Laughing on the Journey to Hell

Disclaimer: I don’t own Bleach.

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I Scream!


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"Rukia..?"

Where did she go? She was beside me a moment ago.

"Rukia?"

Still, no answer. I was starting to get worried.

“Rukia?!”

Again, silence. She should be able to hear this. We haven’t been separated too long. I'll try again. Louder.

“Rukia!”

Only echoes replied to me. Dammit! Where is she?!

“Rukia!!”

But it was a futile effort.

Ichigo...

Zangetsu. What do youwant? Do you know where she is?!

Yes..but then again, so do you. We’re both responsible for what happened.

His ambiguous response made me uneasy.

Open your eyes, Ichigo, though you may not like what you see...

I did as he told me, and he was right. I did not like what I saw.

“R-Rukia?”

She was right in front of me, and had been all along. The image was horrifying, like you’d expect in a nightmare. Blood pooled out from her motionless, mangled body. Countless slashes had made her face barely recognizable, and purple bruises acted as some sort of twisted makeup; her nose lay a couple feet away from her body. One of her eyes had been punctured while only a bloody socket remained where the other should be. All her teeth, the foundation of her fabulous smile, had either been knocked out or split into pieces. Her normally well-kept Shinigami robes could only be called rags now, and I could only guess what sort of horrors lay beneath the bloodied pieces of cloth. Yet, the coiled intestines that had obscenely popped out left little to the imagination. Her left arm, the only one still attached to her body, reached out, as though it were trying to grab some truth.

“RUKIA!!!!”

Who...did...this? Who did this? Who did this?! What kind of fucking sadist revels in such horrendous murder?!

The sound of blood hitting the ground broke my reverie and caused me to look down. My sword had turned crimson and was covered with various pieces of gore. Part of an ear caught my attention, and my head snapped towards Rukia’s head. Part of her ear had been chopped off.

Realization struck me without mercy as I put two and two together.

I...I did this..?

Memories returned to me. The song of a blade swinging through the air. The futile resistance of flesh against my savage slashes. Blood everywhere. A face that never screamed or said anything, but still managed to ask me...Why? Why are you doing this?

I screamed.

Breathing heavily, I woke from my nightmare. The first thing I did was look at the woman in the bed beside me, who was stirring awake. She was all right. Waves of relief crashed into me.

But, why am I relieved? What happened in my nightmare? No matter, it’s better not to recall such dreams.

Uh oh, Rukia was glaring at me. The raw pain in my throat made me realized I must have screamed out loud.

I braced myself for the worst.

“What the hell, Ichigo?! Are you trying to wake up the entire neighbourhood!?” shrieked Rukia, clearly displeased with me for disturbing her slumber. Geez, she was loud, though; I think any neighbours fortunate enough not to get woken up by my scream were not so lucky, anymore.

Her eyes narrowed.

“Ichigo,” her tone was critical enough to slice my soul in two, “did you have ice cream before you went to bed? You know it gives you nightmares!”

Guiltily, I nodded my head. She rolled her eyes.

“But...” I protested, “it’s so good!"