Chapter 10: Human Again
As soon as we land, I take a deep breath of fresh air. Then I remember I don't have lungs yet so the gesture's kinda wasted.
"Right! You girls know where Kisuke is right?" I ask my sole companions.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just go track down your body." Destiny waves me off.
"We will report in soon, si... I mean Montage-kun." Iono-chan bows then runs after Destiny.
I shut my eyes and focus on my own pulse, my own faintly radiating reiatsu. I find it in the Ishida Hospital and dash right into the room. There were two doctors, one fat and one of average build, about to unhook my life support, deciding to just end my misery after 20 years. To prevent that, I jump right in and start hacking like crazy. It feels weird having actual lungs and a beating heart to worry about. My body, which has grown right along with me, feels as stiff as an ironing board and heavy as a two-ton brick. Worse was all the muscles I had worked so hard for (not really, everything I did caused those muscles) were gone, leaving me with a basic frame. I'd have to fill it back out later. The doctors apparently couldn't be bothered to clip my hair, so now it's in dreads and I have an itchy, bushy beard surrounding my mouth. Overall, I looked like a hobo. I decided to pin it on the 20 years my body's just been sitting here and leave it at that. I get my breathing, actual breathing!, down to normal and hop out of bed. I immediately collapse onto the floor, seeing that my legs had gone weak from disuse. I've gotta use this thing more often. I don't feel like goin' through this every time I wanna use this thing. Wow, I'm referring to my own body as a thing. A little weird to me. Anyway, the doctors stop giving me the "What the fuck stare and move to help me up. I wave them off, grab a bed post, and take a fer torturous steps. Seeing I could trust my legs to hold me up, I jump in place for a bit while holding on to the bed post to fully break them in. Then I start some arm exercises and finish with my neck before turning my attention to the doctors.
"Oy! Kack!!" My throat feels dry and irritated. I rip open a sack full of water and drink deeply, enjoying the cooling feeling spreading through my body. After wiping my mouth, I try again. "Oy! Shouldn't you be reporting to someone or somethin'? I want to get discharged ASA now!". I take a moment to survey my own voice. Deep, emotions in it easily identifiable, and still a little gravelly from disuse, though I'm sure that part will go away soon. If I wanted it to be, my voice could probably be very soothing.
The doctors scramble outta the room, screaming for a Dr. Ishida the entire way. I walk to the door way and back to kill time and further strengthen my legs as I wait. When they run back, a doctor with white hair and glasses calmly followed them. They start babbling about the living dead for a bit while Dr. Ishida examined me. Seeing nothing wrong, he says, "Stop talking about that living dead nonsense as there is no such thing and if there was, he was never dead in the first place. One of you two go get the discharge forms." The fat one flew down the hallway, making me think that he was still hung up on the zombie subject. 2 minutes later, he returns with a bunch of paper. "Fill this out and get out." Ishida says as he leaves the room. I got the feeling he hated me, but I had no idea why since I'd never met the guy before. Maybe it's because I do more business at the Kurosaki clinic than here? Oh well, that's enough of that. I fill out the release forms in 6 seconds flat and drop them off at the desk. The receptionist silently gives me my wallet (with a hefty amount taken out for hospital bills) and points me to a clothes shop within the hospital. Good thing too, I'd been dreading the idea of goin' outside wearing nothin' but a hospital gown that barely covers me up and fuzzy, pink bunny slippers. I buy a pair of blue boxers, some black jeans, a white undershirt, some socks, a primarily gray polo with red, white, and black stripes, and a black and red pair of converses. I'll do a full run later, when I had more money and when I'm sure it'll be a while before the Hollow pops up. The hospital really took the bills out of my wallet. I don't remember what I was thinkin', but I was glad I left a wallet full of money in my pocket that day.
I feel like checking on the old house before going to the Urahara shop. Surprisingly, it's still standing and not up for sale. Because of that, it's not a surprise when I go inside and find that no one bothered cleaning up. Blood still cakes the walls, floor, and ceiling; the ceiling itself is just a hunk of splintered wood that I am surprised didn't collapse in on itself; the floor has red foot prints and puddles so wide spread, it's like someone attempted to paint the place red but dropped the paint and walked all over the place instead. The place feels like death, that's the simplest way I can put it. I swear to pick the place up when I'm done at Urahara's and shunpo off. Then I remember I can't do that. What if, by some impossible chance, someone saw me? I'd have a hard time explaining that. And, more importantly, my human legs just can't handle shunpo right now. So I maintain a steady jog for the 5 miles separating my house from Urahara's shop. By the time I get there, I remember how sweat on skin feels and how it glitters in the light given by the full moon.
"Montage-kun! We were beginning to worry." Iono-chan says as soon as I arrive
"Yeah? Well, I had to break my body in. It HAS been 20 years since it last moved." I say, a slight pant going on.
"You could've just grabbed one of my gigai." Kisuke stated, popping out of the shadows in his rumored fashion. The hat and clogs don't seem to have changed even though Unohana-taicho last saw him centuries ago.
"I could've, but then my body would be in a morgue 'cause the doctors decided to cut me off. 'Sides, it feels kinda good to be human again."