These Fragile Words

Ichigo's sword clattered to the floor, little droplets of crimson leaping from the blade and onto the ghost white tiles. He felt Orihime's grip loosen around his neck as she slipped to the ground. He tried to hold her up, but his body felt heavy, and he sunk to his knees with Orihime lying limply against his chest. It took him a few moments to realize just how strongly he was clinging to the back of her tattered dress. Her arms hung motionless at her sides.

Everyone in the room was completely silent. Renji pushed aside some of the rubble that surrounded them and stumbled across the debris to stand behind Rukia and Uryu. The raven-haired shinigami looked horrified as she stared at Ichigo's back and Uryu was wide-eyed and clutching at his bleeding shoulder. Near the back of the balcony, Chad stood shocked and panting. Nobody knew what to do. They only watched as Ichigo sat huddled over the auburn-haired girl's frail body.

Panting with shaky breaths, Ichigo tried to wake her. "Orihime…"

This couldn't be happening. He couldn't have-

Her eyes fluttered halfway open, but stared blankly ahead. Shallow breaths left through her parted lips. "Ichi…go…"

Before he opened his mouth to respond, Ichigo forced himself to remember that he had to stay calm for her sake. "Just- just stay still, okay? It'll be fine. You'll be alright." She shivered against him. "Please be alright!" Maybe if he said it enough, it would actually be true; maybe he could believe it was true. "Please!"

"Please!" The mocking voice was followed by maniacal laughter. "Look how hard the mighty king is falling. Crying like a little brat."

Orihime's body jerked forward and she cried out in agony. More blood seeped across her tattered dress. Ichigo froze, thinking he had accidentally pressed against her wound. He tried to set her on the ground, but her shaking hand clutched tightly to his shihakusho. "Don't leave," she whimpered.

A knot was forming in his stomach. Those were the words that his head was screaming. "Don't leave… Don't leave…!" He pulled her closer, but was careful not to hurt her. "D-don't worry. I'm staying right here… and so are you."

She smiled meekly, but he knew she was still in pain, still fading away. She tugged harder on the black fabric. Ichigo could almost feel the chill of her trembling hand against his exposed chest. Her skin was as cold as his mother's had been when she-

"Rukia, you can help her, right?" He was no longer trying to mask the desperation in his voice.

The raven-haired shinigami slowly walked forward and knelt down beside him. The wound looked even worse from up close. The blade had pierced at an angle, running completely through. There was no possible way that it hadn't caused any internal damage. The rate of blood-loss had to be exponential.

"I… I don't think..."

"Rukia, please."

As Rukia stared back at him, she knew she'd never be able to forget his expression- so horrified and desperate. Through his eyes she could almost see his soul tearing itself apart.

"You- you'll need to lay her down."

Hesitantly, Ichigo carefully laid Orihime down on her back. The young girl whimpered and turned her head towards him. It was getting harder to see as everything began to blur around her.

"I'm not leaving," he whispered firmly as Rukia held her hands out over the wound.

Ichigo looked down at Orihime as she nodded weakly and stared up at him through half-lidded eyes. A swell of pain flooded through her chest and her back arched as she held back a high-pitched cry. Reflexively, Ichigo reached out and grabbed her hand. He was taken aback by how cold and clammy it was. Her fingers twisted inside his hand as another wave of pain surged through her body. She squirmed helplessly against the tiles, each of which was becoming stained with the crimson liquid that poured out from her open wound. She cringed and squeezed her eyes shut.

Rukia's eyes darted back and forth between Orihime and Ichigo. Forcing herself to concentrate, she shook her head and stared down at the green light around her hands. Her kido seemed useless. Not only was the injury severe, but also surrounded by a dark spiritual pressure left by the hollow. They were running out of time.

"J-just hold on, Orihime," Ichigo said in a hoarse whisper. He squeezed her hand tighter between his own two hands. Her entire body was quivering uncontrollably. "Hold on," he pleaded.

"You're too soft," the hollow sneered. I'm doing both of us a favor, here. No more of her obnoxious whining. Only thing she was good for was that hot little body of hers-"

"SHUT UP!" Ichigo snarled.

"Aww, look how sensitive he is. You gonna miss your little girlfriend?"

"DAMMIT! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

"Tch! Get over it. And as much as I'd love to listen to more of your bitching, I'm tired of sitting around here. I want to have some more fun."

Ichigo's body lurched forward. He immediately dropped Orihime's hand and tried to cover his rapidly darkening eye. "N-no, stop!"

"Ichigo!" Rukia cried as she reached out for him.

"N-not me! Help her, don't- AAAAHHH!" Ichigo's entire body curled as if he were in intense pain. His nails clawed across the tiles as he lay writhing on the floor.

"The silver wind strikes the five-fingered stone pen- Gritz!"

A large Quincy cross wrapped itself around Ichigo to form a coffin-like enclosure. "Renji, that's not going to hold him for long."

"Right." Renji darted forward and held his zanpakuto at the ready.

Rukia could feel her heart pounding inside her chest. As Renji and Uryu tried to contain Ichigo, she barely noticed Orihime's eyelids drooping steadily closed. Her body was almost completely still now.

The barrier began to crack and release the sounds of Ichigo's pained cries. With a large wave of spiritual pressure, the barrier was obliterated, revealing Ichigo as he lay half-masked and gasping for air.

"Quit trying to fight it. What good will it do? Look, she's almost gone, kingy."

"Stop! Stop it!"

He was suddenly forced down against the floor, his arms locked back behind him and a blade against his neck. Glancing up, he saw Chad pinning him down and Renji standing by with Zabimaru outstretched.

The hollow was still trying to take control and Ichigo struggled against Chad's iron-strong grip. He wanted this to end, this constant fighting and fear. All of his friends were getting sucked into this dark abyss that he'd fallen into. He couldn't take them down with him. Here they were, all covered in burns and scars, still trying to keep him sane. Renji, Chad, and Uryu trying to keep him from hurting himself, Rukia trying her hardest to fix what he'd done, and Orihime…

His eyes met hers from across the balcony. He could almost see the tears on her cheeks as she heard him scream. Why had this happened to her? What did she do to deserve any of this? She never did anything to hurt anyone, she was always there, a constant comfort… And she was dying…

Choked gasps made their way through his gritted teeth as his eyes became flooded with painful realization. He loved her. But why was it only after she was fading away, after her eyes had begun to close forever, that he finally understood? Why was it only then that he truly realized what it meant to lose her?

And how could he even let himself accept that he loved her when he knew he didn't deserve her? All this time he'd been completely oblivious to her pain. Why would that change? All this time she'd felt so alone and useless and he never even knew. How could he suddenly find the ability to see through every fake smile when all along he'd thought she was happy no matter what? Everything he had done, it had hurt her even more. She stood by him, only to be pushed away and forced to watch as he fought his blood-drenched battles. Was he really that arrogant? Had he actually deluded himself into thinking that it would be completely different if their positions were switched?

"People like her only slow you down. That's why we got rid of her, king."

At that moment, something inside him snapped. His inner world shook violently as his own consciousness forced his hollow back. His head tipped back as he screamed. For a minute, he thought maybe he had gone insane. His felt his head spinning so fast he couldn't make out any of his own thoughts. There was a ghostly shriek inside his mind and then… nothing. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear, he felt like he was stopped in midair. Everything was silent.

He felt a sudden void form within himself, and for a moment, he reveled in a feeling of liberation. He was gone. But slowly, Ichigo's senses returned to him, and with them, a new pain to fill the void and take away all feeling of relief.

Orihime stared at him with a hurt expression that would forever haunt him. The world around him seemed to stop completely. Everything faded, all except for her. He could see her so clearly-strands of auburn hair lying across her soft and pallid cheeks, her gently parted lips, the stilling of her rising and falling chest, the disappearance of honey-brown behind thick eyelashes. Her few last breaths came out in a whisper so faint it was nearly inaudible.

"I'm sorry…"

The world slowly came back to life around him, but she remained still. And he knew, with a feeling of sudden emptiness, that she was gone.

A/N: And on that happy note *end SARCASM*, sorry this chapter was so short, but I felt like I'd reached a good stopping point before delving into the serious mental issues that are about to ensue. Darn this angst-loving fangirl of mine *facepalm*