Chapter 44:

Everyone was gathered in the sickbay to oversee the vampire's recovery and the recovery of those Mayuri had also found a cure for. Only the werewolves remained and they aimed to keep it that way until they knew their powers were no longer needed in subduing another monster.

Shinji stood with his back against the wall and his arms folded, peering over at the bed occupied by Byakuya. He had yet to wake up after being cured and he was starting to grow alarmed. Perhaps Mayuri's cure wasn't safe after all.

"He'll be alright," said Hitsugaya. "After all…"

Ichigo glared bitterly at the ceiling, ready to tell Byakuya off the second he woke up.

He remembered every detail of what he had done after becoming a vampire and blamed it entirely on the noble. He was equally embarrassed as he was furious. He couldn't believe the things he had done and wanted to do. He was grateful they had stopped him but he felt it shouldn't have happened in the first place. He was also embarrassed that he couldn't have put up a better fight against it. Blaming himself seemed like a waste of time, but he couldn't help feeling what he was feeling.

Ichigo was able to remember what went on, but as for the others who had changed back, it was a little hit and miss.

Rangiku had no recollection of being a succubus and when she was informed of her antics and transformation at night, she insisted they were embellishing and teasing her. She remembered no such transformation and as for her behavior, she claimed that she acted just like she always did and they were exaggerating. When they told her what men were like at the sight of her, she said that was their problem and she had nothing to do with it.

"I can't help the way men act when they see a beautiful girl in front of them."

Hitsugaya sighed, knowing they were getting nowhere. Clearly, her perspective was a bit different from theirs.

As for Yumichika, it was more or less the same as he was as a harpy. It wasn't that he had no recollection of the events, it was that, same as his harpy self, couldn't acknowledge it.

"I always have feathers on me. That doesn't make me a harpy. Honestly, the name-calling I have to endure."

"We're not calling you names. You were a literal harpy. You had wings and everything. Your screech could shatter glass."

"Any high-pitch frequency could do that. And wings? Are you sure you weren't seeing things?"

"You were flying."

"I'm a Soul Reaper, in case you've forgotten. We can stand in mid-air and zoom from here to there as if we were flying."

"You were actually flying. Like a bird. Like a harpy. You even had talons."

"Are you saying my skin is so dry, they resemble..? Or that my nails are..? How dare you?"

Hisagi slapped himself in the forehead after enduring ten minutes of this. "He's just not getting it. How could he not get it?"

"Maybe he really is a birdbrain," muttered Shinji loud enough for everyone to hear.

"It's just not clicking in his brain for some reason," said Momo with a shake of her head. "He knows we were werewolves, but is unable to perceive himself as a harpy. To him, he's been normal and only we're seeing it."

Hisagi again tried to tell him what happened, shouting it in Yumichika's ear as if it would finally penetrate his brain and make him understand. Yumichika rolled up his sleeve and showed Hisagi his bare arm. "Does it look like I have feathers to you? They are not growing out of me like a chicken."

"Not chicken! Harpy! Har-py!"

"Well, there's a difference right there," said Hitsugaya. "Before he saw the feathers and insisted nothing was different, and now he can't see them and doesn't know what we're talking about because there's no evidence."

"A minor difference, I guess…" said Shinji.

It seemed the racket was enough to finally wake Byakuya. He looked hazily around from a lying position, having no strength to lift himself up. They noticed and cautiously approached his bed. Mayuri was there to see how he reacted.

"So you're finally awake, are you?" asked Mayuri, leaning over his bed.

Byakuya turned his head and said, "Where's Rukia?"

Momo gave Rukia a gentle nudge before allowing her to come any closer to her brother. The nudge wasn't an indication to move, but to be careful just in case he was still dangerous.

Rukia went to Byakuya's side. "I'm here, Brother."

Byakuya turned his head to look at her. He looked exhausted. "Rukia, I'm so sorry."

She was surprised to hear him say this to her.

"I can't believe I put you in danger like that. I couldn't stop myself but that's no excuse. I'm ashamed I wasn't able to control myself in that state. Forgive me. My actions were disgraceful."

Rukia put her hand on his through the sheet covering his torso. "Big Brother, there is nothing to forgive. No one could have done any better." She tried to rephrase, thinking he would take it as an insult. "What I mean is… being a vampire changes you, no matter who you are. The fact that you lasted as long as you did is a true testament to your strength and endurance."

"Oh, please!" Ichigo yelled from his bed. "Don't praise him for leaving you alone for as long as he did while going to town on us like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Not to mention trying to seduce men and women alike. Even high school students aren't off limits to this fanged-noble. And you can't call it an accident or an opportunity. He sought me out!"

"Ichigo," Rukia hissed at him.

"I'm impressed you used the word 'sought' correctly in a sentence. Not something I would expect from you," commented Byakuya.

"Shuddap!"

"That is the informal response I've come to expect from you."

Ichigo picked up his pillow and got ready to hurl it at Byakuya. "Do you have any idea how- Ow!" Ichigo dropped the pillow and collapsed on the bed holding his shoulder. "My body's killing me!"

"Lie still and that won't happen."

"You're still recovering, Ichigo. Just stay in bed and don't move."

Ichigo pointed at Byakuya. "I'm giving him hell for what he did to me. Get ready, Byakuya. If we're both going to be stuck here for the next few hours, I'm going to spend them tearing you a new one for biting me."

"Well-deserved," said Yumichika from his own bed across from them. "But mind keeping it down so I can get some rest? If I'm not allowed to leave either, I might as well catch up on some sleep."

"Not much else to do around here," said Rangiku.

Rukia shot Ichigo a look. "Be quiet and let my brother rest. He's been through a lot."

"And I haven't? He seduced me and bit my neck."

"And that's his fault?"

Shinji cut in, snickering. "Yeah. Who knew you were so easily won over, Ichigo? I guess you do like the rich pretty boys."

Ichigo's face turned red. "It is not like that! His vampire powers…"

"Sure, blame it on that."

"I'll kill you!" Ichigo tried to jump out of bed and fell on his chin, body giving out on him again. "Ow! Son of a…"

"Save your strength," said Hitsugaya, walking past his bed without helping him up. "The sooner you recover, the sooner you can leave. And do whatever else you had in mind."

Ichigo glared at Byakuya from the floor, ignoring Hitsugaya completely.

Hitsugaya waited until he was out in the hall before unleashing the heavy sigh he had been holding in. Seeing both former vampires stable and back to normal was a massive relief.

Momo and Hisagi joined him outside in the hall. "You ok, Little Shiro?"

"Yeah, I am." Then he frowned. "I thought I told you not to call me that."

"Ichigo seems to be doing fine. He'd probably be out of here today if he'd stop trying to exert himself. He's recovering faster than Byakuya, that's for sure. Ichigo woke up first even though Byakuya was the first one to receive the cure."

"Ichigo wasn't a vampire for as long as he was," pointed out Momo.

"True." Hisagi folded his arms, frowning. "But aren't you curious why even Ichigo ended up becoming more vampire-like over time? Is the vampire curse really that strong that it just overpowers you and corrupts who you are, turning you into that?"

"Rangiku and Yumichika changed even a little bit."

"Yeah, but I mean Byakuya I can see becoming like that more than Ichigo. You'd think the guy would retain some of his normal self and not become so…"

"Posh?"

"No, not posh. Ichigo wasn't posh. Uh, what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Nuts?"

"Closer."

Momo looked at the ground. "When you think about it, even we changed a little. Our actions and instincts."

"Yeah, but their personalities changed," said Hisagi.

"Not really. Goals and personality are two different things."

"But why vampires only? Unless you count birdbrain Yumichika still not being able to put two and two together!" Hisagi shouted the last part into the sickbay.

"The pride that comes with being a vampire must have been a factor and the other monsters don't have that."

Hisagi grumbled, turning away from the sickbay to continue the conversation. "Yeah, I guess. I'm kind of impressed Ichigo lasted as long as he did. He was still fighting it when we caught up to him in that street."

"You think it's because Byakuya's already sort of like that and Ichigo isn't and that's why he turned faster than he did?"

Shinji walked out of the sickbay and said to them, "I think it's because Ichigo didn't have to go through it alone. That's why he was able to hold out as long as he did. Byakuya didn't have any other influences, allowing the vampire to take over faster than it did Ichigo. One knew what was going on and the other one didn't. One was raised in a natural environment and the other was allowed to develop with other people taking care of him."

"You're saying it a domestic versus wild situation?" asked Hisagi.

"Either that or it took him longer because of how he was turned," said Shinji. "Being human might have been a factor. Being bitten by an actual vampire versus an old fang could be a factor as well. Who knows?"

Mayuri's creepy grin loomed over Shinji's back and gleefully answered with his own theory. "Ah, all of which could be true, but I believe blood is the most likely factor."

The werewolves turned to look at him. "How do you mean?"

"Through my personal observation and collecting data from your eyewitness accounts among others, my theory is that the consumption of blood aids the most to a vampire's development. In more ways than one."

"Meaning what exactly?" asked Hisagi.

"If a vampire does not drink blood, it dies. It also retains its former self for longer. In other words, the more blood a vampire drinks, the more their vampire nature is displayed and…"

"Starts to corrupt the person," finished Hitsugaya.

"Exactly," said Mayuri, pleased.

"That does make sense," said Shinji. "The amount of blood Byakuya drank had a direct effect on his actions. He not only grew stronger, but gave in more to his natural instincts. I noticed that with Ichigo, too, now that I think about it. He lasted for quite a while then he started drinking more blood and that's when he started to do his own thing."

"Then it's an impossible situation for them after all," Momo said sadly. "If they don't drink, they die. If they do, they live but lose more and more of themselves. There's really nothing they could have done."

Mayuri pulled a rubber glove off his hand with a smacking sound and everyone turned to him. "Well, Byakuya seems stable. In terms of being a vampire, that's all out of his system now. I checked. Nothing in his blood sample, and he's able to stand garlic. Fangs are gone and other than squinting, sunlight had no effect on him. So, we're monster-free. Except…"

"For us," said Hitsugaya.

Mayuri shrugged. "I know you were staying this way as a precaution, just in case you needed to fight monster on monster, but seeing as how you're the only ones left… Eh, you decide what you'd rather do."

"What do you mean decide?" asked Hisagi, thinking Mayuri was implying something.

"You are arguably the least dangerous monsters and the only ones who remain. I'm sure if you wanted to, you could stay the way you are for a while." Mayuri turned around. "Think it over. I'll be in my lab if you need me."

The werewolves waited until he was gone to look at each other.

"Is he suggesting we stay like this?" asked Momo.

"Sounds it to me."

Momo frowned, looking at the floor. "I thought the whole point was to cure everybody, including ourselves. It wouldn't be fair if we stayed like this while everyone else had to change back."

"The other ones were more dangerous. We've mastered some control," said Shinji. "And we don't kill people or make them fight by singing."

Hisagi rubbed his arm, looking at the ground. "Do we have to change back?" he asked timidly.

Momo looked at him in surprise. "You want to stay this way?"

He shrugged. "I've kind of gotten used to it. I like some things about it. And without having to worry about other monsters, we might be able to enjoy this."

"We don't know how it will affect us long-term," said Hitsugaya. "And even we ran into some issues. The hunger, restraining ourselves in battle."

"That was so no one would notice anything was different about us."

"Be grateful we haven't had to fight any Hollows like this," said Shinji. "Training sessions are one thing. Battling a Hollow like this is another. What if we made things worse, fighting it like a wolf? What would our bite do to a Hollow? Our people would be in danger if we threw down our weapon and started barking at the thing. Being a werewolf does affect our fighting styles and our strategies. Different doesn't mean bad, but in this case, it blurs the line, don't you think?"

Hisagi looked away. "You're right. It's a stupid idea. And it is kind of a pain in the ass."

"Then it's settled," said Hitsugaya. "We're getting cured. All of us."

"No sense leaving stragglers," said Shinji. "It'd defeat the purpose."

A part of Hitsugaya didn't want to be cured, knowing he'd miss this, but he knew what was best for himself and everyone. He knew not to listen to the part of himself wanting to stay a werewolf. That was the wolf in him not wanting to disappear.

It was a sad thought, knowing he was giving up a part of himself, but he made sure it was being done in a meaningful way. He had used this power for good to protect those he cared about and defeat the enemy. He could thank the werewolf for helping him do that and lay it to rest.

"Captain Hitsugaya," said Hisagi. "For the record, no hard feelings about you biting me. I don't regret any of this."

Hitsugaya wasn't sure why Hisagi was telling him this and asked him about it with a raised eyebrow.

"Just thought you should know."

Shinji noticed what was going on and teased Hisagi a little. "It's not like we're going to lose our memories when we get cured. Those guys didn't."

"How do we know for sure?"

"Because we still have our wits about us. We're not entering another state of mind with this, man. Although, if there's anything you'd like to confess, just in case, go right ahead."

Hisagi turned bright red. "Confess? Like that? There's nothing I'd want to get off my chest."

"You sure?" Shinji teased.

Hisagi's eyes darted back and forth.

"And not your crush on Rangiku. Everybody knows."

Hisagi's face turned even redder. "W- wh- what? I- I…"

"Seriously?"

Momo looked at the floor, a sad look on her face. "Even the vampire servants remember what went on."

The teasing stopped and the men looked at her.

"Kira's been avoiding me."

Shinji and Hisagi exchanged looks.

After the awful things Kira had said to Momo during their fight, the sensitive Soul Reaper couldn't bring himself to face her. Ashamed and hurt, he locked himself in his room and refused to come out. When he finally did, he busied himself with work and when he saw her in the hall, would immediately about-face and use a different route. They had yet to talk about what happened.

"Everybody deals with it in their own way," said Shinji. "The guy clearly feels terrible about it."

Momo didn't move.

"Kensei's pissed off about what happened. He knows he did it but doesn't get why he did it. He has no feelings for Byakuya now but has no idea why he felt so loyal to him in the first place. The word 'drugged' has been tossed around, and I might just let him think that. Doubt he'd understand or believe me if I told him the truth."

"Ikkaku hasn't left the dojo all day," added Hisagi. "Been training up a storm, from what I hear. Guess he's taking out his aggression and other feelings on punching bags and other Soul Reapers."

"In some cases, them being one and the same," threw in Shinji.

"Renji hasn't spoken a word to anyone, from what I heard. Apparently, he's been making himself scarce. Guess he's trying to sort things out for himself or dealing with his own emotions or who knows?"

"The point is that everyone is dealing with it in their own way and you shouldn't let it get to you," said Shinji.

"Nanao hasn't even looked at Ichigo since that happened."

"The Stealth Force is getting chewed out by Soi Fon as we speak," said Hitsugaya. "I told her it wasn't their fault, but she insists it's their weakness that allowed them to be manipulated in the first place."

"That woman cannot be reasoned with," muttered Hisagi.

"She beat the living snot out of her Lieutenant."

"Before or after she found out?"

The question was never given an answer.

"It's alright," said Hitsugaya to Momo. "Give it time and things will blow over. I know it's a pain at the moment, but they need time, too."

"The last thing you want is for someone to jump the gun and do something before thinking it through or taking other things into consideration. Don't rush it. Give them time, let them sort out their feelings, consider other possibilities, work it out and come to you when they're ready."

Momo knew they were trying to make her feel better and accepted their advice.

"So to the lab?" asked Hisagi.

"Might as well get it over with," said Hitsugaya.

Shinji looked into the sickbay and grinned. "Give me a minute. There's something I want to do first."

They waited by the door while Shinji sneaked into the room and dropped to his hands and knees over to Ichigo's bed. He crawled slowly towards him, crouched next to his head, shifted into wolf form and barked.

The startled Ichigo flailed and rolled out of bed, his body unable to decided whether he should fight or run in that moment. He landed on the floor, yelling about his sore body, and Shinji changed back, laughing hysterically.

"Dammit, Shinji!"

"Your face! Your face! Hahahaha!"

Snarling, Ichigo climbed over his bed and started to beat Shinji with his fists until his body protested painfully. Shinji was still laughing.

"He is so childish," muttered Hitsugaya from the doorway.

"I had to," Shinji said, calming down a little. "When am I ever going to get the chance to do that again? All I did was scare you. Didn't break any bones or scar you for life. Don't be so…"

Ichigo punched him again and sat back on his bed. "I'm beginning to see why vampires and werewolves don't get along."

"Good thing you're cured, right?" Shinji got off the floor and brushed himself off. Then he looked at Ichigo and gasped. "Oh, no, Ichigo. This can't be."

Ichigo looked frightened. "What?"

Shinji looked fearful as well. "I thought Mayuri cured you, but… but…"

"What? What?" Ichigo demanded.

Shinji cupped his hands to his face and gasped in horror. "You're still a vampire!"

"What?!" Ichigo felt his teeth but everything seemed normal. His skin wasn't pale either.

"Oh, no, Ichigo!" Shinji lurched forward. "I've been caught in your spell. Whatever shall I do?"

Realizing this was a prank, Ichigo gave Shinji a dirty look and growled. "Stop messing around."

Shinji splayed himself on Ichigo's bed dramatically. "You are so attractive, Ichigo. Bite me, won't you?"

"Knock it off!"

Shinji rolled into Ichigo's lap. "I can't resist your charms! Command me, oh wonderous of wonders that is Ichigo!" Shinji couldn't keep it together and started laughing. "Vampire of the night, hahaha! Bite my neck to show your love! Take me into your arm- Ow! Hahaha! Ichigo, I knew you liked it rough- Ow!"

Ichigo pounded Shinji, alternating between his fist and the pillow in his other hand. "Shut up, dammit! Shut up!"

"Guess I'm not your type after all. You like 'em tall, dark and noble- Mmf!"

Ichigo pressed his hand over Shinji's mouth to keep him quiet. "I said shut up!"

Shinji pushed Ichigo off to get some air. "What, too soon?"

Hitsugaya howled from the doorway and Shinji sat up, his eyes glowing yellow. Ichigo stopped fighting, unused to seeing this.

"I was just messing around with him," Shinji defended, eyes still yellow.

"If you've had your fun, let's get this done."

Shinji grinned. "Hey, that rhymed."

Hitsugaya growled.

"Fine. Sorry." Shinji got off the bed and followed Hitsugaya out of the sickbay.