All In Your Head – III
"That's a five-hour mission done in what, two?" Matsumoto looked around at Rukia, "Well, our part's done anyway, I dunno what Hisagi and Hinamori are up to-"
An odd ringing sound cut Matsumoto off. "What the hell is that?" Rukia asked, sounding a little disgusted. Matsumoto scowled slightly as she pulled out her soul pager.
"It's better than your ring tone, isn't it? What do you have again, the Chappy theme song?" she flipped open the phone, "Hello?...Oh, Hisagi...you're done too?...All right then, we'll meet you down there in a few, bye"
"They're done?"
"Yep," Matsumoto smiled as she closed the phone, "We now have three hours to kill, what do you say to a drink? I'm sure Hinamori and Hisagi won't refuse-"
"Hinamori and I look like we're sixteen, no one's going to sell alcohol to us"
"Mmm," Matsumoto frowned, "We'll figure out something. How about shopping? Are there any stores around here that are open all night?"
"A few," Rukia shrugged, "Let's just find Hinamori and Hisagi, we'll figure out what to do from there"
"Sounds good," they used shunpo and found themselves standing in front of Hinamori and Hisagi, who were conversing outside a mini-market. "So," Matsumoto clapped her hands, "What should we do now? Personally, I want to go shopping-"
"I don't think so," Hisagi said at once, "No shopping Matsumoto, you always buy more clothes than you need-"
"I like the clothes here"
"You never use them-"
"What if I take up a Gigai? I'll need them then won't I?"
"There's no reasoning with you, is there?"
"Nope," Matsumoto smiled proudly, "Really, I-"
"What the..." the four Shinigami Vice-Captains looked around and saw a very odd couple standing behind them. It was Uryu and Orihime.
"Well what do you know!" Matsumoto put on a smile, "Orihime-san, Ishida-kun, hello!"
Rukia shifted her weight between her feet and jostled a little so that she was behind Matsumoto, who was considerably taller than her and could hide her. But Orihime had already caught sight of the short Shinigami. "Kuchiki-san?"
Rukia winced but didn't leave her position from behind Matsumoto. "Kuchiki-san, is that you?"
"Ah Rukia-san, no hiding now," Matsumoto, much to Rukia's detest, stepped away, leaving Rukia in the clear.
"Who's hiding?" Rukia muttered, refusing to look at Uryu and Orihime, opting instead to analyze the sidewalk she was standing on. It had been fifteen years since she had directly confronted any of her old friends. "I'm not hiding, Matsumoto. And who asked you anyway?"
A sudden beeping noise cut Rukia off before she could finish. She pulled out her Soul Pager, which was blinking furiously. "Another one?" Hisagi muttered, "I'll go-"
"I'll go!" the force of Rukia's voice must have shocked the others as much as it had her, because no one spoke as she used shunpo to get her away from the scene.
"Ah well," Matsumoto sighed wearily and turned back to Orihime and Uryu, "Don't mind her, she's very anti-social at times"
Uryu scowled slightly. "She didn't seem very happy to see us," Orihime said in a quiet voice. True, she hadn't expected the best reception from the Shinigami, but maybe a hello would have been nice. Just a little bit of acknowledgment from an old friend, nothing big though. Just a hello.
"No, she was thrilled, really," Matsumoto assured Orihime, "She always looks like that though, you can never really break through. She was happy to see you though, ecstatic even"
"No, she seemed pretty upset to me," Hisagi said thoughtfully. Matsumoto slapped the Shinigami over the head.
"So how've things been?" Orihime cut in quickly, trying to divert a fight, "Everything going well in uh...Soul Society?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary if that's what you're asking," Matsumoto said with a shrug, "Nothing's ever completely well in a place full of spirits, some of which are training to be Shinigami – and doing quite badly at that"
Orihime giggled. "Kuchiki-san was made a Vice Captain about a year ago," Hinamori said conversationally, "Thirteenth Division"
"Well that's great!" Orihime said with a smile. Uryu made a noise in his throat. "What?"
"Nothing"
"No, what?"
"Well, it sounds like she really cares, you know?" Uryu pushed his glasses up onto his nose, "Sounds like she really cares that she virtually destroyed a man. You know, going off, becoming a vice-captain...yup, she cares so much"
Orihime made to elbow him to shut him up. "That's not very fair," Hinamori said, frowning slightly, "You haven't seen her, you don't know-"
"Who's fault is it we haven't seen her?" Uryu cut the Vice-Captain off, "She's never made any moves to come and try and visit, has she? I doubt she's even been to see him-"
"Aren't you supposed to be the smart one in this group?" Matsumoto said, a little angry, "Cut her some slack already"
"And why should I?"
"Knock it off, both of you," Hisagi snapped, "You-" he glared at Uryu, "Shouldn't make assumptions about things you don't understand. You-" he looked at Matsumoto, "Just...don't start fights, all right? It's not worth it"
Rukia watched unconcernedly and uncaring as the hollow disintegrated into the night. She sheathed the Zanpakutou and looked around at her surroundings. Her heart stopped when she realized where she was. "Dammit. I knew I should have let Hisagi deal with it"
She was standing just outside the mental hospital where Ichigo was. She bit her lip, feeling torn. She shifted her feet uncomfortably, and after a second took a deep breath and stepped through the wall inside.
There was someone at the receptionist desk. She didn't even look up as Rukia walked past, trying to remember where Ichigo's room was. Third floor if she remembered correctly. She climbed the stairs, feeling faintly annoyed that it would look suspicious if she went up in the elevator. She moved silently through the corridors, peaking into rooms every now and then when she got to the third floor. Most of the people were sleeping, though every now and then she came across someone who was still awake, sitting up in bed staring blankly at the wall, or playing with their hands.
When she found Ichigo's room, she had mixed feelings. He was asleep, thank God, but just the site of him laying in that bed (which of course had restraints on it) made her feel almost sick. She stared down at him, disgusted.
"Ichigo stop it, stop! Stop!...Ow! Hey, quit swinging your fists like that moron, you're gonna hurt someone!"
"Blood, the blood, it's everywhere, stop, make it go away!"
He swung his fist out again, nailing her in the cheek this time. She stumbled back and fell gracefully on her butt. "Oh that's it, I'm gonna-"
"Kuchiki-san, no!" someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her backwards. He froze suddenly, his eyes on her.
"You," a lump formed in her throat.
"Me"
"It's your fault, this all your fault! Blood, everywhere, blood spilled, all for you, it's your fault!" her eyes widened in shock.
"N-No, it's, it's not-"
"Your fault!"
"Who's there?" Rukia shook herself out of her reverie, and saw that Ichigo had woken up.
"I-Ichi...Ichigo?" his amber eyes shifted to meet her violet ones.
"You"
She bit her lip. "Yeah. Me"
"They said you wouldn't come back. You're gone"
"No, I...I mean, I was, but now I..."
"The blood was gone too, now it might come back-" Rukia bit her lip, almost wishing he would stop, "You're here, it might come back. The blood-"
"No, it...it's gone, Ichigo, please, don't-"
"You brought the blood, it was all your fault, all your fault..."
"No, it wasn't, don't say that!"
"All your fault..."
Rukia couldn't take it anymore. She whirled around and ran out, unable to stand there for another minute and listen to Ichigo's semi-rant. She used shunpo as soon as she had cleared the building, and found herself stuck in the middle of what looked like a stand-off between Uryu and Matsumoto. "Kuchiki-san!" Orihime chirped, looking happy to see her, "It's-"
"Can we go?" she looked around at Matsumoto, Hisagi, and Hinamori.
"Why?" Hinamori blinked in surprise, "I thought we were going to-"
"Please, let's just leave, all right?"
"Kuchiki-san?" Orihime sounded hurt, "Kuchiki-san, is something wrong?"
Rukia bowed her head, letting her hair fall, framing her face. "No, Orihime-san, nothing's wrong. Matsumoto, Hinamori, Hisagi, can we just leave?"
"Rukia-san," that was Uryu. He sounded highly upset, "Just why are you so eager to leave?"
"Oh wait," Hinamori's eyes widened, "You didn't go and see-"
Rukia clapped a hand over the Vice Captain's mouth, "Matsumoto, why don't you open the gate?" she said loudly. Everyone exchanged shocked glances.
"See who, Rukia-san?" Uryu said after a minute.
"No one," Rukia said harshly, reaching for her own Zanpakutou, "If you won't open the gate then I will, I'm not staying here though-"
"All right, all right," Matsumoto sighed and drew her own Zanpakutou, holding it out in front of her, "If you're really that eager, we'll go. But Rukia-san, how about telling us what the hell's going on?"
"Nothing," she pulled her hand away from Hinamori's mouth, still refusing to look at Uryu and Orihime. The latter wasn't quite ready to give up though.
"Kuchiki-san, what's going on?"
"Nothing," Rukia said, swallowing hard, "Matsumoto, please-"
Looking as confused as everyone else, Matsumoto turned her Zanpakutou in mid-air, and the gates to the Soul Society appeared in front of her. Rukia smiled for the first time that night (or that week, for that matter). She was ready for this mission to be over.
Author's Note: Not much, a little more from the past though. I thought it was pretty okay, but what did you think/wink/ anyways, next chapter Rukia let's something...slip during a fight with Renji. Something to do with a certain orange-haired Shinigami...if you want to find out what, reviews make me update faster! Any number between 30-40/45 is good. All right then! - Sam
