Hello again, everyone! I'm updating, which means there are readers out there who either like it or are willing to give it a chance. Either way, I'm just happy that someone likes it – it means I'm not too bad at this writing thing after all, lol. Alright, on with Chapter 2!
A/N: I don't own Bleach, but one can dream, right?
Chapter Two:
A "Hollowed" Guest
Urahara met Ichigo and the others at the door of the shop, nodding a silent "hello" as he ushered them all inside.
"What's going on Urahara?" Ichigo asked once they were inside the building.
Urahara motioned for them to follow him down the hallway, stopping at the door of the very last room on the left.
"In here." he said.
With only the slightest hesitation, Ichigo went into the room, everyone else following his lead. Almost immediately, shock overtook his expression as he looked down at what was lying motionless on the bed at the center of the room. The man had tan skin, light blue hair, and teal markings under both his eyes. The white hakama he wore was badly torn and a myriad of cuts and bruises decorated his body, along with a couple deep lacerations stretching across his chest and stomach area. It was none of these things, however, that caused a sudden pang of fear to shoot through Ichigo's being. It was the gaping hole near the center of his abdomen – an unmistaken trademark of a hollow. A hollow…that looks human…just like the two that came here before…
"What the hell…?" Ichigo finally spoke.
"Takuya found him at the edge of the lot about half an hour ago." Urahara explained. "How long he's been there, I cannot say. To tell the truth, no one would have known he was there had Takuya not found him. His spiritual pressure was almost completely suppressed."
"And still is as far as I can tell…either that or it's gotten so weak you can barely sense it." Renji added, folding his arms. "Strange…what the hell is an Arrancar doing here anyway?"
"I'm afraid this one's more than just a regular Arrancar." Urahara said. "Judging by his appearance, I'd say he's one of those Espada, like the ones we saw the other day."
"Yeah…only this one's pretty beat up." Chad interjected.
Urahara looked to Hanataro, who was busy bandaging the Espada's torso. "How bad is he?"
Hanataro paused to look up at the shop owner. "It's pretty bad." he replied. "He has a fever, which is probably due to being caught out in that rain. And, in addition to all the external injuries, he seems to have suffered some internal injury as well. It would seem that he encountered a very powerful reiatsu, and the force of it almost crushed him from the inside out."
Ichigo grimaced, blinking away the mental image popping up in his mind before he spoke again. "So how did this happen? None of us fought him…hell, none of us even knew he was here."
"Whatever happened, it must've happened in Hueco Mundo." Hanataro said. "There's still traces of reiatsu on him…the most dominant being Aizen, and the others belonging to Tosen and Gin. So his fight must've been with them."
"Will he be alright?"
Takuya's voice drew everyone's attention to the girl, who had been sitting in silence next to Hanataro as he worked on the Espada's wounds, a blanket draped over her shoulders. Hanataro cleared his throat before answering.
"Yes, it does appear that he'll be ok. Fortunately enough, he must have escaped before the internal damage became incredibly severe, but it will still take some time to recover from." he replied.
Takuya released a small sigh of relief. "Good." she said quietly.
At that, Urahara stood up. "We'll leave you to your work, Hanataro. Everyone, if you would come with me please?"
Renji and Tessai joined Ichigo and the others as they followed Urahara out of the room. Takuya reluctantly stood up from her place beside Hanataro, casting one last glance at the unconscious Espada before following the others out of the room. Everyone settled silently around the table in the dining area, each with hundreds of thoughts buzzing in their heads.
"So what do we do now?" Ichigo spoke up, shattering the short-lived silence.
"Well, all we really can do now is wait for our guest to regain consciousness. As it stands now, all we know is that he was obviously attacked by Aizen and now he's here in the world of the living." Urahara replied.
"Why should we wait until he regains consciousness?" Rukia interjected. "Wounded or not, he's still an Espada…a vasto lorde…the strongest class of menos. We need to report this to-"
"No." Urahara said sternly, abruptly cutting Rukia off.
Rukia looked at the man, a frown settling on her face. "Why shouldn't we?"
"Soul Society doesn't need to be involved in this…at least not yet." Urahara replied. "They tend to overreact in situations like this."
"Urahara's right." Ichigo said. "If we involve them now, we won't be able to get any information from the guy."
Rukia stared at Ichigo and Urahara in shock and disbelief before finally turning to Renji, her eyes pleading with him to agree with her. The red-head let out a small sigh.
"Surprisingly enough, I agree with Urahara and Ichigo." he said, much to Rukia's chagrin. "Knowing Head Captain Yamamoto, once word of this reaches him, he won't think to try and obtain any information. All he'll do is send in the punishment force for an immediate execution."
Rukia opened her mouth to protest, only managing a "but…" before Urahara began to speak again. "Alright then, when our hollowed guest wakes up, we will proceed with our investigation. Remain on stand-by until then."
Everyone – except for Rukia – nodded in understanding. At that moment, Takuya stood up.
"If you don't mind, Mr. Urahara, I'd like to go back to the room with Hanataro." she said quietly.
Urahara nodded. "Yes, that's fine. Perhaps you can assist him in keeping watch over his patient."
Takuya nodded. "Yes, I can do that." she said before turning and disappearing down the hallway.
"Well, we might as well just stay here for the time being." Ichigo said, sighing as he slid away from the table and sat against the wall. "No sense in going all the way back home right now, especially when we don't even know when this guy's gonna come to."
"I don't understand why you are so willing to wait for an Espada to wake up." Rukia said snippily. "Do you honestly believe he's just gonna want to talk to you when he wakes up and finds himself surrounded by shinigami?"
"Not if we have attitudes like yours." Ichigo said sardonically.
"And just why shouldn't I have an attitude like this?" Rukia snapped. "There's a vasto lorde being healed in a room just twenty feet away from us and you want me to be calm? Are your crazy?"
"I agree with Rukia." Uryuu spoke up as he pushed his glasses up the brim of his nose. "We could be in way over our heads here. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea to inform the Soul Society on this matter…"
"Come now, you two, try to be a bit more reasonable about this." Urahara said. "Do you even realize the opportunity that has been presented to us here? An elite soldier out of Aizen's own army has somehow landed on our doorstep, injured and more or less unable to properly defend himself. This is the perfect opportunity to gain information on Aizen and any plans he may have involving Soul Society, the world of the living, or both. Of course none of us are thrilled to have him here, which is natural. But, you don't just get chances like this every day. This course of events could very well turn the tides of the inevitable showdown against him in our favor."
Rukia sighed in defeat, folding her arms as she averted her glare to the nearest wall. Ugh, idiots…they have to know that this is not going to end well…
The back room was silent, aside from the soft rustling of cloth bandages and clinking of ointment bottles caused by Hanataro. Once all his medical equipment had been safely moved out of the way, he pulled blankets over the Espada, bringing them up to just below his chin. He then sat back and sighed, running a hand across his brow.
"That should do for now. Of course his bandages will need to be changed eventually." he said.
Takuya nodded, her gaze fixed on the man lying in front of them. He was still trembling, though it wasn't nearly as bad as when she'd first brought him in.
"He'll be alright now?" she asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.
"He will." Hanataro replied. "The time it takes for the wounds to completely heal will be all up to his body's own recovery speed, but as of right now he just needs rest."
Takuya nodded again, her gaze shifting to the boy as he yawned broadly whilst collecting his materials and placing them back into his bag. "You can take a break if you want. I'll look after him for now."
Hanataro looked over at Takuya as he put the last of his supplies in his bag. "Oh…well…you're sure you'll be alright with that?"
The girl smiled. "Yes, of course. I'll be fine."
"Ok then, thank you." Hanataro said as he got up. "I'll be back to check on him soon."
At that he left the room, and silence took over once again. Takuya's gaze returned to the Espada. His trembling had calmed even more in the minute that the blankets had covered his body, and a calm expression had replaced the pained one that had been etched into his facial features. A small smile found its way to her lips at the sight, though the slight nagging in her heart reminded her who…or rather what…this man was. She immediately blocked out the memories that began to replay in her mind and the small twinge of fear that it stirred up. She moved until her back rested against the wall beside the bed and pulled her knees to her chest, allowing her gaze to fall upon him once more. And then, without thought, she spoke three simple words that seemed to quell the fear in her own heart, even though she was speaking them on his behalf…
"You're safe now."
Alright, another chapter has come to a close. How was it? Feel free to let me know what you think…
xLSx
