Chapter 4:

It seemed that Linnette was having a great day. She was friendly to everyone who passed by and that alone earned her attention. They passed by a woman walking her dog and Linnette bent down to pet it. In return, the dog licked her face happily, making her giggle. She fed a stray cat on her way down the sidewalk. The gesture resulted in the small animal following her for the next hour.

"See, sweetie?" Victor told her. "If you are kind, people will like you and stick around."

It was true for humans, too. Not just stray cats and friendly dogs.

Along their way, they passed by a group of children playing on a concrete staircase. A small group of girls were playing with dolls while a couple of boys were practicing trick on their skateboards. One of the skateboarders cut his trick a little too close and ran over one of the dolls, sending it flying. The blond girl screamed, worried for her doll.

Linnette took it upon herself and picked the doll up, handing it back to the girl, who was quick to examine it. It was dirty and scuffed up, but otherwise fine. Still, that didn't sit well with the young girl. She was starting to tear up.

"Here, hang on." Linnette started scrubbing off the doll with the hem of her dress. When she was finished, she handed it back to the girl, pleased at her work.

The girl looked it over and smiled. "Thank you."

"What's your name?" another girl asked.

"Linnette."

"Want to play with us?"

She looked back at Victor who nodded. Smiling, she agreed and sat down with the girls.

"Here." The third girl handed her a small bento box with leftover candies inside. "Want some?"

"Sure. Thanks."

Ichigo stood back with the other men, watching her. She was starting to see that doing a good deed would lead to good things. Even friendship. Linnette didn't even have to be told this time to do something. She just did it. And in doing so, now these girls had invited her to play with them.

She was learning.

Later that evening, the group went out for dinner at a local restaurant. They were seated in the back, overlooking a small bar were several business men were having a drink over their briefcases. Ichigo sat with his back to them in the booth. Linnette kept talking about her day and what fun she was having. She even called attention to Ichigo's dance again.

"That was embarrassing! Shut up about it."

Cedric glared at him for telling her to shut up, but Linnette took it in stride. In fact, she was laughing. She knew he didn't mean it that way. "But you were really good at it. Even if you didn't know what you were doing. That's the best part!"

Victor patted her head. "You were lovely as ever, my princess."

She smiled. "Those boys that came over wanted to know if I lived around here. I told them no. But they said that they wanted to hang out with me some time. Can I?"

"If it makes you happy, then yes."

She smiled brightly.

While scanning over their menus, Ichigo felt a foot on his knee and looked up. Linnette, who was sitting diagonally from him, mouthed a 'sorry' to him and started bouncing in her seat, a look of concentration on her face. Cedric, who was sitting beside Ichigo, flinched and started bouncing as well. Ichigo peered under the table to see what was going on. They were playing footsy under the table. Ichigo remembered playing that with his mother at restaurants while waiting for their food. Being so young and small at the time, Ichigo had to practically lay down on the seat to reach his mother's knees with his toes. Seeing her do this brought back memories.

Sitting across from Ichigo was Victor. He watched Ichigo's gaze for a while before glancing back down at his menu. Ichigo looked up at him. "What?"

"Nothing," he told him.

Ichigo looked back at Linnette. "So… Linnette…"

She stopped her footsy game, giving Cedric one final kick. "Yeah?"

"Enjoying yourself, huh?"

"Yup."

He nodded. He didn't really care. He just wanted to read the situation a little more and decide from there what to do about this group. Depending on her answer, it could sway his decision on whether or not these three were a threat.

"You really caught people's attention out there with your dance. Do you like dancing?"

She nodded. "I like the attention even more, though."

"I see." He phrased his next question carefully. "Do you… you know. Miss being up on stage doing that stuff?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I liked having an audience watching me perform. I loved the attention."

"And singing. You miss that, too, don't you?"

She nodded sadly. "Yeah, I really do. It was a way I could express myself and get attention. I can't really put into words how it made me feel, but it was… It was a great feeling. It made me really happy. But now when I try to sing, it hurts and this horrible croaking sound comes out instead. My voice really is gone."

Ichigo was too busy watching Linnette to notice the look of pain cross over Victor's face while she was describing it. His face twitched as if every word she spoke sent a knife into his heart. She wasn't the only one who was feeling the loss of her song. Victor looked devastated.

"But that's ok." Linnette perked up. "I'm getting attention away without it. All these people want to be around me now for other reasons. It's not my voice they like, just me. It's great."

"I bet it's easier for you to play now that you're not a big star anymore, right?"

She nodded. "Oh, yes. Back then, it was all 'rush, rush, rush' and now I can relax. I never had time to play back then. Now I can. It's great. Even if I do miss the life of a diva, I'm having fun now anyway. But sometimes I wish I could relive that old life, you know? It was a lot of fun." She played with her napkin. "All the lights and applause and the clothes and attention… I miss it. And hearing myself sing. I miss that a lot, too. It just made me feel… I don't know. But I liked it a lot."

Victor got up from his seat. "I'm going to fetch us some drinks." He walked over to the bar.

While he was gone, Linnette sat sideways on the booth, resting her feet over Victor's seat. When he returned with four glasses, he found her sprawled out over the two seats. He smiled. She giggled.

"Alright… Move those feet before I sit on them."

She put her feet back on the floor, but lay her head in their place, smiling mischievously. Victor moved to sit down on her head and she quickly got out of the way, laughing. He laughed, too., setting the drinks down.

"Ok…" He started to distribute them to the group. "Water for Linnette. Beer for Cedric and myself. And a soda for Ichigo… Unless you want a beer as well."

Ichigo took the soda. "I'm still a minor."

"One sip won't kill you."

He refused. But Linnette was all for it. She took the offer.

"Can I have a sip of your beer, Victor? Please?"

He chuckled. "No, no, sweetie. Not now."

"Why not? Just a sip."

"I'm afraid you're even younger than Ichigo. You can't have this."

She pouted. "But I want it. You offered it to him."

Ichigo watched carefully. Now that Linnette had been refused what she desired, would this be enough for her to revert back to the way she was before and show her true colors? Was she going to throw a tantrum? Would she scream?

Victor set the glass down. "Tell you what… I can't give it to you here because you are a minor. But when we get back home, if you still want it, I can let you have a taste. How's that sound?"

She sat back, a little disappointed. "Why not here?"

"I was teasing Ichigo. He would get in trouble if he did. And if I were to give you some here and now, then we would both be in trouble. You wouldn't want that to happen would you? Me getting yelled at in front of everyone. And you, too, for that matter. You wouldn't like that now would you?"

She sighed. "No."

"At home we can do whatever we want. So wait for a little bit, ok? I promise I'll give you some then if you still want it. Ok? Deal?"

She smiled with a nod. "Deal!" She grabbed her glass of water and drank through the straw.

Ichigo lifted his own glass to his lips and drank through his straw.

It was another ten minutes before their meals came out. Linnette dove into hers, finishing quickly. Victor and Cedric had ordered as well, but clearly that was for Linnette's benefit. After all, they didn't eat, so their food went to her. Ichigo's meal tasted fine. But he was started to feel weird. He was feeling a little lightheaded. He hoped that it was just the atmosphere. After all, they were sitting close to the bar, which wasn't well lit and it was getting late. He also started to feel this way when he ate too much. He figured it would pass.

After a few more minutes, it didn't. It actually got a lot worse. The room was starting to spin. The lights were just a bunch of colorful blurs. He didn't know what was going on.

Linnette's concerned voice reach him from what sounded like very far away. "Are you ok, Ichigo?"

He looked at her. There seemed to be three of her. "Huh? Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just uh… Just a little tired. That's all."

Victor paid the check and they all left. Ichigo needed help to walk. His legs felt like marshmallow. He found himself having to hold onto the buildings for balance. When a building ended, he had to throw himself into another, just to keep himself going in a straight line. Soon even that wasn't enough. He tripped and fell. Victor came up behind him and lifted him up. Hating to have Victor touch him, Ichigo brushed him off and tried once again to walk on his own.

They made it back to the hotel. Victor had to steer him in the right direction, having walked past it the first time around. They pointed him to the elevator. They rode up to the fourth floor. Linnette bounced off happily, whereas Ichigo had to practically crawl off. He held onto the walls for support. He couldn't see straight. Everything was spinning. Even his hands were going numb.

"Over here, big guy."

Victor's voiced sounded like it was coming from three different directions. He felt really dizzy and weak. He wobbled over to them, clinging to the wall shakily.

"Why don't you give Linnette a kiss good-night?"

He was out of it, but not that out of it. He just waved in her direction. "'Night."

"Oh, you can do better than that. Kiss her."

He shook his head, which ultimately left him feeling even dizzier. "No, thank. Good-night."

Linnette waved back at him. "Good-night, Ichigo."

"I'll be along in a minute," Victor said. "Just let me get Ichigo back to his room."

The moment Linnette's door closed, Ichigo collapsed. He couldn't do it anymore. His strength was gone and so were his senses. He couldn't tell up from down anymore. He felt horrible. He sensed Victor standing over him, sighing.

"Well, well… Let's get you to your room. No way you can go back to your place in this state. Lucky we got you a room here, huh?"

He lifted Ichigo off the ground and helped him walk back the way they had come. He heard a 'ding' and they climbed inside a small space.

Everything was spinning on him. He shut his eyes tightly trying to rid himself of this horrible feeling. It didn't go away. His whole body was numb and from the feel of things, had lost his ability to speak. Not that he bothered to try.

Even his thoughts were weakening. He couldn't think clearly. All he could wonder was 'why?' Why was this happening to him? What was wrong with him?

Ichigo felt himself going up inside the elevator, Victor keeping a firm grip on him the entire time. His vision was terrible. The tiled floor in the elevator looked like someone had scribbled over them with a magic marker. Wiggly lines everywhere he looked. It was making him even more dizzy than he already was. He shut his eyes, moaning.

"We're almost there," he heard Victor say from what sounded like very far away.

After what seemed like an eternity, the elevator stopped. Victor brushed past a couple of older women who were coming on, giving the duo strange looks as they passed. They passed by a few other people on their way to the hotel room, all of whom gave them strange looks. They must have thought Ichigo was drunk, the way he looked being carried by Victor like this. One woman in particular stared at them as they passed by. Ichigo felt her gaze even with his eyes shut tight. He felt so weak.

"Just a little further."

Ichigo stumbled, unable to move his legs anymore. But with his superhuman strength, Victor managed to lift Ichigo up off the ground one-handed. Ichigo felt his feet drag across the floor, but was helpless to prevent it. They came to a stop.

"Here we are."

He heard Victor slide in the room key and the door opened. Victor clicked on the lights and helped Ichigo inside, closing the door behind himself. He dragged Ichigo over to the bed by the window and tossed him down. Ichigo bounced twice on the mattress, his limbs sprawled out like a rag doll. He heard Victor shifting things around in the room, but didn't give a care. He was too busy trying to figure out what was happening to him. His mind was so foggy, he couldn't think straight.

More shifting noises, then he felt a presence down by his legs. He felt Victor take off his shoes. He had a firm grip on his ankles. He heard Victor set them down by the foot of the bed, then move up, his hands leaning on the mattress by Ichigo's hip.

"Ichigo." He sounded so far away. "Ichigo, how many figures am I holding up?"

Ichigo opened his eyes to look. Just a blurry haze, but he could make out a couple. He moved his jaw up and down to speak, but only a gargle of words came out. Something was impairing his ability to speak properly.

"That's fine. You rest up. Had a long, hard night, huh?"

Ichigo felt Victor's hands on his belt, removing it. He was helpless to stop it. He felt Victor slid it off then toss it around the support leg of the bed with a soft metal clang. Victor then lifted up Ichigo's body and moved him so that he was now laying with his head on the pillows. He felt Victor's warm hand on his warm forehead. It felt kind of nice, but he hated to have Victor touch him. At all.

Victor pulled his hand away as if hearing his thoughts. "You rest up. We'll see you in the morning."

He heard Victor walk over to the door, flick off the lights then leave. Ichigo stared blankly at the ceiling for another minute before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

What did they do to him? What's going on? Please review! ^-^