Heart and Soul — XII

Ichigo became aware again very suddenly. One minute he was sleeping, the next his mind was up and functional. It took his eyes a moment to catch up and open.

"Mornin' sleepy-head."

He looked down and found himself staring into a pair of wide, bright violet eyes. Rukia was looking up at him, her head resting on the edge of the bed, her hands curled under her head.

"Shut up." He muttered, sitting up, running a hand through his messy hair. "How long was I out for anyway?"

"I dunno…according to Ukitake-san it's about noon though—"

"How the hell does he know that?"

"Apparently he can tell by the position of the sun." Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I don't know either. Anyways…"

She sighed and averted her eyes to the ceiling. Ichigo noticed she looked tired. "How long have you been up?"

"All night." Ichigo made a face.

"Why?"

"I was…soul searching." It took Ichigo a minute to get that.

"Ah…" His voice cracked slightly. "They uh…told you about Nanao, didn't they?"

Rukia pushed herself up, her eyes meeting his. "You already knew about that, huh?" He nodded, sighing. "I figured."

Her voice was carefully neutral. Ichigo knew that was a bad sign. "Don't be mad." He said quietly. "I know I should have told you, but…I don't know. I know how I reacted. I figured you'd take it just as badly, if not worse. Plus you were sick…so…"

He bit his lip as he waited for her answer. "How are you okay with it?" She asked finally, her voice twisting oddly. "I mean…she's…we're supposed to hate her, remember? We're supposed to hate the souls."

Ichigo sighed again. "I know. But Nanao is…I don't know. I can't even say she's different from other souls, because I don't think she is. Maybe it's because I took the time to get to know her, or maybe it's something else, but I just…can't hate her. I know it sounds stupid…"

"Stuff that comes out of your mouth usually does."

Ichigo scowled. If she was insulting him, chances were that he was forgiven. "You're hilarious."

"Oh you know you missed me."

He hated to admit that she was right. "About as much as I miss having the chicken pox maybe."

She stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed. This was normal. This was what they did. Everything that had happened the last few days could have been a bad dream. They could have been back in their little hole under the cabin, it could have just been a normal morning.

"C'mon." Rukia stood up, stretching. "Isane-san's already been in here to yell at me about missing breakfast. I don't want her on me for lunch too."

"Well why'd you skip breakfast?" Ichigo asked as he pushed himself up, stretching. His joints popped, relaxing his body. "Dope."

She aimed a kick at his leg, catching him in the shin. He limped all the way down to the small kitchen.

"…makes no sense to go back out there." Ukitake was saying when Ichigo and Rukia entered. Everyone was gathered around a stone table, empty bowls in front of them. They were obviously in the middle of a discussion.

"We like our freedom." Kyoraku said simply. Then, when he saw who had joined him he said, "Mornin' Rukia-san, Ichigo. Or I suppose 'afternoon' would be more appropriate."

Nanao, who had been sitting next to Kyoraku, looked away the second she saw Rukia, picking her bowl up, standing, and walking over to what looked like another entrance, disappearing into another part of the cave. Kyoraku sighed, shaking his head.

"Don't mind her, she's a bit shy." His voice was careless, good-natured. Ichigo looked over at him, and saw that something was missing.

"Your arm—"

It was free of the sling once more. "You brought back a lot of useful things." Isane stood as well, her own bowl in hand. "Good thing Nanao-san knows what to do with them. We were able to heal Kyoraku-kun's arm in just a couple of minutes."

She disappeared after Nanao. Ukitake returned them to the earlier topic of discussion as Rukia and Ichigo sat down. "Do you want to end up in another situation like what you just got yourselves out of? You might not get away next time—"

"You worry too much Jyuushiro."

"I think Ukitake-san is right, Kyoraku-kun." Isane came back out, two steaming bowls in each hand. She set them down in front of Ichigo and Rukia, who exchanged looks.

"Um…thanks."

Isane threw them a quick smile before continuing. "It just gets more dangerous everyday. As long as the Seekers know there are humans out there, they'll keep searching—"

"Wherever the fringes of their world touch ours there will be death." Nanao came out again, quoting something in a low voice. Her body was half-turned, ready to run again. Rukia looked down at her soup and began eating, studiously ignoring the soul.

"But who's who?" Kyoraku's voice had taken on a slight arguing tone. "Yours, mine, and ours. We're all the same, in the end. Why can't we all live together?"

"The souls will never accept that."

"Why not? You know it's possible; we have it right here; Nanao-chan and I have lived together for four years. Hinamori-san, Hitsugaya-kun, and Rangiku have lived with her for three years. We're able to co-exist with each other just fine. It's not like it's not impossible."

"You have a lot of great ideas Kyoraku-kun." Renji said bitterly, tapping his spoon boredly against his bowl. "But face it, the souls aren't going to go for it. Not everyone is like Nanao-san."

"Too bad. The world could be a truly peaceful place if they were."

Again, it was Ukitake who brought them back to the original point. "It's too dangerous out there Shunsui. If they capture you, they're not going to listen to your philosophies and ideas. They're going to put a soul in your head, and then it's the end for all of us. Why take that chance? Why make your group take that chance?"

"I don't make anyone take a chance." Kyoraku interrupted. "Hinamori-san, Hitsugaya-kun, Rangiku, Nanao-chan, they follow me by their own choice, I don't make them come with me."

"But they do. And they will. It's just safer, Shunsui. Listen to reason."

Kyoraku sighed and looked at his own group members. "You want to try this cave-living thing for a couple of weeks? Just to keep him quiet, of course. See if we like it."

Hinamori, Hitsugaya, and Matsumoto just shrugged. Kyoraku looked up at Nanao, who looked at the floor as she answered. "I just follow you."

"That doesn't mean you don't have an opinion." Kyoraku sighed. "All right Jyuushiro, you win. We'll stick around for a little while. Just to experiment though. It's not permanent."

Ichigo had a feeling, from the look on Ukitake's face, that it would become permanent, if the silver-haired man had any say in it. "It's probably safe for us to go back now." Rukia said as she finished her soup. "I'm sure the cabin's safe—"

"Don't count on it." Hitsugaya interrupted. "If the Seekers know humans were living there, they'll be watching it."

"You'd be safer staying here." Kiyone agreed. "We probably have enough room for everybody. A few people will have to double up—"

"Three extra caves." Isane interrupted her sister. "Kyoraku-kun and Nanao-san in one, Hitsugaya-kun and Hinamori-san in another, Kurosaki-kun and Rukia-san in the third. Someone will just have to sacrifice privacy for Matsumoto-san — unless she doesn't mind staying by herself."

"Sorry I'm such an inconvenience." The joking tone in Matsumoto-san's voice was easy to pick out.

"My room's big enough." Renji volunteered. "As long as we have extra bedding."

"We do…" Ukitake said slowly. "But I don't think we'll have enough for everybody."

Ichigo, who seemed more willing to accept staying then Rukia was, spoke up. "If someone wants to take a field trip back to our cabin, we had mattresses and stuff. I'm sure the Seekers left everything — none of it would be of any use to them — we can salvage a bit. We just went on a raid too, so there'll be some food and stuff."

"Sounds fun." Renji's voice was bored. "I'll help."

"Me too." Sentarou volunteered while Hitsugaya shrugged in an 'I-don't-care' sort of way. Rukia bit her lip, scowling slightly. No one else seemed to notice. "We'd better go after dark though — ya know, just in case."

"That'd be best, yeah…"

The four delve into a discussion about their plans. Isane stood up, collecting everyone's empty bowls. "Kiyone you're helping me do dishes."

Kiyone groaned, looking put-out. "Ukitake-san wants me to do inventory." She said quickly. "I don't have time for dishes—"

"If they're going to be bringing more stuff back, then there's no point in doing inventory, is there?" Kiyone had no response for that. "Let's go."

Kiyone sighed and stood, following her sister out of the kitchen. "We'll have to take a look at those extra caves." Ukitake stood, stretching. He looked to the males of his own group, but Sentarou and Renji were both wrapped up in their discussion. "Rukia-san, Hinamori-san, would you like to help me?" He conceded with a sigh. Both girls nodded, standing and follow Ukitake as he started off for another part of the cave. Kyoraku and Nanao followed.

Rukia got a chance to look around for the first time since she'd arrived at the cave. And finally she saw that there were small lanterns hanging along the walls. There was a small flame inside each of them, lighting the way. They were almost like old-fashioned streetlamps. "Those'll burn for six or seven hours at a time." Ukitake explained. "Whoever goes to sleep last is responsible for putting them out. We only light the halls we use frequently; this one, for instance, and the area around where our rooms are. Otherwise we just use flashlights to get around — though most of us know the cave well enough that even those aren't necessary."

"It's pretty big, huh?" Hinamori asked as she watched Rukia's awestruck face. "We've never stayed here for any length of time, but we know it pretty well."

"Most of the rooms are down this hall." Ukitake said as they turned down another hall, ending up in what almost resembled a courtyard. "Rukia-san you were staying in one of the Isane's make-shift infirmary before — there isn't much for her to do down here, but Sentarou and Renji tend to get hurt, she fixes them up the best she can. " Rukia barely noticed what she was saying. She was turning in a slow circle, taking in everything. She saw three empty caves — the ones Isane had mentioned earlier. Then there were four caves whose entrances were covered — one by a thick, but ratty looking-blanket, one by a flowery curtain, like something one might see hanging in a window, one by a what looked like a bedroom door, and one with a large silver screen. "We have other empty caves." Ukitake explained. "But we like staying in the general vicinity of each other. If we ever get more people, we'll have to use those other caves. But the numbers we have now work out perfectly."

"That's what Isane-san meant earlier." Rukia realized. "About Matsumoto-san staying by herself, right?"

"Yeah. None of us really feel like being outcasted to another part of the cave."

"Rangiku won't want to be alone." Kyoraku said. "As long as nobody minds sharing with her, she'll try to stay in this area."

"Abarai-kun already volunteered. I'm sure that'll work out fine." Then, for Rukia's sake, she was sure, Ukitake started giving the caves owners. "Renji—" the bedroom door, "Isane—" the flower curtain, "Sentarou and Kiyone—" the blanket, "me." The silver screen. "You can decide amongst yourselves which of the free caves you want — if you want privacy we can find something for you to cover the door with — try to be aware, though, that sound echoes in these caves."

"Isane told me Sentarou and Kiyone don't always realize that." Hinamori explained to Rukia in a giggle. Ukitake pressed his lips together, obviously trying not to smile.

"They've…gotten better."

Rukia was already exploring. She stepped carefully up to one of the dark caves then, as an afterthought, pulled a keychain flashlight — it was Renji's' Kyoraku had left it the night before when he went after Nanao — from her pocket, clicking it on. It didn't give much light to the room — she missed her's and Ichigo's lantern. She hoped he'd be able to salvage it.

The cave, from what Rukia saw of it, seemed about average size. The ceiling seemed kind of low though — Rukia reached up and realized she could touch it. "That one's small." Ukitake confirmed Rukia's beliefs. "Kurosaki-kun might not be too fond of it."

Hinamori peaked in around Rukia. "Perfect for Shirou-chan and I."

Rukia moved on to the next one, swiveling her small light around. This one was round-ish — it gave Rukia the distinct feeling of a bubble. "This must be what a fish feels like." She joked as she stepped in and made a slow circle, looking around. Ukitake chuckled.

"Isane's is the same way. It's comfortable for her. You might want something different…"

But it was perfect. It almost reminded Rukia of their home under the cabin. She liked that. "No, this is great. If Kyoraku-kun and Nanao-san are okay with the last one, we'll take this one."

"If we take the last one, am I going to hit my head every morning when I stand up?" Kyoraku asked.

"No, last one's pretty big — height-wise, anyway."

"Then we'll take it." Ukitake smiled, liking that everything seemed to be working out.

"Perfect. I'll get flashlights for you, unfortunately the ones Hinamori-san and Rukia-san chose don't have windows—"

"Ichigo and I had a lantern at our cabin. He can probably get that while he's there." Then Rukia remembered something. "Oh wait, that probably doesn't work anymore. I hit a Seeker with it. I forgot."

Hinamori laughed. "You hit a Seeker with a lantern?"

"I was desperate. I didn't have a weapon, and they were trying to capture me." Kyoraku was chuckling appreciatively.

"She's resourceful, I'll give her that. She's gonna be handy to have around Jyuushiro." Rukia pressed her lips tightly together, trying not to look too pleased with the compliment.

They followed Ukitake back out to the kitchen area, where the others were still sitting, deep in conversation. The group ignored them, heading across the kitchen, towards another cave. "This is our cooking area." Ukitake walked over to a large, square stone. Rukia followed, looking around him. There were four round-ish holes in the top, which all had metal grates over them. Below the grates, Rukia could see the remains of a fire. "Sentarou's handy work." Ukitake explained. "He's fairly good at sculpting, though he won't admit it."

Rukia couldn't help but feel impressed. She didn't have time to stop and examine the stove further though. Ukitake was already moving out of the kitchen, towards another dark area.

It took Rukia's eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness. She saw a small light off in one corner of the cavern, accompanied by Kiyone complaining. "I hate dishes…"

"You'd have never made a good housewife." Isane said. Rukia could imagine the older woman rolling her eyes. Ukitake flicked on a flashlight, surprising everyone.

"This," he started, "is the cleaning area. There are four different springs here. One is for doing dishes—" he swiveled the flashlight to Isane and Kiyone, who seemed to be finishing up, "one is for bathing—" he swung the light to the spring closest to them, "and the other two are for whatever we think of. The river above is what feeds into them."

Rukia just nodded. She was still busy trying to take everything in. "That's about it. The only place left is the infirmary — and I'm sure you don't want to see that place any time soon—"

Rukia shook her head vigorously. She'd seen enough of Isane's infirmary to last her a lifetime. "That's that then."

He led them back to the kitchen. Isane and Kiyone followed, clean dishes in hand. Ichigo, Renji, Hitsugaya, and Sentarou were all starting to stand and stretch. "Meeting over already?" Ukitake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We decided to get an early start." Sentarou explained. "Hang in the shadows for awhile and see if anyone is watching the place. Better to know now than be surprised later."

"We're going to check out a cave near here too." Hitsugaya added. "See if we can find a new spot to hide Ichigo's car — that might be pretty handy to have in the future."

"You're going to drive his car through the woods?" Hinamori asked, raising an eyebrow at them.

"No. Obviously he's going to have to go into town and do a little driving to get to this side of the woods from the streets."

"These woods go through three different towns." Hinamori argued. "You don't know them well enough to do that."

"I can help with that." Kyoraku volunteered. "I know the towns pretty well, I used to travel a lot. If you want me along, that is."

"If you want to come."

"Shunsui…" Nanao muttered, looking weary.

"Aw, don't give me that look Nanao, it'll be fine. Don't worry so much, that pessimism of yours is going to bring us all down."

Nanao frowned but kept her mouth shut. "Hey Isane-san." Ichigo spoke up finally. "My bag is still in the infirmary, right?"

"Yeah, which reminds me. When Nanao and I were going through that last night we found a blanket stuffed at the bottom…" Isane raised an eyebrow at Ichigo as comprehension dawned on his face.

"Yeah, uh…that's Rukia's."

Rukia's eyes lit up. "You saved it?" She asked Ichigo excitedly. His face reddened slightly as he looked down, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah…I figured you'd kill me if I didn't."

"You figured right." Rukia was thrilled to find out her bunny blanket had survived the home invasion. Ichigo left to get his bag, and Rukia was suddenly surrounded by couples say goodbye. Feeling intensely awkward, she turned to face Ukitake and Renji, who were studiously ignoring the scene. It was a relief when Ichigo came back, bag swung over his shoulder.

Before he left he leaned down so he was eye level with Rukia and whispered in her ear, "At least try to get to Nanao. I bet you'll like her."

Rukia's sigh came out as a huff of annoyance. Their eyes met as he straightened up again, and she nodded sullenly. A smirk pulled at his lips.

"See ya later."

He followed the others out. Rukia sighed and let her head hang back, staring at the ceiling. "And he's gone again. He really needs to learn to hold still."

Ukitake chuckled. "Hey Nanao." Isane spoke up. "Want to help me organize all the medicine? Ten dollars says Kurosaki-kun just dumped it out of his bag and into a corner."

Isane was most likely right. Rukia smiled slightly as she watched the two women walk away. Ukitake went off to do his own thing, which left Rukia to her thoughts — never a good thing. She stared down the hall after Isane and Nanao, justifying herself.

She did help save my life…I at least owe her a thanks for that, don't I? And I'm not doing anything, I should help Isane…

With these thoughts in mind she dragged herself down the hall to the infirmary.

Author's Note: Please don't complain about it being boring, I know it was boring...if you're going to complain, choose something not-as-obvious to complain about, okay? And review, please -- Sam