ichihime lovers: here is a chapter for you. i have done this. take it all in because it will be a while before the next one. you're welcome.
Ichigo woke up to a cool rag to his head and the room spinning. He looked around in a half daze and saw his mother sitting beside him as she looked at a thermometer. She looked up and upon seeing Ichigo awake, she leaned forward and touched his cheek softly.
"Are you alright?" she asked softly.
"My ears are ringing and I can't see clearly but I'm fine otherwise."
Masaki smiled sadly and tapped his chest.
"You should have told us how deep it was."
Ichigo turned onto his side, letting the rag fall off his forehead as he covered his chest with the blanket.
"I didn't want you to worry."
"We're parents, we'll always worry. This isn't something you can just forget about or hope will go away. This is serious and if it gets deeper, you have to tell us."
"I'm sorry." He said softly.
"It's alright, love. It's just that with the deepening of the hole in your chest, the more frequent the attacks will come and the more we… the more we won't be able to control it."
Ichigo turned back around to face his mother as she stared at him sadly.
"Are you saying that I'm getting closer to becoming one of those… those things out there? I mindless Hollow bent on spreading my horrible disease to others?"
"Yes. The farther you go, the less we can save you. That's why we need this alliance with the Kuchiki Clan. Their doctor, Urahara, can take a sample from one of your attacks or even a blood sample and might be able to make a better cure for us than this temporary fix. If we can't get an audience with him, then there is no hope for you, my son."
Ichigo nodded. "I understand… I still need to go and see who is responsible for letting all of their butterflies loose."
"Your father can do it."
"I should look into it-"
"You had a very bad attack this time, you'll be out of commission for a bit."
Ichigo made a face and pouted. He then realized Orihime was in the house and turned back to his mother.
"Mom, the new cook… she didn't see, did she?"
Masaki made a face. "What does it matter if she sees?"
Ichigo realized that his parents didn't know about his crush on Orihime yet so they wouldn't care about her knowing.
"Well, I mean, we don't need her spreading to everyone about the issue."
"If she wants to keep her job then she won't spread such tales. I can inform her of the issue and threaten her job (or her life) with secrecy if you like?"
Ichigo looked out the window for a second.
"Maybe… I should tell her. You know, a straight from the horse's mouth kind of thing."
Masaki looked at her son curiously.
"If that's what you would like to do… I'll have Kukaku send her up and you can tell her what you want to tell her."
"Okay."
Masaki left the room and then grabbed Ikkaku, who was standing obediently by the door.
"I need to speak with you."
"Um, of course, Shiba-sama, what is it?" he asked, confused at Masaki's forcefulness.
Masaki dragged him farther down the hallway and then finally stopped, turning to him.
"This new cook, what is she like? Is she pretty?"
"Ah, well, I mean, I think she's quite nice and all…"
"Does my son have an infatuation with this woman?"
"Not necessarily an 'infatuation', but he values her presence-"
Masaki grabbed Ikkaku's uniform and pulled him to her.
"Don't get coy with me." She growled. "Tell me the truth."
Ikkaku gulped. "Yes… he's had a liking for the girl for some time now but only got the courage to talk with her as of late."
"So he had someone he liked and didn't even try to pursue her?"
"He's ironically shy…" Ikkaku said with a nervous laugh.
Masaki sighed and let go of Ikkaku. "It doesn't matter now… if we don't do this arrangement, we will lose him forever to the Infection. I can't have that. Does this girl like him as well?"
"Yumichika and I believe the two have liked each other from a far for a while now."
"Then I suggest you find a way to make sure they don't fall any more in love. It will not be good for either of them when the truth comes out. Or, better yet, maybe we should let her know what's in store for him. I haven't personally met this girl; does she seem like she has a reasonable head on her shoulders?"
"I believe that if she knew Ichigo-sama was betrothed to another woman she would stop her advancement and only do her job… she seems honorable in that respect." He said, although he hated to say it.
"Then I hold it to you and Yumichika to make this right. For some reason, I have a deep suspicion that this is one of you guys' fault anyway. Fix it or I will ask Captain Zaraki to send me some better squad members to be our guards."
She walked away and Ikkaku sighed. There had to be a better way about this. It was odd that the Kuchiki party wasn't here, now that he thought about it, so maybe if he and Yumichika came together with a plan, they could get everything in one fell swoop.
"Maybe if we spook Kuchiki-sama with the truth, we could convince her to not want Ichigo but in exchange for not talking as well as keeping her secret that she doesn't want him, we could ask for an audience with Urahara… or something. Yumichika is usually better at this…" Ikkaku looked up and clenched his fist. "Don't you worry, Ichigo, we've got your back!"
Orihime stood outside of Ichigo's room with the tray of miso, waiting for the courage to knock on the door. Kukaku had told her that Ichigo had something he needed to tell her and he also needed something to eat. Orihime had a feeling of what it was but she was afraid to learn anymore about the issue. Knowing that at any moment he could snap or that he would be beyond anyone's help was what hurt her the most.
"You gonna stand there all day?"
Orihime looked up at Yumichika, who was leaning on the wall.
"I… I was just about to knock."
"You've been standing there for five minutes with a look of pain on your face. You already know, don't you?"
Orihime didn't want to admit it but she nodded stiffly. Yumichika got off the wall and turned her to him.
"Do you want to help Ichigo?"
"What can I do?"
"Well, first off, act like you know nothing of the issue. Second, be supportive and understanding."
"I… well… I've known about his issue for some time now."
Yumichika lifted a feather eyebrow. "You have?"
"I thought it was just rumor and then I thought maybe I was just seeing things but… but witnessing it last night just made it more clear to me. I've always wished that I could help but there was nothing I could do… Even now, when I'm so close, I can't even help him."
Yumichika put his hand under his chin.
"Maybe telling him the truth would be the best thing. It would make the atmosphere a little less dense. Anyway, I'll leave you to it."
He left and Orihime breathed in, knocking on Ichigo's door. She heard him say come in and she opened the door.
Ichigo turned over to see who was there and saw that it was Orihime.
"Oh, it's you… I wasn't expecting you."
"They told me that I should bring this to you to help you feel a little better…"
He sat up stiffly in the bed, making sure to keep his haori was crossed over the hole in his chest as Orihime put the tray over his legs. He dipped the spoon in and tasted it, smiling.
"Did you make this?" She nodded. "It's good, as always… Inoue-san, I… there's something I would like to tell you."
"Is it about what happened last night?" Ichigo looked up as Orihime fidgeted. "I… was about to come in when it happened."
He sighed. "So you already know about the Infection."
"I had my suspicions beforehand, when I was still at the stand outside of the gates. I would sometimes have to stay late in order to sell the bakery's goods and I could hear you sometimes. I thought I saw you once but I thought it was my imagination. I often hoped that it wasn't the Infection, but then I saw it last night and… I knew that's what it had been."
Ichigo stirred the miso a little and desperately tried not to look at her. Orihime fidgeted some more.
"I don't think any less of you, Shiba-sama. I figure you must have been dealing with this for a very long time… possibly even when the outbreak first happened."
"I got infected when I was a kid."
Orihime nodded. "How… how did it happen?"
Ichigo moved the tray away and decided to show her what he was hiding. He opened his haori and Orhime couldn't help putting her hands over her mouth in horror and surprise.
"It… it's so deep…" she said softly, on the verge of crying.
"When the first outbreak happened, it was around our area of the Rukon District. I was pretty little then so I didn't really care or pay attention to the warnings. I don't remember much about the incident. One minute I was wandering off to pick some flowers for my mother, the next I was in the jaws of some Hollow-like creature being shaken like a dog toy. I remember my mother shooting it with her arrows and my father using his shikai to destroy it, but I was already infected.
"Due to our status of the noble houses, we couldn't get the great Urahara or the wonderful Unohana, so we had to settle for what we could afford. Hanataro has been doing the best he can, but unless we can pay more for better testing and better ingredients, we only have these pills that you mix with hot tea that helps stop it -if we catch it early enough- and prevent it for a while… But… the hole is getting deeper and Mother says that the deeper it gets, the more attacks I'll have, and the less effective the medicine will be."
"What happens when the hole goes all the way through?"
"I will turn into one of the Infected and go about trying to infect any others… Hanataro said it's different from the Hollows that roam about. Those are naturally made, this is different. Those can't make other Hollows; these are people infected by a disease that creates Hollow-like symptoms but if I bit or scratched someone in that state, I could pass the infection on. I would have no sense of self… I'd be gone. From what reports I've read, the sole purpose of these infected people is to make more infected people."
Orihime nodded. "Is there any way to fix this?"
Ichigo smiled a little. "If we could get someone higher up from Squad 4 to come take a look at me, give me better tests, then maybe they could make a cure. Then again, I may be too far gone… but they maybe could give me a longer lasting preventative. It's hard to say…"
"Maybe I could ask my brother about it. He's in the Gotei 13, even though he's on medical leave at the moment, but he may be able to get a better answer for you or another way to get an audience with a higher Squad 4 member."
"You'd do that for me?"
"No one should go through what you're going through. I want to help in any way I can."
Ichigo smiled brightly. "Wow, thank you…"
"Of course! I think I should head back to the kitchen…"
She ran to the door and rushed out, not waiting for him to say anything. I can't believe I lied to him!
one: yes, ikkaku was talking to himself out loud... because that's what people do
two: i don't think i explained the hollow thing as well as i would have liked, i will try now: there are still actual hollows in this universe, they are just people who have naturally turned into them due to death or however they get turned like in the series. this infection is kind of like what aizen did in turn back the pendulum but instead of it just turning people into hollows, it makes them kind of like zombies except their whole purpose is the infect others, not eat people.
three: ah woo woo, she's a liar... cuz sora isn't that high up in the gotei 13. he can't do much