Hikari: Only the epilogue after this. I'm so excited. I want to move onto other projects and that means finishing up some old ones first. Maybe sometime I can continue The Dating Game. Anyway, here's the home stretch!

Disclaimer: I don't own. If you sue, I won't be able to go to school anymore because I'm that broke.

Enjoy!

In A Nutshell

Chapter 8

Risen

"Are you ready to go," a man in a suit asked me.

"Where am I going," I asked.

"You are going to see him," the man replied. "He is not dead you know. It was all a lie, but that girl did not fabricate it. She is in a great deal of pain, and if you can heal him, she will be put out of her pain and misery."

"But," I protested.

"He still needs you," the man informed me. "He is doing better, but not by much. If he does not see you soon then all is lost. You have only a few hours. Go, now."

"Alright," I replied. "I was going to go anyway."

"I know," the man says. "But you were too late that time. But this is your second chance, don't waste it."

I'm going," I reply as I set off towards a spot in the distance. It looks so far and I cannot see where I'm going, but somehow I know. I keep walking. I will find him and save him. He will be risen.

I awoke with a start, it was the next morning. How long had I been asleep? Was it too late now? Something told me it wasn't and I took off for the place I saw in my dreams. It was crisp in my mind and I could recall every detail.

But before I got there, there was someone I had to pick up. Someone special. I knocked on the door to Ichigo's house and her mother answered it at once.

"Hello," came her cheerful voice. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to see Ichigo," I replied quickly.

"Alright," the woman said. "Ichigo! Company!"

"I don't care," came the now sullen voice of Ichigo as she came into view. "Rika?"

"Hey," I said uneasily. Her mother had left and now it was just the two of us, and I would have to explain why I was here.

"What do you want," Ichigo snapped uncharacteristically.

"I came to tell you that I know where Ryou is," I replied uncertainly. "You have to believe me."

"And what if I don't want to," Ichigo countered.

"Please," I started. "Believe me. I want to save him and now I have the chance."

"Why the change of heart," Ichigo questioned fiercely.

"Because," I started, quickly thinking up the best reason. "Because I cannot be held responsible for another person's death, much less my own brother's. If I can, I want to save him. I was selfish to leave, and I realized that when you told me he was gone."

"Well," Ichigo snapped. "He is gone, and you can't bring him back."

"I can and will," I snapped back. "Comon, I'll prove it to you."

I grabbed Ichigo's arm and pulled her out onto the street and then I set off. She struggled at first, but then figured she could just come along, the worst that could happen was that he would not be there. Then it would be just like it was.

I hurried down the road, urging Ichigo to keep up, but she would not change her pace, so I started to drag her once more. Then we were there. This hospital was far smaller that any that I had ever seen and looked to only hold a few people at a time. Not the sort of place I would send a loved one.

I went inside without a second glance at the shoddy place. If Ryou was in here then I should be too. I asked for the room Shirogane, Ryou was in and she pointed me in the right direction.

I followed her directions precisely and they led me to where I wanted to be. He was in there, just lying on the bed, lifeless. I could hear Ichigo gasp in surprise and then she ran over to him.

"Ryou," she gasped, trying to keep from crying.

"Hey," I said with concern in my voice. "You up?"

"What," Ryou said quietly as his now murky blue eyes flickered open. His lashes where stuck together slightly from all the crying he had been doing from the intense pain he had been through.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly. "It's my fault."

"Rika," Ryou asked, opening his eyes wider. "You came back?"

"Yeah," I said, brushing a tear out of my own eye. No way was I going to make this some Kodak family moment. "I didn't mean to do this to you."

"I know," Ryou said.

"No you didn't," I said with a slight laugh. Tears were forming in my eyes again, but I did not care. All I cared about was healing my brother. "You had no idea. Even science could not predict this."

"You're right," Ryou said. "Science fails me right now."

"Listen," I said. "You've been through more than I can imagine, I'm gonna leave you in the care of Ichigo. She'll know what to do."

"Alright," Ryou said as he focused his energy on Ichigo who gave him a hug that squeezed the life out of him.

"Never do this to me again," Ichigo cried. "Or you will wish you were dead."

"Baka Strawberry," Ryou sighed with a laugh in his voice. The color began to return to his eyes and he watched Rika leave the room. She had come back. He smiled, it would be fine now.

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