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Chapter 4
Ichigo
I told Uryuu that I trusted his judgement, that was two weeks ago and I haven't heard anything from him since. Orihime went to visit him a few times; she said that he didn't look like he was doing any better than from the last time I saw him. I did message him a few times here and there asking how he was feeling; he always responded that he felt fine. He's a fucking idiot and such a terrible liar.
I can't believe that summer vacation is already over, those two weeks went by so fast. The first week was a scorcher and then we got hit by rain the week after and finally the sun came back out this morning but with all the rain we got and now with the sun's heat, it feels even more unbearable than when it was hot and dry. I can't believe that I'm saying this but winter do come soon, I'm sick and tired of being piss ass hot from this fucking heat.
This morning when I entered the classroom with Keigo and Mizuiro, like I had expected Uryuu was already in class sitting at his desk doing the same thing as he always does, reading a book and much to my dismay he's still pale, still looks tired as hell and I can probably imagine that he's still cold as ice like that time we were studying at his place. I was crossing my fingers that somehow he would really be fine but no, he still looks like shit. How can he just continue saying that he feels fine, it's not what I see. Damn it's not what anyone sees at this point.
I casually make my way to my seat as I ignore Keigo's crazy antics as I listen to the other classmates gossiping to each other about Uryuu, even they have noticed that something is wrong with him. Some are asking if that's why he wasn't present at the last day of school before the summer vacation since no one saw him all summer until now. I know it wasn't the case back then; he was training to become stronger for when we would have gone to the Soul Society but if I had known this would have happened…
Could I have stopped Uryuu from coming…? No… He still would have come along no matter what I would have said. No matter what, there was nothing I could have done to prevent his fight against Kurotsuchi from happening. He knew what he was doing, the decisions that he made at that time was his own and not mine. He knew the consequences his actions would make and chose to do it anyway in order to hold victory. I shouldn't have any guilt for what happened we all knew the risk and agreed to move forward. I just can't stand to see a friend and comrade this way. I think he even lost some weight since the last time I saw him.
"Alright class get into your seat."
Miss Ochi's presence finally got the class to become quiet, all the gossiping died down but here and there I could make out a few gossips still until it eventually died down when Miss Ochi demanded complete silence.
"We have a returning student! Please make her feel welcome!"
My eyes shot up when Miss Ochi said returning student. Even before my eyes fell on her I knew who it was and before I even realized it, I had a smile on my face. That soon huh…? Somehow I don't mind and I think she doesn't mind either as she takes back her old seat right next to mine. Rukia… I'll assume that her Soul Reaper powers must have returned already. Two weeks, it was about time she showed her face again. I honestly don't know why, I can't explain it but I've never been happier to see Rukia. I guess I got used to seeing her every day for two months that it just became normal; it just wasn't the same without her.
The gossiping started again once Miss Ochi started teaching but this time it was mainly related about Rukia's return than Uryuu. I guess she must have altered everyone's memories in a way like she had only left temporarily. I prefer it that way; it will look less odd between us, raise fewer questions since everyone is already used to seeing us together on a daily basis.
I feel my pants suddenly vibrate. I had almost forgotten about my phone in my pocket, good thing the ringer wasn't on otherwise I would have been in trouble on the first day. I can't afford to get into a jam so soon in the school term. I quietly take it out, making sure Miss Ochi doesn't notice to see who texted me and it's from Rukia.
"What's with Uryuu? Is he alright Ichigo?" I look at Rukia before turning my attention back to my phone. I shouldn't be surprised that she noticed. Apparently Uryuu is the only one who fails to notice that there is something extremely wrong with him.
I give a quick glance at Uryuu, he seems to be doing alright but he looks more like on the verge of falling asleep than anything else. He took off his glasses to rub his eyes and put them back on as if trying to wake himself up in order to listen to Miss Ochi's lecture but I don't think much is actually registering in that head of his right now though.
"No there is something very wrong with Uryuu. I need to talk to you about that later." I text back and look at Rukia as I hear her phone vibrate. She nods after she finished reading the text as her response. I seriously need Rukia's input in this situation, I've run out of ideas and maybe she'll be more effective and actually be able to talk some sense into Uryuu better than I could. He seems to listen more to what she says than I do so if there is someone who can do something it's Rukia.
I turn my attention towards Chad; he's not paying much attention other than what the teacher is saying. I switch to Orihime; she's not paying any attention at all about what that is being thought. She's fixated unto Uryuu, she's worried. I know she is and what makes it worse is that I gave her a promise that I'd handle it. That she didn't have to worry anymore, that everything would be alright but it isn't.
Uryuu said that he would figure out a way to restore his Quincy powers when the time would come but he wasn't going to do it right now and that has been puzzling me for a while. Why not now? The only thing I could come up with was that maybe he can't. Maybe he has to wait for a specific time… Who knows maybe he needs to do some sort of ritual or something on the full moon or the new moon, hell I don't know! And what the hell did he even mean that I should worry more about myself? I'm fine, I'm the finest one here damn it! I've got everything under control!
Whatever… No point in getting angry about it. Obviously Uryuu is as stubborn as he always is, that hasn't changed but I have no right to speak about stubbornness I'm just as bad as he is. No matter what we keep on pushing, it doesn't matter what we get thrown at us we just keep going no matter what the cost… No matter what the cost…
I'm sure Rukia will come up with something. She must know someone that can help Uryuu, someone that can make sense into this problem. Maybe Kisuke doesn't have the answer but there must be someone in the Thirteen Court Guard Squad that knows something about Quincies. Rukia is from a noble family, she can push to get the answers. She could ask a favour from Byakuya or maybe the Captain of that Squad four, the squad that Hanataro was in. They specialises in healing maybe she might know something-.
"Uryuu!"
Orihime's yell suddenly snaps me out of my thoughts like a jolt as my eyes snap towards her bolting out of her chair like she had seen something terrifying followed by a loud bang that sent the class into an uproar. My attention quickly switched towards Uryuu and I found myself jumping on my feet knocking my chair backwards in the process causing more of a ruckus as I bolted towards the knocked over desk that now laid on top of an unconscious Uryuu.
Shit, shit, shit, my mind is going into a frenzy and yet without a second thought I quickly lifted the desk to get it off him as Orihime slightly lifted Uryuu in her arms. Rukia was already inspecting Uryuu's head and neck. I think he just fainted he doesn't seem injured, I don't see any blood. I don't think he hit his head on another desk. Shit I knew he wasn't fine. Damn it! My heart is beating like a drum; the adrenaline is pumping through my veins. Even though I knew something was wrong I didn't expect him to collapse like that. Damn it, we're running out of time!
"Alright class settle down!" Miss Ochi orders, trying to calm the students the best as she can but everyone is in a panic from what just happened. What the hell happen? Did Uryuu try to get up or did he simply lose his balance and tried to use his desk to support himself or what? I missed it but Orihime, she saw him and I can just imagine the thoughts that ran through her mind. He could have slammed the side of his head unto a desk and busted his head open. Worst case scenario he could have hit his temple, which could have been fatal.
"You four take Uryuu to the nurse. The rest of the first period is dismiss, now quietly exit the classroom." She adds and by a miracle not a single one dare complain. Keigo who is always coming up with his lame ass antics is standing quietly next to Mizuiro in the back of the classroom.
Chad picks Uryuu up in his arms and we follow him out of the classroom as I give a quick glance at the other students. They've all backed away like Uryuu was some sort of disease like if they got too close to him they'll get whatever he has. If it wasn't for me taking the desk off of him, no one would have budged to help. Damn it.
Getting to the nurse never felt so long as it did now and to our luck she's not even here. Chad carefully laid Uryuu down on the bed and we all took a seat and now the worst part, we wait. Orihime is sitting on the bed next to Uryuu as she loosens his tie and unbuttons the first two buttons of his shirt. He looks even paler now than when I entered the classroom before class started. His health is dropping by the minute, this really isn't good.
"Ichigo what exactly is going on with Uryuu? I haven't seen any of you guys in two weeks and I come back to find Uryuu looking like he's on the brink of death and now this happens. What on earth is going on?" Rukia breaks the unbearable silence.
"Uryuu lost his Quincy powers back in the Soul Society and I think it's killing him…" I can't look at her as I spoke. I don't have to; I know the look she's giving me right now just by the pitch of her voice. She's not in a good mood and she probably has a reason to be…
"Ichigo you're jumping to conclusions. What made you come to that anyway?" Her voice dropped back to her usual tone but there is still some anger mixed in it though.
"It's something that Kisuke said the other day." Chad answers.
I look up to meet Rukia's gaze when she asked me the question I knew was coming. "What did he say?"
I let a sigh escape my mouth as I rub my face with my hands before resting my head against the wall looking up to the ceiling. "He said that Quincies don't have anti-bodies to resist a Hollow's contamination. Anything that makes a Hollow is pure poison to a Quincy so maybe without his powers-"
"So in other words it's just a theory?" She cuts me off but I can't deny that most of it is just theory. I can believe what Kisuke told us about how Hollows are toxic to Quincies. I'm sure his information is legit but the rest he himself admitted that he didn't have an answer. He doesn't know if Quincies loses their power if it will cause them to die but like he had told me. It's only a theory but it hasn't been proven false either, we just don't know at this point.
"Yeah…" I mumbled.
The clock ticking is the only noise filling the room as we patiently wait for the nurse to pop up until Chad decided to go look for her while we wait here with Uryuu. I'm sure we've been here for almost thirty minutes, what could she even be doing? Miss Ochi came by not long after Chad had left to check up on how Uryuu was doing. She wasn't too thrilled that the nurse wasn't here and went looking for her also.
Since our high school has a lot of delinquents, it wouldn't surprise me that the nurse got called to tend a student somewhere in the school. She sure gets her money's worth working here that's for sure. Since I'm a prime candidate to get picked on by the seniors because of my hair colr, I know all too well how busy she is around here.
"Uryuu…"
XXX
Chapter 4.5
Uryuu
"Uryuu…"
My vision is blurry and I feel so woozy, I can hardly see straight as my vision starts to get clearer after a few minutes. The first thing I see is Orihime's worried expression over me and I'm welcomed with the same pounding in my head. It feels like it wants to split in half… My heart is beating so fast, it feels like I just ran a mile.
I hear footsteps coming closer and came to a sudden halt as I see that orange hair in front of me. Ichigo leaning on the bed's footing and next to him… Is that Rukia? Yeah it is… When did she come back? I have a huge blank…
"What happened?" I ask as I rub my temple, trying to get this pounding in my head to calm down a little but it seems to have a mind of its own and just won't let up.
"You lost conscious and dropped to the ground, caused the entire class to panic. You know the average things a 'fine' person does." Ichigo states but it feels more like he was throwing everything in my face as he emphasizes the word fine. He seems proud of himself that he's able to call me out on my lie in front of everyone, like he was waiting for that opportune moment knowing that I can't deny it. However, his reward for that comment was a sharp slap in the back of the head by Rukia. Not that it did much, he took it without complaints. He seems to be rather enjoying himself right now…
"Sorry…" I manage to say after a few minutes. There's no way I'll be able to hide it anymore or talk my way out of it. Not after what happened but it wasn't supposed to come to this…
"Are you going to stop pretending that nothing is wrong now?" He shoots at me again in that same tone as before but not without another hit by Rukia, this time right in the ribs; glaring at each other for a few minutes as if they were communicating with solemnly their eyes. Well it is to be expected from them, after all they have worked together for a while…
I wish this headache would just go away, somehow I feel like if it did I would feel so much better. Breathing is becoming hard to do, it's like I have a huge weight on my chest crushing my lungs. It's hot and yet I feel a slight chill…
"You're right… As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not…" I've said it. Is that what you wanted to hear Ichigo well you've got it but I can't bring myself to look anyone as I spoke those words. I should feel better now that it's off my chest but I'm not. I feel like everything is crumbling down all around me and all I want to do is to disappear where no one can find me.
The thing is that I wasn't pretending to be fine, I knew I wasn't well but it's not like I haven't felt this way before so I didn't worry much about it. It always goes away after a few days when I follow Ryuuken's instructions but this time it hasn't. It constantly lingers. It's so frustrating but how do I say that? It's embarrassing…
"Uryuu why did you wait so long to tell us you were not fine? We're your friends, no matter what we're here for you and you can tell us anything." Orihime tells me breaking the silence but even if she says that, I know she means well but…
"I didn't want anyone to worry…" I muttered but it was the truth. There's nothing they could have done to help me anyway and it wasn't like I hadn't been through this already. It was just supposed to be temporary just like it always is… I should be feeling better, I should be back to normal by now but I'm not. I feel like everything is spinning all around me and I can no longer grasp to take back hold of reality.
"But Uryuu by not telling us anything it only made us worry even more." Orihime adds as she reaches out for my hand but I just can't face her right now as I pull away from her touch.
I don't want to be pitied for my own weakness nor do I want to be looked down upon. There's a limit about how pathetic I can be and I've gone over that limit for a while now. In the last week it looked like I was starting to feel better. The headache was gone by the end of the week, I followed Ryuuken's instructions by the letter and I started feeling better and I honestly thought I was finally going to be fine until this morning. The headache came back, it was light at first so I decided to ignore it and come to school anyway but by the time I got here, the pounding suddenly got worst and then everything went hazy.
I feel my body is shaking, it isn't cooperating nor can it make up its mind if I'm cold or hot. I'm angry, frustrated, maybe a little irritated and yet I feel like crying and I don't know why, I don't understand why I feel this way. "It's just…"
"I understand Uryuu. You don't have to force yourself; you have to focus on getting better okay?" Rukia suddenly cuts me off. Her voice was soft as she spoke and somehow it helped but I just want to be invisible right now. I don't want to be seen like this, I don't want them to see me breaking apart as I fight to keep all these feelings in-check. It's humiliating…
"Maybe someone should call your parents so they can come and get you." Rukia adds.
"My father can't leave his job on a short notice. On Mondays that's when he's tied up so he can't come…"I finally manage to answer after I managed to calm myself down. Ryuuken is always busy doing surgeries on Mondays but even if he wasn't. It's not like he'd take time off to come and get me, it's not like he'd even care…
"What about your mom?" Ichigo suddenly asks and I wish he hadn't. It's something that I don't want to remember. Ryuuken doesn't talk about it and I've learned not to mention it.
Mom was always sick; I don't remember ever seeing her well… To be honest I don't remember much about her but I remember that she always smiled even though I know she felt like crying. Next month will mark the sixth year of her death but her body had already died long before that… Her mind just hadn't realized it until three months later.
"… No… She's not around anymore…" I forced myself to say after a few minutes of silence…
I'm going to end the chapter with that, hope you all enjoyed it.
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