Previously: "If you do miss it...or if living out this life ever becomes to hard..." she shuffled her fingers nervously, "will you ever leave me?"
He was unhappy to hear her ask that question. "That's ridiculous, where would you get an idea like that?"
"Most girls..." Orihime whispered, "most girls in a situation like this end up alone by the end."
"You really think I'd leave you?"
"Maybe...you have enough reason to..."
"Orihime..."
Tears rolled down from her eyes, leaving a sparkling trail on her cheek. His hands held both sides of her face, and he kissed her.
"You don't ever need to worry," Ichigo said, "I promise, I'm not going anywhere. We can be together forever, five lifetimes and more."
No Regrets
Chapter 8: Reishi Withdrawals
"So will you be coming again anytime soon?"
The blonde soul reaper bounced around the scene of Ichigo and Orihime's departure from the Soul Society.
"Probably not for quite a while," she laughed, "I might not be able to walk anytime soon". Her hands held the round shape of her belly as she waddled over to Ichigo.
"All ready!" she grinned.
They both looked up at the huge gate to the senkaimon. It was colossal. At last, it was time for them to use it to return home.
For a whole week they stayed at the Soul Society. The whole seven days, time flew by them. It was a week of fun and parties, and a week closer to the arrival of the twins.
That was lucky for Orihime. She's been growing tired of waiting, getting excited, and needed events just like these to pass the time. She enjoyed being there, and there was one reason behind that nobody knew about. Well, one or two might have seen it coming.
He pulled her up onto his back and stood in front of the wall of light that would lead them home. The soul reapers waved shouting, "Goodbye!" and Ichigo ran forward.
Once again, they entered the tunnel. It felt a little strange running back, but they were partly glad to be going home. But it would definitely be a while before they could return.
While clinging onto Ichigo's back, Orihime glanced at the ground uneasily. She could feel a sharp pain in her chest, her head beginning to throb with aches.
Her voice didn't seem to work, either.
So she shook her head and closed her eyes, waiting for the journey to be over.
Ichigo made it through in about two minutes again, maybe not breaking his record but coming close. "We're back," he laughed, turning to look at her.
Then he stopped.
Her pale lips trembled, her chest gasped for air. She was half conscious, and a small swarm of hollows had gathered at the lower level of the dark sky. That was probably thanks to the mass of spiritual pressure beaming from Orihime's stomach.
He panicked. What was there he could do? The hospital wouldn't exactly know about spiritual engergy, or at least it was extremely unlikely.
It didn't seem like he could do anything. Quickly, he jumped down to the ground. They landed in a park, light by rather dim street lamps.
The hollows were too close for him to waste any time, he laid her down on a bench. Zangetsu was at his hand in an instant, but he was beaten to the battlefield.
A light blue arrow shot into the scene, cutting through several of the huge monsters.
"Uryu!"
"Ichigo, you idiot! Stop dawdling and help her!" the Quincy ran into the open space. He carried his huge bow, ready to destroy them all.
"What should I do?" he shouted, "She's not breathing!"
"Try CPR maybe, Dumbass!"
He shoved his head into his hands again, "Of course...".
There was no time to lose, Orihime was in danger now. He did all he could to help her, but the bright golden light of heavy spiritual pressure remained, and it was suffocating her.
It was only then that the obvious thought struck his mind. His father might be able to help.
"Where are you going?" Uryu shouted as he noticed him pick Orihime back up again, while he sprung back from the increasing amount of hollows.
"Keep them off my back, would you? I'm going to get help from my dad."
Then he ran away with her, in the direction of his, rather their, house. He only hoped that he was around...
Luckily, the bright sign was there, he could see it. 'Kurosaki Clinic'. They moved forward and bolted through the door.
"Dad?" he cried at the top of his lungs, "Where are you?"
The aged soul reaper came out from his office quickly, looking at Orihime. "What's happened?".
Before he explained, Isshin pushed open the door and led them to a patient room. They lay the gasping body on the bed and hooked her up to a heart rate monitor. Two minutes later, she was connected to several other machines too, but Ichigo wasn't sure what they were for.
Orihime had an oxygen supply, but the pressure was still very thick around her, flashing and lighting up the room. It wouldn't be too absurd to say it matched Kenpachi Zaraki's when he was fired up for battles.
"Forget the damn machines! What the hell is happening to her, and what can I do?".
Isshin observed her, "I'm not completely sure, but it was a mistake to stay in the Soul Society for such a long time."
"What do you mean?"
"The twins have strong spiritual energy by blood, the reishi levels there are perfect for them as they grow. In all the time you spent there, they used it like oxygen. Now that you have returned, they are struggling to maintain the energy they have gained through this. It's like walking into a room that has no oxygen, like outer space. The reishi level in Karakura Town is a hell of a lot lower than the environment they were in before."
"Just what the hell can we do about it, then?" Ichigo snapped angrily.
"Make sure Orihime is stable. As long as she is okay, they will be too. But..."
He didn't finish.
Ichigo grabbed the collar of his shirt, "What?"
"I can't promise that we can keep her alive here. We just don't have the equipment and..."
"Then we'll take her to a different place. Anywhere else, can't Uryu's dad help her?"
"Well, maybe."
He let go of his father and walked over to the bed. Orihime's face was nearly white, as if the oxygen mask strapped to her face made no difference at all. But her chest had stopped violently shaking, so she was probably safe for a while. The pressure was starting to fade a little, and he only hoped that meant the twins were adjusting the the reishi level. But with the luck he was having, it wasn't likely to be true.
Seeing Orihime lay on that bed was killing him. It was the most chest-gripping, blood-curdling and heart-wrenching sight he'd had shoved in his face since he was nine years old. After that, his mother lay dead was nothing.
–
One hour later, Orihime had been sent to Karakura Hospital. She was taken to private room, because Ryuken had been around when she entered.
He decided it was best to take her up to the top, where the pressure wouldn't harm anybody else.
"What exactly can you do to keep her alive?" Ichigo asked quietly, almost a mutter. He started at a wall, not wanting to face whatever the doctor would say.
"We can hope that the inborn twins adjust soon, or she will die."
The substitute soul reaper glared up at him, disgusted at how easy those words came out of his mouth.
"I think I should remind you that this girl is not an ordinary patient," Ryuken raised an eyebrow and Ichigo continued, "this girl may just be the most important person who's ever been in this hospital. If you're hiding some kind of treatment, anything that could help her, I suggest you tell me. I love her. If you let her die, I can't guarantee that I won't kill you."
"Of course," he spoke slyly, turning and walking away.
There really wasn't a lot more to do. He sat down in a large chair by her bed and picked up her hand.
For the next twenty minutes, he sat there with her hand pressed against his heart. Before then, she could make him feel better at any time. Just a smile, or a laugh, and he would feel instantly better.
It wasn't quite the same thing when she was the reason behind his tears.
The curtain was pulled open.
"Ichigo?"
Uryu walked in, pushed his glasses up his nose, and pulled it shut again.
"How is she?"
He didn't want to reply. It looked quite clear to him. "She's...okay, for now I think..."
"I see," the young Quincy sat at the other side of the bed.
The way he looked at her made Ichigo sick. It was as if he really cared.
She was his friend, he understood that. But the look on his face looked like a little more than friendship concern.
"Gotta say, your dad is just about as stubborn and annoying as you are," Ichigo mumbled.
"I believe you've told me that one before."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"A shame."
Uryu looked over at him, "This is all your fault, you know."
He leaned onto his elbow, "I know."
"Don't you hate yourself for it?"
Ichigo sighed, scowling at the wall again, "Of course I do."
"You're pathetic."
"You just asked me."
"I mean, you try so hard to protect everybody you love, and then if you can't, you act like the world will end. You could at least become a doctor or something, then maybe you'll realise that protecting your friends is beyond hollows."
"Hmph, do you want me to tell you it'd a good idea?"
"That depends."
He crossed his arms and looked up at Orihime's monitors. Ichigo would have punched him if there was an easy route right in front of him.
When the room, besides the beeping of the heart rate pattern, stayed quite silent, Ichigo finally spoke up. "Whatever, fine, I'll be a doctor then. I hate to take advice from you, but it was the first decent idea you've come up with in a while."
Uryu re-positioned his glasses again before quietly asking, "Why...?".
"What?"
"Why did you let this happen to her?"
Ichigo observed his expression, "You're testing me, aren't you?". Uryu nodded.
"Fine, it's because I'm an idiot, right?"
"Well, look at that. You do pay attention, after all."
"Sometimes, to the people I actually care to listen to..." The beeping of the monitor changed.
Orihime's eyes fluttered open.
Both of them stood up and looked over her. Ichigo held her hand gently, deeply breathing at her sudden awakening.
"I-Ichigo..." she coughed under her mask. Her weak hands gripped onto his.
"Are you okay?" he asked quickly. From the way she was breathing, he could see her pain.
"I'll go and find my father..." Uryu said, walking out of the room. It was probably partly involved with his respect for Orihime. Also the part that was a little more than respect.
"I d-don't remember...why am I here?" she gasped, trying to turn onto her side, so that she could speak to him.
"Shh," he placed one hand on her frozen cheek, "don't talk. You might put yourself in even more danger."
She looked at him with questioning.
"It seems the twins are having high reishi level withdrawals."
At any other time, she might have laughed at that. Instead she tried an amused smile that was unbelievably beautiful considering the condition she was in.
Ichigo moved his hand to brush back a few strands of loose hair, before leaning down and kissing her forehead.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, "You can blame me for this one too."
She pouted and shook her head.
"Orihime...do you have any idea what might happen to you?" he held his breath.
She shook her head again.
"...A lot of different things," Ichigo sat back down in the chair, still holding onto her hands. She pulled her mask away for a second, "W-what do you mean?"
He shifted around in discomfort, "I'd rather not tell you right now. You should rest without worrying about anything."
Her sparkling eyes looked up at him with angelic plea. There wasn't much reason to rest anyway, she was too curious.
"...Okay," he gave in, "you could...maybe...well, you might not make it through this..." again for a while, he tried to hold his breath.
Once again she lifted up the mask, "And the twins...?"
"What...are they the only part of this that matters?" he asked, "Don't you...don't you care about yourself?".
"The twins will always be more important."
Ichigo sighed, placing one hand on her head with a small smile. "I guess you'll never let anybody change that."
She shook her head again.
–
"I get the feeling that this'll be a very long month," Orihime sighed.
She lay on the bed, attempting some relaxation. It was a little hard with two babies wriggling around inside of you.
Since the reishi incident, it was decided that Orihime should stay at the hospital for a while. Everybody was scared that something bad would happen again.
It was, for now, safe to assume that she would survive. Though she struggled to eat and breathe, she had all of the help she needed.
Ichigo was sat next to her, reading a book.
He spent most of his time in there, with her. She was too important to just leave to recover, he had to know she was safe all of the time.
With so many friends, he wasn't the only one. Orihime had visitors several times a day, mainly Tatsuki and Chizuru, Keigo and Mizuiro.
For about a week already, she'd been staying there. But an important day was coming up, and in a hospital bed, or whilst eight months pregnant, was not how a girl would want to spend it.
Orihime's eighteenth birthday.
–
Surprise update! Wtf? Didn't you update earlier today?
Why yes, but you see, I'm such a lazy llama that I've been here, working hard on this pretty much all day! Today has been weird, or yesterday rather, I stayed up until tomorrow again XD. I lose interests in activities really easily like that.
Soo, hope you liked! If you pleease, a review would be really awesome! I promise to love you forever if you could find the time to leave one :)
~HellYus
