"Mail call!"
Miss Ochi walked into the room waving a letter over her head. Ichigo didn't know why the whole class was so excited over one letter, but they were, all of them buzzing in excitement as they watched their teacher open the envelope. He was more concerned about Tatsuki's absence and the rumor of a new student coming into their class. Every time a new student came in, it meant a whole new slew of fighting and ghosts and overall hell until he'd cleaned up for them. He hoped that Tatsuki was just late; they needed to talk.
"If you have any questions, or missed anything, please wait until the end of class to ask them."
She began to read...
Thank you all for the look book. I look through it every morning and so far I haven't forgotten anyone. I hope school is going well for all of you. Director Haibara doesn't like to give us too much at once, but Dr. Katagiri, that's my doctor, he's been giving me extra work to do. He likes to keep me busy.
~!~ CHP 1 ~!~
Waking was slow to the young woman on the bed. The fingers of sleep were soft and calming, and the gentle hum of something was a steady drone in her ears, broken only by soft beeps that were picking up in speed as her brain started to function. The voice of her mother was someplace near and coming closer, along with the voice of a man who'd been a steady ornament in her life for at least a few years. But why was he here? Why was he at her house, talking to her mother and why had her room changed so much? The young woman blinked her sleep away and started trying to think. The man wasn't at her house, she was at his. She was sitting in the clinic, hooked up to machines and placed a bit further off than the rest of the beds in the room. Closer to the windows and the entrance to the Kurosaki house proper.
"Ah, good morning Tsuki-chou."
She looked over to see Isshin walking into the clinic with her mother close behind. He was smiling and looked happy enough, but it was his eyes and his hands that told the truth. He was worried about something; her mother wasn't so talented at hiding her concern.
"What happened?" she asked. "The last thing I remember is going to bed...and then there was a sound."
"Was it the sound of a car horn?" Isshin asked. "You were brought in last night when a motorist knocked you off of the bridge and into the Karasu River."
"No," Tatsuki shook her head. "It wasn't that...I went to bed, I told you, and then, there was a chime, but not, and I woke up here."
Isshin sat down on the chair beside her bed and his smile had disappeared. In it's place was a commanding man who had something to say and she needed to listen. He asked her mother to go ahead and make some tea in the kitchen, enough for all of them, but didn't speak again until her mother had left the room.
"Tatsuki, this is the fifth time you've come in." She couldn't look at him as he spoke. Not now when everything just kept getting worse. "That's in the last few months. Now I know that this has been happening for a while, but it's getting worse."
"I know," she nodded. "I do. Mom was going to call someone to put bars on the windows, but-"
"It's not going to help. Your soul..." Isshin shook his head. He reached for her hand and Tatsuki looked towards the door of the house once more. "I want to call in a friend of mine, he knows a bit more about what this might be."
"Alright," she nodded. "But, please, just don't tell Ichigo. It probably wouldn't help the way he sees rivers. Or water in general. I'd actually like to leave before he knows I'm here if he doesn't know already."
Tatsuki looked over when Isshin's hand on her own loosed a bit and seemed to freeze. He was confused, and obviously doubting her sanity when he revealed that Ichigo wasn't there. That he hadn't been there for a while now. It wasn't a school day though, she was sure of it. As he spoke, the chiming ring she'd heard before began to cho in her ears, a faint inkling on the edge of her mind that was growing stronger.
"No, it's not," Isshin admitted. "But Ichigo hasn't been home for quite some time, he's fighting in Hueco Mundo, remember?"
"Obviously not," Tatsuki nearly shouted. "I don't, he's not off in ghost town, he already saved his stupid not girlfriend. He came home, didn't he?"
"He did," Isshin nodded. "Tsuki-chou, don't you remember coming here after the arrancar attack?"
"I, maybe, I don't...I can't feel him anymore, but he's here," Tatsuki put a hand to her head as the ringing in her ears got worse. Out of tune, the whole world was out of tune right now, with pieces missing and the steady hum she'd always known echoing in the distance. Her mother had come back into the room, drawn by Tatsuki's confusion as she normally was and a soft tune came from her mother moments later. A gentle tune that calmed her nerves and made her spirit relax. Warm arms and a comforting scent surrounded her and the soft voice of her mother to Isshin reminded her what her parents had decided just a few weeks before.
"We're going to be moving soon," Tokito told him. "Back to the family home on Rougetsu. That's the only place she can be treated."
"Treated?" Isshin asked. There was a questioning doubt in his voice, but Tatsuki was remembering now. "You know what this is then?"
"Getsuyuu Syndrome," Tokito nodded. "Rougetsu has the facilities to handle it and my husband is willing to relocate for a time."
"I've heard of Getsuyuu," Isshin nodded. "Have they found a cause yet?"
"No," Tatsuki shook her head against her mother's shoulder. "No cause, no cure, just a place to die."
Isshin wasn't pleased with what was happening in front of him. This wasn't the first time Tatsuki had come into his clinic for sleepwalking, she'd been brought in at least once a month since Ichigo had joined the same dojo. She'd come in more often when he wasn't there, Misaki's death had caused her visits to spike until Ichigo went back, and after he quit the dojo in middle school she'd come in almost once a week. He'd wondered if she was feeding off of his son for a time, but her energy hadn't done anything but mellow out. He'd wondered if his son's reiatsu had caused it but now, as he helped the Arisawa family pack up and watched Tatsuki play with his daughters, he learned that she'd had it for a long time.
"Living in Karakura made things better for us," Akira admitted as he and Isshin slid the couch into the moving truck. Tatsuki's stepfather had never been an overly affectionate man; Isshin was actually a bit surprised that he would make the effort to move down with his family. "We worried for a long time, but when she joined to dojo, things got better. Then puberty hit..."
"So what's the theory on why it happens?" Isshin asked.
"Heartbreak," Akira lifted another box. "The moon get's it's heart broken by the suffering of man or someone upsets them. I have no idea, but Tatsuki's just such a girl, I wouldn't be surprised if she was just having her monthly."
Isshin didn't say anything to that. Tokito was enjoyable enough to be around, especially when it had to do with children or family, but her husband wasn't Isshin's favorite person at all. He dismissed important events and ignored emotions of those close to him, but Tokito's family hadn't been eager to pick her up after Tatsuki had been born. When Akira agreed to marry the single mother it had seemed like a gift from heaven. Thats what he'd gleaned anyhow. Now the Arisawa elders were taking Tokito back into the fold, but only because her daughter was ill. No more stain on the 'illustrious' family lineage.
The final box was hefted into the moving truck and Isshin was loathe to call his girls away from Tatsuki. They were all so happy looking. He certainly hadn't seen both of his daughters smiling so wide in a long while and Tatsuki's spirit was calmer than it had been last night. Not back to normal, but calmer.
"I ordered in," Tokito spoke up from the door to the house. She hadn't shut the door yet and she was looking back across the floor boards with longing. "Stay for lunch, give the girls a bit more time, hm?"
"Tokito-" Akira began.
"Just one more, alright? She's having fun and the renters aren't even here yet."
Isshin would miss her when she left. Tokito was where Ichigo and Tatsuki had both picked up their brash attitude, but she was also where Tatsuki had picked up her softer side. No, that wasn't right. Tokito had kept that feminine side alive while her stepfather tried to turn the girl into a son. Although... there wasn't any reason he and the girls couldn't visit once they were settled in.
~!~
Tatsuki leaned against the window of her mother's car as she was driven to the fabled Rougetsu Hall. Not fabled, but something Tatsuki had always known about, even when she was just a small child and only just starting to show symptoms. They'd had a room for her even then, but then she'd met Ichigo. His spirit had been so strong and his smile so bright that she could feel the discord in her soul mellowing out. As she got older, it started to twang again, but it was always calmed when she saw him, and later whenever Ishida was around. Not as deep in tone, but it was nearly a sedative when she was upset or raging. Even Orihime had made things better for a time. Fluttering and light, it added high notes to the broken melody of Tatsuki's soul. It didn't fill that gap though. None of them did. Little by little the gap in her melody had gotten bigger. Then, one day, her memory got wiped and the tiny hole was gaping. A small flash of light and the imperfect suggestion that hadn't even worked, and the tune had broken. She'd been hoping that maybe when they'd returned, it might fix itself, but not a one had spoken to her. They looked with guilty eyes and held secrets from her; Tatsuki had wondered if they knew until she realized what it really was.
"Tsu-tsu?" Her mother's voice was soft in the driver's seat. "We're here."
"Yeah," she sat upright. "I see it."
If it wasn't for the fact that Tatsuki was about to become a permanent resident of the asylum, she might have thought the building was lovely. Ignoring the odd sounds coming from within, ignoring the fact that a teen was pushing a doll around in a wheel chair, ignoring the way she felt worse with every step closer, Tatsuki couldn't help but wonder at the flowers in front and the trees that would soon blossom. The sound of the ocean mixed with the sound of birds and a fountain in front of the building was bright and sparkling. Then a sound came from inside of the building. A song Tatsuki's mother had sung to her every night and just as it calmed the girl, the sounds of suffering within the building mellowed and quieted down.
"They say I can't come in with you," Tokito spoke softly. "But I can walk to the front door with you."
"That's enough," Tatsuki took her mother's hand into her own. "I know that Akira wants to take off as soon as I'm settled."
"Tsu-tsu..."
"Don't worry. If this thing is...If," Tatsuki shook her head and tried not to smile about the word slip. "I don't blame you mama." Not when there was every chance Tatsuki wouldn't even remember soon enough. Short term was the first to go according to her mom. "I could never blame you. I want you to know that. Now, while I'm still me. I've never blamed you for anything. I love you."
She hadn't meant to make her mother cry, as Tatsuki held the woman, arms wrapped tight, she tried to make sure her heart remembered it. Her mind wasn't dependable anymore. Her brain wasn't working right, but her heart was. It clenched with pain and fluttered with joy, so Tatsuki was going to make sure that her heart remembered.
There was a nurse outside of the car, waiting with an orderly as Tatsuki bid her mother farewell.
"I want loud music at my wake," Tatsuki laughed as she climbed out of the car. She wiped a tear away and made sure she kept smiling. "Music, and laughter, okay?"
"Of course," her mother nodded. "I'll make sure of it."
The car began to drive away, leaving Tatsuki in front of Rougetsu Hall with nurses and doctors waiting behind her. Her bags were being carried by a larger man while one of the nurses had her purse and a clipboard. All of them dressed in white and trying to be as non threatening as possible. Even if they had come at her, she was pretty sure she could only fend them off until they dosed her up. She could see one of the nurses holding something in her pocket even now.
"Miss Arisawa?" The one with her purse and clipboard asked. Tatsuki nodded. "Right this way please."
She followed along, keeping as far from the one with the syringe as she could. Strangely enough, the staff seemed to notice and the woman was given directions to see about something else.
"She sets a few of the patients here off," the nurse leading her explained politely. She slowed down just a bit while the rest of the staff went in towards one of the examination rooms. "I'm Aya Kuze, it's a pleasure to meet you Arisawa-san."
"Tatsuki," she corrected. She was trying to keep her feet moving, but they just weren't cooperating. "Sorry, I'm trying to...I don't even know." When she stopped and leaned against the wall, the nurses didn't stop her. "I'm not having an episode right now, it's just...I left while my friends were gone, you know? And they didn't even know, and we haven't talked in almost three months, so I don't even know if they'll think about it."
"Take your time." Aya set a hand on Tatsuki's shoulder and offered her a kind look. No pity, no smile, but there was support and kindness in her eyes. "One of the upsides of being here is having the freedom to speak your mind." Her hand tightened lightly and she began to guide her towards the room up ahead. "But for now, we have to get you checked in and find out who your roommate is going to be."
"I thought I was already...Mom said I've had a room here." Tatsuki went along with her.
"You do, but the hall is filling up faster than usual lately." The door to the room was opened and Tatsuki startled when she saw everyone rifling through her things. "So, we're going to see how things are set up, alright?"
"Can you stop that, please?" Tatsuki asked the one going through her clothes. He either didn't hear or ignored her. In fact, he dumped her things onto the table and shook the case out. "What the? I'm being serious, stop it!"
"Please, just have a seat Tatsuki-chan," Aya asked her softly.
"Not until they stop," she waved her away. "They're messing everything up!"
The other suitcase was dumped and something fell from inside and cracked on the ground, sending glass across the floor. A picture frame that held something near and dear to her heart lay shattered on the ground and Tatsuki felt herself begin to fall into a fit. They were ruining everything, just flinging it around the room, getting dirty hands all over her things. Touching her underclothes and now trying to get her to stop moving and just let them ruin her life. Demanding to know things, to know who was resting in the frame and wanting to know how she bled.
A sharp shout echoed through the room and it all stopped. The song from before began to ring out and Tatsuki jerked free of the person holding her down.
"Hideki!" the man by the door shouted when he tried to make a grab for her. "Please, leave us. You as well Nurse Kuze."
Tatsuki stayed on the examination table as the three of them exited. The doctor remained calm and quiet as he shut the door behind them. He looked about the room, and when he saw the frame on the ground, he bent slowly and caught her eyes before picking it up. Slow steps towards her and very calm as she took it from him a bit quicker than was polite. He didn't react though, instead picked up the discarded clipboard and took a seat across from her.
"I must apologize Miss Arisawa," he bowed to her. She bowed in return and waited for him to continue. "Hideki and Aya are new to the facility and you're their first new patient. They're not quite used to having patients who are sensitive about their privacy."
"They could have just asked," Tatsuki bit out. She touched the glass of the picture frame and wondered if she should pick the broken bits out or leave them there. "Why were they doing it?"
"Every so often, we get a patient with an attachment to danger. Sometimes they try to sneak knives back to their rooms or even sedatives." The doctor looked down at his clipboard and took a file from the counter. "Now, would you rather set your things to rights, or take care of the boring stuff?"
"I can do both," Tatsuki told him. Half a question, but the doctor merely nodded and made sure he was out of the way while she worked.
"I'm Dr. Katagiri, I'll be the one to come and see if you have any trouble with the nurses or your treatment." He looked back and forth between the sheets of paper, writing things down while she started putting her underthings back into the suitcase. She hadn't packed much with her at all, the hospital had a dresscode she needed to adapt to, but some things she really liked. "I had your files sent over from Karakura. Doctors Ishida and Kurosaki are friends of mine, so getting them rushed wasn't too much of a problem."
"You know old goat-face?" she asked. She paused for a minute before throwing something into the trashcan. Katagiri was watching her do it and making a note of what she'd tossed.
"We three went to med school together. A bit mad, living in the same place as those two." Katagiri laughed and kept on with his notes. "Now, I do have some questions for you. A little bit personal, yes, but it's very important in case anything out of the ordinary happens."
Tatsuki nodded and continued what she was doing while he asked her about her life. Was she taking any medications Kurosaki or Ishida didn't know about? How long had she been taking them? Then he asked why she hadn't told them, or even asked them for the prescription.
"Isshin's barely able to accept that Ichigo is growing up, I can't imagine trying to ask him for birth-control." Tatsuki laughed when she imagined the shocked face of the man she thought of as a true step father. "If I tried, he'd probably lock me in a room and set up wards against men."
"He is very protective, it's true," Katagiri nodded. "And Ishida?"
"His son is friends with mine. He's got this whole, wait until marriage thing and I'd be uncomfortable if he found out about it." Tatsuki ran a hand through her hair. It was getting long. "He's a bit of a gossip...and pretty judgmental."
The questions kept on for just a little bit longer and when Tatsuki had finally repacked, the doctor led her up to her new room. Her case was special, having had it at such a young age and kept it under control for so long. But she was also having more extreme reactions to triggers. Katagiri led her out of the room and over to an elevator, carrying her suitcases while she followed sedately beside him. Past the second floor, where the children played and lived, past the third floor, where the adults sat and painted, all the way up to the fourth floor. A newly added part of the facility and the only part to have a free room. It meant she would have only one neighbor, a woman with a case nearly as complex as her own.
"You'll meet her later," Katagiri explained.
He unlocked the door to her room and ushered her inside. There were two sections to it. One half of the room was bathed in sunlight, great windows letting her see everything to the south. The rest of the room was shadowed, holding a simple bed, a desk, and a chair. It was cold in here, impersonal, but waiting for her. Waiting for pictures on the walls and flowers by the windows.
"It needs color," Tatsuki set her purse on the bed. "Lots of color."
"Would you like to paint the walls?" he asked.
"No. Mom has some of my stuff. Blankets, curtains, stuff from my old room." She turned to look at him. "If you could let her know."
"Of course, anything else?"
Tatsuki paused and looked to the window again. Free to speak her mind here. Even if it didn't make sense, she was free to say whatever she wished.
"Flowers." saying it lifted something off of her heart and Tatsuki kept on. "I know, everyone thinks I'm just this tomboy, but...I really like flowers. In pots, not cut. They fade away too fast when they're cut. If they're in a pot, they'll always come back."
Katagiri smiled and nodded. He'd find some for her and have them sent up. There was a florist in town that supplied some of their other patients. If she'd like, he could set up a meeting later one, and Tatsuki could pick out some of her own. Then he left her there. Just Tatsuki, alone in a room waiting to make note of her memories. First decoration was the picture frame she'd held through out the questions. Cracked and bent, just a little bit broken. Part of her wondered if it could ever be fixed. She shook her head and started unpacking, tossing a few more things out and committing more things to memory. Clothes into the dresser, jewelry box on the desk, and a shawl on the bed. More color.
Tatsuki let out a laugh when she came ot the bottom of the suitcase that hadn't been upended. Her furisode was laying in the bottom. Folded perfectly and waiting for Tatsuki to hang it up. Of course, she had no place to hang it just now. She was supposed to wear it at the coming of age festival Karakura held every year. Maybe Rougetsu had one she could sneak off to. Or maybe, they had one of their own right here in the hall.
Tatsuki shook her head and kept unpacking. It wasn't that important. A nurse came in after a few minutes and asked if she needed anything. Much more polite than the first one. Tsubaki Tono was asking if she needed anything else, and upon spying the kimono, wondered if she'd like someone to hang a dowel up for her.
"That would be nice," Tatsuki nodded. "Am I needed?"
"I came to tell you that lunch was coming up. If you'd like, you can stay up here, or come and meet some of the other residents." Tsubaki was polite, but she was honest as well. The look in her eyes and body wasn't practiced. "If you'd like to see the gardens, I can show you those."
"Are you my nanny?" Tatsuki sat on the bed. "Making sure I'm not touching hot things or running with scissors?" It made the nurse laugh and admit that for today she was in fact her nanny.
The rest of the day passed quickly for Tatsuki. She was shown around the hospital and introduced to the few patients they ran into. They didn't go into the cafeteria though. Tatsuki couldn't seem to make herself eat after the journey south. Tsubaki didn't push her to do anything thankfully. She just followed along and kept an eye on her while she explored. It was when they hit the gardens that Tatsuki decided she could do this. She wouldn't try to run off and live in the woods. She'd deal with the new dress code and try to keep herself together for as long as she could. She'd make new friends here. Friends that weren't likely to run off in the middle of the night for months at a time.
"Would you like that one in your room?" Tsubaki asked.
Tatsuki looked down to see what she was talking about and saw that she'd been weeding around one of the lilies. Her hands were dirty and her nails were a mess, but the flower was just fine.
"I think I'd rather come down and weed," Tatsuki shook her head. "I'm sorry. I used to be better at sensing people around me."
"It's alright," Tsubaki smiled. "I'll make a note of it, that way whenever someone sees you down here, they'll just let you keep on."
Tatsuki nodded and went back to what she was doing before. It had always been calming for her. Pulling weeds from the garden and making sure the leaves were free of parasites. The blossoms were starting to fade, and soon they would seed for the next generation. That was why Tatsuki wasn't overly worried about her illness. Nothing ever left for good. It might take a while, sure, but whenever one thing died, something else was born. A new version, better than the last one. Tatsuki smiled faintly and looked up at the sky. Even the clouds never stayed away for too long after fading.
A girl was coming through the garden now, maybe a year or so older than Tatsuki, and pushing a wheelchair with a...
"When her sister died, she couldn't handle the strain," Tsubaki told her quietly. "Now she has a doll. It's best if you just leave her be."
"Will we have classes together? I get to keep up with my education, don't I?"
"I'll ask Dr. Katagiri about it at the end of the day."
Tatsuki didn't do much else for the rest of the day. Tsubaki managed to talk her into eating a bit, as well as getting some tea into her, but that was taken up in her room. A room which had been filled with her old things while she wandered the grounds. Nothing had been put away or arranged, but the broken frame on her desk had been replaced and a photo album set beneath it. An album filled with friends and family, names beside each one and the familiar handwriting of her mother. A little note about how they met or if they even got along. It made her heart twist and hurt and flutter all at once. So many emotions and memories of her heart were coming up every time she saw someone else's face in there. The only ones missing were those in the replaced frame.
The picture hadn't changed at all, but the frame was silver and covered in twining flowers now; it once held her mother's wedding photo, the only picture left of Tatsuki's father. Now it carried others inside of it. Pushing a box from the bed, Tatsuki sat down with the frame and let herself cry. She let the whole day crash down on her and clutched the memory to her chest tightly. Cold and unfeeling, just a record of something that had happened long ago, but it was dear to her. Smiling beneath the glass were the people most precious to her. The twins who'd played with her and the boy who knew she had more skirts than pants. The girl who smiled and laughed and a silent man who protected them all. There was even a boy with glasses in there. The last happy day they'd all spent together had fireworks going off in the background and it was filled with color and happiness. All of it held perfectly still for the rest of eternity in her arms.
When she woke, it was to the sound of silence. There was no alarm telling her it was time for school and Akira's voice wasn't complaining about tuition fees for college or the lack of money that came from Tatsuki's job at the dojo. There was only darkness and the sound of silent tears. She looked down at her arms and legs out of habit; sleepwalking wasn't a new thing for her, contrary to what her mother thought, but there was no sign of sneaking about. The only thing new to her condition at all was the occasional hallucination brought about by the memory wiping gizmo of the shinigami. Tatsuki set the picture frame back on her desk and stood up slowly, trying to make her eyes and ears adjust to the darkened room. She could walk out of the window at the end of the room. There was a balcony there and an empty chair at a table. The tears might be coming from there.
She doubted it was coming from outside once she saw what had woken her; hallucinations tended to be more vibrantly colored than what she saw as well. There was a little girl sitting in the corner of her room and crying softly. A ratty, dismally colored kimono was tied haphazardly and her hair was a mess on top of her head. Tatsuki moved closer to the little girl crouched in the shadow and felt a chill on her spine. The tingle of a spirit pulsed through her being the closer she got to the child, but Tatsuki couldn't just leave her alone. Not if she needed help. When she was only a few feet from the child, she crouched down and put her hands on her knees.
"Hey, don't cry."
The little girl twitched for a moment before an icy blue eye peeked up over her arm. Her form tensed and Tatsuki pursed her lips at the familiar action.
"If you try to hit me, I'm not going to talk to you."
The child made a sound and slowly relaxed. Her eyes were still on Tatsuki as the martial artist sat down on the floor across from her. She double checked that her robe was fully closed and waited patiently for the girl to say something or do something. She'd stopped crying though, so that was something. A few more minutes passed and Tatsuki smiled at her.
"You know, I used to cry a lot when I was little, I never let anyone see it though. I was scared they'd tease me." Tatsuki pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "I promise I won't tell, alright?" The little girl nodded and Tatsuki's smile got just a bit bigger. "Did you live here before? I just moved here. Mom says I was born here though, so I guess I'm a native."
"Sae." The little girl wiped at her eyes and nose. "I'm Sae."
"That's a pretty name," Tatsuki nodded. "I'm Tsuki-nee, and I'd be happy to help you move on." Sae wiped at her eyes and looked around the room. "You lost something, didn't you? I see. Well, can I know what it is?"
"My brother hid my bell." Her voice was watery and just on the verge of crying again.
"I'll try to find it for you," Tatsuki nodded. "When I find your bell, I'll put it in the garden, okay? Under the Hydrangea bush. Then you can move on surrounded by flowers."
"I'll wait for you," Sae smiled. "I'm tired of playing by myself. The other kids are mean."
Tatsuki ran a hand through Sae's hair and felt her heart calm from the action. She felt Sae's energy mellow out and the little ghost girl leaned into her touch just a bit. Then she faded away. Tatsuki wasn't going to break her word though. If there was a bell somewhere in her room, she was going to find it for Sae. The teen stood upright and looked about her room. Everything was still in boxes, so she didn't have to worry about moving many things. As she walked, the floor boards remained squeak free and firm. The walls were boring too.
So where would she hide a bell if she was an annoying elder brother? Better yet, where would she hide it if she was a taller, annoying, exhausted older brother? Tatsuki sat on her bed and her brows furrowed when she jingled. She bounced a few times and the bed stayed quiet, but she had the feeling she was in the right direction when she stood and the bell jingled again. A step forward was silent, as was the step to either side. Tatsuki looked up and wondered about the ceiling. The rest of the hospital had plaster hiding the wires and rafters, but not in her room. When she stood on the bed, her fingers could just grasp the bottom of the wooden beam, but the sound of the bell was louder in her ears.
Tatsuki looked around the room to see if anything was taller and only saw the desk in front of a smaller window. Well, they said it was her room, and she could change it however she liked. Tatsuki hopped down from the bed and drug it over a few feet so she could push her desk closer to the beam in question. Of course, she'd have to finish moving everything around later, but that was later. When the desk was in place, Tatsuki climbed on top of the wood and looked at the beam above her bed. A lot of thing had been hidden away up there. Notecards and little books, keys and toys, and at the far end was a little bell tied to a charm. Tatsuki could reach it if she stretched, but she could also climb down and shift the desk closer. That seemed a bit safer. The heavy wood scraped along the floor again and Tatsuki took her robe off before climbing back up. Her fingers closed around the bell and once her fingers closed around the brass sphere, she began to climb down. Something pushed her before she could bend down though. Something small handed and cold that was now trying to pull at her hair.
Tatsuki couldn't help but punch the little thing on her back. She spun to attack again and scowled to see a little boy growling at her. Little brat had nearly killed her! She told him as much too. He was bigger than Sae, but smaller than Tatsuki, maybe about the size of Karin or Rukia. Unlike the girls however, he looked very much like a boy. His clothes were nearly so bad as Sae's and Tatsuki wondered if the children had died from hunger or disease...or pity. He was started to brace himself for another attack.
"If you don't step off I'm going to shove so much salt down your throat that your ancestors will get purified." Tatsuki thumped him once more for good measure. She leaned close to the little boy, happy that her words had something of an affect. He'd stopped growling at her at least. "Why do you keep making your sister cry? Do you like making her sad?"
"She'll leave me alone," the little boy growled again. "She can't leave! She'll be hurt, and picked on."
"So go with her. Don't make her suffer because you're a coward."
The little boy rushed her and snatched the bell from her hand. He didn't run though. He stood there scowling and bright eyes were staring hard at her. Good. She'd made a point of learning how to push people's buttons when she was younger; it was the only way most boys would agree to fight her. The only way she could get Ichigo to pay attention to her these days was to push him. Tatsuki shook the thoughts from her head. She needed to finish this.
"So, are we going to go put that by the hydrangeas?" She asked. The little boy nodded. "Did you hear my name? What's yours?"
"Rei," he mumbled. He was still upset she'd called him a coward, but Tatsuki could only hope that the fire to keep his sister safe stayed with him in the afterworld. He might end up running around in black if he remained dedicated.
"Alright, well let's get down to the garden, okay?"
"They'll stop you Tsuki-nee," the boy scowled. "In the halls, the living roam around trying to catch you."
Tatsuki pursed her lips before looking at the balcony again. Thanking the gods she wore shorts to bed, Tatsuki went outside and looked for a way down. If she didn't know any better, she'd swear this place was made for sneaking in and out. The rose trellis was nothing but a couple of ladders nailed to the building. Tatsuki hoisted herself over the rail and started descending towards the ground. She paused every so often, listening for the passing night guards and moving quick to avoid their notice. Rei was right about them trying to catch people; she heard one, Hideki, shouting when someone stepped out of their room. A little girl if the crying was right. If she didn't already have a couple of kids to soothe, she'd go up there and kick his ass.
The grass was cool and soft under her feet when she touched down, and damp when she dropped to hide from one of the orderlies patrolling the first floor. Rei didn't have to avoid their sight, but he dropped down too. Together, they crawled along the edge of the building, keeping the bell as quiet as possible until they got to the garden in the back. You could see the ocean from any place in the garden, but Tatsuki was looking for the hydrangeas. The moonlight wasn't as bright as it could be, but her memory was strong enough to remember where a plant was.
Sitting quietly beneath the flowering shrub sat Sae. Hair still messy and kimono still in tatters, but looking much happier and grinning wide when Rei ran over with her bell. The ting-a-ling of bells and the soft giggles of children made her smile and remember. Watching their souls turn into butterflies made her heart flutter with every beat of their wings. She watched over them until they'd flown past her sight, out over the ocean and up into the stars.
"Hey!"
Tatsuki turned just in time to see someone running towards her. It wasn't Hideki, thank god, but the man looked just as upset and even worried at how she was going to act. What the hell was going to happen to her with this disease that made everyone so jumpy? Tatsuki decided not to think about it and instead sat down on the edge of the flower bed. The nurse was slowing down as he came closer and now a light was turning on inside of the building. She'd have to be more careful from now on.
"Nice night for a walk, isn't it?" she asked pleasantly. "Don't worry, I was just sneaking around."
"Miss Arisawa, it's against the rules to be out of your room after lights out." The nurse extended his hand slowly and waited for her to take it. He wasn't a bad looking guy actually, larger in the shoulders and she didn't doubt that he could just pick her up if she refused to go with him. The mohawk was a little out of place, and even in the dark, she could tell he had gray eyes. Eyes that were waiting for her to react badly. If he was expecting her to be crazy then damn it all, she was going to be honest about everything. Katagiri was coming out now, looking highly upset and obviously wondering if they needed to put more security on her floor or if she was just going to be troublesome.
"Sae and Rei had to move on," she explained as she took the nurse's hand. He kept his hold loose as they walked, keeping a non-aggressive demeanor. They walked closer to the building and Katagiri was listening to what she was saying now. "Rei kept hiding her things, and making Sae cry, so I talked some sense into him, and we returned her bell so they could both move on to the next world." She bowed lightly to Katagiri. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't let them suffer."
"Perhaps next time, you can wait until the sun comes up," Katagiri held the door open. "Akihiro, if you could escort Tatsuki back to her room."
Yeah, he'd resigned himself to the idea of her being troublesome.
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I know, I started something new when I haven't even updated the last one. But we all know that Slayer is kind of an ongoing process, hahaha! This one has been promised for a while, and it's starting off pretty standard for now. Every chapter is going to be prefaced by a part of the letter Miss Ochi is reading to the class, a sort of summary before you start to read. I want to keep this at 6 chapters, but it might end up being 7 or 8.
Let me know what you think, yeah?