Chapter 3
Something Wicked
Orihime couldn't decide if Saturday morning came too quickly or too slowly. She had lain awake in her bed staring at the ceiling for nearly two hours after she'd turned out the light and tucked herself in for the night, thinking about her and her orange-headed companion's plans for the following day. She thought about how they should get to the theatre, what they should eat for lunch, what kinds of tours they should go on, whether or not they should try to catch a show, and she thought about Ichigo.
She wondered why he admired Shakespeare so much. She wondered what his favorite play was, and why it was. She wondered if he'd ever tried acting before, and if he'd been good at it. She wondered what excited him the most about seeing the theatre. She wondered what he'd been thinking when she'd proposed the visit. She wondered if he was happy to be going with her.
She wondered why he'd frozen in his doorway when she'd smiled.
It was unlike Ichigo to focus so much attention on a smile. Perhaps her shyness had worried him into thinking something was wrong, and so he had tried to read deeper into her cheerful expression to make sure it was genuine. But somehow that didn't seem right. The chocolate eyes that had captured her own in that moment were not searching, but more…
What?
What could she call them? Dazed? Stunned?
Stunned why?
Was he shocked that she knew about his affinity for Shakespeare's work? It was true that he'd never outright told her (or anyone she knew, for that matter), but it was just so obvious to the girl. Whenever their class had to review one of the bard's plays, Ichigo always seemed to light up with such a passion for the discussion. Orihime loved listening to his insightful ideas and arguments. His voice would captivate her so completely that she'd miss their teacher calling on her to give her own opinion. Shakespearean literature was the one topic that even Uryuu had to admit Ichigo was best at. And yet, Ichigo was surprised that she had thought to suggest a trip to the Globe?
The girl lay attempting to solve the mystery of her friend's reaction, and before she knew it the sun was peeking through the curtains, beckoning her to awaken.
Orihime blinked and rubbed her eyes. She didn't remember falling asleep, but if the little bit of drool in the corner of her mouth and the way she had been hugging her pillow were any indication, she seemed to have slept fitfully enough. Plus, she felt rested and was ready to take on the day.
She quickly hopped out of bed and changed into a mint-green light knit blouse with sleeves that stopped just below the elbows and a long cream skirt embroidered with an oriental flower design. Satisfied with her choice of clothing, Orihime washed her face and brushed her teeth. She pulled her hair into a loose braid before securing her long bangs with her hairpins.
"Lovely, dear," her mirror said with a yawn of approval. "I'm sure he'll like that."
The girl blushed a bright pink and mumbled a "thanks". Hoping the mirror wouldn't press the subject, she turned to sit in front of her brother's picture and wish him good morning.
"We're going to see Shakespeare's Globe today, onii-chan! It's not really a globe, though. It's a theatre. We've been reading Shakespeare's plays in school, so I thought it might be nice to see where they were originally performed. That, and Kurosaki-kun really likes Shakespeare." Orihime smiled thoughtfully as she uttered the name of her orange-headed friend. She still hadn't quite figured out what had caused his perplexing response the night before, but today she resolved to make certain he enjoyed himself during their visit as much as possible. "So I'll tell you all about it when we get back, okay?"
The healer bowed to the picture and stood. She slipped on a pair of shoes, gathered up her purse, took one last look at herself in the mirror, and darted from the room.
"Do tell me what he says, dear," the mirror called after her.
"Good morning, Kurosaki-kun! Harry-kun!" the girl greeted with a wave as she entered the pub of the Leaky Cauldron to find her friends already seated at their usual side table. "You haven't been waiting long, I hope."
Ichigo turned to offer his own short wave. "'Morning, Inoue."
"Just got here," answered Harry with a smile.
Orihime gave a little sigh of relief as she sank into her chair. "That's good." Picking up the menu Ichigo passed her, she looked to her raven-haired friend. "Harry-kun, has Kurosaki-kun told you about our plans for the day yet?"
Harry nodded. "You're going to the Globe, right? That sounds great. I'm actually planning on trying to find a few of my school friends today. They usually do their shopping around this time."
"Oh! I hope you find them!" the girl said, giving the boy a thumbs-up, a habit she'd picked up from Sado Yasutora. She noticed Ichigo smile slightly at the gesture from behind the menu he was scanning. Content, Orihime quickly buried her nose in her own menu.
After the three ordered simple breakfasts consisting of eggs, toast, and fresh fruit, Harry helped the Japanese teens mark the best route to the Globe on the map Orihime had picked up from a nearby shop on the Muggle side of the Leaky Cauldron. Never having been to the theatre himself, the young wizard couldn't say for sure how long it would take them to get there, but he estimated about a half hour if they traveled by foot. Leaving the proper amount of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts on the table, Ichigo and Orihime said good-bye to Harry and headed out the front door onto Charring Cross Road.
The shinigami substitute looked over to his auburn-headed friend in expectation. "So where to now?"
Biting her lip as she surveyed their map, Orihime replied, "Well, the Globe is on the Southbank, and right now we're in central London. So I'd say…" She traced the pen marks Harry had drawn with her finger, then looked up and pointed to the right. "This way!"
"Lead the way." Ichigo said with a nod.
They walked in silence for a while. At crossroads, the boy would raise an eyebrow and look to the girl, who would smile and point in the direction they needed to go. It wasn't until they reached the River Thames that either spoke.
"Did you… sleep well, Inoue?"
Orihime blinked and turned to study Ichigo's face. He tilted his head to the opposite side, attempting to hide the embarrassed tint to his cheeks.
"I guess so," the girl answered finally, scrunching up her brow in thought. "I actually don't remember falling asleep last night, but morning came so quickly, and I woke up in a much different position than I had been laying in before, so I must've fallen asleep at some point, ne?" She fixed her friend with a little smile. "How did Kurosaki-kun sleep?"
Ichigo ran a hand through his orange locks and let it rest at the back of his head. "…Alright."
Which meant "not very well at all". She knew it, and he knew she did. But he also knew that she wouldn't press him for details. He wondered if that was really a good thing or not. Why had he said anything to begin with?
"After all, you're just gonna lie."
Right.
Because of him.
Because he'd started scratching away at the back of his mind the moment he'd detached himself from his doorway the previous night.
Ichigo's inner hollow had been silent since the winter war. It hadn't attempted to devour its host or even draw any attention to itself at all for nearly ten months. In fact, the shinigami substitute had practically forgotten all about his unwanted 'roommate'. There was no explaining why it chose now to rattle the bars of its cage.
The boy tried to ignore the hollow's (true but unnecessary) commentary. Orihime would notice immediately if he allowed the disruptions to get the better of him. And if there was one thing Ichigo was certain of, it was that he wanted to keep her as far away from the monster inside of him as possible. He had never spoken of the events that had taken place on the roof of Las Noches that day in October. Not to her, or Uryuu, or Yasutora, or Rukia, or Renji. He had not even talked to Shinji about the form he had taken after his apparent death.
It scared him, terrified him, to know that he had been seconds away from ending the lives of his closest friends. He knew he wouldn't have stopped with Uryuu. He would have turned to Orihime next and-
He would have found Yammy slaughtering his other friends, and, after dispatching the espada, would have diced up their remains as well. The captains and vice captains would have posed no threat and joined the body count. Aizen would no longer have been such a terrifying opponent, but the victory would have been meaningless. Ichigo had been so close to destroying everyone and everything that mattered to him.
And that was the way his so-called 'instinct' had chosen to answer Orihime's cry for help.
"Kurosaki-kun?"
The question snapped the boy out of his thoughts. He turned to see the girl eyeing him with a concerned look on her face. Feeling guilty that he had been doing exactly what he had promised himself he wouldn't, Ichigo softened his scowl and tilted his head apologetically. "Sorry, Inoue. I guess I kind of got lost in thought."
The healer shook her head and hurriedly waved both hands. "No, that's fine! I just wanted to let you know that we're almost there."
Ichigo saw that she was right. The large, white building that he had only ever seen in pictures and read about in books was just visible in the distance. With every step he took, Ichigo felt himself becoming more and more aware of his surroundings. He was in London. He was going to see the Globe Theatre, William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. There was absolutely no way he was going to allow his inner demon to ruin this day for himself or for Orihime. Pushing all thoughts of hollows and Hueco Mundo from his mind, Ichigo smiled at his auburn-haired friend. He tilted his head and jerked it slightly in the direction of the theatre, before taking off in a mad run. He heard Orihime's melodious laughter ring out as she sprinted to catch up.
In no time at all, the boy reached the entrance to the building. He immediately spun to watch his friend race towards him, braid flying behind her the entire way. She collapsed in a fit of giggles as she finally reached her destination.
Ichigo waited for her to catch her breath and collect herself, then shot her a pointed grin. "I win."
He was rewarded with yet another round of laughter.
"Kurosaki-kun may have won, but I had a handicap!" Orihime proudly indicated her purse and the map she'd been carrying and added with a mischievous smile of her own, "So we have to have a rematch."
This time it was Ichigo's turn to laugh as he replied, "I guess we do."
Satisfied with his answer, the girl nodded and began to fix her outfit. She removed her hairpins, which had come loose during the race. Suddenly, she felt a hand atop her head. Rough fingers pulled back the long bangs and held them in place so she could secure them again. Orihime felt her cheeks heat at the touch. Fumbling to readjust the pins, she peeked up from under Ichigo's hand to find an absent-minded smile slanting his lips.
But just as soon as the smile had appeared, it vanished. Ichigo seemed to realize what he'd been doing when he caught a glimpse of the girl's questioning eyes. He quickly removed his hand from the auburn locks and hid it in his own mess of orange.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "I was just thinking… It was a good idea to pull your hair back like that."
"Oh?" Orihime asked, hardly believing the words that had come out of the boy's mouth. "You… you think so?" She paused before breaking into an explanation. "I thought a braid would help keep it manageable today, since we had a bit of a walk and all. And it looks like it paid off, ne? It didn't get messed up at all from our race. Well, my bangs did, but they're really easy to fix. It must be weird though, because Kurosaki-kun's probably never seen my hair like this."
"Yeah, but it looks nice." Ichigo said, scratching the bridge of his nose in embarrassment as he searched for a way to change the subject. Luckily, he didn't have to look far. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder towards the building behind him. "So, should we go in?"
Blinking, the healer realized that they were still standing in front of the entrance to the theatre. "Right!" she gasped, quickly gathering her belongings and looking to her orange-headed friend. "I'm ready!" With that, the two turned and made their way up the steps and through the doors.
They decided to walk through the museum first. Orihime had initially been eyeing the gift shop, intent upon finding souvenirs to send home to all of their friends, but Ichigo talked her out of it by pointing out that she would have to lug the presents around with her for the rest of the day. So they soon found themselves roaming the exhibit halls filled with gorgeous costumes and props, magnificent set pieces, photographs of old performances, and even a variety of original scripts. The Karakura teens spent a good two hours perusing the museum's incredible collection before deciding to grab a bite to eat in the Swan, a restaurant attached to the theatre.
After their light lunch, the two took a tour of the Globe itself, during which they discovered that their guide was actually one of the actors performing in the show taking place that evening. In fact, he played the part of the protagonist, Prospero. Orihime had never read The Tempest before, since the play was not one of their required readings in school, but Ichigo assured her that, in his opinion, it was among the best of Shakespeare's works. That was all it took for the girl to set her heart on attending the performance. As soon and the tour had ended, they found themselves in the box office, purchasing tickets.
Clutching her ticket in excitement, Orihime turned to Ichigo and asked, "What would you like to do now?"
The shinigami substitute glanced at his own ticket and replied, "Well, the show doesn't start 'til seven, so we could hit the gift shop now like you wanted."
"Okay, let's do that!" the girl agreed with a vigorous nod. Holding up her free hand, she began to count off the names of all the people she intended to buy gifts for. "I need to find souvenirs for Tatsuki-chan and Sado-kun and Ishida-kun and Kuchiki-san and Abarai-kun." She looked to her orange-headed friend as she ran out of fingers. "What about you, Kurosaki-kun? Are you going to get presents for your family as well?"
The boy nodded. "I thought I could try to find Yuzu something, at least. Karin's not really into theatre or literature, but Yuzu likes to make outfits for her stuffed animals, so I thought I'd try to find her a costume book or something."
"That sounds perfect for Yuzu-chan!" Orihime beamed. "Kurosaki-kun is so good at thinking of gifts for people!"
"Not really," Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head. "Yuzu's just always been easy to find presents for."
"And what about your father?"
Grimacing at the question, the boy nearly groaned, "Only as long as it's something he can't try to torture us with."
The girl laughed and then said, "I'm still not sure what I should get for anyone, so I think I'll start browsing and see if I find something that catches my eye."
"Okay, we'll just meet in the lobby when we're done."
Orihime waved her friend off with a smile and quickly set to work searching for the perfect presents to send her friends, which was harder to do than she'd first imagined. Tatsuki and Yasutora were much less interested in Shakespeare than either Ichigo or Uryuu, and Orihime had to wonder if Rukia and Renji even knew who the man was. In the end, the girl decided to find her shinigami friends' gifts in back in Diagon Alley. There was still a couple of days left before the start of term, after all. So she picked up a few small trinkets and key chains to send along with whatever the real gifts were to be.
She did find one present in the shop – Ichigo's. The moment she'd laid eyes on the object, she knew she had to buy it for her friend. He would love it. She hoped he would, at least.
Standing in line at the register, the girl's face lifted automatically into a warm smile as she reflected on everything they had done that day. She'd never seen Ichigo enjoying himself so completely for such a long period of time before. There had hardly been a moment when his face wasn't relaxed into a lopsided grin. Orihime wanted so much for the day to never end, for it to just continue on forever.
Of course, she had to remind herself that a wish like that would cause quite a bit of trouble. Many people couldn't sleep with the sun blazing through their windows twenty-four seven. They would still be human, after all, and would get tired as regularly as they always did. And for the day to literally go on forever, time would essentially have to freeze. If that happened, they would never get to see The Tempest, because it would never be seven o'clock. So, Orihime decided, it just wasn't practical to hope for an endless day. It was much better to simply make the most of the time they did have.
Pleased with her conclusion, the healer gave herself a tiny fist pump and directed her focus back to the front of the line to find that it was her turn to pay. While the cashier rang up her items, the girl noticed a small rack of disposable cameras sitting on the counter to her right. She reached over and plucked a package from its shelf, adding it to her purchase. With that, Orihime paid and sprinted out to find Ichigo in the lobby.
The orange-headed shinigami substitute sat on a bench near the main entrance of the theatre. While he waited for his friend to finish her shopping, he decided to entertain himself by people watching. A small group of young adults was gathered near the box office, chattering excitedly about auditions for the upcoming season. Ichigo thought he heard one of them mention Much Ado About Nothing, and he made a mental note to look up when it would be playing, in the case that he and Orihime would be returning to Hogwarts the following year.
Before long, a familiar auburn head appeared through the crowd. Ichigo stood and waved his friend over, smiling at her as she hurriedly set her bags down on the bench and fished out a small package.
"Find gifts for everyone you wanted to?" the boy asked, amused by the girl's eagerness to show him whatever it was she had bought.
"Not everyone, but I decided I'd probably have better luck in Diagon Alley. I did find some adorable button pins and key chains to send them, though, and look!" She held up the package so he could see it better. "I bought a disposable camera so we can re-visit the Globe whenever we want, or we'll at least have visual proof that we were here!"
Ichigo chuckled at the healer's logic. "Great idea."
"What about you, Kurosaki-kun? Could you find the book you wanted for Yuzu-chan?"
"Yeah," he replied, holding up his shopping bag. "Even found something for oya-jii."
Orihime clapped her hands together in delight. "That's wonderful! What did you get?"
Shrugging, the boy reached into the bag and pulled out a mug decorated with bright, colorful letters reading 'better a witty fool than a foolish wit'. "It's from Twelfth Night," he said. "I figured it'd be something he'd like, but actually useful."
"And the quote fits Kurosaki-san perfectly."
Ichigo paused for a moment to study the knowing look in the girl's deep amber eyes, before drawing in a shallow breath and asking, "You think so?"
She replied with a happy nod. "Absolutely, and Kurosaki-kun does, too!"
He smiled. "C'mon, let's grab some dinner before the show."
"Do you want a picture next to the stage?"
Ichigo glanced over to his auburn-haired friend, who was peering up at him from behind her camera. The two stood in the pit of the theatre, waiting for the show to begin. For the past ten minutes, the boy had been watching her weave through the crowds of people, trying to capture the building from every viewpoint imaginable. A couple of times, he'd had to talk her out of climbing the columns that supported the balconies as she sought the perfect angle. "Naw, I'm not really into getting pictures of just myself, but I could take one of you if you want."
The tiny pout that creased the girl's brow and wrinkled her nose at his answer made Ichigo suppress a chuckle.
"But we've already got plenty of pictures with just me. It's Kurosaki-kun's turn. I'm sure your family would like to see them," Orihime said.
With a sigh, the boy made his way to an open space near the edge of the stage, beckoning the girl to follow. He waited in an awkward silence as she prepared the camera. Before she could take the picture, however, a voice to Ichigo's right interrupted, "Would you like a picture with the both of you together?"
He turned to see a middle-aged woman with long blonde hair pulled back into a loose bun approaching Orihime with an outstretched hand.
"Oh, that would be wonderful! Thank you!" the healer responded. Looking to Ichigo, she asked, "Is that alright, Kurosaki-kun?"
"Yeah, sounds great," he replied, relieved.
Orihime handed the camera over to the woman and practically skipped to the boy's side. She smiled up at him for a second, then twirled around to pose for the shot.
Peering through the camera lens, the woman motioned for Ichigo to scoot closer to his friend. "Come on, you two, get comfy. We can't have only half of you in the shot now, can we?"
The boy felt the heat rise in his cheeks as he did as the woman told him, if only to prevent her from making another comment about 'getting comfy'. But he was being silly. This was Orihime. She was his friend, his nakama. It wasn't as if he'd never been close to her before. Why, back after his fight with Grimmjow, he'd carried her off that tower. Ichigo relaxed a bit and allowed a small smile to break through his scowl. This was nothing.
But just as the camera flashed, he suddenly felt a sharp tug to the back of his mind.
"What the-"
The shinigami substitute slapped a hand to his face, keeling over slightly in an attempt to both regain control and hide the inky blackness he knew had to be seeping into his eyes.
"Kurosaki-kun?"
Damn.
She knew.
She had to know. No one was better at sensing the suffocating darkness of his monster's reiatsu than Orihime. And now he'd made her worry again.
"Are you alright?" the blonde woman asked. She hurried over to the teens, trying to see what she could do to help.
Ichigo straightened, feeling the hollow's presence recede back to the depths of his inner world. "Yeah, fine," he grunted.
"Would you like to try it again? I don't think that shot will turn out."
"No," he said, too quickly. "No, that's alright."
Orihime took the camera back and thanked the woman again, assuring her that Ichigo was fine. When the woman had disappeared back into the crowd, the two Karakura teens stood in silence. Neither wanted to bring up the topic that was currently weighing heavy on both of their minds.
The Tempest began, but Ichigo didn't hear a word. He couldn't focus on anything other than the fact that he had almost done it again. He had almost lost control and allowed the beast inside of him to hurt a person he cared about.
But why now?
Why would his hollow choose this moment to try to seize control? The element of surprise? Would he once again have to spend every waking moment suppressing his so-called 'horse'? What did it benefit the beast to defeat him now? He wasn't in his shinigami form. He wasn't in the presence of other shinigami or hollows. He wasn't even beating the hell out of anybody.
He was with Orihime.
That night, back in his room in the Leaky Cauldron, Ichigo lay, still attempting to work out an explanation for his hollow's behavior. As he finally allowed sleep to overtake him, he could almost hear the voice, a sickening distortion of his own, croon.
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."
