Fear

My mind works slowly. My delayed thinking gives Hisana a good head start but soon I catch on.

"ICHIGO!" I cry leaping to my wobbly feet. I run in a zigzag pattern, my injuries causing me to sway constantly. I must look like a drunk as I sprint out of the room, leaving my traumatised friend behind.

It feels wrong to just leave her there, but Hisana has lost interest in her so she will be safe...I hope. Right now I have to get to Ichigo before Hisana.

I stop dead in the doorway. There are footprints in the muddy lawn out in the front yard. Hisana has failed to cover her tracks, but is it on purpose or was she in a rush? It doesn't matter! There isn't time to think about it! I have to save Ichigo!

My feet make disgusting squelching noises as I storm through the murky puddles that lurk in the unmowed grass. The noises remind me of how I killed Orihime and I have to stop as it gives me terrible stomach pains. I'm almost certain I'm going to throw up but somehow I hold it back. Maybe life with Hisana has begun to desensitize me to death...Slightly.

I don't want to dwell on such a horrible thought so I leap over the small fence as if it's a hurdle in a running race. That landing hurts my ankles and my legs burn but I can't stop again! I've wasted too much time!

The door is left wide open and I dive through it, landing in a crouch and immediately setting off on a mad run through the front room into the clinic. The room is empty but it looks as if one of the tables has been knocked over. There is a smashed jar of some kind of fluid. A tray of medical utensils has been emptied and splayed out all over the floor.

Hisana! I won't let you hurt him!

I spin on my heels and take a heavy step, but waves of pain shoot up through my foot and force me down on one knee. I sob pitifully and turn my foot over to see the shard of glass embedded in it. I grit my teeth while pulling it out. It brings the worst stinging pain I've ever felt, but the over surge of adrenaline makes it have less of an effect.

I push on, limping up the stairs. My legs are becoming numb and it's increasingly harder to get up a step each time. I have to crawl up the final four steps and when I'm finally on the landing I hop over to the first bedroom. I wrench the door open and discover pink walls and frilly pillows. It's the wrong bedroom...

I lurch over to the next door, dragging my wounded foot behind me like a zombie. I press my hands on the handle and take a deep breath. I close my eyes and barge the door while turning the handle, forcing it open and falling through into the next room.

There is a haunting silence in the room and I fear it's another wrong room, but sure enough I hear Ichigo's voice. "Rukia? What are you doing here? Why are you covered in blood?"

Then it dawns on me. Hisana wasn't after Ichigo. She was going after someone else!

I feel like explaining everything but my throat creaks like an old door and I weep at his feet. Ichigo helps me up and sits me down on the bed while he reassures me that things are going to be okay. I sniff and wipe at my puffy red eyes. They feel like wasps have stung them, though it's not the worst pain I feel. Before I can say a word I cough. A large red splatter on Ichigo's bed tells me I'm not well. M head spins and I succumb to dizziness, falling to one side only to be caught by Ichigo.

"Rukia! Rukia! What happened?"

I wipe the streaks of crimson from my lips and croak, "Hisana...Is alive."

Ichigo stares at me with a look of uncertainty. He doesn't understand. "Hisana...My...Sister..." Suddenly he remembers my conversation with him and he studies my injuries.

"I don't-"

"She is alive!" I cry, using too much energy.

"Alive? But she's a persona! How can she possibly-"

"I don't know...But...It happened..." I close my eyes for several seconds but before Ichigo fears the worst I reopen them to assure him I'm not fading away. "Help..." I whisper.

"Um...Okay?" Ichigo looks around nervously. He's more confused than I am right now, which must be terrible. "Can...You take me...Tatsuki..." I fail at forming a sentence and Ichigo doesn't comprehend me. I try again but still words go missing and things don't work out. I resort to pointing in the direction of Tatsuki's house and he gazes out the window, then back at me.

"Tatsuki's house? Is that what you want?"

I nod feebly and he places an arm behind my shoulder and another behind my back. With a slight grunt he picks me up, cradling me like the hero in an action movie, only this is reality and there is the possibility of an unhappy ending.

Ichigo carries me down the stairs, starting out with slow careful steps and eventually jogging. We reach Tatsuki's house and I give him directions down to the garage. He follows my directions and we end up at the entrance to the fated garage.

I reach out and turn on the lights and Ichigo cries out in alarm.

"Inoue! She's-"

"Dead." I answer for him. "I'm so sorry..."

"Sorry? For what?"

"I...I killed her." Ichigo's expression makes me feel sick to the pit of my stomach. He stares at the carnage and then the alleged killer in disbelief. "I thought...It was Hisana..." I explain, though it still seems like a pathetic excuse even if it was really happened. "Please...Don't hate me."

Ichigo is taken aback by my words and his expression softens. "Rukia...I couldn't hate you...I understand. It wasn't your fault." Ichigo's words soothe my stricken mind and put me at ease.

It takes some time until I realise someone is missing. "Tatsuki?"

"She might be in her room." Ichigo suggests and we begin our short journey to find her. He takes me up the stairs and we enter her bedroom. The room is empty.

Ichigo sets me down on the bed and sits down beside me. He stares at his hands and frowns.

"This is insane...Hisana...Manifested herself somehow? It can't be real!"

"I can't understand it either, but...We can guess all we want...Once she's...Dead." I wheeze. My lungs still feel like crap since Tatsuki's beating. For once the prospect of having a black belt friend seems less like a pro and more like a con.

"Where do you think she is?"

"Who?"

"Hisana. She couldn't have gone far in such a short amount of time..."

'Ring, ring...Ring, ring'

A cheap little mobile phone dances on the table while its simple ring tone goes off. Ichigo studies it curiously and then answers the phone. "Hello?" His face darkens and he hands me the phone, his face blank.

I grasp it cautiously and place the phone by my head. "Hello?"

#Hi sis!#

"Hisana! Where are you?"

#Somewhere safe. By the way, why didn't you introduce me to your police friend? She's very kind.#

"Police...friend?"

#Yeah! Matsumoto something. She's a very gentle lady, she's making me tea right now.#

"Matsumoto..." The name sticks and I drop the phone. "No...No it can't be!"

Hisana's voice echoes lightly out of the speaker so I can still hear it even as it rolls on the floor. #Hello? Sis, are you still there? Hello?#

"Where..." I whisper before snatching up the phone and screaming it into the tiny speakers. "WHERE ARE YOU DAMMIT!"

Hisana giggles sickeningly and tuts. #I don't think I should tell you. That would be a bit silly wouldn't it?#

"HISANA!"

#Alright, alright. Calm down. I'm in her house right now. The people at the station where very nice, they told me her address. Bye bye!#

Then she hung up. I curse and throw the phone out the open window. I make it to my feet and then trip over. Ichigo helps me up and we descend the stairs together.

"Where to?" Ichigo asks.

"The police station. We can find Matsumoto's address if we ask them." I explain.

"So...That was Hisana. I knew it was her, I could sense it." Ichigo looks away from me and we stop for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"I could sense it was her...that same horrible presence I felt back then...The day when she killed my mother! I promise you Rukia, I'll make sure Hisana does not return. If you want me to, then I'll put an end to her..." Ichigo looks to me for approval but I glare at him.

"No. I've been waiting all my life for this. I'm going to kill her...After all, it's personal!"

Ichigo nods and assists me down the rest of the stairs. It's a hassle and my feet still hurt terribly. I ask Ichigo to carry me and he does so again, gently picking me up and taking me down the rest of the stairs to the bottom floor.

"I'll ring for a taxi. I think the phone's in the living room." Ichigo mutters taking me around a corner and down a short hall into the Arisawa residences dining room.

It is a spacious room with soft leather couches, a reasonably sized TV and a dining table on the far wall. It seems normal, except there's something that feels off about it. I get a shiver up my spine yet I don't know why...Until Ichigo drops me to the floor and screams.

I cry out and land awkwardly, rolling out into the main room. As I sit up my head bumps into something. It feels strange and I recoil from it. I crawl away and then look up...

...Into the cold dead eyes of Tatsuki...Hanging from the ceiling fan.

"T...T...Ta...Tatsuki...?" I whimper.

Ichigo collapses to his knees and begins to sob.

As for me, I can't stop staring into the lifeless eyes of my friend. I repeat her name softly and fall back, my body getting weaker. When it all get's too much to bear I do what any person would do...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A cruel twist of fate. Will Rukia's misery ever end? Will Hisana be defeated? All will be revealed in the next chapter!

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