She awoke before the alarm sounded. Outside, I was still dark and the orange glow of a street lamp was the only illumination, crawling in between partially drawn curtains. It revealed an empty bed, the covers thrown back. Rukia sat with the cupboard doors pulled side, her bare feet hanging down against the folded sheets. She couldn't hear him in the shower and his clothes were gone, so was he in the clinic already?

He was afraid for Chad. So afraid, she guessed, that he'd not slept all night.

Staring at the empty bed, she felt strangely lonely. She slid to the floor and dressed slowly, whiling away the minutes as a pale dawn sun crept up from behind the houses. When Ichigo returned, she was dressed for school, sitting neatly on his bed, one leg folded over the other.

"Chad's gone," he said: "He left in the night. He didn't tell anyone." She took one look at his face and heard the edge of fear in his voice and, calmly, she said:

"Let's go and find him then."