As evening grew into night, weather began turning inclement. Dark clouds were speedily clustering over the spire tops of the penitentiary, amping up the apprehension for what was to be done tonight.

Chad, Ishida and Ichigo had just returned from an uneventful dinner, with Ichigo more stonily silent than usual and Ishida swimming in over his head about the little details of their trial-run and eventual escape. Time? Place? Contingencies?

Seeing both the boys silent was an odd position for Chad, who never had to be the conversation-initiator between the three of them for as long as they had been friends. Abuelo had always emphasized the importance of watching, observing - not saying much unless it was necessary. While those ingrained traits had come in handy during his incarceration, it left him a little incapacitated to handle the moods of his friends.

And while he knew what Ishida was worried about, technically, Ichigo was a different story. He had seemed distant - more so than usual - ever since his return from the infirmary.

Chad got up from his own bunk and walked over to Ichigo's. "Ichigo," he said, as a way of greeting.

Ichigo hummed, but didn't say anything else. Outside, the first crescendo of rain began, a steady patter on the dry grass of Seireitei.

"It's getting dark," Chad observed, watching the shadows of the drops illuminate Ishida's pale, contemplative face where he stood by the window.

"It always was," Ichigo replied quietly. He collapsed against the bed, covering his eyes with one hand like he was in pain.

Whatever ailed Ichigo, Chad suspected it had something to do with Dr. Inoue. Mornings spent in her company always did something to uplift his mood; he'd return, still scowling, but always more companionable and relaxed since he'd left. Though Ichigo hadn't given any indication of anything, Chad guessed that something must have happened that changed their dynamic in some way - opened Ichigo up to new possibilities that scared him.

"I'm here," Chad said simply, "if you want to talk."

"Thanks, Chad," Ichigo mumbled, rolling over, "but I think I'm just gonna sleep this one off."

Chad sighed.

x.x

Orihime was fast asleep on her desk.

In her dreams, she was in a courtroom somewhere. All around her body was the wooden barricade of a witness stand, clamping her from moving anywhere. Across the room, at the plaintiff's table, was Ichigo.

"Is it true that the defendant kissed the witness in the so-called privacy of the infirmary, a heinous act that is strictly forbidden according to code #283 in the Prison Manual of Conduct?" asked a haughty-looking lawyer that Orihime was sure was a character in some daytime crime drama she used to watch.

"I didn't mean to!" she insisted, vying for the judge's - Shinji's - support. "It just happened! I thought what he did for me was really kind and he was looking at me really intensely and it just...happened!"

The lawyer gave an exaggerated snort. How rude, Orihime thought, a little hotly.

Shinji banged the gavel lazily. "Now, now, Hime-chan," he said, shifting his head from one elbow to the other, a saucy grin on his face. "I think what the entire courtroom wants to know today comes down to this…" He leaned forward dramatically in his seat. "How was it?"

Orihime blinked. "How was...the kiss?"

"Yes!" Shinji exclaimed, looking at her like she was stupid.

Orihime glanced at Ichigo, feeling her face heat up at the kind, patient look he was giving her. The same one he wore whenever she rambled about something he found amusing. She flushed, looking down at her lap, "Well, I don't know what to say...it was- it was really nice. Kurosaki-san is a good kisser. I liked it."

"That's it!" Shinji announced suddenly, like he'd been waiting for her admission of guilt. "I declare the defendant guilty of second-degree smooching! That's like first-degree smooching but in the heat of the moment, and with a lot less touching," he informed the invisible audience primly. Then, he suddenly pointed at her. "Guard! Take her away to be beheaded immediately!"

"No!" Orihime bellowed, struggling to escape from her holding. "I'm innocent!"

The gavel banged repeatedly through the uproar, signalling her impending doom.

Orihime jolted awake, her body still reeling from the adrenaline of her dream. "Gosh," she murmured, blinking the stupor out of her eyes.

Outside, the wind howled violently, flashes of lightning slapping the steady rain. She got up from her chair slowly and grabbed her purse, ready to head to her quarters and call it a night. The day had been taxing and she was just about ready to stuff her face in ice-cream and cry.

As she made her way towards the light switch, she turned over her shoulder to ensure that everything was in place before she left.

Suddenly, the power went out. She was plunged into pitch-black darkness, making her jerk. All around her, she could hear the stuttering whir of machinery powering down, leaving her alone with the sounds of the rain.

She fished through her purse for her phone, letting out a relieved sigh when the overhead lights flickered on instead. As she let her hand fall to her side, she began walking out of her office. It was not surprising that there had been a minor outage, considering the weather outside, but she was relieved that the lights came back on anyway. It was scary when it was dark down here.

She retreated to the corridor outside, ready to clock out and head home.

That was when the sirens went off.

x.x

There was a crashing sound of glass breaking somewhere.

"What the hell is happening?" Ichigo asked groggily, coming to. One minute, everything was a-okay and then the lights had gone out. They had returned soon enough, but the power outage had sprung the prison doors open, leading a throng of prisoners to rush outside their cells, jeering, screaming and banging on the cell doors as they ran amuck. "Chad? Ishida?"

"We're here," Chad said, somewhere to Ichigo's left, wincing when a group clamored and banged past their door mid-run.

Ishida was frowning. "It appears the generators haven't kicked in," he explained, running a hand along their opened cell door. "Generally, when the power goes out in the penitentiary, the reinforcements for the prison doors are temporarily disabled. But that's very brief. They usually kick right back in because they're hooked to generators that ensure they remain locked even during an outage. There must have been a fuse."

"So we're having a riot, basically," murmured Ichigo, turning over in bed as violent clashes and bone-breaking grunts could be heard outside. "Put up the laundry sheet, I'm going back to sleep."

There was a rustle of movement. Then,

"First one to break a blue's forearm gets a pack of cigs!" Ikkaku hollered from somewhere below, followed by a chorus of cheers and roars. The noise reverberated all along the walls, making the floors thrum with the movement of inmates.

"Hang back or I'll shoot!" they could hear some poor rookie guard screaming from the watch cubicle by the stairs. Laughter and howls rang through the corridors, the storming of footsteps getting louder by the second.

Chad watched the goings-on with concern in his eyes. Ichigo groaned, burying his head under a pillow. Ishida, however, looked pensive.

"I wasn't anticipating this to happen," he said, looking at Chad meaningfully. "But if it's landed in our laps, I'm going to count it as a blessing. We need to get started now, while everyone else is occupied. Sado-kun, laundry sheet."

"Right!" Chad scrambled, quickly tying up the white sheet to the bedpost and slinging it past the open cell door.

Ichigo sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What're you guys doing?"

"Kurosaki, we need to talk," Ishida said grimly, crossing his arms to regard Ichigo with a solemnity that made Ichigo's stomach drop with apprehension. "There's a-"

Ichigo held up his finger suddenly, his senses growing alert when he heard Renji's chagrined voice passing by their door.

"-well the door generators haven't kicked in and a coupla assholes got some ideas," he was saying to the walkie-talkie over his shoulder, the click of his boots passing by hurriedly. "We're gonna try and get things under control here, put all the four wings under lockdown, pronto, before things escalate. You guys focus on getting your manpower to the Maggot's Nest."

"Roger that."

"And hey, has anyone at base tried contacting Dr. Inoue?" he continued, a note of worry in his voice.

Ichigo stilled, not realizing that the muscles in his legs had forced him to stand up. His veins turned ice-cold as he approached the cell door to listen, not bothering to throw his uniform over his plain, long-sleeved shirt, or even smoothen the sleep-ruffled crinkles down.

"We tried her office, sir," the walkie-talkie crackled harshly. "No response."

Chad and Ishida exchanged glances behind Ichigo's tight-coiled shoulders.

"Is she still on the grounds?"

"We think so. She hasn't clocked out yet."

"Well, keep trying her line then," Renji barked, sounding exhausted. "Her office is right by the Nest. I don't wanna hear squat about anything happening to her, got it?"

The sounds of his voice got distant as he barged further away from Ichigo's cell. It would seem as if Renji had his hands full tonight, regardless of his state of concern for his new friend. And if a lockdown was going to be enforced, there was definite cause to believe he wouldn't be leaving this area for the next 24 hours.

Ichigo regarded the riot for a moment with solemn eyes, his fist clenched. Then, he spoke in a low voice. "Sorry, Ishida. Whatever you were going to say is going to have to wait." He turned over his shoulder and regarded them with a fiercely determined gaze. "I'm going to find Inoue."

He began to move, without waiting for either of them to respond, but Ishida yanked him back by the back of his shirt forcefully.

Ichigo scowled, stumbling back in surprise. "I said it can wait, Ishida -" He stopped mid-sentence when Ishida began dragging him forcefully to the toilet. His hip hit the metal and he scrunched his face, half in pain and half in impatience. "What the hell?"

Ishida, however, began furiously working the toilet screw with both his hands. Chad, catching his drift, immediately played his part in shoving the bowl aside to pry open the hole. A swift draft of air blew in as the vent fully opened up. Ichigo stared at it, then at Ishida and Chad, open-mouthed. His eyes were wide in alarm.

"Kurosaki," Ishida said solemnly, standing up. "You'll never find her if you go hunting in a crowd like this." He jerked his head to the square-shaped opening. "Use this passageway instead. Keep going until you reach the deadend. The lower half of the wall there should be damp with the remnants of chloride. If you use enough pressure, it should bring down the tensile strength of the wall and open up to an old tunnel that leads straight to the vent in her office."

Ichigo blinked. Slowly, color began draining from his face. "You…"

"-were going to use it tonight to test it out ourselves," Ishida finished, with a sigh. Behind him, Chad nodded. "But as you said, it can wait. We'll explain later. Go find the doctor."

Ichigo opened his mouth. "I -"

"Go!" Ishida and Chad yelled in unison, practically shoving him into the vent. The feeling of hands cramming him further began a dull ache somewhere between his shoulders, but he slipped through anyway. When he turned over his shoulder, Ishida and Chad were already pushing the toilet back into place. The light from their cell slowly began to dim with the movement of the door.

"Knock when you come back," was the last thing Ichigo heard Chad whisper before the vent fully closed. All of a sudden, his ears felt strange at the lack of noise.

Once in there, in the darkness, he blinked, feeling his eyes get familiar with this wildly unfamiliar background. How long had it been since he saw a place that was not his room, the library, the courtyard, the canteen, or the infirmary? The thought of the infirmary suddenly had him remembering what he was down here for. In the distance, he could still hear the jeers and shouts of his fellow inmates.

That had him tumbling faster through the unfamiliar vents to get to the doctor's office.

Wait for me, Inoue, he thought, his feet taking off in the direction Ishida had instructed him towards. I'll protect you.

Me: it would be too cliche if I went full-drama(™) and made Bleach parallels

Also me: I will Die if I don't go full Ichihime-mode and make Bleach parallels.

Anyway, I updated a little later because I posted 2 chapters together last time. Can someone tell me how to schedule this thing? I get too excited and never space them right.