"...hime-san."

"...wake up, Ori..."

"Hurry..."

"Oi, woman! Wake the fuck up now!"

Her eyes flew open at the behest of her powers. Coming out of such a deep sleep, she was disorientated to her surroundings for a moment. Yet, there was something she registered immediately; that odd feeling from earlier in the day was back and much more pronounced than before. She could feel it – the nothingness – that had encroached upon her senses. Her smoky eyes cut to the left but the darkness of the room shielded the figure she could make out beside her bed. Before a scream could even work its way into her throat, a gleam of light creeping through her window reflected off something above her.

"Move now!"

Tsubaki's frantic command came the same moment she realized what it was coming towards her. In a split second she forced her now terrified body to roll away – but she wasn't quick enough. She kept rolling towards the wall even as she heard the mumbled curse of her home invader when his sword imbedded itself into her futon. She struggled to get to her knees as the immense fear she was now under kept her body weak.

For some reason, there was hardly any pain.

Perhaps she was going into shock?

Why she could even think of that at this moment in time was beyond her methods of comprehension. Panic set into her very bones as she brought her hand up to her throat, trying to staunch the flow of blood pouring from her open throat. Rolling away had saved her life at that instant but she had not escaped injury. The tip of his blade had caught her windpipe and continued to open the delicate flesh of her neck as she rolled away. Without even thinking of her powers, her dome materialized over her hunched frame.

Cold eyes assessed her from across the room. She wanted to know who he was, demand to know why he had attacked her, but words could not even form. At the moment even breathing was impossible for her. Every breath she tried to pull in brought nothing but a wet, gurgling sound from her throat.

Tears pricked her eyes...she had never been more afraid in her life.

There had been more frightening looking creatures that had attacked her, men with much more power than the one she felt in front of her had...yet...

She felt as if she were drowning in her own blood. It seeped from between her fingers as she pushed against her own flesh. She couldn't even cry out in the state she was in. Black spots were appearing in her vision as the need for oxygen was making itself known.

"Another moment Orihime-san." she heard Shun'o speak in her mind. "Please try and focus just another moment."

Kami, she didn't know if she could. Even know, as she was staring into the dark eyes of this nameless man that had tried to kill her, she could not focus on him at all. The threat of death under her own body had blocked out everything else. All she could tell was that he wasn't rushing in to finish her off.

A rush of air suddenly slipped past her poor, partially healed throat and she began coughing violently against the blood that had poured into her lungs. Shun'o and Ayame had managed to heal her severed windpipe with amazing speed but her life's blood was still leaking from the large cut to her neck. Orihime took several deep breaths once her coughing fit ended. There was still a heavy rattle deep within her chest, much worse but similar to when she had the flu, but she pushed the worry aside for the moment.

She could breath again.

Tears once again filled her eyes but this time in immense relief. Now, with her healing dome beginning to try and close the veins that were ripped open, she tried to focus on the man watching her with such a curious gaze. The details were becoming clear to her now. He was a slim man, but seemed to have a solid frame beneath his shihakusho. Tousled, brown locks reached to his shoulders and fluttered against the night winds coming in from the open window. His sword still lay against her futon and her eyes were drawn to the pure wickedness of its shape.

From tip to handle the sharp edge of the blade was nothing more than a mass of jagged edges. It was nothing like Abarai-kun's sword, which in shikai form had some parts sticking out. No...this was much, much different. The only thing Orihime could think to compare it to was as if someone had broken the sword along the entire length of it. There was no pattern to the sinister looking edges.

It was a sword meant to cause the most pain and damage it possibly could.

Her body gave an involuntary shudder as he slowly raised it from the floor and it gleamed almost wickedly in the moonlight.

Without warning he rushed at her, slashing powerfully against her Soten Kisshun. The golden dome shattered under his assault and an evil grin appeared on his face as he drew back to swing at her once more. With one hand pressed tightly against her still bleeding throat, Orihime threw her other hand in front of her – calling forth her Santen Kesshun. The intruder's blade rang loudly in the apartment as it hit against her sturdy shield. She said a small prayer of thanks when her shield held it's ground.

"So you have more than just healing abilities." the nameless man said. His voice was deep and raspy in quality; the mere sound of it sending small waves of fear down her spine once again.

"Who...who are you?" she whispered. Pain was beginning to leak into her system and she still feared for the state of her throat. This man in front of her was obviously not going to allow her to heal herself fully. She never removed the hand from her throat but she could still feel the gash across her pale skin. While it was so much smaller compared to before, blood was continuing to trickle between her fingers.

"You don't need to know my name." he replied, pushing his free hand against the golden light of her barrier in a curious fashion. "All you need to know is I'm the man who's going to end your life."

Gray eyes widened in surprise as he began slashing furiously at the shield in front of her. Orihime poured her reiatsu into making the shied hold but she could feel the tremors already running through her muscles. Fear, injury, and blood loss had her at a serious disadvantage at the moment. The man never paused; again and again he hacked at the golden shield, trying to force it to break. She was running out of time and needed a plan now.

Orihime looked around the room quickly, hoping and praying for something to help her. Of course, there was nothing nearby that could help her win against this determined killer. The only choice she had was to run. Keeping the hand against the large slash in her neck, she gathered her knees under her and prepared to run. She pushed outward against her Santen Kesshun, forcing it to crowd her attacker and push him back. He floundered momentarily and that was the opportunity she was looking for.

With a quickness and agility she didn't feel capable of, Orihime leapt to her feet and ran for the front door of her apartment. His shout of outrage behind her only pushed her to go faster. With shaking hands, she worked the latch free of it's holder and threw open the worn obstacle. The cold night winds hit her body heavily but she didn't have time to think about them. Her powers returned to her and she knew he would be right behind her. She turned the corner, sprinting towards the staircase leading to the ground floor of her apartment complex. The cold stone of the walkway hurt each time her bare feet made another step but she didn't pause; escape was only a few feet away.

"Bitch." he hissed from close behind her.

She turned mid-step and a muted cry left her lips. His eyes burned with fury as he swung his zanpakuto towards her body once more. There was no where for her to go, no time to put her shield up as his horrible sword made contact with her flesh. Instinct made her throw herself away from his attack but, once again, she cried out as the blade bit into her thigh.

The hard concrete of the railing hit her back and with the momentum of her movement, she went tumbling over the side of the building. For a moment, she was captured in fear as the winds rushed around her. Everything seemed to slow down as the world twisted into a deadly spiral. She saw the dark stranger peer over the railing as he watched her fall, the sidewalk below her grew larger as she careened towards it, she could even see the droplets of her own blood falling after her from his sword's tip.

In a rush, everything settled back into place and she closed her eyes tight against the coming streets.

"Idiot!"

Tsubaki's call came only a scant second before her powers erupted forth once again, forming her shield as a net to catch her. There was no room to slow her descent and she hit the golden barrier painfully. Her speed caused her to roll from its smooth surface and tumble onto the rough pavement below.

Ignoring the throbbing in her right thigh, she forced her shield to take root in front of her once again. The stranger leapt from the landing she fell from and stood only feet away from her ragged form. She rubbed her hand along the soft black cotton pants she wore before pressing it to her wounded neck. The pressure brought a new wave of pain that had her biting back nausea.

"You're surprisingly resilient." he remarked with a humorless grin.

Her eyes narrowed to him. "You're the one who hurt Kuchiki-san aren't you?"

He took a step forward and she called out Tsubaki. Her fighter hovered just next to her shoulder – awaiting orders from his master.

"And you're the one who healed her." he drawled in that gravelly voice. "I'll admit I am more than surprised by your healing abilities. The both of you should be dead from the injuries I've given you. Had I not watched you heal your own throat I would have never thought something like that possible."

She didn't bother giving him a response. Her eyes darted left and right, hoping desperately to figure out a way to save herself.

She didn't know what to do.

She knew she was too injured, too weak at this moment to hope to ever win a fight against this man. There was no one around and her cell phone lay on her table inside the apartment – not that he'd ever give her time to call someone.

What could she do? There's no way she could outrun him either, even if she didn't have a deep wound to her leg he could simply use his shunpo and catch up with her in a heartbeat.

"It's too bad you're a friend of the Kuchiki's." he began as he once again leveled his sword at her. "If you want to blame somebody, blame them for your death."

With a malicious grin, he raised his sword high and dashed towards her. She shot Tsubaki at him but his flash step to the side allowed him to avoid the powerful small creature. With bated breath, she watched his sword descend.

"El directo!"

The shout came a second before a powerful burst of reiatsu rushed between her shield and the encroaching shinigami. The stranger leapt backwards, his face showing the shock at the interference.

Orihime craned her head backwards and felt relief pour through her system. Sado was running down the street to her position, his armor activated down his right arm. The shinigami curled his lip at the new arrival and prepared to step in his direction. A hail of reishi made arrows encircled him; Orihime saw his sword raise above his head in defense of the sudden attack.

In a blur, Ishida was in front of her shield – ready to face down the man attacking his nakama.

"Inoue, are you alright?" Sado asked when he finally made it to her side. The large man knelt down beside her, eyes sweeping her huddled frame for injuries.

"Sado-kun, Ishida-kun..." tears poured down her face and she tried to smile for her friends. Her whispered voice and bloody neck only caused their eyes to widen in a greater fear. "How did yo..."

"How did we know?" Ishida interrupted. Though he couldn't see the full scale of her injury behind her hand, the massive amount of blood covering her top had him immediately frightened for her. This enemy had to be dealt with quickly; Inoue needed medical attention, or time to call out her Soten Kisshun, and fast. "I've been worried about your comment from earlier today. How you said you felt something weird around us." he turned his now hardened face back to the un-named opponent. "Your reiatsu detecting capabilities are some of the best amongst all of us – shinigami included. I've been monitoring the area all day; that's how I felt this person's presence."

"Ishida told me about the feeling you had so I've been trying to keep a watch out as well. When I felt the spike in your reiatsu I knew something was going on." Sado said from her side.

"Th..."

"Don't speak." Ishida's stern voice spoke, though he didn't turn around. "That wound is bad; just stay there and keep silent until we deal with this guy. I promise we won't take long."

She nodded, though he couldn't see her. Her neck was in considerable pain; the harsh landing she had earlier must have torn the partially repaired cut open even further.

"While I'm sure I would enjoy making you eat those words, human," the shinigami spat the last word and drew up his lip as if it left a horrible taste in his mouth. "I have no intention of waiting around for the other shinigami to show up. Heed my words, stay away from the Kuchiki clan if you wish to live."

With a final harsh glare to them all, the nameless man sped away using his shunpo. Almost immediately, the odd feeling of nothingness covered the area from all sides, making it impossible to tell in which direction their attacker fled in.

"Damn it." Ishida muttered as he searched fruitlessly for some sort of trail to follow.

"Who was that?"

The trio turned swiftly at the voice – stunned to see current representative for Karakura behind them.

"You're late, as usual." Ishida spat. Orihime turned her eyes to the ground as she began to feel a little uncomfortable. Ishida-kun was angry and she could feel the tension rolling off Sado-kun as well. Unfortunately, she was in no state to try and sooth the rising temper of her friends.

"Ishida," Sado said, turning to his friend. "Where should we take her?"

Ishida didn't ponder the comment for long before pulling his cell phone free from his pocket. "She needs a doctor, and fast. Kurosaki is closer than my father's hospital. Go on and head there; I'm gonna call him so he can wake his father."

Sado nodded once and gently scooped Inoue into his arms. The giant held her securely against his chest and took off in a sprint for the Kurosaki clinic.

Ishida found the vizard's number and dialed; tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for his friend to pick up.

"Are you gonna tell me who that was?" the representative asked again, hands on his hips in agitation.

"Quiet!" Ishida snapped as he heard Ichigo finally answer.

"What the hell do you want at 3am Ishida?" Ichigo mumbled, both tired and angry at having been awoken.

"Get your father up and meet us at your clinic door Kurosaki. Inoue-san's been injured."

That alone roused Ichigo fully from the clutches of sleep. "What! What happened? Is she okay?"

"I'll explain later but get your father down there."

Ichigo didn't need to pry any further; his friend's tone said it all. Ishida heard the phone snap shut and sighed heavily at the emotions he knew Ichigo must be going through. He turned angry eyes onto the irritated shinigami in front of him.

"Tell your commanding officer there's been an attack in Karakura by the same man who attacked the Kuchiki residence." Using his hirenkyaku, Ishida pushed himself to catch up with Sado and Inoue, not bothering to wait around until the shinigami stopped sputtering in shock.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Isshin stood at the door to his clinic, watching the darkened street in front of him with a grave face. His son had been almost frantic as he shook him awake; his words tumbling over each other in his haste to report Ishida's phone call to him. Ichigo was now pacing back and forth in front of the doorway – his brows drawn down in a deep frown and hands clenched by his side. Isshin felt his son's reiatsu rippling over the area and couldn't decide if it felt more angry or scared.

Perhaps Ichigo himself didn't know.

"I meant what I said Ichigo," his father began, drawing his son's eyes towards him. "When they get here I want you to stay back and let me see what's wrong with her. I don't need you hanging all over her demanding answers to what happened and seeing if she's okay."

"I know that!" his son snapped. He resumed his severe pacing once more. Isshin was sure the only thing that kept him from running to meet them was his stern orders to stay put. Isshin knew if his son met them halfway he would invariably hold up their progress to the clinic...and if she was hurt bad enough, that could have disastrous consequences. "What's taking them so long?" Ichigo muttered.

"Calm down son. It's only been a couple of minutes since you got the phone call." Isshin had immediately responded to the rushed words of his son when he woke him. The long time practices of a physician that were ingrained into his blood at this point pulled him from the bed and got his body going. Indeed, he had only thrown his lab coat over his pajamas as he rushed to ready a room.

He felt their reiatsu only a moment before Ichigo did. The two Kurosaki's stilled as they waited for the group to come into view.

When Sado rounded the corner of the block with Orihime in his arms, Isshin saw the danger that had roused him from his bed. "Ichigo, stand out of the way!" his voice left no room for question as he ran back into the house. He propped open the first door of their clinic so Sado would know where to come and began pulling equipment out of the cabinets. Saline bags, IV lines, large gauze pads, iodine, and a suture kit soon filled the bedside tray he'd already prepared. He donned a pair of latex gloves and waited for his patient. Not a moment after he finished, his son's large friend came bursting through the doorway carrying the pale looking young woman.

"Lay her down here Sado-kun." he instructed the young man as he readied a pair of scissors. Orihime's eyes were closed and her face contorted in pain but with the first cut to the bottom of her shirt the young woman sat upright and managed a blush for the doctor.

"What are you doing Kurosaki-san?" she whispered and wrapped her other arm around her middle.

Though her quick reaction stunned him, he smiled to see her conscious. "I have to cut away your shirt to see where the injury is my dear...and you need to lay down." his hands on her shoulder were gentle but firm as they pressed her into the gurney.

"It's my neck that's hurt." she managed to tell him, hoping he would stop trying to cut away her clothes.

He smiled gently for the obviously nervous young woman. However, her eyes were still wide and he could see the hand against her neck tremble. Isshin strongly suspected that wasn't nerves but fear still forcing adrenaline through her body. "Alright, let me see." he said softly.

Her hand slowly moved away from the large gash against her neck and he did his best not to let the shock show on his face. The wound stretched from just above her clavicle to the middle of her throat – dangerously close to her trachea. The cut was not a clean slice, as he had seen many times from a sword wound. Instead, ribbons of her flesh lay flayed open in an awkward way. It didn't look like a cut...it looked more like someone had tried to tear the gentle woman's throat out. Despite the severe look of the wound, he couldn't see any arterial or venous damage that would have caused the massive amount of blood that covered her shirt. That's what caused his panic in the first place.

"Orihime-chan, are you injured anywhere else?"

"I have a cut on my leg."

"No, I mean on your chest somewhere. Your neck looks bad but it's not bleeding enough to have caused you to lose this much blood."

Her face turned away from him at that point. He watched, stunned, as tears began to pour down her pale cheeks. The fine tremors in her hand now spread to the rest of her body. "It was worse."

He barely caught the whispered admission. How much worse could it have been? His eyes roamed the skin of the wounded girl in front of him as his brain began reminding him of her healing powers. Shock lanced through his body as a thought struck him. There's no way...

"What are you doing old man!" Ichigo screamed from the corner of the room. "Hurry up and help her!"

Isshin didn't bother to turn towards his son. The pain in the loud words was enough, he didn't want to see the face of his son possibly breaking as well.

Orihime grabbed his hand as he pressed gauze to her wounded neck. "I can heal myself."

"Orihime-chan, you've lost a lot of blood and your reiatsu is weak." he protested.

"I know, but I still have enough left for this. It would be really hard to try and sew together, wouldn't it?" she asked with a sad smile.

He reluctantly nodded and returned the sad gaze she'd given him. Truth be told, he didn't even know where to begin to place the stitches she needed. "Go ahead and heal your neck. I'm gonna give you some IV fluids and take a look at your leg okay?"

"Yes sir." she called out her dome but restrained herself and only placed it over her neck. The heat of battle was gone now and lying on the gurney in Kurosaki-san's house, where she knew she was safe, was letting her relax a little. Unfortunately, that also meant the shock of everything was wearing off and the pain was getting worse. Her leg was on fire, her back and shoulders hurt from her tumble on the ground, but none were as bad as her neck. The entire upper left side of her body was screaming in torture. Her eyes were shut tightly as she tried to keep the tears at bay.

A gentle hand covered her own; the fingers sliding against her skin as if she were made of very fragile glass. Her tired eyes opened to see Ichigo's face just above her own. His lips were tilted up just so as he gazed into her eyes. He squeezed her hand lightly, just to let her know he was with her. Ichigo's presence surrounded her, filled her with the knowledge that she wasn't alone anymore. She was safe now – he would make sure of that.

Her eyes closed and she rested while her powers worked on her ravaged neck. The tension eased out of her body as Ichigo continued to sit beside her, stroking the back of her hand while his father helped heal her injuries.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The cold was biting through the thin jacket he'd thrown on but he stubbornly ignored it. Ichigo sat on the steps leading into the clinic, peering down the darkened empty streets of Karakura.

He had to leave the house.

Orihime was sleeping now; his father was watching over her so he was satisfied that she was in good care for the moment. The horrible injuries he had to see on her person were – for the most part – taken care of. She'd used the last of her strength repairing the damage to her neck. The skin there was once again smooth and unblemished as it should be. His father could do, or should he say, would only do so much for the injury to her leg. The ragged edges of her flesh would be difficult to mend together so he set about just dressing the wound for now. A cold, wet dressing was placed immediately over the wound and it was then wrapped with gauze. He thought it would be better for Orihime to heal it whenever she regained her strength. Had he sutured it, she would be left with a large, uneven scar.

Rage boiled so strongly within Ichigo right now that he had to get away from everyone. His friends stayed within the house, re-telling the events of the night to his father. He'd already heard the story once and as soon as she had fallen asleep he ran out of the house, quickly changing into shinigami form and scouring the city for any sign of the bastard who'd hurt her. Unfortunately, he had no luck. It was just as Ishida said, there was absolutely no sign of the man's reiatsu and no trail of any sort left to follow.

His hands curled into fists in the protection of his pockets.

Again.

Once again he had to watch her bleed and couldn't do a fucking thing about it.

He felt it once more. The dark, murderous feelings ran through his veins. His hollow flexed and twisted within the deep confines of his soul with joy at the blood lust he felt. There would be bloodshed...but not from Orihime; no, he demanded the blood of the bastard who dared to touch her.

But how in the hell were they supposed to catch this bastard?

A familiar presence was approaching the clinic. Before he could even think to get up or call to his friends, Ishida appeared at the doorway.

"She's still resting." the Quincy simply said as they awaited the new arrivals to appear. Ichigo only gave a nod of understanding; he still wasn't up for talking to anyone at this point.

Rukia and Renji led the small troop of shinigami towards the Kurosaki clinic.

"How is she?" Rukia immediately asked.

Ichigo wouldn't, couldn't answer that question. The fear he'd seen in her eyes as she lay bleeding on that cold gurney would haunt him for a very long time.

"She's sleeping." Ishida replied when he realized Ichigo would not. "The larger of her injuries have been healed but there are more yet to tend to."

The petite shinigami's shoulders sagged with relief. "Thank the kami."

"What happened?" Byakuya simply asked.

"I can only tell you what we witnessed." Ishida said. "We've not heard anything from Inoue-san yet as to how this started."

"We need the information." Toshiro piped in. "According to Kurumadni, the person who attacked was indeed a shinigami like Kuchiki reported, but he escaped again."

"Yes, he was a shinigami but I don't recall ever seeing him before." Ishida informed them, pushing his slender glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "He was dressed in a shihakusho and carried a zanpakuto."

"We need a report from you but we will need to speak to Inoue Orihime as well."

Ichigo moved, only slightly...he just shifted his weight where he sat but it was enough to draw the attention of the four shinigami in front of him. Dark brown eyes swirling with a depth of emotion locked onto the two captains. "You'll wait until she wakes up on her own." His voice gave no room for any arguments.

Byakuya met the harsh stare with one of his own. They had not been given much detail about her injuries but a single look from the substitute told him all they needed to know.

"We will be back in the morning." Byakuya finally said and turned on his heel – walking away from the group.

"Ni...Nii-sama?" Rukia called in vain.

"Let him go Rukia."

"But Renji..."

His large hand came to rest on her slender shoulder. The red-head turned to face Ichigo once again. "Is she really alright Ichigo?"

The concern shining through the eyes of his normally gruff friend was too much for him to continue to watch. Ichigo turned away with a soul weary sigh. Perhaps Renji could tell how much he was hurting because they had shared similar pains recently.

"Yeah," he finally said. "She'll be okay. There's another wound on her leg that needs to heal but she's too worn out to do anything about it right now."

"He didn't...?" Rukia began but couldn't manage to finish the sentence. By the look of horror on her face he knew she was thinking about the injury she herself had suffered under this man's hands.

"No. He got her neck instead." Ichigo said after a pause.

The three shinigami were silent after the vizard's low admission. Though they could only conjure up scenarios as to what happened, the mood surrounding the entire clinic led them to believe the horrible things they were imaging to possibly be true.

"We'll continue to search tonight for any new leads but I doubt we'll be successful." Toshiro commented. "I'll send someone else to aide the representative for the night, just to be cautious. Where should we meet you tomorrow?"

After a moment's pause, Ichigo stood and brushed the loose dirt from his pants. "Just meet us at Orihime's apartment. Seeing as it's already past 4am don't bother coming til around lunch." he didn't wait for a reply but walked back in to her bedside. Ishida was saying something to the shinigami but he couldn't care less.

He gave a nod to his father, who sat in the corner of the room making notes on a clip board. Chado wasn't in the room any longer but he had no desire to seek out his friend.

Someone had placed a chair by her bedside – his father probably – so he took the unoccupied seat. Color was slowly returning to her pale cheeks. The even, deep breaths of her slumber were a great comfort to his turbulent emotions. No grimace of pain crossed her beautiful face during her dreams and for that he was grateful. Instead of the blood soaked pajamas she had been wearing when she arrived, she now wore one of the hospital gowns his father kept handy.

Tenderly, he brushed a lock of hair away from her forehead as he studied her. How many more times was she going to come so close to death? Why couldn't he protect her the way he wanted to?

He sighed once again and laid his head on the bed. Threading his fingers through her own, he tried to calm the thoughts rushing through his brain. He could do nothing about the lingering questions he still had so he tried to push them out of his head.

All he cared about at the moment was the warmth of her skin and the steady heartbeat ticking away on the monitor.

-x-x-x-x-x-x—x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A/N:

whew! Just made it at the month mark! I'd apologize but it'll probably happen again for the next chapter. If I've never said it before, I work in the medical field and this is that time of year when it gets extra busy. I work longer hours and pretty much stay in a state of exhaustion for the next three or four months. I will, of course, do my best to keep my updates at least at a reasonable pace but I ask for everyone's understanding.

Hope you enjoy the chapter! Review pretty please! I've almost hit that 400 mark and really wanna see it pass it this time.

Oh, and come on...who went into fan girl super mode with me at Ichigo's new bankai?