[A/N] Just in case you don't know, *Kosode is pretty much a white robe looking thing...it's like what you see them where when they are healing.
~o~
If light always won, there would be no darkness
The day would have no night
but they will both make a person shine
when the light and dark become one.
~o~
"This hurts...please...please come save me...it's so lonely here..."
The voice in her head was in pain, but she didn't know who it was or where it was coming from. Was it herself? She had no clue. All she knew is that it distracted her from her own pain.
She awoke and all of the agony and torture from the day before came flooding back into her mind, and her body. She could feel every single bruise on her body from them punching and kicking her around for pleasure, everything on her ached horribly. She opened her eyes and it was dark outside, saving her eyes from having to adjust to sunlight just yet. With the most amount of strength she could muster, she sat up and tried to stand She stumbled forward, but ended up catching herself by leaning on a tree trunk. She wiped some blood from her mouth and took a breath before attempting to walk forward again.
Her body was beaten, and had no will to obey it's master.
It gave out within a few steps, but before she could hit the ground she was brought to a warm chest and pulled closer by strong arms, "It's okay Rora...I got you.."
She held onto the man as hard as she could, knowing exactly who it was. Her eyes were beginning to fall on their own, but a tear escaped and ran down her cheek before she went back to unconsciousness, "Renji..."
Everything was foggy as she awoke in what appeared to be...well..nothingness. She was greatly confused and stood, looking around trying to find something other than the brightness of the white nothings and the foggy venue. She began walking and as she observed in front of her, she was getting close to something. It was dark and she couldn't tell what it was until she went further.
"Is somebody there?" She could make out a figure about as tall as she was facing her. It spoke, but she wasn't close enough to make out what it was saying, "Hold on I'm coming!"
She jogged up until she was face to face with it...but when she got there she found something that disturbed her. The figure...was still a figure. There was nothing but the blackness of the shadow. Rora took a step back and tried to hold the gasp in her throat so it wouldn't come out of her mouth, "Who...or what...are you?"
"I have already told you...you just can't here me," It was a woman's voice and it seemed almost...sad.
Rora frowned and decided the figure was harmless so she could move closer, "So...you know me though right?"
"Of course I do. You are Rokara Matsuno, but known as Rora Matsuno. You're one hundred and fifty four and you're originally from the 59th division...I know everything about you Rora, I am a part of you after all."
"Then why are you a stranger to me?" She questioned, "I want to hear your name...I also want to see your face."
"It's not up to me...you are the one pulling those strings," The figure spoke and reached out to Rora, but she quickly retracted her hand and slumped, "You will see me when you are ready...until then I will be waiting here...please hurry though...it's lonely here."
The shadowy outline turned and began to walk away, but Rora called out to her before she could leave, "Wait! One more question," She caught up to the shadow and looked around, "Why is it so blank here? This can't be my inner world...can it?"
"Yes, it is actually..." The woman answered and paused before continuing, "It is representing your state...and right now you don't know who you are, so your inner world doesn't know itself either. You must color it with life, and when you finally find yourself and figure out what you want in your future...it should surely be amazing,"
She finished before Rora started to disappear, "What is happening?"
"You must leave now," The figure watched as she began to vanish, "I'll see you when the time is right."
"I will know your name next time, that's a promise," Rora nodded before finally leaving her inner world.
"So this is her eh?" Ikkaku scanned the girl lying in the hospital bed as Renji rolled his eyes. He had stayed with her through the night, but Ikkaku and Yumichika decided to see what was going on lately with their red headed friend.
"Who knew that your obsession was a pretty girl! I thought you were just slacking off in a bar with nasty burly men somewhere," Yumichika flipped his hair and smirked as he went closer to the woman, "However, the damage she took from whatever happened is taking away from her beauty."
Renji chose to ignore half of what Yumichika said and sighed, "Yep, she's a handful...hopefully she'll wake up soon so you guys can meet her."
"What district did you find her in?" The bald headed man asked him, expecting it to be a higher one.
"Seventy first," He replied and sighed again, "I've never seen her so beaten before, she must've really pissed somebody off."
Ikkaku chuckled and smirked widely, "Sounds like you're going through a lot just to get laid."
"I'm not trying to get laid, the only person desperate enough to do that is you," Renji snickered at the man as a tick mark grew on his head.
They both started arguing and throwing insults at each other while Yumichika crossed his arms and stood beside the bed, "Why does it always turn out like this?" he sighed and brushed his hair back.
"They always fight like this?" Rora rubbed her head and blinked her eyes open. Yumichika looked over before getting the attention of the two men.
Renji's eyes grew wide and he went straight to her bedside, "Rora! You're awake!"
"Well yeah," She crinkled her nose groaned, "Unfortunately...wait...where am I?" She pushed herself up and looked around, taking a glance at Yumichika and Ikkaku, "And who are these guys?"
"Just some friends," The red head smirked as Ikkaku and Yumichika introduced themselves, "Welcome to the Seireitei."
"The Seireitei?!" She was shocked, but excited at the same time. She would've jumped and went straight to exploring, but she knew she couldn't go running off in her condition. She removed the sheets from her legs and hung them off of the bed, touching the wooden floor with her feet. She carefully straightened out the white kosode* looked up at the red headed man, "Am I allowed out of bed yet?"
"Well it's not like we're keeping you captive, but you do have a couple broken ribs that need to heal..." Renji scratched his head and put a hand on his hip, "You should rest a little longer."
She was disappointed about the answer, but she kept a straight face and rested her elbows on her knees, "Fine, but if they come in with any needles your in trouble."
"Okay okay," He laughed as Ikkaku and Yumichika made their way to the door.
"See you later Renji, we got some other stuff to do before the day ends."
"We do have paperwork we have to do," Yumichika reminded his bald headed partner, making him flinch as he opened the door.
"Nice meeting you two," Rora casually waved as they left the room, leaving the two alone.
It was silent for a moment before she sighed and gave the red head a smile, "So how'd you find me?"
"Eh, I asked around," He sat next to her on the bed and smirked, "You're pretty dumb you know, taking on those men like that."
She snorted, "Yeah well whatever."
"Do you go looking for trouble? Or is there another reason it just finds you wherever you go?"
"Nope, it just finds me," She shrugged.
"Well what did you do to piss them off so bad?" He questioned and noted the uncomfortable look on her face.
She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, "Eh, it's not important...I acted without thinking of consequences and I paid for it. Next time I'll be more careful."
"There better not be a next time," He spoke seriously, making her remove her head from his shoulder so she could look up at his face. He raised his eyebrow, sounding slightly annoyed,"You could have died out there you know."
"Details," She waved it off and gave him a small smirk, "Just because I don't have a big intimidating sword doesn't mean I can't handle myself."
"In the condition I found you in, begs to differ," He frowned and leaned his forehead against hers lightly. He wasn't speaking harshly, instead he spoke in a softer tone, "Don't be an idiot."
"You don't have room to talk," Her smirk lowered itself into a small smile. She grasped his hand and brought it up to her lips so she could kiss it before holding it in her lap, "I won't if you won't."
"Good," He kissed her forehead before pulling away with a smile, "Now get some rest okay?"
"Okay okay," She laughed before moving her legs behind him and lying down. Renji stayed sitting on the bed and watched as she got comfortable. She was coping with her injuries well and it made him glad.
"Hey, Renji?" She spoke up as she sighed, "Everything for me changes now, doesn't it?"
"I guess so," He reconnected his hand with hers, "Are you ready for that?"
She closed her eyes and gave a short laugh, thinking about the days to come, "You know what? I think I am."
[A/N] Hey guys! Nothing much to say but thank you for reading and be excited for more :) Thank you for all of my reviewers! I hope you keep on reading and reviewing! I also hope for some new readers that favor or alert this story to review also, I would like to know your thoughts!
Peace out!
