10...Growing Dread

Tatsuki was forcefully awakened by the incessant whining of her telephone. She drew the covers aside and stepped out of bed, on the way casting a barely attentive glance at the clock on the wall. She groaned when it sank in that it was ridiculously early to be receiving a phone call.

She shuffled over to the phone and stared at it for a moment, contemplating whether or not to answer it. At a time like this it was most likely a prank call, but still, she had already come this far.

She rolled her eyes and snatched the phone from the receiver. She brought it to the side of her face and then spoke in a voice that was a tired, sluggish attempt to sound cheerful.

"Hello, Arisawa residence."

She listened in silently for a moment and then her flesh went pale. Her eyes shot open and wouldn't close, stuck staring straight ahead.

"What?" She yelled in disbelief.

The caller repeated themselves and then hung up. Tatsuki was still holding the phone long after the call was over. She just stared at the wall in a trance. When its paralysing spell wore off she ran upstairs to get dressed and then rushed out the door, in too much of a hurry to lock the front door on her way out.

She leapt over a garden hedge and then dashed across the road, weaving between cars, ignoring their blaring horns. She rounded a corner and almost ran into someone. She came to a stop and glared at the one in her way. It was Taru, the new kid from school.

"Hello." Taru said warmly.

Tatsuki shrugged it off and pushed him aside. "Move it! I'm in a hurry!" She ran past him and did not look back.

If she had, she may have noticed him walking towards her house...

The receptionists at the hospital were stunned when an exhausted young girl came storming into the waiting room. Her shoulders were heaving and she was breathing raggedly. Sweat was dripping down her forehead and she wiped it away with the back of her hand while she was jogging up to the desk.

"Where are my friends?" The girl cried anxiously.

"Your friends? I don't understand-"

"I got a call earlier! My friends were hurt! Where are they?" The girl persisted.

"Oh, you must be here about the two kids we found in the fire."

Tatsuki had a few burning questions but first things first she had to see her friends. She was about to repeat her request when one of the receptionists told her where to go. She took mental note of it and then ran off.

She made it to the emergency ward and got into the main hall when she was stopped by a doctor with steel grey hair and thick glasses.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Tatsuki Arisawa. You called me this morning." She wheezed in response.

"Ah yes. Through here." He slowly led the way, despite Tatsuki urging him to speed up. "There is no rush." The doctor assured her. "Besides, there are a few things I must tell you."

Tatsuki cursed under her breath and turned to the doctor. She stared right into his eyes and waited for the news. The doctor stared right back, his eyes void of emotion, yet his lips still quivered as the words lingered on the tip of his tongue.

"Miss Arisawa...your friend Inoue Orihime...She did not make it." He stepped back and watched the girl as she simply stared blankly at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Miss Inoue was unfortunately-"

"What are you talking about?" Tatsuki yelled.

The doctor sighed and adjusted his glasses. "Miss Inoue was pronounced dead at the scene." He spat out with brutal honesty.

Tatsuki just stared at him, slowly sinking away. Her shoulders slumped and she took a trembling step back. "You...You can't be serious?"

Doctor Ryuken Ishida bowed his head. "I am deeply sorry for your loss."

"Huh?" Tatsuki fell into the wall and she leaned heavily against it for support. Her whole body was shaking and her eyes were clouding as if they were wet.

The doctor slowly approached her. "Her apartment was set alight by an unexplained explosion. It was a suspected gas leak but other authorities are looking into it."

"No..."

"The first explosion and subsequent breakout of fire soon caused other gas mains to ignite, soon setting the entire building alight. We got there as soon as we could but by then we could barely salvage anything. We found Miss Inoue under a collapsed section of roof. We also found another boy in her apartment."

"Can I...See him?" Tatsuki whispered, her voice creaking like an old door.

"Of course. He is in here. He is currently unconscious but-"

Ryuken was cut off by Tatsuki. She held up a hand. "Please...Can I be alone...With Ichigo?"

The doctor frowned but after a short moment of hesitation he nodded. "Alright."

The door groaned as it was pushed open and the light from the corridor spilled into the darker room beyond. Tatsuki wandered through and found him lying on a hospital bed. He had no shirt on, instead a blanket of bandages with small gaps where tubes were stuck in his flesh, feeding him, bleeding into him, saving him...

Tatsuki rubbed at her eyes until they were red and sore. She stood beside the bed, grasping the rail so tightly that her hands were beginning to cramp. She leaned over him so she could see his face more clearly.

He was connected to a life support machine and air was supplied to him through a mask. His skin was a shade of pinky-red like a rare steak. His flesh was flaking in parts just like severe sunburn and his hair had been singed to blackened tips in some areas. Some were just plain bald.

"Ichigo...What happened?"

The door creaked softly and a large shadow crept up behind her. She turned slowly and frowned at the familiar face shrouded in darkness.

"A gas leak huh?" Isshin sat down beside his son and sighed. "That may be so, but I still feel like this was planned."

Tatsuki sobbed. "You mean...Someone killed them? Who would do something so awful?"

Isshin ran a hand through his hair and glanced up at the ceiling. "No...I'm just rambling. It was a gas leak and nothing more. Just a horrible freak accident. These things happen."

Tatsuki calmed a little but even if the explosion was not under suspicious circumstances the victims were still reason for sorrow. She wept over Ichigo's still form while Isshin watched on in mournful contemplation.

He didn't want to say it out loud, but he had an awful suspicion that someone set it all up. If there was trouble afoot, then there was only one person who would know. It seemed now was a better time than ever to drop in for a visit.

He watched his son silently for ten minutes before leaving without a word. He walked right out and vanished leaving Tatsuki alone with her friend once again.

Tatsuki looked up to check the other guest was gone and then she leaned over onto Ichigo, pressing her body against his. She hugged him gently, not wanting to hurt him. She closed her eyes and sobbed into his chest.

"Please Ichigo...Don't leave me. Without Orihime...You're all I have...So please, stay with me." She couldn't speak anymore, lost in her overpowering emotions. She spent the rest of her time weeping against him, her ear pressed to his chest, waiting for a heartbeat that never came.

Isshin used Shunpo to reach the Urahara Shoten in minimal time. It had been quite some time since he had used his powers this much and it was putting a strain on his body, but nevertheless he pushed on. Through practice he would eventually become re-accustomed to it.

The shop was eerily silent. Usually the two children, Ururu and Jinta would be out the front, bickering over nothing. Urahara was almost always up to something that would gather attention, but there was nothing this time.

As Isshin stepped inside the store he realised he couldn't sense the man's spiritual presence. That was a bad sign. Isshin reached for his sword and kept his hand trained on the handle while he entered the building.

The interior of the shop was like that of a war zone. Walls were ripped apart as if they were paper. The floor was cut up and scorched in places. Furniture was thrown about haphazardly and there were ominous dark red stains in the carpet.

Isshin tensed his body and proceeded into another room. He rounded a corner and approached Urahara's room. He could smell the sense-assaulting stench of death. The overpowering odour of rotting meat made him hesitate, but in the end he pushed through...Though he regretted it.

Inside the small room four bodies were huddled together. Each member of the staff had been slain mercilessly. They were all leaned against the far wall, all of them facing the entrance, their wide, dead eyes staring at him, begging him to save them.

Isshin bowed his head. "Urahara..."

The wall behind the bodies was splattered in dried blood. A message had been scrawled in what flowed forth from the corpses. It was written in a barely legible style but somehow Isshin made out the scribbled characters and put it together.

"The Espada Oscuras...Shall prevail? What is this?" Isshin backed away from the scene of violence. "Espada? But they were all defeated!"

"There were two units of Espada." A familiar voice whispered in his ear.

Isshin spun around and noticed a lithe form standing in a large gap in the wall. The sunlight was behind her, casting her face in shadow, but her voice was recognisable. Isshin's expression hardened and he gazed up at the other person.

"Yoruichi...What on earth is going on? Who are these Espada Oscuras?"

Yoruichi jumped down to the floor beside Isshin and stared at the corpse of her childhood friend. "Supposedly Aizen had foreseen the need to have reserve troops in the winter war. He created more Espada, a whole second set. All ten of them were forced to remain in hiding until the need arose."

"How do you know this?"

Yoruichi dragged her collar down to reveal an ugly wound near her collar bone. It was only just starting to form a scab. "I fought one of them. He was bragging about how he was going to bring down Soul Society..."

"Where is he? Did you kill him?"

Yoruichi sighed. "He escaped. I was hoping Urahara would have more information on these new Espada but it seems I was too late..."

"They must have thought to take out Urahara first since he was the one who managed to seal away Aizen." Isshin suggested.

Yoruichi nodded. "There can't be many of them. Especially if they are resorting to such tactics. But still, we must be extra careful from now on."

"Should we warn Soul Society?"

"I'll contact them soon, but for now I think we should lay low. If they are targeting strong individuals then you and I are at risk. We may be next on their hit list, so please be cautious."

Isshin bowed. "Of course. You don't need to remind me to be on my toes." He straightened up and cast his gaze over to his fallen comrade. "I honestly never imagined the day Kisuke would die. I thought he would invent a way to become immortal long before his time was up...Whoever did this must be extremely powerful."

Yoruichi looked away, still taken by the surprise discovery. She hadn't expected things to turn out this way. Urahara was her childhood friend and a legendary warrior. To see him in such a state was beyond her. It was almost painful to see him like that. She had to turn away before her emotions wore her down.

She had to remain strong, especially for the fight ahead.

Yoruichi clenched a fist and glared out the shattered hole in the wall to the empty heavens. "Kisuke..." She snarled, tears rolling down her cheeks. To succumb to her emotions like that only enraged her further. Her face crease dup into a vicious scowl. "Kisuke...You will be avenged!"