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ikkanemu community. Because it's an Ikkaku/Nemu community and they're all as insane as me XD
Title: Come What May – Burnt Bridges
Fandom: Bleach
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1860
Characters: Ikkaku, Nemu, Iba, Yumichika, Rangiku
Summary: Following Rundown, Top of the Caste, Smile for Me, Setting Stages, Daily Reprieve, Odds Against, One Step Beyond, Seating Arrangements, Distances Between and Time Misspent. An experiment, if you will. Those left behind.
She wasn’t disobeying orders, she reasoned. Urahara was her captain and if her captain requested her presence or her actions she couldn’t deny him that. And Urahara found Ikkaku amusing so if she was in her captain’s presence of course she was going to treat Ikkaku politely when he came by for visits.
She wasn’t doing it to spite Mayuri-sama’s orders. It was just what happened. If it were anything else, Nemu told herself, she would be able to do it without hesitation. But it was her captain and his guest and no matter what Mayuri-sama told her, she couldn’t ignore their request to talk with her.
But she had gotten much better at hiding bruises and cuts, she realized, probing the slash where the inside of her cheek had cut on her teeth. Tender, but wouldn’t hinder any abilities or her appearance. Satisfied with that analysis, she balanced the tray of tea in one hand and knocked on the door.
“Urahara-taichou.” She said, bowing her head as she slid the door back. “Your morning tea is-“
She abruptly stopped and looked around the room that had been stripped bare. “Urahara-taichou?”
~*~*~*~
“You’re LEAVING??”
“Geez, would ya stop with that already?” Iba grunted, pushing Ikkaku away from his ear. “Yer gettin’ annoying.”
Ikkaku just gapped and Yumichika sidled away carefully, waiting until he exploded again.
“But- But! I can’t believe you’re LEAVING!”
“Hey,” Iba snapped, “I’ve been 3rd seat for almost ten years now! I’m well within my rights to apply for a vice-captain’s seat so stop being so damn dramatic about it!”
“Che! You’re applying for a vice-captain’s seat ‘cause you can’t beat Kusajishi-fukutaichou!”
Iba growled right back. “And what’s wrong with that? Better’n you, wasting your time by just dickin’ around in the 8th seat!”
Ikkaku snorted. “I’m biddin’ my time.” He said importantly. “I’m gonna head all the way to the top, I ain’t got time to be dealin’ with middlemen!”
“Ya look like a retard, that’s what it is.”
Ikkaku flared. “Hey, shut the fuck up! You still haven’t beaten me yet so don’t think I’m givin’ ya any sort of respect!”
“Ah?” Iba sneered. “You think a lowly seated guy like you could beat ME? A newly appointed vice-captain?”
“Don’t give me that high ‘n mighty shit! You wanna piss me off? I’ll kick your fuckin’ ass!”
Yumichika finally gave into the urge and thwacked Ikkaku between the shoulder blades. “Would you stop? All your yelling is giving me stress.”
Grabbing at his aching back, Ikkaku turned and glowered at him. “Why the fuck do I care? Leave me alone, ya damn fruit.”
“Stress leads to early wrinkles,” Yumichika told him. “And that leads to premature ugliness. I thought you’d know all about that by now.”
“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN??”
“Ikkaku, would ya just shut the fuck up?” Iba pushed his shades higher on his nose. “Ya bark and bark and nothin’ different’s comin’ out.”
“So then, Iba-fukutaichou,” Yumichika drew out cheerfully, if not just to watch Ikkaku burst a vein, “what division are you going to?”
“7th.” He said, idly scratching at his stomach. “Their vice-captain’s retirin’ and I talked to the captain yesterday. He talked to Zaraki-taichou yesterday, too. Dunno what he was told, but apparently it was good enough to get me selected.”
“When are you going to leave, then?”
Iba shrugged. “Packin’ up my shit tonight. Gettin’ some of the unseated guys to move me out tomorrow.”
“That’s pretty sudden.” Yumichika said thoughtfully. “Not even a ‘Good Luck, New Vice-Captain’ party?”
Ikkaku snorted. “Vice-captain. I don’t believe it.”
“Oi.” Iba poked at Ikkaku’s head. “You better start treatin’ me with some respect.”
“Pfft! My ass! The most you’ll get is MAYBE an ‘Iba-san’.”
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s either that or sonnuvabitch, stupid fuck or retard.” He grinned sharply. “Or whatever the hell I feel like callin’ ya at the time.”
“It’s either vice-captain or you can stop talkin’ to me period, Pachinko Head.”
A hand fisted the front of Iba’s haori. “You wanna die, mother fucker!?”
Yumichika growled to himself. “Why am I always breaking you two up? You’re so childish you guys aren’t even at preschool level.”
Iba smacked the hand away roughly. “If you ever decide to get off your ass and make it up to my level,” he told Ikkaku flatly, “I may consider you my equal.”
“Consider me YOUR equal?” Ikkaku bristled. “You haven’t beaten me yet!”
“That was the academy. What the fuck do they know?”
“Know enough that I totally-“
“Would you stop already?” Yumichika jumped in. “This is getting old!”
“You don’t like it, you can go away!”
“You always gotta be such a dick?”
“I’m not the one bein’ all-“
“Your yelling is driving me-“
“If you don’t like it, do somethin’-
“I ain’t listenin’ to you-“
“Excuse me, sirs!”
“WHAT??” The three of them snapped. One of the unseated 11th division members shrank, almost physically, under the exertion of their combined spirit force.
“Er, Z-Zaraki-taichou needs people to lead out squads to the, the outer limits of the Rukongai…” he stammered.
“What? What for?” They asked, tempers evening out now that their curiosity was perked.
“It seems that, uh,” the messenger fidgeted, “every division is sending out search parties. The captain of the 12th division, Urahara Kisuke, and the commander of the Special Ops Forces, Shihouin Yoruichi, have both gone missing.”
~*~*~*~
They only searched for three days, one day spent foraging through the limits of the Rukongai, the second spent searching beyond those limits and the third day backtracking to the Seireitai, making sure they missed nothing.
When they reported to Zaraki, he snorted and said nothing, giving them a day to rest up from the journey. Iba took that time to get settled into his new division. Ikkaku and Yumichika- both set on edge by this –took the time to meander through the other divisions and see what anyone else had to say.
In the 10th division, they came across Rangiku, who shared their skepticism about the ordeal. “They’re not as worried about this as they should be.”
“Hmmm…” Ikkaku folded his arms.
“There’s something they’re not telling us.”
“Hmmm…” This one was followed by a scowl.
Yumichika wondered aloud, “I wonder what could be wrong?”
“Most likely,” Rangiku supplied, “they were under suspicion for something.”
“But would they have cut the search short for that?” Yumichika said. “After all, if they were a security risk or guilty of a crime, surely they should be under wraps?”
She shook her head and hit the subject that was niggling at the back of Ikkaku’s thoughts. “This is going to put a lot of stress on those two divisions, now.”
Ikkaku snapped at attention. “Nemu.”
The other two looked at him oddly. “Huh?”
Almost in a panic, he asked, “Did they pick a new captain for the 12th, yet?”
“Well, yeah.” Rangiku said slowly. “Their vice-captain? Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou? As far as I know, they don’t have a replacement for vice-captain yet, though.”
“FUCK!” Spinning on a heel, Ikkaku bolted away, ignoring the startled cries behind him.
He blurred out of the 10th division gates, barely even noticed running passed the 11th and, pounding towards the looming walls of the 12th, two shinigami jumped at attention.
“Hey, hey!” One of them said, “This area is restricted! No unautho-“
“Get outta my way!” He bellowed, ducking around the first and shoving the second aside with an elbow. His foot skidded on the ground, leaping around a turn. Long legs ate up the distance and the only thing on his mind was Nemu.
“Where is she?” He muttered, dashing through familiar scenes, reaching out to sense her. “Where is she, where is she dammit!”
When he finally was able to get a hold of the spirit signature that was purely hers, Ikkaku nearly missed the turn. Because it was so subdued and subtle (and because Ikkaku was never good in any subjects that weren’t physical), he almost passed by the room that the signature was coming from.
The captain’s office.
Grasping at the door, he shoved it back with enough force to knock it off the tracks. “Nemu!”
Startled at the sudden intrusion, Nemu twisted out of her position. She was sitting on her knees in the middle of the floor- as if waiting for her captain to come in, call her out, to acknowledge her again.
“Nemu.” Ikkaku panted, feeling a little calmer now that he had found her. Now, though, he wasn’t even certain what he was supposed to say. Opening his mouth, Ikkaku blurted out, “I-I’m sorry.”
Eyes wide, Nemu slowly shifted back into her original position. Back to Ikkaku, she lightly brushed her braid from where it jumped over her shoulder. He watched it swing to a slow standstill against the straight planes of her back.
“I’m sorry.” He repeated, this time more sure of himself. “We tried to find him- we spent three days looking. I-“
“It’s fine.” Nemu said softly.
The finality of her voice made his shoulders tense up. He stalked over to her, knelt in front of her and slammed his hands against her forearms.
“Don’t you DARE say that!” He snapped. “It’s not fine and you know that! Get upset! Get angry! He left his division in shambles and left you to clean up after him! He left you alone to defend yourself against that psycho dad of yours! He left you to take care of everything so don’t you DARE say that it’s fine! You’re well in your right to be mad so be mad!”
Shocked at the strength of his fingers digging into her arms- forceful like Mayuri-sama’s, almost frightening in its intensity and yet not nearly the same thing –Nemu wanted to ask why he was so angry. But when she opened her mouth, Nemu heard herself say, “He left.”
And suddenly… everything sank in.
“He left.” She repeated. He left and he wasn’t coming back. He took all his notes and had nothing of value waiting for him. He and his best friend disappeared without a word and all her sitting and waiting in his office wasn’t going to bring him back. “He left.” A hand gripped tentatively at Ikkaku’s sleeve. “He left.” Nemu’s voice felt thick and her grip became stronger.
“He left.” She said, looking up at Ikkaku with an expression that begged him not to let it be true. “He left. He left me behind.” And, for the first time she could recall, tears began to spill down her cheeks. Her other hand went up, pulling at the material against Ikkaku’s chest and burying her face against his collar, sobbing. “He left me alone.”
He left me with him. She didn’t say, but she didn’t have to. Ikkaku wrapped his arms tight against her and pressed his cheek against her hair. He vowed that the next time he saw Urahara- and there would be, he’d make certain of that –he’d punch that stupid, traitorous bastard in the face.
As he knelt there, holding Nemu securely against him, Mayuri watched the scene in the dark. Unamused.
ikkanemu community. Because it's an Ikkaku/Nemu community and they're all as insane as me XDTitle: Come What May – Burnt Bridges
Fandom: Bleach
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1860
Characters: Ikkaku, Nemu, Iba, Yumichika, Rangiku
Summary: Following Rundown, Top of the Caste, Smile for Me, Setting Stages, Daily Reprieve, Odds Against, One Step Beyond, Seating Arrangements, Distances Between and Time Misspent. An experiment, if you will. Those left behind.
She wasn’t disobeying orders, she reasoned. Urahara was her captain and if her captain requested her presence or her actions she couldn’t deny him that. And Urahara found Ikkaku amusing so if she was in her captain’s presence of course she was going to treat Ikkaku politely when he came by for visits.
She wasn’t doing it to spite Mayuri-sama’s orders. It was just what happened. If it were anything else, Nemu told herself, she would be able to do it without hesitation. But it was her captain and his guest and no matter what Mayuri-sama told her, she couldn’t ignore their request to talk with her.
But she had gotten much better at hiding bruises and cuts, she realized, probing the slash where the inside of her cheek had cut on her teeth. Tender, but wouldn’t hinder any abilities or her appearance. Satisfied with that analysis, she balanced the tray of tea in one hand and knocked on the door.
“Urahara-taichou.” She said, bowing her head as she slid the door back. “Your morning tea is-“
She abruptly stopped and looked around the room that had been stripped bare. “Urahara-taichou?”
~*~*~*~
“You’re LEAVING??”
“Geez, would ya stop with that already?” Iba grunted, pushing Ikkaku away from his ear. “Yer gettin’ annoying.”
Ikkaku just gapped and Yumichika sidled away carefully, waiting until he exploded again.
“But- But! I can’t believe you’re LEAVING!”
“Hey,” Iba snapped, “I’ve been 3rd seat for almost ten years now! I’m well within my rights to apply for a vice-captain’s seat so stop being so damn dramatic about it!”
“Che! You’re applying for a vice-captain’s seat ‘cause you can’t beat Kusajishi-fukutaichou!”
Iba growled right back. “And what’s wrong with that? Better’n you, wasting your time by just dickin’ around in the 8th seat!”
Ikkaku snorted. “I’m biddin’ my time.” He said importantly. “I’m gonna head all the way to the top, I ain’t got time to be dealin’ with middlemen!”
“Ya look like a retard, that’s what it is.”
Ikkaku flared. “Hey, shut the fuck up! You still haven’t beaten me yet so don’t think I’m givin’ ya any sort of respect!”
“Ah?” Iba sneered. “You think a lowly seated guy like you could beat ME? A newly appointed vice-captain?”
“Don’t give me that high ‘n mighty shit! You wanna piss me off? I’ll kick your fuckin’ ass!”
Yumichika finally gave into the urge and thwacked Ikkaku between the shoulder blades. “Would you stop? All your yelling is giving me stress.”
Grabbing at his aching back, Ikkaku turned and glowered at him. “Why the fuck do I care? Leave me alone, ya damn fruit.”
“Stress leads to early wrinkles,” Yumichika told him. “And that leads to premature ugliness. I thought you’d know all about that by now.”
“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN??”
“Ikkaku, would ya just shut the fuck up?” Iba pushed his shades higher on his nose. “Ya bark and bark and nothin’ different’s comin’ out.”
“So then, Iba-fukutaichou,” Yumichika drew out cheerfully, if not just to watch Ikkaku burst a vein, “what division are you going to?”
“7th.” He said, idly scratching at his stomach. “Their vice-captain’s retirin’ and I talked to the captain yesterday. He talked to Zaraki-taichou yesterday, too. Dunno what he was told, but apparently it was good enough to get me selected.”
“When are you going to leave, then?”
Iba shrugged. “Packin’ up my shit tonight. Gettin’ some of the unseated guys to move me out tomorrow.”
“That’s pretty sudden.” Yumichika said thoughtfully. “Not even a ‘Good Luck, New Vice-Captain’ party?”
Ikkaku snorted. “Vice-captain. I don’t believe it.”
“Oi.” Iba poked at Ikkaku’s head. “You better start treatin’ me with some respect.”
“Pfft! My ass! The most you’ll get is MAYBE an ‘Iba-san’.”
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s either that or sonnuvabitch, stupid fuck or retard.” He grinned sharply. “Or whatever the hell I feel like callin’ ya at the time.”
“It’s either vice-captain or you can stop talkin’ to me period, Pachinko Head.”
A hand fisted the front of Iba’s haori. “You wanna die, mother fucker!?”
Yumichika growled to himself. “Why am I always breaking you two up? You’re so childish you guys aren’t even at preschool level.”
Iba smacked the hand away roughly. “If you ever decide to get off your ass and make it up to my level,” he told Ikkaku flatly, “I may consider you my equal.”
“Consider me YOUR equal?” Ikkaku bristled. “You haven’t beaten me yet!”
“That was the academy. What the fuck do they know?”
“Know enough that I totally-“
“Would you stop already?” Yumichika jumped in. “This is getting old!”
“You don’t like it, you can go away!”
“You always gotta be such a dick?”
“I’m not the one bein’ all-“
“Your yelling is driving me-“
“If you don’t like it, do somethin’-
“I ain’t listenin’ to you-“
“Excuse me, sirs!”
“WHAT??” The three of them snapped. One of the unseated 11th division members shrank, almost physically, under the exertion of their combined spirit force.
“Er, Z-Zaraki-taichou needs people to lead out squads to the, the outer limits of the Rukongai…” he stammered.
“What? What for?” They asked, tempers evening out now that their curiosity was perked.
“It seems that, uh,” the messenger fidgeted, “every division is sending out search parties. The captain of the 12th division, Urahara Kisuke, and the commander of the Special Ops Forces, Shihouin Yoruichi, have both gone missing.”
~*~*~*~
They only searched for three days, one day spent foraging through the limits of the Rukongai, the second spent searching beyond those limits and the third day backtracking to the Seireitai, making sure they missed nothing.
When they reported to Zaraki, he snorted and said nothing, giving them a day to rest up from the journey. Iba took that time to get settled into his new division. Ikkaku and Yumichika- both set on edge by this –took the time to meander through the other divisions and see what anyone else had to say.
In the 10th division, they came across Rangiku, who shared their skepticism about the ordeal. “They’re not as worried about this as they should be.”
“Hmmm…” Ikkaku folded his arms.
“There’s something they’re not telling us.”
“Hmmm…” This one was followed by a scowl.
Yumichika wondered aloud, “I wonder what could be wrong?”
“Most likely,” Rangiku supplied, “they were under suspicion for something.”
“But would they have cut the search short for that?” Yumichika said. “After all, if they were a security risk or guilty of a crime, surely they should be under wraps?”
She shook her head and hit the subject that was niggling at the back of Ikkaku’s thoughts. “This is going to put a lot of stress on those two divisions, now.”
Ikkaku snapped at attention. “Nemu.”
The other two looked at him oddly. “Huh?”
Almost in a panic, he asked, “Did they pick a new captain for the 12th, yet?”
“Well, yeah.” Rangiku said slowly. “Their vice-captain? Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou? As far as I know, they don’t have a replacement for vice-captain yet, though.”
“FUCK!” Spinning on a heel, Ikkaku bolted away, ignoring the startled cries behind him.
He blurred out of the 10th division gates, barely even noticed running passed the 11th and, pounding towards the looming walls of the 12th, two shinigami jumped at attention.
“Hey, hey!” One of them said, “This area is restricted! No unautho-“
“Get outta my way!” He bellowed, ducking around the first and shoving the second aside with an elbow. His foot skidded on the ground, leaping around a turn. Long legs ate up the distance and the only thing on his mind was Nemu.
“Where is she?” He muttered, dashing through familiar scenes, reaching out to sense her. “Where is she, where is she dammit!”
When he finally was able to get a hold of the spirit signature that was purely hers, Ikkaku nearly missed the turn. Because it was so subdued and subtle (and because Ikkaku was never good in any subjects that weren’t physical), he almost passed by the room that the signature was coming from.
The captain’s office.
Grasping at the door, he shoved it back with enough force to knock it off the tracks. “Nemu!”
Startled at the sudden intrusion, Nemu twisted out of her position. She was sitting on her knees in the middle of the floor- as if waiting for her captain to come in, call her out, to acknowledge her again.
“Nemu.” Ikkaku panted, feeling a little calmer now that he had found her. Now, though, he wasn’t even certain what he was supposed to say. Opening his mouth, Ikkaku blurted out, “I-I’m sorry.”
Eyes wide, Nemu slowly shifted back into her original position. Back to Ikkaku, she lightly brushed her braid from where it jumped over her shoulder. He watched it swing to a slow standstill against the straight planes of her back.
“I’m sorry.” He repeated, this time more sure of himself. “We tried to find him- we spent three days looking. I-“
“It’s fine.” Nemu said softly.
The finality of her voice made his shoulders tense up. He stalked over to her, knelt in front of her and slammed his hands against her forearms.
“Don’t you DARE say that!” He snapped. “It’s not fine and you know that! Get upset! Get angry! He left his division in shambles and left you to clean up after him! He left you alone to defend yourself against that psycho dad of yours! He left you to take care of everything so don’t you DARE say that it’s fine! You’re well in your right to be mad so be mad!”
Shocked at the strength of his fingers digging into her arms- forceful like Mayuri-sama’s, almost frightening in its intensity and yet not nearly the same thing –Nemu wanted to ask why he was so angry. But when she opened her mouth, Nemu heard herself say, “He left.”
And suddenly… everything sank in.
“He left.” She repeated. He left and he wasn’t coming back. He took all his notes and had nothing of value waiting for him. He and his best friend disappeared without a word and all her sitting and waiting in his office wasn’t going to bring him back. “He left.” A hand gripped tentatively at Ikkaku’s sleeve. “He left.” Nemu’s voice felt thick and her grip became stronger.
“He left.” She said, looking up at Ikkaku with an expression that begged him not to let it be true. “He left. He left me behind.” And, for the first time she could recall, tears began to spill down her cheeks. Her other hand went up, pulling at the material against Ikkaku’s chest and burying her face against his collar, sobbing. “He left me alone.”
He left me with him. She didn’t say, but she didn’t have to. Ikkaku wrapped his arms tight against her and pressed his cheek against her hair. He vowed that the next time he saw Urahara- and there would be, he’d make certain of that –he’d punch that stupid, traitorous bastard in the face.
As he knelt there, holding Nemu securely against him, Mayuri watched the scene in the dark. Unamused.
