BrightRhyme: Wooo! CHAPTER 10! AND I'm finished finals! YEAHH! but then I'm taking an extra course in Summer :( It's only one month though and it's easy, so i'll hopefully be able to update more often! Fingers crossed! So anyway, here ya gooo!

Chapter Ten: When the Lights Go Out

Ichigo had only left Kara's side for a few minutes, but it was long enough for something drastic to happen. There was a loud crash that came from the room she was in. Everyone rushed in.

"Oh no… my poor wall…" Urahara pouted slightly.

Tessai sighed, "I'm going to have to fix that…"

"Aww man… do we have to clean that up?" said Jinta.

Little Ururu sighed, "I'll get the broom," her and Jinta leave.

"What the hell, you're worried about the wall?! What about Kara? She's…" Ichigo trailed off.

"She's gone…" Rukia said.

Yoruichi just shook her head, "No, she's just outside."

When Yuuka pounced on me, both of us tumbled to the ground… and out of that world. I realized we were back in the real world… we were at that Urahara guy's shop. "Give me the sword!"

"Get off!" I say through my teeth as she fights me for the sword. She manages to get it out of my hands.

"Ha!" she smacks me across the face hard and jumps up. I hear a loud crash and then she drags me up by my hair, "You should have killed me while you had the chance…" she pulls me towards the front of the shop, "Now… your friends can watch as I strangle the life out of you…"

"Let go!" I scream as she continues to yank hard on my hair. She lets go for a second, but then she's got a red ribbon around my neck.

"You remember this don't you? When I tied our two separate spirit ribbons together…" the memory flashes in my head. I was six… my spirit had been knocked out of my body by a Hollow… my Chain of Fate was broken, but not completely severed. And just when that Hollow was about to rip it apart, Yuuka swooped in. I had watched in complete amazement for what seemed like hours as they fought one another… Yuuka seemed to be losing… I was sure she had broken bones… she was covered in blood, gasping for air. But then, she sliced through the Hollow's mask… right through its entire body.

As it disappeared she had sunk down next to me. She told me I was going to die. I had begun to cry. She told me to shut up, that I was a brat and how she didn't know why she saved me. She laughed after… and said she was dying too, but she wasn't ready yet. Then, there were all these floating white ribbons everywhere. Yuuka picked out a random white one… -at least to me it was random- and then she pulled a pretty red one out of no where. I had watched as she tied them together before they disappeared along with the others. Even now, I still have no idea what significance the event had.

"Kara!" Ichigo's voice reaches my ears. I look towards the shop, I see Urahara and another man I don't recognize holding Ichigo back, "Let go of me! I have to-"

Another woman is simply holding Rukia by the arm, "You can't interfere. You can't help her."

So… they aren't going to help me. Yuuka laughs, "Don't worry, I'll kill you all next…" she pulls the ribbon tighter around my neck, I try to pull it off… but it's useless. Ichigo is yelling some very vulgar words at Yuuka and she's just laughing.

'Fight back.' Kumori Mitsukai's voice echoes in my head.

'But how…?' I ask.

'I belong to you and you alone. She shouldn't have her hands on me, I'll come back if you truly wish for it.'

The sword… the sword is Kumori Mitsukai? 'Come back… I… I am the master of the sword, not Yuuka! Kumori Mitsukai, I ask that you return to my hands!' I'm barely conscious now… when I feel the sword return to my hand, I hear Yuuka scream with frustration. With the little strength I have, I do the only thing I know will end it.

"KARA!"

Yuuka cries in pain and I cough up some blood. "Y-you idiot…" she hisses.

I've taken the sword and plunged it through myself first and then right into her. Our bodies had been pressed together while she was choking me, I had to do it. I feel her back off, the sound of the sword leaving her body making me cringe. She falls to the ground as my vision gets blurry and I let go of the sword, it disappears as I do. I feel the strength leave my legs, I fall… but I don't hit the ground.

"Kara!" Ichigo's holding me now, he touches my cheek, "Hey, Kara look at me…" he gently pats my cheek, "Kara, you have to stay awake… look at me damn it!" I force myself to look up into his eyes, "That's it… just keep your eyes on me. You're gonna be okay…"

My eyes start to get heavy as the pain begins to overpower me, "I… can't…"

"Yes you can, just talk to me," he says softly.

I shake my head slightly, "Ichigo… I'm…d-dy-"

"No! You're not going to die, you're going to be fine!" his voice is harsh, but affectionate, "Don't you even dare think about dying!"

I smile slightly, "Wh-what'll y-you do… if I… if I do?"

"You don't want to know… hey, hey, look at me…" I've closed my eyes for a few seconds, but Ichigo won't tolerate it, "Right at me, Kara… you stay awake," he's stroking my cheek with his thumb.

"I… never got that…"

"What?" he's moved on to smoothing out my hair.

"M-making… someone… st-stay…" I'm fighting so hard to get words out, I'd rather just give up and let death take me, "c-conscious… I… don't think… I can…"

"Yes you can Kara, I know you can. Do you trust me?"

"Mm hmm…" I mumble.

"Then, trust that I know that you'll be perfectly fine and that you'll be back to kicking my ass in video games."

"But… I donwannna… st-stay a-awake…" I try my best to not slur my words together. Ichigo moves his hand to my throat, he's checking my pulse, "…I'm scared."

"I know… but you can't give up just because you're scared."

I try to nod once more. He's right… I shouldn't let fear guide me, "T-tell me a story…"

Ichigo's hand has moved down to where I stabbed myself, his hand on top mine applying the pressure I can't. "How about you tell me one? You need to keep talking."

"B-but I… don't… have any."

"Sing a song then."

I giggle and then wince in pain, "Not… smart…"

"Yeah, you aren't too smart…" Ichigo says with a smile.

"Hey… you're lucky I… can't sm-smack you…"

"Ichigo, it's okay, you can let her rest now, Orihime will be here soon," says a voice I don't know. Ichigo seems hesitant to comply. "She needs to relax," the woman says. My vision is blurred and every nerve in my body wants to rest. The sheer determination in his eyes is having a strange effect on me, I won't go to sleep if Ichigo doesn't want me to.

"I'll be there when you wake up…"

"You s-sure?" I whisper, asking if he's sure he wants me to rest.

He nods, "Just relax now… I'm not leaving you." I sigh with relief and lose consciousness as soon as my eyes shut…

"You can bring her inside now," Yoruichi says to Ichigo. The substitute Shinigami doesn't even look at her as he lifts Kara up and takes her inside. Yoruichi follows him in. Ururu leads him into another room, seeing as Yuuka practically destroyed the last one, and he puts Kara down, "Ichigo, there's no point in you getting so pissed." Ichigo continues to avoid speaking to Yoruichi. He brushes Kara's hair out of her face. "It wasn't your fight."

"I could have protected her… Then this wouldn't have happened."

"So that's it then, you're blaming yourself-"

"No, I'm blaming you," Ichigo turns around, "You told me I couldn't help her. You wouldn't let me help her. You made me stand by and watch as that woman tried strangling her, you left Kara no choice but to do that to herself!"

Yoruichi just raises an eyebrow at him, "Are you quite finished?"

Ichigo glares at her, "She better not be alive… or I swear I'll tear her into a million little pieces."

"You won't have to, she's dead," Rukia says coming in, "Gone with the wind." she's followed by Orihime, who doesn't waste any time. Orihime gets down on her knees and begins to heal Kara without so much as word. Rukia looks at Ichigo, "C'mon."

"I'm not leaving her," Ichigo says.

"She's going to be okay now," Yoruichi replies, "I'll call you when she wakes up," she nods to Rukia.

Rukia grabs Ichigo's arm and leads him out forcefully. She takes him to the basement of the shop, "You need to calm down," Rukia says as she looks out at the vast size of the underground land.

"I'm fine."

Rukia holds back her laughter, "Really? I don't think so. You know we couldn't fight that battle for her."

"But that didn't stop you from wanting to, did it?" Ichigo questions her.

The petite Shinigami inhales deeply, "You've rubbed off on me… but I still have better control then you do." She turns around to face him, "She's a strong girl you know…" Ichigo remains quiet, "It's hard not to take a liking to her, huh?" Rukia smiles, "You can't help but want to protect her." Ichigo avoids eye contact with his friend, "It's just the way you are… or maybe it's something more. I can't say." Rukia's voice goes from caring to serious, "But you need to realize something, we can't protect her forever."

"I can try-"

Rukia gives him a look, "You really want to try? Because I can guarantee you'll fail. You've already failed," it was harsh to say, but it was the truth, "Kara's not stupid, she's not helpless, I know you know that. Just accept it." She sighs, "Her life isn't going to be the same, she can't go back to just being "normal"… and we need to help her adjust… She deserves that at least, don't you think so?" Ichigo nods and Rukia smiles, "Good. And Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm here if you need to talk."

"About what?"

Rukia sighs, "Nevermind… you're such a child…" she walks away. She'd gone soft on him, it's what he needed… but she wasn't going to do it again. She smiles to herself, "He's so slow…"

Death… I'd never given it much thought before. As a girl who could see spirits and such, you think I would have… but I hadn't, not until this past week. I'd been so close but each time I escaped it… but I know I can't continue to do so. Death is inevitable… death is profound… oh no, I hope I don't sound suicidal or something, because I'm not. I know maybe you'd beg to differ, seeing as I stabbed myself… but that wasn't an attempt of suicide, I hope you know that… It was scary and reckless… but I think I'd do it again. Yeah, I would do it again.

I'd do it again because I don't see any other way out. I'd never be able to look Yuuka in the eyes and kill her… I couldn't hurt someone blatantly like that. It was easier to not see… I didn't have to see her eyes… it was easier to hurt myself first… to know the pain I was going to put her through. Pain is a horrid thing, I don't like it at all. In a way, I'm envious of her. Her pain is over, taken away by death. But who am I to say death is better than pain? What do I know…?

I think I know why I haven't given death much thought before. I think death is my biggest fear… I'm afraid I won't get to do what I want to do before I die. It's not like I want to become rich or something. I just want to live life. I want to finish school, get a job I'd enjoy, take care of my mom and dad when they get old. I want to get married. And have kids. I want to be happy… I want people to remember me for who I am, not for who I could have been.

Now, I think I understand death a bit better… maybe. Death is like when the lights go out… my lights were flickering… threatening to go out for good… threatening a permanent blackout. But nothing is permanent, that's something else I've learned this week. If my lights had gone out, I'd end up in Soul Society… a new "life" ahead of me. I would have to give up everything and everyone I knew and loved. When my lights of life began to flicker, I'd just about given up… I was ready for it. But with Ichigo there, I realized I wasn't. I realized I couldn't give up, not as long as he was there. Not as long as he wasn't going to give up on me.

Ichigo… he was the one whose arms I needed to hold me when I couldn't stand on my own. It was his voice I needed to hear telling me that I was going to be fine, that I was going to live. It was Ichigo's eyes I needed to see when my own eyes didn't want to see anything anymore. Ichigo was my light when everything else was about to go out.

I learned something else this week… can you guess what it is?

BrightRhyme: OKAY! That's all for now peoplee! Hope it there weren't to many errors or whatever you wanna call 'em, i'm sleep, only got 4 hours of sleep last night, and got up at 5 this morning.. 12 hours ago for me.. i'm like typing with my eyes closed.. but anyway, hope you liked it! So until next time, byeee :)