Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and all other manga/anime series & games mentioned and/or related merchandise and/or characters.


A week after the incident at Inoue's house, she was still absent from school, much to the concern of her friends - particularly Ishida and Ichigo. It came as a surprise to them as Rukia was the one who volunteered to go check up on her, seeing as how she and Inoue weren't the closest of friends, perhaps merely acquainted; nevertheless, Rukia had gone to Inoue's house following school, knocking on her door upon arrival.

Not receiving an answer, she attempted calling Inoue on her cellphone, but again - no answer. What bothered Rukia about the situation, however, was the fact that the house was eerily silent, as if there was no one inside; Rukia knew better than that, though, so she approached the door and prepared to kick it down, only to realize that it was unlocked, allowing her to enter.

The first thing she saw upon entering was Inoue, on the ground in a fetal position; naturally concerned for her friend, Rukia slowly approached her, asking: "Are you all right, Inoue?"; upon seeing who it was who was talking to her, Inoue's eyes widened in fear and she hastily backed away from her. Rukia had become much more concerned at this, so she tried calming Inoue down by walking in an even slower pace - that did no good, however, as Inoue was so frightened at the sight of Rukia that she had soiled herself with horror.

Inoue couldn't understand any of the things Rukia had said: the only thing she could think of was the monster who had tortured her and robbed her of her virginity a week ago. Screaming, Inoue fled into the kitchen, with Rukia calling out for her in hopes that she will calm down. Rukia gasped as she saw Inoue leaving the kitchen with a huge butcher knife in her hands, her eyes filled with utter fear and madness. "Inoue, please put down that knife, you could hurt yourself."; Inoue had all but shrieked as she rushed at Rukia, trying to stab her dead.

Maintaining some of her instincts as a shinigami, Rukia managed to dodge the mentally unstable Inoue, eventually grabbing her by the wrist and pleading her to calm down. Inoue dropped the knife, suddenly hugging Rukia and sobbing as her body shook violently; Rukia had to hold herself back quite hard in order not to cry at the sight of her poor friend.

What the hell happened... ?


Rukia, having told Ichigo and the others of Inoue's condition, brought her to Urahara's shop in order to somehow figure out what happened and relieve her stress.

Everyone was sitting quietly in the main room, concerned for their friend; after about an hour of waiting, Urahara came out of his room with a serious expression on his face, his voice being the same: "There were no wounds inflicted on Inoue's body, external or internal. What I'm concerned of, however, is her mental condition: it had taken me approximately half an hour just to get her to talk, and even then she barely managed to form words - not to mention sentences - without chocking on her tears. Whatever it is that has happened to her, it has definitely scarred her for life; I fear that in her current condition, even leaving her house is not recommended."

Ichigo held back his anger as he asked: "Urahara, do you know who or what might have done that to Inoue?"; Urahara sighed, knowing that his answer would only serve to frustrate Ichigo - however, he deemed it best for him to know the truth: "I'm sorry, Ichigo, but there's not even a clue to who could have done this. Were it a hollow, she would have positively been eaten, but she's here with us now, so that's not a reasonable option."

Ishida scowled, himself also holding back his anger: "It might have been a delinquent shinigami; seeing as how there is the 11th division, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them allowed themselves to 'have fun' at the cost of Inoue's sanity."; Ichigo and Rukia glared daggers at the Quincy: even if he did hate the shinigami as he said he did, such accusations were far below his level. Ichigo clenched his fists as he tried to hold himself back from punching that asshole square in the face, proceeding by threatening him with Zangetsu. It was a good thing Ichigo could keep his temper under control at times like this, or else the Quincies would be no more.

Rukia spoke: "I think I'm up to something: upon seeing me, Inoue was fearful to an extreme degree, so extreme that she attempted stabbing me in order to possibly defend herself; when she was inquired by Urahara, however, she exhibited no such aggression. I know it may sound far-fetched, but I think that Inoue's current condition might have something to do with... me."; Ichigo and Ishida both immediately realized what was going on, and they each reacted in a way that startled Chad and Urahara: Ishida generated his bow and aimed it at Rukia's face, while Ichigo unsheathed Zangetsu and positioned it against Ishida's neck, so close that even the slightest press would draw blood from the Quincy.

Chad instinctively got up in order to break up the potentially disastrous fight that would most likely commence, but he was held back by Urahara who realized that something was going on that he was unaware of, something that it was for the best that Ichigo and Ishida handled themselves.

Ishida glared fiercely at Ichigo, barely holding his composure as he said: "I had warned you about this, Kurosaki: I told you it was bound to happen, but you so very ignorantly decided not to heed my warnings and instead followed your own flawed logic; because of you, Inoue's mind is in shambles and will most likely never be herself again. Can you even begin to realize the grave significance of your actions, Kurosaki?"; Ichigo returned the glare, saying: "I recall telling you before to leave things to me, yes, and that applies even now; if what Rukia said is true, then it's my responsibility to handle the situation. I know that you're infuriated, Ishida, and I know that telling you again to trust me would piss you off even more; so I'm not asking you, I'm begging you to let me handle this one alone. I'm the only one who can do this, and you know it."

Ishida, after a minute or so of deep thought, lowered his bow but continued to glare at Ichigo, hissing: "This is your last chance, Kurosaki: I may not be as powerful as you are, but if you mess up this one then so help me Kami, I will make your life a living hell; remember, Ichigo: there's more than one way to kill a man."


Back at Ichigo's room at night, said teen - who was infuriated at the Queen's behaviour - was trying to make sense of it all: why would she attack Inoue, of all people? What could possibly justify mentally scarring a person, an innocent and harmless one, at that?

Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted as he noticed a pair of hands caressing his chest; his expression darkened as he knew who the person without even having to look. Speaking in a seductive voice, the figure confirmed Ichigo's suspicions: "Hey there, handsome. You ready to try out some of the positions I read about in the Kama Sutra?"; barely managing to hide his disgust with her, Ichigo removed her hands and faced her, narrowing his eyes at her and asking with a dangerously low voice: "Why did you do that, Queen?"; she tried acting innocent, saying: "Do what? If I recall, it's Rukia who has been in control all day."

Taking her by surprise, Ichigo slammed her against the wall, apparently not too concerned about any harm caused to Rukia's body; snarling, he said: "Don't give me that shit! Do you have any idea what you've done to Inoue?! You freaking raped her mind beyond repair, you psychotic bitch!!"; the Queen's innocent expression disappeared, replaced with a scowl: "Che. That slut was moving on my territory - I had to make it clear to her that I am not to mess with; by the look on your face, I could swear you're upset about this."

Ichigo had a most intimidating expression on his face as he retorted: "How the fuck could I not care?! Inoue's my friend, damn it - Yammi would've killed me if she didn't stop him!"; "So what? She made a mistake and she paid the price for it, that's all."; Ichigo's expression became a pained one: "How could you do this to me? You knew she was my friend and that I cared for her, yet you still hurt her! Don't you care about what I feel?!"

The Queen pushed Ichigo back, her voice filled with anger and sadness: "You dare say I don't care about you? You think I would intentionally try to hurt you?! What I did was for us, Ichigo, I was trying to make things right for us; I won't let anyone, be they friends or foes, get in the way of our bond!"; Ichigo was saddened for a moment, but he then regained his composure: "Even if you do care for me as deeply as you say, hurting people who have done nothing wrong is taking things too far."; "Nothing wrong?! She was all over you!"; "She was just worried about me, damn it!" - Ichigo knew what the Queen had meant, but he wasn't too bothered by the fact that she had spied on him.

The Queen approached Ichigo, softly caressing his face: "You're the center of my world, Ichigo: if you were to be taken away from me, I would have nothing left, nothing to hope for and to hold on to. You, Ichigo, are the most precious and most important thing to me in this damned world."; Ichigo closed his eyes in regret, removing the Queen's hands from his face: "This isn't love, Queen, it's obsession: the moment you say you can't live without something or someone, then you clearly need some time away from them."; "What are you saying...?"; Ichigo lowered his head: "I'm saying... we need some time apart, Queen. I just can't make any sense of all this shit; between you hurting Inoue, between me the center of your world and me caring for you, I just don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do. Until I do know, I think it would be for the best if we were to be apart for some time."; "You don't know what you're saying, Ichigo: we need one another, we complete each other! I'm the only one in this world who understands you and will love you unconditionally! You can't leave me, you CAN'T!!"

As if on cue, Ichigo got a 'hollow alarm', leading him to leave through the window, but not before saying ruefully without turning to face the Queen: "I'm sorry, but this is what needs to be done right now. Please understand me."; Ichigo left, the scream of pure sadness and despair let out by the Queen following him, tormenting him.