Not-so-long-author-note: Hey! This is the ninth chapter of It Takes Two to Make a Heart! I'll say more in the author note below, SO PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR NOTE BELOW.
This is rated T for mild language.
Warning: Possible spoilers
It Takes Two to Make a Heart –Upset at Sunset
It was cold.
It was bitterly cold but a lone figure stood unfazed by it all.
…It was also white.
The small being gazed upwards at the pale gray and gloomy sky. Snow fell silently around the figure, which outstretched a small gloved hand to catch a flake. With a sibilant hiss, the flake instantly melted into a droplet.
The being recoiled in horror and let the drop join its brethren on the ground. A long, mournful wail was directed towards the unforgiving, cold sky and the white, white snow.
It was cold.
It was also white.
And that was why the figure did not notice the ground which it now stood upon, the ground the droplet had merged with.
A sea of blood red.
In a discreet corner of a room, Rukia stirred from her fretful sleep. She didn't open her eyes immediately, too intent on trying to capture the last dregs of her dream. To her frustration, it slipped away and she was left feeling oddly empty and regretful and grudgingly opened her eyes.
Her eyes met with a smooth white ceiling, tinted a soft yellow from the sunset pouring through the window to the right of her bed. Feeling oddly tired, she prepared to settle back into sleep when her mind screeched to a halt.
Sunset?
She blinked and again stared outside the window, which she found to her horror, was indeed a ruddy-red and orange that could only be sunset.
"How…?" She began, before she was startled by a small shuffling to her left.
Spinning around, she came face to face with a vaguely familiar face.
"You…" she trailed off.
"Ishida Uryu," the male prompted, adjusting his glasses before he resumed staring down at her. "I was assigned to watch over you while you rested."
"Hah," Rukia replied, having nothing better to offer. She glanced around the room, which she now recognized as a hospital room. She returned her attention to the dark-haired Button, who had straightened from his leaning position against the wall beside her bed.
As impeccably dressed as he was during his brief time on stage, he strode over to the side of her bed, remaining a respectable distance away.
"Does your head hurt? Do you remember anything?"
Rukia frowned.
"My head?"
As soon as she had finished speaking, a memory of panic and chaos flashed. Out of reflex, her hand shot up towards the front left of her head and she hissed.
"You were injured."
"Huh?" Rukia murmured in confusion, still tenderly grasping her head.
"You were injured," he repeated, but his eyes narrowed as he took in her reaction. She was looking at him, looking at him in confusion, but he could tell she wasn't looking at him anymore. Her eyes were clouded over with something he didn't care to delve into right now, so he let it be and filed it away for later.
Rukia suddenly started, and dropped her hand to clench it at her side. That too, he noted.
"Right, I was prot-… hit by a kendo stick," she acknowledged, the vestiges of her confusion fading.
"Sorry for having you look over me," she apologized politely and he raised a hand in dismissal.
"It's no problem."
They sat in some silence until she decided to ask a question she had been pondering about since the assembly.
"You must be busy being a treasurer and a secretary during your busiest year," she observed, to which Ishida shrugged.
"It's only necessary to become a doctor in the future," he intoned in a flat voice and something in his voice rang a familiar tone with her.
Silence for a few moments.
"You don't want to become a doctor."
He flicked his eyes up to her past his dark blue bangs and scrutinized her closely.
"I admit that's a very astute observation," he remarked, "but it is of no significance." He pushed his glasses up his nose.
She frowned, almost able to see him automatically throwing up mental walls around himself.
"Is it really alright to push yourself to do something you don't want to do?" she queried, and he let loose a slightly irritated sigh, as if he had had to deal with the same question in the past.
"That doesn't matter, does it? What matters is-"
"No! You're wrong!" she cried vehemently, surprising both him and herself with the intensity of her outburst.
"No, I mean…" she trailed off, slightly embarrassed, "I, I knew a… person, and in the end, giving up on their dream… just made them more miserable-"
"But successful, right?"
She started to say something, but stopped, a little pensive.
"It's not that I completely disagree with your thinking," he began, trying to smooth the slight tension, "but when reality hits you in the head, it's hard to keep with your ideals."
Hits… Head…
Rukia grasped her head absentmindedly and was thrown back in time to a memory untouched for many years.
"…Amazing," had been the first word to tumble out of her mouth upon her arrival. And she had fair reason to.
The traditional Japanese-style home in front of her was so large and vast that it seemed more appropriate to call it a mansion. With simple but elegant and aesthetically pleasing architecture and spacious rooms and corridors, it seemed a place fit for clans of old Japan.
To the right of her current position sprawled an impressive Zen garden, while to the left, she could see branches after branches of hallways leading to presumably other rooms of the household. The rice paper doors seemed deceptively fragile and cheap but were sturdy and thick enough that not even shadows inside of the rooms could be discerned.
Padding along behind the servant, she couldn't help but feel out of place. Though a servant, the elderly man in front of her clearly wore a yukata of a higher quality than the finest commoner-level yukata and walked with a poise and grace only possible through rigorous training in etiquette.
A glance at her own clothes and feet only presented to her an image of a bumbling commoner girl still garbed in the dirty white dress she had been accosted in. In fact, the state of filth her clothes (if it could even be called that) and her body were in made her wary of walking in the halls lest she dirty it.
"We are here," the servant gravely announced, stopping in front of a door that to her, seemed no different than the other numerous doors that dotted the mansion. She gave a quick glance at the servant's face and just as quickly flicked it down.
What cold eyes…
Sensing that she was to enter the room, she hesitantly bowed to the man, wincing as she felt the oily, clumped and tangled strands of her hair flop against her face with the movement. Grasping an inverted wooden handle, Rukia entered a room that seemed to be a private bath, a rare luxury in even the largest of Japanese homes.
"Clothes have been provided. You are to meet Byakuya-sama within an hour," came the voice of the servant outside, who had closed the door behind her. Rukia found herself nodding in replying, then remembering that he could not see her, blurted out, "Thank you."
Hearing no reply, she chose to think of it as him already leaving though her eyes betrayed her hope, showing the silhouette of the still present yet coolly silent presence.
The room's walls and floors were wooden with the exception of a large circular depression in the center of the room, which had circular steps leading down to the fairly-shallow center. The water steamed as if recently-heated and a wooden protrusion in the center supported bottles of cleansing oils, towels and clothes.
She was just beginning to awkwardly strip herself of her clothes when the door slid open behind her and she whirled around, clutching her clothes to her chest. It seemed to be a female servant this time. The male servant, it seemed, had finally left.
Still incredibly self-conscious, and wary, Rukia did not move to remove her clothes from in front of her. The servant executed a short bow in front of her and moved to receive her clothes. Rukia instinctively stepped backwards and clutched the torn and dirty white dress to herself and shook her head.
"I-I, I'd like to keep this," she stammered, "…please…" she added. The servant seemed somewhat surprised but made no comment. Setting the dress carefully on the floor around the bath, she slid into the bath, uncomfortable at the display of her body in front of another person, though female.
The servant gasped quietly, as if she couldn't help herself. Rukia quickly slipped gratefully into the warm water, hiding the object of surprise. When the servant began to approach her, Rukia hastily added, "I can wash myself," fixating her gaze on the water as if it were an interesting specimen.
The servant again seemed surprised, but simply bowed and backed out of the room and closed the door on the way out.
Finally alone with her privacy, she shivered at the pleasant sense of cleanliness the warm water already afforded her mud-caked skin. She slipped further into the bath until she was chin deep in water. Before she reached for the scrubs and soaps, she carefully dipped her left hand into the water and eventually trailed it up behind her body, starting from the left side of the back of her neck and gradually working its way up, following the curve of her head. Groping all the while, a rough protrusion.
Her hand's journey ended at the front left of her head, still touching the protrusion hidden by her jet-black hair.
"Ichigo…" she murmured.
And tightened her grip on the ropy scar.
"And there's been someone's who's been waiting for you to wake up. I'll go get them now."
She jerked out of her reverie and apologized at her lapse in attention.
Luckily, he didn't seem too miffed and repeated his statement.
She frowned again, and queried with a "who".
Ishida moved to the door to admit the aforementioned person, but before he could reach it, an alarm blared within the room and seemingly outside as well. Both occupants of the room jumped in reflex.
"What? What is it?" cried Rukia, who was unfamiliar with the school's alarms. The alarm was loud and obnoxious, repeatedly executing a grating siren call that almost drowned out all other sound.
Ishida's narrow eyes were almost contracted into a line at this point, scrunched as it was in concentration.
"This tone… emergency 'H'," he muttered, and quickly whirled around to face her.
Again, both people were surprised when the hospital door slammed open and Ishida pivoted to face the intruder with hands defensively positioned in front of his body. Rukia hastily kicked off her blankets and attempted to settle into a battle-ready stance.
To their astonishment, the sight that greeted them was none other than Hitsugaya, who was breathing heavily and clutching the door frame. His hair and captain attire seemed windswept and sweat drenched his face.
"Captain Hitsugaya!"
"Kuchiki, we need to evacuate," he panted, "and Ishida, you know what to do."
He nodded grimly and dashed out with more speed than his thin frame belied.
"What's going on?" Rukia cried in bewilderment.
Hitsugaya didn't answer at first but hurried over to her bedside and crouched slightly, his back to her. Rukia, being in a state of confusion, didn't understand his gesture at first before she realized and colored.
Eyeing his small frame, she hesitantly stated, "I'm fine."
"Just get on," he hastily snapped, shifting a strap on his back out of the way, "there's an emergency."
"Emergency?"
Before he could elaborate, the alarms temporarily halted and a crisp voice spoke through the school intercom.
"Attention all students and faculty, this is not a drill. I repeat; this is not a drill."
Not a drill…?
"All students are to follow the instructions of the instructors closest to them and evacuate in an orderly manner."
Why evacuate…?
"This is Emergency Code 'H' in effect."
What emergency…
"We ask that students not panic as the faculty deals with-"
What is there to panic about?
Deal with what?
What…
What is…?
"The Hollows."
What is going on?
Super-long-author-note:Hey guys, as usual, thanks so much for all the visitors and hits to my stories! While I'd love to hear from you guys by review or messaging, your interest in my fics has made me quite happy!
PLEASE READ THIS. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.I truly don't know what to say here. I'm at loss as to what to say. Let's start off with the most sincere "sorry" I can possible convey through text. I'm sure my dear friend mentioned it in the last oneshot chapter, but I was quite sick with the flu. Normally the flu shouldn't be a problem, but I have had a progressively weaker immunity so it dealt me quiet a blow. I write to you dear readers from the hospital right now, but I'm due to be discharged soon. However, I did mention that updates will be long and few in between, so I hope my readers will bear with the slow speed of updates and enjoy my updates as they come.
I did dedicate this chapter to the friends I made on this site, and I can't stress enough how much I enjoy conversing with them and all the support they, and all the other readers and reviewers have given me. I love my readers, am always ready to talk and open to suggestions. My fault is that I update so slowly and always have setbacks. I hope that my health will rectify itself soon.
I didn't like how I wrote this chapter and it was tough to write because I didn't intend for anything to really happen. This was supposed to be more of a transition chapter, if anything. I did say it was a harem, but not all at once like most shoujo manga. So I took the opportunity to develop Ishida. It's kinda hard writing him, because he sounds formal but he doesn't always speak formally. He also has this dry wit that for the life of me, I find impossible to copy. Anyways, hurrah for cliffhangers because they give me a good starting point for the next chapter.
I do realize I have not had the chance to address a lot of the reviewers as of late, so without further ado, I'd like to reply to the anonymous reviewers. Thank you as always!
To Lizzy: You reviewed in Chapter 7 and I apologize for the late reply. I'm glad you like the suspense! I have the most fun writing those parts because I like them in manga. I hope you continue to read and enjoy!
To Guest: You reviewed in Chapter 1 it seems. That is actually one of the few times he will call her midget, as I don't think he does so in canon. Hope you enjoy this story!
To Lizzy: Unfortunately, you had to wait quite a while for the chapter. I'm actually not sure if you will ever read this chapter or reply, but I thank you for reading my story thus far. Yup, Rukia has a rollercoaster planned out for her at school. Thank you; the recovery is progressing.
The rest of the reviewers logged in, so I have replied to or will reply to you all as soon as possible through review reply. Thanks so much all of you, anonymous or not!