The same white walls. The same bland food.

It didn't change. Always, always the same.

But it felt different somehow. Something was wrong. Something was missing. She couldn't quite put her finger on what, but the feeling was there. She looked around. What was it?

She looked at the door. At the window, the tray of food-

That was it. He wasn't here. He wasn't around to make sure she ate it all. She hadn't even touched the food given to her. Wait. When was it dropped off? She didn't remember. When was the last time she saw him? She couldn't remember that either.

Panic was starting to set. Why couldn't she remember? Where was he? He wasn't kind, he wasn't her friend. But he was something actually living in this bare and boring place.

That's when she looked down and screamed. There on the ground at her feet was the man she had loved for so long. He was lying there with a hole in his chest and a blank look on his face. No blood, but the hole was practically black.

"Kurosaki-kun!" She screamed once more before falling to her knees and willing her Shun Shun Rikka. But nothing happened. They didn't appear, the regenerative shield did not manifest. She brought her hands up to touch her pins only to find that they weren't clipping her hair back.

Hair fell into her face as tears started to run down her cheeks. What was happening? How was this happening?

"Foolish woman."

When she looked up, she was no longer in that same room with it's white walls. Her clothes were torn and her hair was a mess. She looked behind her, toward the voice that spoke earlier. He was standing there, but he looked different. Gone were his clothes and in their place he had what seemed to be black fur.

"Your hope is dead."

She felt her heart drop with those words. There was just no way. She wanted to deny it, but the words never formed and instead she swallowed a sob.

She closed her eyes for a moment. (It was just a moment!) And when she opened them once more he was standing in front of her, slowly disintegrating before her very eyes. He held his hand out to her, expectant. He said something and she replied but it was the finality in what he said that scared her. It felt wrong. She couldn't place why.

She held out her hand, hesitant at first but then reached for his. Just as her fingers brushed his, that same hand turned to dust. Suddenly desperate she reached again, trying to hold on to something. Anything. So long as it was him. Because then it hit her. She was never going to see him again.

He was awful. Terrible. Threatened her and her friends. Used and abused her. Called her trash and constantly said horrible things about her friends. But somewhere along the line (maybe when she slapped him?) something had changed. Maybe he did. Maybe it was her. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. But the change was there and she found that despite his personality and his alliance. It was nice to have him around.

She cried. Behind her there was a broken man, half dead. She didn't know if she could help him and she felt guilty. He had tried to protect her. (Why, Ishida!) To her left was a man with a hole in his chest. She'd tried to save him over and over and over again. Nothing worked, he was just lying there, face down with not a single spark of life in his eyes. And to her right? To her right there was nothing. No proof that he had existed. Not a single sort of evidence that she had at one point set her eyes on him. Nothing to give her security in the being that had been by her side for however long it had been.

And worst of all.

She was alone.

...

She woke up with a start and tears on her face. She couldn't see anything and panicked for a moment.

"Are you ok? Hey!"

Tatsuki. Tatsuki was by her side looking worried. She felt awful in all honesty. She was breathing hard, as if she had been holding her breath for a long time. And no matter how hard she tried she could not fill her lungs.

"She's awake!"

She didn't know who her friend was talking to, but she couldn't keep her eyes open long enough to find out. She was tired. She was tired and angry and everything. Because she couldn't help. She felt useless and weak and it was the worst feeling. She wanted to help. Wanted to protect everyone. But no matter what she did, there was always someone else stronger. They were protecting her, worrying over her, caring about her. And they were just so much stronger than her.

"'Hime?"

Sorry. She'll wake up again, she will. And when she does she'll be calm again. She'll be back to normal. Because she just had a dream and that was all in the past and she really should stop having these dreams. When black hair and green eyes appeared in her dreams, she always knew it would end badly. Maybe one day they'd stop haunting her.

Maybe that day was today.

She'd get over it.

And move on.

Wait for me, Tatsuki.