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The Melody Called Chaos: {Part 10} Evil Returns
Everything seemed to go into slow motion after she whispered that word. Ichigo looked up, time slowing down in his eyes as he say the Hollow break away from the chains. It reached out to Maya with its good hand, Maya just stood there starring in horror as the Hollow leapt for her. Ichigo stood up instantly, and yet it seemed like everything was still slowing down.
“ Maya! Get out of the way!!”
Maya couldn’t move. Was that really her mother? A beautiful woman now turned into a Hollow, possibly by Chaos? She couldn’t attack her…she couldn’t do anything to her. It was her mother. Hollow or not…that thing…once living and now dead, was her mother. Ichigo began running as fast as he could to Maya, taking his Zanbakuto and aiming it for the other hand. At that time…everything was now at normal speed. Ichigo swung his sword downward then. He looked down at the ground then, his eyes went wide. There was no blood….only dirt. He looked up and then around. The Hollow was no longer there…and neither was Maya. Ichigo spun around, looking around for any signs of the Hollow and Maya, but none were found. Ichigo dropped his shoulders and fell to his knees on the ground. He clenched his fist and let go of his Zanbakuto and slammed them onto the ground.
“ THAT THING TOOK HER! I CAN’T BELIEVE I JUST SAT THERE AND LET THAT THING TAKE HER AWAY!”
Rukia stared sadly at Ichigo. She looked down at her cell phone, but there were no sudden signals from the Hollow. She closed her phone and looked down at the ground, Ichigo’s voice was still ringing in her ears. She couldn’t imagine the feelings he must have felt then. Ichigo was on the ground breathing heavily, this was the first time in a long time that he had lashed out like that, but he couldn’t help it. Maya, he wanted to protect her. He wanted to protect her from all the pain and suffering she had went through, but now…the Hollow from her past had snatched her from his protecting hand. His eyes softened some as they stared at the ground. He felt like he had let her down, like he had abandoned his promise that he had made to her. The worst of it was…he had no idea where the Hollow could have taken her or if she was still alive at this moment.
“ I don’t understand. Why…why didn’t she attack that Hollow while it was coming towards her. She couldn’t have missed it…it was no more than ten feet in front of her. So how in the world could she have missed it?”
“ Stop waddling in your stupid self pity and get up off the ground you fool”
Ichigo’s head rose, then turned to look over his shoulder to see Uyru about five feet behind him. He got up almost immediately, but not because of Uyru’s little pep talk, no what he said after the fact. Ichigo glared at him now and just the same Uyru glared back at him as if they were still in school.
“ What are you doing here?”
“ I came after the Hollow…of course”
Ichigo’s eyes slightly widened when he mentioned that Hollow and his eyes sharply looked away from him and towards the ground at the side. He clenched his fist tightly and didn’t say anything at that moment.
“ You’re too late. It’s gone now…and it has-“
Ichigo quickly stopped his sentence short and said no more as Rukia walked up to them. Uyru just looked at Ichigo in silence. He knew how he must have been feeling, like he had let her down. That wasn’t going to help him or Maya right now.
“ So you’re just going to stand here and wait for the sign that Maya defeated the Hollow on her own…or would you prefer the sign that the Hollow has killed her already?”
“ WHAT MAKES YOU THINK SHE’S-“
“ Who’s to say. All I know is that if you just stay here any longer, Maya might be lost forever…and you don’t want that do you?”
“ Of course I don’t want that! But what am I suppose to do without knowing their current location?!”
“ You’re the one that’s in love with her Ichigo, not me. Your spirits are connected. Search for her spirit ribbon….then you’ll find her”
Ichigo was about to say something smart before Uyru gave him that little speech. He paused and closed his mouth. He had never really stopped to think about that and in a way was grateful that Uyru had said what he said. Ichigo nodded some and then turned away from them. He closed his eyes and began to think of Maya, searching for her spiritual energy. His heart was pounding when the ribbons appeared in front of him. He looked at all the white ribbons that surrounded him. He studied each one and thought hard, even though he hadn’t had that much time to waste, Maya was still in the hands of that Hollow, and she would not be safe till she was back in his protection.
Still, Ichigo was having trouble trying to figure out which one led to Maya. He was becoming a little frustrated and could barely keep his mind on the ribbons, when one ribbon began to sway back and forth. Ichigo looked at the ribbon and studied it some for a moment. There was a small marking on it, and when Ichigo looked at it closely he noticed that the mark was the Japanese sign for music. Ichigo felt his heart jump and quickly grabbed that ribbon, the rest disappeared then suddenly. Ichigo stood there for a moment longer as Rukia made a motion towards him.
“ Ichigo?”
Ichigo responded with a mad dash out of the vacant lot and towards the direction of the Hollow and Maya. He wasn’t going to stop for anything now; there was no time for that. He had to reach her, he had to make sure that Maya was going to be safe. Back when he had gone to Maya’s house to learn how to play that strange flute of hers, he had saw the memorial that she had set up for her mother. He had promised her mother…that he would protect her…no matter what happened.
That was a promise he intended on keeping.
Rukia watched Ichigo as he took off. She wanted to run after him and assist him, but found it rather difficult to go after him. She just stood there and then sighed heavily. She thought that it would be best if he saved her on his own. Uyru as well stared after him, pushing up his glasses with his middle finger. He sighed under his breath and looked up after Ichigo as he disappeared.
“ Don’t dig yourself a hole that’s way too deep…that you’ll never be able to get yourself out of”
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