I OWN NOTHING BUT THE STORY LINE AND THE CHARACTERS THAT YOU DON'T KNOW FROM THE ANIME/MANGA!

Chapter Fourteen

WHY?!

"He's been like this for days!"

"Of course he has. He doesn't know what to do. He's afraid."

"Afraid? Of what?"

"You know what. Stop acting stupid."

"What did you say?"

"Do I need to repeat it?"

Love gave a sigh as Hiyori and Ayami continued to argue. The two of them had been like this since the events with Aizen a week ago. Though the group was depressed, everyone was awake. Everyone but Natora. That's who Ayami and Hiyori were arguing about; sort of. Shinji had secluded himself in his room, ignoring food and water and nearly all contact with the others.

Kisuke Urahara had arrived with Tessai Tsukabishi to save them from Aizen. Now seen as traitors, Kisuke and Tessai, along with the help of Captain Yoruichi Shihon, had taken Shinji and the others under the events of Hollowfication and escaped to the human world. Kisuke had come up with a way to return them all to normal, though the Hollowfication still had the chance to break through, but Natora was the only one not to wake up again.

"Just calm down, guys." Kisuke gave them one of his smiles. "She'll wake up soon."

"Yeah, you said that four days ago," Mashiro sighed, kicking at the ground.

"Just have faith," Miyuki commented from her seat at the table; she was currently sewing something together. "She'll come around and then we'll be able to continue."

"Continue what?" Hiyori growled. "What are we going to do? We're stranded out here!"

"But we're together," Ayami told her. "And together we'll figure something out."

Kisuke watched them for a moment before heading upstairs. They had taken refuge in some abandoned warehouse in Karakura Town. Yoruichi had placed a a spell on it and had gone off with Tessai to scout; they had been gone since yesterday.

Kisuke had taken it upon himself to check on Natora every few hours. From what he had discovered over the last few days, Natora had gone through the worst pain during her Hollowfication. At least, that's what he hoped, since she was still recuperating.

"Natora, I'm coming in," Kisuke called into the room as he opened the door. Her form was laying in bed, eyes closed. She looked…peaceful. "Can you talk yet?" He asked, taking a seat beside her; she didn't move. "No, I guess not, huh?" Leaning back in his chair, Kisuke rubbed a hand over his face. "What's going to happen?" He asked. "I thought I had done the right thing in going to help you guys, but now…now I'm not so sure. What can I do now? Outcasts and fugitives now, the lot of us. We'll have to stay in hiding for a while now. They'll be on the lookout for us." Leaning forward in his chair, Kisuke stared at the floor as he spoke. "I wish I could have seen her face as she found the ring I had planned to give her. I wish I could have seen Hiromi's face one more time; heard her voice. I wish I could have told her that I loved her one more time." He closed his eyes, clutching his hands together. "I wish I could have said goodbye."

Kisuke felt lost. HE had brought a few things with him but most of wwhat he had n the Seireitei was now left in Mayuri's hands; that didn't make him feel good at all.

"She knows." The voice brought Kisuke back from his thoughts.

"Natora? You're awake!" The woman had opened her eyes and was now staring at the ceiling. He began to check her wounds but her words stopped him..

"Hiromi knows that you love her," She told him. "You may have been separated but if you both stay strong, one day, somehow, you'll get to see each other again. Just have faith and never forget."

Kisuke was silent for a moment, taking in her words, before letting a smile spread across his face. "How are you feeling?"

"Betrayed, mad," She answered. "And like I have been on fire for the last 24 hours."

Natora tried to sit up; Kisuke helped. "You've been asleep for almost a week, Natora, so you're going to have to take it easy."

"A week?" She repeated in shock. "What about the others? What happened to Aizen and that woman?"

Kisuke sat there and explained everything to her. The woman had been Hitomi, Hiromi's twin sister. She had been born with some type of disease and so their mother had hidden her from everyone; even her husband, father, and other daughter. At least until she went crazy and tried to kill her. It resulted in Hitomi saving herself by killing her mother. Hiromi took over her sister's wellbeing from there but when she created her Squad, Aizen was introduced to Hitomi and then came to the events of the Rukon District.

"My God," Natora cradled her head in her hands. "For Hiromi to hold that in all this time; no wonder she disappeared for nearly ten years."

"Yeah," Kisuke nodded. He was a little surprised that was what Natora was worried about. "She's strong; and smart. Everything will be okay."

She took a silent breath. "What now?"

"For now, we'll just wait until Tessai and Yoruichi return. Until then I will search for an answer." Kisuke stood up. "I'd go down and let the others know you're safe and back to normal. They're all worried about you."

Natora nodded. "Give me a bit to regain the feeling in my legs and I'll do just that."

"Then I won't say a word," He told her. "Don't push yourself, okay?"

"Thanks, Urahara," She hung her head for a moment. "This is going to be really hard, isn't it?"

"Undoubtedly," He told her as he left the room. "But as long as we're all together we'll be fine."

As the door closed, Natora tossed herself back against the pillows. Aizen had won. Whatever it was that he was planning was going to b a success now. He had beaten them and turned them into these…these creatures! Her and Lisa and Rose and Love. Hiyori and Kensei and Ayami and Mashiro and Miyuki…and Shinji…

Oh God, Shinji. How was she going to be able to face him after what she had done? He had wanted her to stay behind and protect the Soul Society if an event like this had happened and he was ripped away. And she had refused to listen. She had gone against her Captain's orders…how could she face him?

"With your head held high," Came Nova's voice. "You chose to do what you thought was right. Don't regret it."

"But how?" She asked her Zanpakto. "How can I not feel guilty? He must be furious!"

"Let him be," Was his answer. "In the end he will see that he is glad that you are with him instead of being separated from you; glad that you are hear, next to him to where he can protect you instead of you being left in the Seireitei with Aizen. Imagine how Kisuke feels."

Natora didn't want to think about that. She knew that the feelings that Kisuke and Hiromi held for each other were great and the thought of that loving being ripped away from them…Kisuke was strong too. He had to be."

Taking her steps slow, Natora quietly opened her door and took in the view of the group that sat below the stairs, talking, or in Hiyori and Ayami's case, arguing about what their next step in line would be.

"I say we return to the Soul Society and beat the hell out of them all!" Hiyori was growling. "How dare they sentence us to death like that!"

"Believe me," Ayami replied. "I would like to knock some sense in Genrysai myself, but you can't forget there are over a thousand warriors there; much more. And with the chance of us going Hollow again during battle we could be risking much more than our own lives. It would be a foolish choice."

"Are you calling me stupid?!"

Natora gave a small smile as she leaned on the railing to watch as Ayami and Hiyori argued some more. From the looks of the other's faces, this had been going on for a while now.

"Why do you always have to make things difficult?"

"So I'm difficult now, am I?"

"Oh, there's no denying that." Natora called down.

The arguing came to a halt and they all turned to look at the woman that stared down at them all.

"Natora!" Mashiro was the first to move and had rushed to the woman, tossing her arms around her neck. "You're alive! I had…had been so worried!"

Natora continued with her soft smile as she felt the small woman shiver in her arms. "It's alright, Mashiro. I'm all right."

"Good to see that," Love gave her a nod as she moved down the stairs, the smaller woman still clinging to her.

"Good to see you're all safe still, too." She told them all. "Sorry to have worried you all."

"You think we were worried?" Hiyori snorted.

"Yes we were," Rose replied. "Even you, Hiyori." The little woman gave a snort and crossed his arms.

"With you awake again," Kensei began. "Maybe Shinji will come out of his pity me phase."

"Pity me phase?" Natora had noticed that the blond man was not amongst the group here but she hadn't thought that something was wrong. "Is he all right?"

"Define 'all right'," Miyuki commented from the table.

"Ever since we arrived here he's been hiding in his room, refusing to come out or let anyone in," Hachi told her.

"Perhaps he'll talk to you," Lisa glanced at the other woman. "You are his Lieutenant, after all."

~He must have told them everything~ That was understandable. She would have demanded answers as well. "I'll try," She told them.

After being pointed to Shinji's room, Natora stopped and took a breath. She had to face the man some time. Why hide?

Reaching forward she wasn't surprised to find the door locked. She knocked. "Shinji? Shinji, open the door." There was silence. "Shinji, if you don't open the door then you're going make me force my way inside and I really don't want to do that." Still nothing; she felt her anger boil. "Captain Shinji Hirako, if you refuse to let me inside this door in five seconds I'll-" Her voice was cut off as the door was ripped open and the blond man stood there, glaring at her with an unhappy feel.

"Don't call me that," He hissed. "I am no longer a Captain."

He turned from her and disappeared back into the dark room. He had left the door open though, letting her follow him. She gave a pause inside. The entire room was in shambles, broken and smashed. The only thing still in one piece was the mattress in the corner, though it's frame was forgotten and in pieces beside it.

"I guess you haven't been in a very good mood lately, have you?" Natora regretted the words the moments they were out of her mouth but she didn't know what else to say. She was at a lost.

"A good mood?" Shinji sneered at her. "A good mood? No, I'm not. And I doubt that I will be for a long time. I just got my ass handed to me by a man that I swore to beat and protect the Seireitei from. I swore all that I am to keep Aizen from winning and he did just that, despite all that I had tried. He beat me and turned us all into…into whatever it is he turned us into!" She watched as the blond looked for something else to smash into pieces but he gave up and slumped to the center of the floor. "No matter what I did or how hard I tried, Aizen still won. He won and he knows it and it makes the defeat all the worse."

Natora didn't know what to say and just stood there was the man she loved wallowed in his defeat. What could she say? "It's not your fault, Shinji. There is nothing that you can do. Aizen had us all fooled. He has the entire Seireitei fooled. We weren't the only ones."

"That doesn't make me feel better!" He roared. "The very thought of him having the Seireitei in the palm of his hand…" His voice fell and he whipped around to face her. "You!" She gave a gulp, knowing what was about to happen. "What were you thinking?!" He jumped to his feet and moved towards her, making her back against the wall. "I gave you strict orders to stay there and be ready! If I was to not return then it was your job to spread the word to the Captains about Aizen! If you had done what I said then you would have been Kisuke's support against the other Captains and we would not be in this mess!"

"What, do you think that Genrysai would have let you live?" She cried back. "Even if I had been there and they believed us, Genrysai still would have sentenced all of you to death! We're Hollows now, Shinji! You wouldn't have been kept alive whether or not he believed us and I wouldn't have been able to live with that! We would be right where we are now because I would have joined with Kisuke to help you escape!"

"Yes, but then at least you wouldn't be cursed with this…this thing!" Shinji roared. Natora blinked in surprise as Shinji continued on with a battle inside himself. "If you had listened to me, then Aizen's trick wouldn't have been placed upon you and you would not been burdened with this curse." His voice had lowered to its regular pitch. "You would have been normal still, not forced to carry this Hollowfication! Why, Natora," She looked into her eyes. "Why didn't you just listen to me?"

"Tell him," Nova told her. "Tell him the truth."

Natora gave an inner nod and firmed her face, ready for any reaction that Shinji would give her. "Because I love you."

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