Chapter 7
Hachi came up behind Orihime. When she saw his shadow looming over Ichigo's shoulder, she clung to him even tighter. Hachi gently rested a large hand on her shoulder and pulled her away from Ichigo.
"I'll be taking you home, Orihime." Hachi smiled down at her, his eyes glowing
with the chance to talk to Orihime about their powers privately. "I hope you're willing to have a conversation. I have a few questions."
She stared up at him with a frightened look. "Can't Ichigo take me?" So they hadn't told her what was going on. She had no idea why she was there, and now they were forcing her to go home without knowing.
"No." Shinji stepped forward. Orihime turned around to face him. As the one word slid out of his mouth her face became even more sullen and gloomy. A tear slipped down her cheek and she wiped it away.
"Why? What's going on? Why won't anyone tell me!" She turned her head and looked at every face in the room, stopping and holding her gaze on Ichigo.
"She deserves to know." Ichigo felt Orihime's eyes boring into his. He couldn't believe they hadn't told her when she was such a big part of it. "Can I tell her?"
"No, she'll know soon enough anyway." Shinji said. "Hachi will tell her on the way."
Hachi started dragging Orihime towards the stairs and everyone followed. Ichigo started making his way to the stairs as well, but he was stopped.
"Ichigo, stay down here." Hiyori scowled at him, her pointed tooth jutting out over her lip. "We'll come get you after Hachi comes back."
She motioned to Hachi, who put up a barrier around Ichigo. They didn't trust him to sit quietly while they were gone. The barrier wouldn't allow him to go anywhere.
Ichigo watched as they ascended the stairs, wishing he could come with them. As he watched, Orihime kept glancing back at him. She looked unsure about something and she hesitated every few steps. Every now and then Hachi had to softly poke her back to keep her moving.
They went up so far that Ichigo could no longer see them. He began to look around the barren training room, purely out of boredom and nerves. There was nothing to look at, so he looked back towards the stairs. Everyone had gone upstairs.
A few minutes passed, and the silence was dragging Ichigo down into the abyss of solemnness. The place seemed eerie with no one else there. He sat down and stared at the ground.
After what felt like a long time Ichigo began to wonder when they were coming back. Maybe they were just going to leave him down there as a form of torture. He would be completely cut off from the rest of the world, including his friends. He knew deep inside that he would be cut off from the world even if they came back, but he would still be able to move freely rather than sit inside a barrier for the rest of his life.
A muffled sound came from upstairs, and then a shout. Some kind of fight was taking place. Ichigo tried to listen, but the voices were muffled. He could barely hear what he thought was Shinji's voice shouting out something. Something about Ichigo, he could hear his name being called. He heard Hiyori scream back at him, and then silence. Then footsteps, and the creak of the giant door to the training center opening.