Enjoy!

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Auburn Strands and Red Threads #18

Kisuke was trying to speak, but his words were unintelligible jumbles as his roaring fit of laughter ceased to subside, but one phrase managed to come out relatively clear: "You did what?!"

Orihime stood inside the girls' locker room, pouting self-consciously at her feet with her cellphone pressed against her ear. "Kisuke . . . I'm causing him trouble, but I have no idea why I can't come out and apologize."

Kisuke took deep breaths to steady his voice. "What is it that you're trying to apologize for?"

"Um, it's really not something you should hear."

"What, did you touch him inappropriately?"

She reddened, clutching her phone tightly. "Of course not!"

Kisuke erupted into laughter again. "Well, whatever it is, maybe it's hard for you to apologize because you're not in the wrong."

"If I wasn't before, then I am now." She slumped against the wall, her hair tumbling over her shoulders. "I just wish I could start over."

"Trust me, Hime, it wouldn't solve much."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, nothing." He paused. "Orihime?"

"Yes?"

". . . Where are you? I hear an echo."

"Oh . . . In the locker room."

"At school? Didn't you get out over an hour ago?"

She worried her bottom lip, hesitant. "I was just waiting for a good time to go home . . ."

"Goo-? Is this about Ichigo?" He sighed lightheartedly. "Orihime, he's probably long gone by now. Besides, the worst he'll do is make you talk to him."

"That's what I'm afraid of . . ."

"Orihime, go home. It's getting late."

"But the sun's still up."

"Yes, but, knowing you, it'll be late by the time you decide to leave. Or you can . . . What are you doing?"

Orihime hesitated, confused. She was about to answer, but she could have sworn she heard another voice on the other side of the phone. There was rustling and a slight commotion on Kisuke's end.

"How did-? Wait, no, it-! Orihime, I have to go!"

The phone beeped, causing her to look at the screen only to realize Kisuke had hung up after another voice had come into the room. Maybe it was Jinta messing with him, but she thought she heard that other voice call for her.

She stared at her phone, vaguely enjoying the wallpaper and graphics. After another moment of hesitation, she pocketed her phone, gathered her bag, and slowly began to walk out the locker room. When she came to the exit, she paused, her hand tentatively reaching for the handle, and wrapped her fingers around the curved metal, an irrational part of her mind telling her to just sleep here tonight. For a while, she entertained the thought, but she knew better than to make people worry in the off chance someone stopped by her apartment.

She pulled the door open, looking one way when her eyes were immediately drawn to the other. Blinking, she looked at the person who now looked down at her.

"You talk loud." Ichigo was leaned against the wall.

Orihime breathed in deeply, her heart pounding too hard for her to bear. "I'm sorry."

A tense silence fell between them.

Ichigo's stern gaze was decidedly fixed on her, and the girl could not determine whether or not his expression was stricter than usual.

He sighed, looking away and rubbing the back of his head. "You still gonna try and avoid me?"

"I . . . I wasn't-"

"Orihime." He pushed off the wall, his brow troubled. "Did I offend you that bad?"

She huffed repeatedly, distressed. "It's not that. I thought . . . I felt bad because I yelled at you, and you were just concerned." She stepped outside, taking a few steps away from him. "I mean, I was upset about what you said, but I shouldn't have acted like that."

"I mean, well . . . Ya know, don't be upset. Sometimes I forget you can look out for yourself."

She frowned, dejected.

"Not just you," he corrected. "Everybody. I forget I don't have to try to protect all of you all the time, but . . . I mean, yeah, especially you. You're tough and I have to remember that."

She smiled sheepishly. "You're just really protective of your friends, Kurosaki-kun."

He cracked a smile, but it didn't carry to his eyes.

"So . . ." Orihime began, fidgeting, "I'm-"

He raised a hand to stop her. "No. I'm sorry."

Orihime bit the inside of her lip, conflicted. She wanted to apologize properly, but they may never get out of this awkward situation if she insisted, which had gone on far longer than she expected. "Okay," she huffed playfully, shaking out her hair. "You can apologize this time, but . . . I do hope to never do this again."

"Yeah. Yeah . . ." He paused, trying to avoid an awkward silence. "So, you talk to yourself often?"

Orihime stared at him, confused.

He pointed to the girls' locker room. "You were talking in there for a good while."

"Oh . . . Oh, no!" She pulled out her phone, grinning. "I was talking on this!"

Ichigo's brows rose by a fraction. "A cellphone?"

"Uh-huh!" She bounced in place, flipping it open to show him the wallpaper. "It's cute, isn't it? I never thought I would have one."

"When did you buy it?"

She paused, lowering her device. "It was a gift."

Ichigo nodded slowly. It must have had something to do with him, and Ichigo now knew better than to push the subject. He gave a lazy grin instead. "That's great, Orihime."

She smiled, surprised and pleased. "Ah!" Orihime looked away briefly, feeling awkward as her face lit up. "C-can I have your number?"

He shrugged. "Sure, if you don't mind it being my house phone."

"You don't have a cellphone?"

He shook his head. "Don't have the money for it."

"O-oh . . ." She reddened more, busying herself with trying to find out how to add a new contact. "Um . . . I forget how to do this."

"Let me see."

She handed him the phone. Ichigo pressed the green button, pulling up her call log.

As he suspected.

She was talking to Kisuke in there.

Orihime walked blissfully down the street, staring at the her contact list. As it stood, she only had Kisuke's cell, Kisuke's home, Tessai, Jinta, Ururu, Yoruichi, Tatsuki's home, Chizuru's home, Michiru's home, an unknown number (that curiously did nothing when she tried to call it), and Ichigo's home.

She giggled briefly, unable to stop herself from looking at the newest number again. Orihime thought her first friend to be added would be Tatsuki (she didn't officially put the number in her phone before today) so this was cause enough for a celebration. More than that, he had filed his name under 'Ichigo' instead of 'Kurosaki', which she would not have been able to do.

And they made up.

Her motions down the street resembling that of skipping. She couldn't stop smiling to herself. The only issue she had now related to what to do for the evening. Homework could always be done later, so maybe she should be in the company of others. She could go home right now, cook up the best dinner she's ever made, and go to Kisuke's house for a few hours.

She entertained the idea, feeling herself become excited over something so small. As she continued her walk, a sudden chill ran up her spine, followed by a brief but fierce shudder. She turned around, expecting to see a Hollow, but only saw people venturing to and from their respective destinations.

She stood as she was, searching through the many faces until she was alone. It was then her pocket started to tingle. She reached inside and took out her clip; the pink lines along with the crystal in the middle were pulsing. Physically, they weren't doing anything, but she could feel them pulsing some kind of . . . energy.

Unease crept along her veins, waiting to explode in a bout of screaming or the collapsing of her knees.

Orihime . . .

She jolted. "Tsubaki?"

The voice was gruff and low, but it was definitely him.

. . . battle . . .

"Battle?" His voice was getting softer. She brought the clip closer even though the sound was coming from inside her head.

There.

The pulsing weakened, and Orihime found herself staring back into the eerie direction of the street. She walked forward, uncertain.

Dead . . . again . . .

His voice disappeared completely, the choppy sentence left to go unfinished. She stared down the street, brows creased.

The sensations from the hair clip stopped.

"You must really hate me."

Kisuke paused in the doorway with two pouches of juice in hand. The man sitting at Kisuke's table comically had his upper body sprawled over it, his faced pressed against the surface, and was staring at a cellphone.

Kisuke huffed, laughing. "Of course I do."

The brown eyed man watched as Kisuke sat down, sliding a juice pouch toward him. "I want to see her."

"I know, Sora." Kisuke stuck his straw in the pouch and sipped from it. "And, one day, you will."

"I know Yoruichi is only hanging out with me more to keep me from coming here."

Kisuke frowned, studying Sora's expression. "I promise you you're going to get to live happily with her."

"Let me call her." Sora poked his blue phone, pouting. "C'mon, Kisuke, just three times a day."

"If you called her right now, she's just going to think it's a cruel joke."

"She wouldn't if you hadn't erased her memory."

Kisuke shrugged apologetically. "I panicked. Sorry."

"How come you get more attached to her with every go-around?" Sora raised a brow, sipping methodically from his pouch. "You fall in love with her?"

Kisuke laughed, leaning forward. "Of course I did. I never pegged myself for family material, though."

Sora regarded him coldly but soon began to slip into his own emotions. "Well, she only has one brother, so I'll label you an uncle."

"Uncle." Kisuke laughed. The title wasn't so bad. "No matter the title, I can't help but care for her the more I see her."

"It's scary every time," Sora said, his mood mellow yet endearing. "Every time we start over . . ."

Kisuke nodded. "It's the moments leading up to when you see her again. You know it's coming, but there's never enough time to prepare."

"Like when you make that trip to the hospital, and you're getting all worked up over how your first impression with a baby is gonna be like."

"And then you finally see her. You get to hold this tiny, defenseless child who's looking at you for the first time."

"And you know right then and there . . ."

"That she'll always have a piece of your heart," both men said, the truth in their words had them in awe by all they had been through together.

They had made mistakes, but they came closer to their goal every time. It was still painful that they were always just a tad short of accomplishing what they wanted, but they may have finally gotten it right this time. They wouldn't have to start over and chance something going wrong. They could all live as a family—Sora, Orihime, Kisuke, Tessai, Ururu, Jinta, Yoruichi.

That had never been the initial plan, but there couldn't be any other end now.

Kisuke stared down at the table, thoughtful, then looked back at Sora. "I blame you, you know."

Sora looked at him. "For what?"

"Getting me involved."

"Hey, hey, I only met you on your third restart. I don't know what I did in the first one to get you hooked."

Kisuke smiled. "It's nothing." He looked down at Sora's phone, furrowing a brow. "What in the world are you looking at?"

Sora's eyes fell back to the phone. "Orihime."

Kisuke leaned over. There was a blue screen with white lines, labels, and a moving green dot. "When did I put a tracker in your phone?"

"I did it myself. That's why it looks so plain."

Kisuke laughed, pushing his hair back. "You're hopeless. That's not a bad idea, though. I should have put one in her phone."

"I did that already."

Kisuke shook his head. "Absolutely hopeless."

Sora sat up, frowning at his phone. "She's been walking for a long time."

"How long?"

"Ever since you didn't let me talk to her."

"That long?!" Kisuke moved over to him, pulling Sora's hand to see better. "She's not going home . . . What's she been doing?"

"Not sure. She hasn't gone near her apartment."

"You just watched her?"

Sora glanced at Kisuke. "Calm down. If she's in danger then the background would start flashing red."

"And then what would you do?"

"Tell you so you could get those kids involved again."

Kisuke smiled despite himself. "You really want Yoruichi to kill me, don't you?"

"I like it when you two fight," he mumbled. "It reminds me of my childhood."

"That's depressing."

Sora shrugged. "Have you figured anything out on that new friend of hers?"

"Well, he's from Feudal Japan, so he's some sort of time traveler."

Sora stared at him, eyes dead, his juice pouch hanging from his mouth. "The hell are you talking about?"

"It shouldn't be so surprising. It's basically what we are."

"Kisuke, shouldn't it bother you that she's around someone who can mess around with time travel?"

"It's Feudal Japan, so it's not like anyone from there was able to create a portal or shift in dimensions. Besides, you remember the guy, right? Does he look like a genius in science or anything relating?"

"No, but you don't exactly scream 'smart' either."

Kisuke chuckled, leaning on his arm. "The point is, there's not much to worry about. The Warring States Era can't possibly be a danger compared to the Hollows Orihime encounters on a regular basis."

Sora frowned. "Why aren't you freaking out? Have you met this guy before or something?"

"No, but something about him is annoyingly familiar."

"Warring States Era, right? Maybe you saw him back then."

"I'd remember that . . . But something did happen around that time . . . Probably."

"Don't worry. If you were the protagonist of a story, then you'll remember at a crucial point in the plot."

Kisuke looked at Sora oddly. "Why do you always say stuff like that?"

"Because your life is like something out of a poorly written story."

"Poorly, huh . . . ? Well, if anyone were going to have a story written about them, then it'd be you."

Sora shrugged, his eyes back on his phone. "I'm sure there would be more interesting things to read."

Evening

"HIRAIKOTSU!"

Sango's weapon soared through demons, showering them in limbs and bodily waste. Miroku and Kagome with Shippo were distracted, rushing to take down the onslaught of enemies. Miroku turned his head briefly, directing his attention back to the copious amount of demons being forced into his arm.

"This is insane," he huffed, exhausted. "They paid us no mind earlier!"

"Don't think about that now!" Sango advised, jumping on Kirara and soaring into the sky to take down as many of the swarming enemies as possible.

Kagome began to panic. There were too many demons and she was running out of arrows. More than that, the demon that injured Inuyasha disappeared with him still impaled on its tentacle. Inuyasha, who was bleeding, unconscious, and defenseless, was alone with a demon much stronger and much more mysterious than any demon they battled so far.

He was severely injured by an enemy that no one was able to detect.

She hardened her emotions, taking aim and building her energy.

They had to get out of this first.

Until then, she had to have faith Inuyasha would survive until they found him.

"Impure blood . . . Nauseating. Filthy. Deplorable." The large demon looked at the bleeding, barely conscious half-breed standing across him, most of his weight supported by his over-sized weapon. "But your blood has a certain appeal to it."

Inuyasha held his side tightly, trying to keep as much blood from leaking out; he felt impossibly weak. He had fallen unconscious some time after the attack, but when he finally awakened, he was in this dark, damp cave with that thing having a taste of his insides.

"Tell me, little one," the demon's snake-like voice sneered, running its appendage across its body, savoring the remaining taste of Inuyasha's blood, "why is your blood holding hints of something . . . else? It cannot possibly be because of you."

"Hell if I know." Inuyasha panted. His wound wasn't healing like it should; it was getting more unbearable the longer time passed. The Tessaiga felt heavier than normal, and he couldn't squeeze any energy out of his Blades of Blood. He forced himself to breathe in, desperately trying to decide what his next course of action should be.

The demon laughed darkly, noticing how Inuyasha swayed on his feet. "You don't have to tell me. The best thing about these," its body glowed in five different places—jewel shards, "is I can now trace energy." It turned, sauntering off. "And I sense it is a human who is the result of this exquisite taste."

Inuyasha took a quick, impulsive step forward, falling to his knees. He began to cough up blood as the crippling pain in his side increased. "Get back here," he growled pathetically. "Fight me, coward!"

"Fight?" The demon chuckled. "You can't even stand. You should have eaten this human when you had the chance." The demon paused, a low, maniacal chuckle filling the cave. "Who knows, mutt, I might bring you a piece back."

Inuyasha watched as the demon trod away, promising it would rip and tear—

"Orihime," Inuyasha grunted, falling flat on the ground, his wound bleeding freely. He breathed shallowly, his vision darkening.

Couldn't he even sulk in peace? He wanted to give up on her, and he was certainly being tested on that now. He wanted to be done with her, but he was throwing in the towel before things could truly begin, wasn't he? He didn't want to keep being around her anymore if it was going to be heartbreak in the end, but not if that meant she had to die—to be slowly eaten alive. He couldn't let that happen all because . . .

.

"His name is-"

.

"Shut up," he growled, his body burning. He didn't need this now. He didn't want to die thinking about this.

.

"His name-"

.

"Shut up!"

.

"-is Ichigo."

.

An unworldly roar filled the cave.

The large demon turned around, feeling the presence of a new demon but only found the impure breed from before. He was climbing to his feet, eyes red, purple markings on either side of his face, and he was grunting like a wild animal.

"What's this? You bleed like a battered sapling, yet you still wish to fight me?"

Inuyasha stalked towards him, oblivious to his injuries, and lunged forward. The demon was taken off guard, but managed to barely miss claws slicing through its body.

It laughed, dodging another wild attack. "Your blood smells foul, but you have gotten interesting."

Inuyasha's attacks picked up speed. The demon tried to dodge and deflect the onslaught of claws as they came, but its large body was hindered by the rocky space as it was forced into more defensive stances. Inuyasha lunged again, elongated claws poised to dig into flesh. He latched onto the demon's side, earning a howl of annoyance. Digging his claws in deeper, Inuyasha clenched his fist, ripping out flesh and flinging the useless body piece away. He feverishly climbed up and around his enemy, madly ripping out bit after bit.

A startled cry was released from the giant as a chunk containing a jewel shard was flung to the side. The demon frantically grabbed at Inuyasha, but the cloaked demon continued to evade him. The sounds of Inuyasha's assault was dully echoed around them. The squelching and slapping of wet flesh hit the ground in weighted plops. The gruesome sound of tearing increased as Inuyasha was consumed with tearing off as much flesh as possible. Another shard was yanked out. The demon felt the effects of its draining energy. Appendages started to fall off on their own. Inuyasha's frenzy increased.

"Enough!" The demon caught hold of Inuyasha's ankle and flung him aside, cratering him into the wall. It began to search for its missing shards, but Inuyasha projected himself at it once more and was on it again, ripping out appendages and tentacles. The demon cried out, the loss of those two shards making it feel pain. "Wait-!"

Inuyasha yanked a flailing tentacle, pulling out a portion of the demon, and along with it two more shards. There was a massive rejecting force, flinging him and various pieces of flesh around the cave. The demon squeaked manically, its body reduced to the size of a small animal. It looked around, noticing the mass loss, and began to tremble. It could barely see in the darkness now, but it could still feel Inuyasha's overwhelming presence. The half-demon was immobile for a while, his breath ragged and animalistic. Then he was moving. He staggered in slow, methodical zigzags, intentionally appearing random in movement, but the demon soon realized he was making his way towards its location.

"H-half demon," it whispered, the once hissing voice now reduced to strained desperation, "pl-please, spare me."

The sound of wet footsteps slapped against the walls, coming nearer.

"I-I cannot sense that energy anymore!"

Closer still, and the demon was overridden with fear.

"I don't want to die!"

"Get out of here."

The demon stared into darkness, shocked at the gruff, exhausted voice that passed him, the footsteps trudging on.

Miroku, Sango, and Kagome stared, dumbstruck. Some demons stopped in mid-attack and left; others dropped to the ground, never alive to begin with.

"What is this?" Sango wondered aloud.

"I haven't the slightest idea . . ." Miroku looked over at Shippo, who was being comforted by Kirara. "We need to find Inuyasha."

"How?" Sango asked.

"Did anybody see which way that demon was headed? The one that took him?"

They all looked amongst each other. They had all been too distracted with defending themselves to have paid full attention.

"Kagome," Miroku turned to her, "you saw jewel shards, didn't you? Do you sense them now?"

She looked around, forcing herself to take note of something that felt different from usual. "I . . . I don't feel anything. There's no trace of them anymore."

"M-Miroku," Shippo stammered, "wh-what now? How are we going to find Inuyasha? How do we know all the demons are really gone?"

Miroku didn't know how to answer. They had no ability to find him, so their best bet was to hope that he found them and survive long enough for a reunion.

What more could they do?

Night

"B . . . but how come?"

"It's . . . just not a good time."

"Oh . . ."

"Orihime . . ." Kisuke directed his attention to the man defiantly glaring at him across the room. "I'm just entertaining a guest at the moment." There was silence on the other line. "How about this: Come over tomorrow and we'll cook for you."

"Me? I . . . Well, okay. That would be nice."

"Alright. Well, I have to go now. Have a nice evening, Orihime."

"You too."

Kisuke hung up the phone, and Sora immediately yelled in frustration. The blond man looked at him, no longer fazed by his impatience. "I've never seen you pout this much."

"And I've never seen you keep me from my sister this much!"

"Isn't this the first opportunity you've had?"

"So you see my point."

Kisuke's shoulders slumped. "Please give me some credit here, Sora. This is all possible because of you. If you overwhelm her now, she may not accept-"

"I know!" the brunette erupted, falling forward. "It's just . . . Ugh." He got up and headed over to the door in the corner of the room.

"Where are you going?" Kisuke asked, worried Sora might really be upset.

Sora flicked his phone in the air, opening the door. "I have this again, so I'll go back until I can see her again." He glanced Kisuke's way, his eyes bland. "That doesn't mean stop visiting, but I feel too on edge if I stay here."

Kisuke frowned, conflicted. "Well . . . can you not do anything weird in my lab?"

Sora smirked, shrugging. "Bye."

"Bye! Bye! Bye!" Orihime lied on her back, kicking her fists and feet in the air in a bout of lonely restlessness.

Without Kisuke to go to, she had time to reflect on just how empty she had been before meeting him. Her apartment was usually a place where her mind could wander freely and her cheerful nature could fade just for a moment. With Kisuke, she could still do those things, so she now felt isolation closing on her.

She sighed, rolling into a sit, and stared at her phone. It was a really nice gift. She liked holding it and looking at all the applications, but she wouldn't be using it much, she could already tell. Calling people was nice and all, but she rather liked going out of her way to see those she wished to talked to.

Orihime stood, intending to walk to her room, when a loud bang came from outside her door, rocking the floor. She blinked furiously, looking back at the door, and waited for something to happen.

"Wait . . ." She walked to the door, grasping the handle, and opened it cautiously. Looking down, her eyes widened, a scream almost erupting from her throat.

Inuyasha lied face down, tattered and bleeding.