sora stared at the group, his hand, back at the group, and dropped his torso.

“…I left the Keyblade.” he said in a sad voice. Everyone’s jaw dropped and Donald let a few bombs go. Goofy, red faced, duct taped his beak shut.

“I’ll go with you.” Ichigo said, then grabbed the back of Sora’s shirt, dragging him behind him as Donald fought for the right to speak again.

The Soul Reaper and the Keybearer walked the city. After making a circle and ending up back at the café, Ichigo finally bought them a map.

“Okay, so where did you meet this girl you gave your weapon to?” ‘I’m traveling with an idiot,’ he thought as the boy began pondering. As a blue sweat drop slid down his head, Sora gave Ichigo a pathetic smile.

“I don’t know.” he answered. Sora wanted to hit his partner with his map.

“Fine. What did the thief look like?”

“Oh. She had long blue hair and green eyes and she wore sailor fuku.”

“Okay, that’s not very descriptive, but I’m sure we could find her.” Ichigo his map in his pocket and began wandering with him. They checked shop after shop, café after café, but the girl with long blue hair and green eyes and wearing sailor fuku was nowhere to be found. Ichigo ground his teeth, getting angrier and angrier as their search dragged on.

“What exactly did you say to her?”

“Well, she called me cosplay.”

“…Why?”

“I dunno, she thought I was a game character. Or, she thought I thought I was a game character.”

“Have you ever heard of cosplay?”

“Nope.” Sora answered truthfully. Ichigo sighed, slapping his forehead.

“Cosplaying is when a person dresses up as a character from an anime, manga, video game, movie, etcetera, etcetera, you get my point.” Ichigo hissed from his teeth. Sora nodded slowly when he looked up.

“I see.”

“Now that we know we’re dealing with an otaku, I know exactly where to go.”