A Twist of Fate: Rise of the Soul Reaper Ch. 3

I saw Ichigo's eye twitch as we watched the three men. "B-Bob?..." he said and stared. The one known as 'Bob' nodded. "Yeah, got a problem with that? I don't need to tell you my real name!" Ichigo shrugged, "Whatever. Your name just makes you sound even weirder than you look." A vein popped out on Bob's head. "Anyway," Ichigo started, still standing in front of me. "what do you guys want from us?"

Bob smirked, and reached into his pocket. "Well, kid," he said, pulling something out. He opened his hand to reveal a pocket knife, and held to blade out toward us. "we want your money." My eyes shot open, as did Ichigo's. I couldn't keep my voice from shaking. "You... You're robbing us?!" Bob grinned, and nodded. "That's right. Now fork over all your cash!", he yelled. I looked around, searching for anyone that could help. I hadn't realized it, but it was dark out now, and there was no one left at the snack bar besides the five of us. From the expression on his face, Ichigo must not have realized it either.

I heard a laugh, and looked over to see Bob's smirking face. "You don't think I'm stupid enough to pull something like this while there are people around?" I smirked. "That just means you're not as good of a thief as you claim to be." This mad him mad. "You brat... Just hand over the money!", he said again, tightening his grip on the knife. Ichigo held out his arms in a shrug. "Sorry, 'Bob'." he put emphasis on the name. "But we spent all our cash. You're out of luck." I nodded, and we both showed him our empty pockets. Bob seemed to ponder what to do next. A large smirk appeared on his face, and he had a gleam in his eyes.

"Well then...." he said with a smile. "I'll just have to find another way to pass the time!" he yelled, and flung the knife at us. I watched in horror as it went straight for Ichigo's head. Summoning as much spiritual pressure as I could, I stepped in front of Ichigo and held my arms out in front of me. I forced my spiritual pressure into the area in front of me, creating a small barrier, which blocked the pocket knife. It clattered to the  ground. Panting, I looked around to see them all staring at me. "M-Mavis..." Ichigo said, looking completely dumbfounded. I grunted, and grabbed his arm, running in the opposite direction. "You'd better run fast, Strawberry! I won't be able to do that again..." I said, running as fast as I could. Still being just human, that had been my last line of defense besides fighting physically.

Ichigo let go of my hand, and ran next to me. "How did you do that?!" he asked. I shook my head. "I'll explain later. Just keep running!" He nodded, and looked forward. We turned a corner, only to come to a dead-end. "Shit!" I cursed, turning around. It didn't seem like they had followed us. My shoulders relaxed a bit. Suddenly, I felt someone grab my arm, and pull me away. Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise, and he reached his hand out to grab me. "Mavis!", he said, running forward. "Ichigo!" I struggled to get free of my captors' grip, as I reached my hand out to grab Ichigo's. Our fingers came just short of each other's when Ichigo tripped and fell. I felt my eyes widen, and a hand covered my mouth. We rounded the corner, and Ichigo was no longer in my line of sight. "Mavis!!" I could hear Ichigo's desperate scream. I struggled even more, and my vision went black as pain exploded in the back of my head.

I felt a throbbing pain in my head. My eyes opened halfway, their emerald irises glimmering in the dark light. I sat up, checking out my surroundings. There were crates everywhere, and the place seemed abandoned. 'I must be in some kind of warehouse...' I thought. "Oh, you're finally awake." I looked to my left to see Bob leaning against the wall, a smirk painted on his face. I glared at him. "Where am I? Why did you bring me here?" He chuckled, and walked over. His hand closed around my throat, and he lifted me off of the ground, my hair coming loose from its ponytail. My feet dangled helplessly in the air, as I struggled to breath. "Well, sweetheart," he said, chuckling. "you're in our hideout. And I brought you here because I thought the guys could use a reward for all of the hard work they've been doing lately.", he laughed with an evil smirk on his face. My eyes widened, and I felt tears burning in my eyes. My breath was coming in ragged pants. "People... like... you..." Bob raised an eyebrow, and I looked him in the eye. "disgust me!" I said, and spat in his face. His face hardened in anger. "What was that, bitch?!" he yelled, and slammed by body into the wall. I yelled as the pain in my head exploded again, and his grip around my throat tightened.

I looked up at the ceiling, trying not to notice the other two from earlier gathering around us with smirks plastered on their faces. I couldn't breathe now. 'I don't wanna go... Not like this...' I thought, and closed my eyes tightly. 'Ichigo... Urahara... someone... help me, please!!' I doubt that I could ever look more pathetic than I did now. I heard the door to the warehouse burst open, and I opened my eyes. Standing there, soaked and dripping wet with water, was Ichigo. 'It must be raining..' I thought. Ichigo glared at us, and I don't think I'd ever seen him so angry. Bob smirked as he saw the spiky-head. "Ah, the spunky one has finally joined us!" Ichigo was panting hard, and I could see he was trying to keep his temper under control. "Let her go..." he whispered. Bob raised a brow, and held his free hand up to his ear. "Eh, what was that, spiky-head?" "I said let her go!", Ichigo yelled this time.

Bob smiled evilly, and shrugged. "As you wish." He drew his arm back and released me, throwing me against the wall. I cried out in pain as I hit the ground. I could feel hot liquid dripping down the side of my face. "Mavis!", Ichigo yelled, starting to run forward. Bob snapped his fingers, and his two lackeys ran forward, grabbing Ichigo's arms and pinning them behind his back. "L-let go of me!!" he yelled. Bob shook his head, and walked toward them, reaching into his pocket again. "Tsk tsk." he scolded. "You should have stayed away. I would've liked to have kept you alive." I looked up, and realized he had taken out the pocket knife again. Ichigo's eyes widened at the sight of it, as did mine. Time seemed to slow as Bob plunged the knife forward, aiming for between Ichigo's ribs.

"Ichigo!!!" I yelled, and without hesitation, pulled myself up. I closed my eyes as I slipped myself in between Ichigo and the knife. My breath caught when I felt the knife pierce my skin, and I heard the surprised gasps of everyone. I slowly opened my eyes. Bob had let go of the knife, which was still protruding from my chest, and was staring at me in shock. I turned my head to look at Ichigo. His eyes were wide open as he stared at me. "M-Mavis..." he said. I smiled, and felt a tear run down my cheek. "Ichigo..." I whispered. "Thank you... for everything..." I collapsed, and hit the ground hard.

"Mavis!!" Ichigo managed to break free of the other twos' grip in the moment of shock. He snatched me up in his arms, and ran from the warehouse, taking the knife out of my body, and throwing it into the street. It was still raining, and the droplets felt like bullets on my skin. I noticed that Ichigo was carrying me bridal style, and that my blood was seeping into his clothes. "Shit... Shit!!" he yelled. "Ichi...go.." I said weakly. He looked down at me, and I saw that the rain was mixing with his tears. My eyes widened. I haven't seen him cry since he was a kid. "You'd better hang on, you hear me?! What the hell were you thinking?!" he said, looking forward again. I smiled to myself. I looked up, and saw the Urahara shop coming into view. My breathing became strained, and Ichigo ran faster, if that was even possible for a mere human.

Just as we were reaching the doors to the shop, Ichigo slipped in a puddle, and crashed to the ground, me falling from his arms. Ichigo yelled my name, and I cried out as I hit the ground. I rolled to a stop, and my blood started to stain the wet ground red. I could feel it as my eyes started to glass over, and blood started to fill my lungs. Ichigo clutched his arm, and started to crawl towards me. Urahara must have heard all the noise. The doors to the shop swung open, and Urahara stepped out. "What's all the commotion?" he asked, face serious for once. His eyes widened as he took in the scene before him. He carefully lifted me into his arms, and ran inside, yelling for Ichigo to hurry up.