Hello, Im back with another Chapter, I would just like to say a big thankyou for all the reviews, and I hope im doing ok with this story so far. ^_^b
Someone To Lean On Chapter 10
The darkness was all that surrounded him, and he didn't understand why, when only moments before he was sitting upon a boulder talking. Who was he talking to again?
"Master" It was that deep voice again, from before.
He knew that voice, what did he say his name was, Hyou...Hyouri...
"Hyourimaru!" he called aloud recognition suddenly dawning. "What's happening to me? What is this blackness, why does it feel like I'm slipping away?"
"Try to relax Master, I think your just merely waking up, regaining consciousness" the voice supplied.
"Why did I just forget you for a moment there?" he really felt confused.
"When you got injured I believe you hurt your head, I think it's affecting your memories" sighed the deep voice. "While you have been in your inner world you have been fine, but I'm afraid when you return things will be different".
"What do you mean, I was fine in my inner world?" he demanded.
"Its your soul Master, everything is stored here" the voice was starting to fade "I'm afraid the closer you get to waking, the quicker your memories will slip away".
"What! Will I forget everything?" he yelled.
"Only you will know when you wake up" the voice replied it was very faint now. "Follow the light Master, it will guide you back".
"WAIT! DONT LEAVE ME! I NEED YOU!"
"I'm... goi...where... illy...apart...ou" The voice snickered.
"What did you say!" he called again.
"Don't …..rry, you wont ….get …. I won... uo" the voice was barely audible now.
He didn't like this, he was completely alone now the voice had gone, the heavy silence was deafening, it felt like he was just floating there in the darkness. He didn't like this. He never did find out from the voice what he needed to know. What was it that he needed to know again...?
He felt a tug somewhere around his waist and felt like he was being steadily pulled forwards. That's when he heard it, very faint, it sounded like another voice, "...tain …..ugaya" it sounded like it was at the opposite end of a very large empty room.
He seemed to be moving forwards, and it felt like he was speeding up, heading nearer to that voice. The voice seemed to be getting clearer and stronger the closer he got to it.
A light appeared in front of him, it seemed like a tiny dot, but rapidly grew in size, he was now speeding towards the light at an alarming pace.
"Captain Hitsugaya, can you hear me?" The voice was low and soft.
Was he Captain Hitsugaya? He wondered. He became aware of several things happening all at once. First the light completely engulfed him, followed by an explosion of different noises, beeping was the more prominent of them all.
The next thing was pain, unbearable pain, back, front, head and knee. So much pain, it was too much for him.
He cracked an eye open, the light was too bright, it hurt his eyes, he blinked a few times and saw a concerned face hovering over him "Can you hear me?" she asked.
He tried to reply but his throat felt raw, he tried for a little nod but his head felt so heavy and painful, but the tall woman seemed to understand.
"I imagine you are in a lot of pain, on a scale of one to ten, one being mild discomfort and ten being unbearable, how would you rate it?" she enquired calmly.
"Fi... fi... fifteen" he finally managed to get out.
"I'm going to give you a dose of morphine OK, it will help with the pain" she injected the pain relief into the I.V he noticed was attached to his left hand. "I'm just leaving the room for a short while, but I will be back" she smiled reassuringly at him.
He closed his eyes, he was feeling too confused and the pain was unbearable, he thought he could feel the morphine kicking in and felt his eyes going heavy, he didn't fight it, he wanted to go to sleep, just for a bit longer.
Yamamoto was sat in his chair, his full attention on Ukitake glaring at him. He had just confessed the real reason why Hitsugaya's office had been destroyed, illegal kido he wasn't amused. After Ukitake had finished reporting everything that had happened from when they went to search for Hitsugaya, to the office prowler, and then his suspicions about Kurotsuchi's lost experiments and the possibility that someone was targeting the Squad 10 leadership, he looked at each of his boys while he processed the information.
He was astounded, not because of the possibility of an assassin roaming the place, but that it was Ukitake that was the trouble maker this time around. It was usually Kyouraku dragging them into trouble, especially during their Academy days, he was always dragging his best friend along with him, Ukitake was usually only guilty by association.
What to do, What to do..
"Shunsui, what do you have to say for yourself ?"
"Yama-Jii! I had nothing to do with this!" he whined the indignation clear in his voice "Your always quick to assume its me causing trouble".
"Silence Boy! I saw your silent conversation with Juushiro before the meeting began, I know full well you made the suggestion to cover for him by telling Matsumoto to say she was in squad 8 with you" he looked between them again "You knew that I would query Matsumoto on her whereabouts"
"Wait how did you...?" Shunsui began.
"Decipher your conversation?" Yamamoto cut off "I've known for years how you two communicate, it wasn't difficult, you developed it for the sole reason to hide your true intentions from me".
Kyouraku and Ukitake shared a glance, how the hell did he figure it out, and how long had he known about it.
"See, there you go again, you both wondering how I figured it out, and just how long I've known about it".
"No fair Yama-Jii" Kyouraku whined looking to Ukitake once more, Damn they were going to need a new code.
"I've known about it since you were back in the Academy, and don't even think about developing a new code, I assure you, if you do, I will figure it out".
"Damn he's got us there Shunsui" Ukitake replied.
"Enough" Yamamoto barked "We,ll assume that it was one of Kurotsuchi's experiments that attacked Hitsugaya, hopefully now he is awake he can shed some light on the matter".
"If he remembers anything Yama-Jii" Offered Kyouraku "You heard Retsu, he may have some memory trouble, we saw his head wounds, they looked nasty".
"We,ll cross that bridge when we get to it" he turned his gaze to Ukitake "If your theory is correct Juushiro, and Lieutenant Matsumoto was the next intended target, its safe to assume whoever stole the experiments will most likely try to strike again."
"I'm placing her under your protection" he paused for breath before continuing "Seeing has you have spare living quarters, and an unused desk in your office I'm temporarily assigning her to your squad, till this matter is resolved"
"I will arrange for all Squad 10's paperwork to be sent to your Division, consider it punishment for destroying another Captain's office, lying, using illegal kido and withholding important information from me" he finished.
"Yes Sir" Ukitake replied relieved.
"We also need to find out who stole those experiments, and who is piloting them" Yamamoto stared off into space for minute "You definitely destroyed the one in the office Juushiro?"
"Yes Sir, and I believe Hitsugaya has a second trapped in that ice prison, but only he can release it".
"Two down, one to go" Kyouraku added in "Only one more to worry about, one thing that bothers me though".
"Go on, Shunsui" Yamamoto prompted.
"During the meeting when Hitsugaya was fighting, we all felt that foreign reiatsu, yet Kurotsuchi commented that he hoped he kept whatever he was fighting alive, for research. Yet any Captain in that room would have picked up it was artificial, surely he would have recognized it has his own creation?"
"Maybe he did Shunsui" Ukitake spoke up "He probably put two and two together and checked if his experiments were still there right after that first meeting, he only mentioned they had gone missing in the second meeting, besides if Hitsugaya had died, it would have been seen has murder and could have indicated him".
"Another matter to look into, Boys, I'm trusting you to get to the bottom of this situation, investigate what you need to but remain discreet, ensure Matsumoto's safety, I shall inform Retsu that Hitsugaya could be in further danger of attack" he paused for a moment "And be cautious yourselves the pilot is amongst us, that much is obvious, its a guarantee whoever they are will be watching closely, I don't want them aware that we are onto them" he stood from his chair "That is all for now" and with that he walked out the room leaving them both staring a little dumbfounded.
He was floating light has a feather, slowly drifting up through the layers of hazy thoughts and feelings. He liked this feeling, it was peaceful and relaxing. He could feel a cool rush of air flowing gently onto his nose and mouth, he didn't know what was causing that but he liked it, it felt nice.
He cracked an eye open slowly, he seemed to be in a dimly lit room there was no harsh light this time, which he was grateful for. He felt a dull ache in his head and his eyes felt puffy and sore. Hearing movement he opened his other eye and tried to look around for the source of the noise, but has soon has he moved his head slightly the room started spinning causing him to groan.
A face came into view, hovering over him, like before only this time it was different, a face that radiated warmth and kindness, almost motherly. He recognized that face, but had trouble putting a name to it. She reached over and pulled the oxygen mask off his face and placed it to one side, so that was the nice feeling from before.
The lady placed a hand on his forehead "How are you feeling?" she asked concerned.
How indeed he thought, he remembered when he last woke up, the unbearable pain, the explosion of noise, the too bright light, compared to that he wasn't feeling has bad as last time, he blinked a few times to clear his swirling vision, his throat felt raw, like he hadn't drank in days. Very thirsty, he tried to voice that he was thirsty but it came out hoarse and gravelly.
The lady squinted trying to hear what he said, then made the connection, she held up a little beaker of water with a straw in it "Would you like a drink?" he nodded his head not wanting to try speech just yet "Just sip it, nice and slowly". He drained the cup with a satisfied sigh.
"Does that feel better?" asked the lady. He responded with a nod of approval.
"Are you in any pain?" she asked again.
He thought about it for a minute, comparing it to last time, he did feel some pain, not has unbearable as before, his chest and back felt like a dull ache and his knee felt sore. His head however, felt like someone was hammering at it, constantly.
"Yes" he managed to get out.
"Is it all over or in a specific place, does it hurt more in one place then it does another?" she asked patiently "Take your time".
"Different places"... "Back and chest ache"... "Knee sore"..."Head killing me... hammering"
"I see, is it your head that's the worst?"
"Yes"
"OK, I'm going to give you some more pain relief, it works pretty fast, and hopefully you will feel up to answering a few simple questions for me".
He just nodded his head, he was feeling a bit confused "Would you like some more water?" she had the beaker in her hand again.
"Please" He sipped slowly on the water, he could feel his pounding head steadily calm down. A few minutes later, the lady perched on the side of the bed, with a clipboard in hand.
"You have been badly injured, the more prominent injury is to your head" she began.
His eyes went wide and he lifted his right hand to his head and flinched when his hand met thick bandaging wrapped entirely around it. She gave him a kind smile.
"I need to ask some basic questions to determine if it has affected your memory at all, do you feel up to it?" he gave her a little nod of confirmation.
"OK, just take your time with each answer, its OK if your not sure about any" she paused and saw him give another nod of understanding "Firstly what is your name?"
He had to think a little about it, but it soon came to him "Toushiro?" he asked a little hesitant.
"Very good" she wrote something on the clipboard "And do you know where you are?"
He glanced around the room "Infirmary... this must be ….. Squad four?" the lady nodded again.
"Do you know who I am?" she asked.
He had recognized her face immediately, but the name wouldn't come to him. "I recognize you" he squinted his eyes in thought "Your..." it was on the tip of his tongue "... Uno...hana?" he questioned. Yes it was Captain Unohana, he was sure of it now "Captain Unohana".
"Very Good Toushiro" she smiled kindly "I will let you rest for now, its possible your memory is a bit hazy because of your injuries" she stood up and placed the clipboard back on the table "But you are also on some strong pain medication too" she stood over him looking at his face, he winced slightly when she placed her hands either side of his face "A little bit sore?" she asked.
"Yes" he let out a soft sigh.
"OK, I want you to rest now, and I will ask a few more questions when you wake up again, sometimes its easier to recall things after a good rest" He nodded his head again in understanding, Unohana walked to the door gave him a smile and left.
He fell asleep again within minutes.