Chapter 3: Hospital in the Human World

Kurosaki Ichigo was trying hard not to break something. Like Yasutora Sado and Ishida Uryu, he was strung tight on tension, and the waiting wasn't helping.

'Dammit,' the orange haired substitute shinigami wished that someone was here, someone who would beat him up without reservation and then tell him to get over his problems, and to begin facing them. Someone like Kuchiki Rukia.

The petite shinigami hadn't come to Karakura Town since the mission with Toshiro and the others. He knew that he wasn't the only one who had noticed her absence, because lying to his family each day was just getting tiring. They all wanted to know where she'd gone this time, even the usually cynical Karin.

'Look there,' Uryu seemed glad to have something to say. He wasn't just tense for the obvious reason. The quick thinking Quincy was also worried about the sudden reoccurrence of the swift cloud changes in the sky above Karakura Town.

'Ichigo,' Rukia dropped from the Senkaimon, landing before he friend. Indigo eyes noted the set looks on the faces of the three people standing in the clearing with her. She was about to ask what was wrong when Abarai Renji, Lieutenant of the Sixth Division, jumped down beside her.

There was a pause, and then a muffled thud as Ichigo's fist connected with Renji's jaw.

'What the hell was that for?' the red headed shinigami leapt backwards, one hand flying to his face, eyes narrowed and furious. Not to mention confused and surprised.

'Ichigo!' Rukia spoke reproachfully, glaring at the orange haired teenager, 'What are you doing?'

There was no response, but suddenly Ichigo and Renji were engaged in a fierce, and entirely random, fist fight.

'What's all the excitement about?' Ikkaku and Yumichika looked tired. They were obviously expecting not to find any good fights again this time. When the bald Third Seat noticed the scuffle, he just laughed and then wandered off, Yumichika waving goodbye to Toshiro, who was still waiting in the Senkaimon, trying to calm down.

As the others leapt down and the gate closed, Rukia snapped, her hands clenching and her eyes narrowing dangerously.

'All right!' she was yelling her lungs out and the sound was deafening, 'That's it!' with surprising strength, she grasped the shoulders of the two men, and yanked them apart, 'Get a grip on yourselves!'

Renji went limp first, muttering apologies as he rubbed his new bruises. Ichigo, however, had to be slapped about by Rukia for some minutes until he too gave into defeat.

Kneeling on the ground, Ichigo couldn't help but feel glad that Rukia was here. Soon she'd understand what had happened to cause everyone's tension, and she'd have a solution.

'Are you all finished?' Toshiro's tone was wintry as the white haired captain approached. The frown on his face was fierce, and the air around the group was steadily getting cooler.

'Yes, sorry,' for once, Ichigo didn't try to call Hitsugaya by name, he just skipped that bit. It seemed a little too dangerous to even contemplate such an action.

As Matsumoto joined in the conversation that her captain was having with that group, Kanashimi turned to watch Ishida staring at the sky. Chad, or Sado, walked over to try and calm the others down, as they were getting a bit too wound up again.

'How long?' Uryu jumped when he realised that the captain, Kanashimi Yuki if he remembered correctly, had appeared beside him, talking.

'How long what?'

'The clouds,' Yuki was neither in the depths of her social knowledge, nor out of it. She kept her occasionally unnerving violet gaze on the sky.

'About two days now,' Uryu pushed up his glasses, 'But nothing had been happening for a while,'

'I see,' the troubled tone in the captain's voice made the Quincy blink. He had the feeling that she knew more than she let on, half the time.

However, before he could ask anything about it, Rukia gave a particularly piercing yell, and the Third Division captain and Quincy moved back over to the group.

'Where's Orihime?' Rukia had, obviously, only shouted to get everyone's attention.

'Orihime?' Matsumoto looked about as if the girl would just spring from behind a tree, laughing self-consciously as she usually did.

Ichigo spoke levelly, but there was a dark anger in his eyes, the same burn that shone whenever one of his friends or family were hurt, 'In hospital,'

'Hospital?' Rukia was alarmed, 'Why?'

'Inoue was attacked this morning. We don't know who did it,' in the midday sunlight, Uryu looked deathly pale for some reason, the light reflecting off his glasses.

'Can we go to her?' Rangiku was now quite concerned, 'Please?'

'Yeah,' Ichigo sighed, 'Let's go,'

'Just turn right at the end of that corridor and the door should be on you left,' the nurse's reply was abrupt, and she hurried onwards after she'd spoken.

'Should be?' Renji was amused despite himself, 'It shouldn't be a should be,'

'Shut up,' Ichigo was glad that everyone else was coming. It was too strange visiting Inoue when it was only just him, Uryu, and Chad.

'This is the one,' pushing past Ichigo with little concern, Rukia opened the door. Stepping inside, everyone heard the shinigami's audible gasp.

'Have you seen her yet?' her voice shook ever so slightly.

'No,' Chad answered as the other two looked like they were on a different planet.

'Don't-,' Rukia paused, then continued a little breathlessly, 'Don't freak out,'

Holding their own breaths, the rest of the group filed into the semi-dark room. There was a single bed, and on that bed was a single girl. Inoue Orihime.

'Orihime,' Rangiku had to sit down, 'Dear me,'

Renji and Chad were silent, just watching as Rukia touched Orihime's limp hand. Ichigo stood off to one side of the bed, a frown etched onto his face, his brown eyes dark. Toshiro stood behind Kanashimi, a short way into the room from the door.

'Who did this to you?' taking back her hand just in case she crushed the unconscious teenager's, Rukia sat back, indigo eyes wide.

'We don't know,' Uryu's voice was tight as he moved over to one of the windows, pulling back the curtains slightly. He found it easier to look at the sky, instead of his friend's body.

Inoue Orihime looked like she was dead. Her auburn hair had no lustre, her skin was a pale grey looking colour, and she was limp. There were bruises up her arms, some around her neck, and no one wanted to think about what her legs might look like.

Kido light flickered into existence as Rukia pressed her hands to Orihime's chest, eyes filled with determination. Human doctors would have a hard time treating such wounds, the best thing they could really do was let her rest.

'Not good enough,' the indigo eyes shinigami growled softly, 'Not good enough,'

Yuki sensed the grey reiatsu in the air, could almost taste the ash, smell the blood. There wasn't any doubt that Inoue had been attacked by the same creature whose reiatsu Kurotsuchi had collected. Lavender darkened to a shade almost black as she tried to identify the reiatsu. Tried to work out what type of being had such a spiritual pressure. She had the terrible thought in her mind, that she knew, that she had already encountered these beings. But that wasn't right, surely such an ominous reiatsu would remain in her memory forever.

Her reiatsu began pulsing inside the seal, running along her veins, just under her skin. The blackness called for blood, screamed for pain, and begged hopelessly for tragedy. It was the torrent of sorrow that she had to keep inside her, no matter what.

Ice began forming on the ground, some white, some black, and Yuki staggered backwards slightly, hands rising to cover her face.

Toshiro was the only one to even notice that something was wrong with the Third Division captain. When she stepped backwards, frost forming under her shoe, he took a few paces forward, one hand touching her back, stabilising her.

'Are you okay?' his voice was low enough not to be heard by the others either.

Straightening and lowering her arms, Yuki nodded, shaking her head straight after. Before anyone else could react, the captain appeared beside Orihime's bed.

'Kuchiki,' Rukia looked up when she heard her name, 'Give it your all,'

Two kido lights now seeped into Orihime's body. As the time progressed and little happened except a fading in the bruises, Yuki's hands began to glow with a black light.

The effect of the dark kido was instant as the marks on Inoue's skin vanished and she took a long, shuddering breath, a change from the previous short, gasping ones.

Everyone gasped as Orihime sat up, coughing slightly, and opened her eyes.

'Orihime?' Rukia sounded disbelieving, her gaze so fixed on her friend that she didn't notice what Kanashimi was doing.

'What's wrong?' the teenager was as cheerful as ever, then, looking around, she asked, 'Where am I?'

'Hospital,' Ichigo and Uryu answered at the same time, and the pair glared fiercely at each other.

'Oh,' she still sounded happy, 'Really?'

'Yes,' Rukia took her hand, 'Orihime, what attacked you?'

'Attacked me?' shaking her head, Inoue laughed, 'No, no, no, you've got it all wrong!' she held up her hands as if in surrender, 'This is my fault! I fell down the stairs,' she sounded embarrassed, 'I'm so clumsy,'

'What?' almost everyone said the word, tones absolutely disbelieving, 'You can't be serious,'

'Why?' she seemed genuinely confused.

'You were attacked, Inoue,' Ichigo sounded shocked, but his expression didn't change, 'Attacked. We heard you'd been taken to hospital and then, when Urahara said that the team of shinigami was returning, we skipped school and went to meet them,'

'What makes you think I was attacked?' she didn't sound like she believed that part of the story.

'Your injuries,' Rangiku was about to continue when she realised they had no evidence of the bruises, so obviously not created by stairs.

'Don't worry yourselves,' Orihime smiled, trying to be convincing, 'I'm okay now,'

'She truly believes that, it's not some kind of trick,' Uryu spoke as if the teenager wasn't in the same room, 'Does anyone disagree?'

No one spoke, they just shook their heads.

A doctor came in and spoke to the group, saying that Inoue would be able to return home tomorrow, and everyone's attention turned to him.

Due to the distraction, no one noticed when Yuki pierced her wrist with her nail, and a wisp of grey reiatsu flowed into her veins.

Author's Note:

Even if she completely believes that . . . the best thing Orihime could come up with was stairs?