A/N: Woot! Here's chapter two! Thank you to all who have graced this story with your eyes. You're views/visits have encouraged me greatly. A special thanks to countrylovinfangirl, for your review, and to those who have added this story to your watch list. It is for you that I continue to let my mind wander in the world of Bleach.

Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Bleach. The wonderful wizard Tite Kubo is whom it belongs to.

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Chapter Two- Shock

There were two things Ichigo noticed as he slowly regained consciousness. One, his body hurt a lot less, and two, a warm pressure on his forehead. His brow furrowed as he worked to open his eyes. It took a good about of struggling and concentration before he managed ht crack his lids enough to vaguely lake out his surroundings.

He tried moving his head to the side but the weight on his forehead prevented him from doing so. His arms ached horribly, but he managed to maneuver one to investigate the warmth atop his head.

His eyes widened in surprise when his fingers brushed against a gloved hand. He froze in fear, momentarily too afraid to look toward the owner of the stray limb. When he finally managed to glance over, he was met with a rare sight. Byakuya was leaning against the cell wall, his head was titled to the side to rest against a shoulder, and his hand, obviously, rested on Ichigo's forehead.

Ichigo held his breath as he lay still. He took a few seconds to observe the peacefully sleeping noble before decided he should avoid waking the noble to the awkward situation. He carefully lifted the noble's hand from his head as he tried shifting away from the sleeping captain. As he turned, though, his body's numerous unhealed injuries protested loudly, causing Ichigo to groan loudly. He dropped Byakuya's hand in favor of clutching his aching ribs.

Despite being lost in a pain filled haze, he felt Byakuya jolt awake as his hand landed back atop his head. The pain slowly receded, and Ichigo looked up at the now wide awake captain, who had, thankfully, removed his hand upon waking. "Sorry, Byakuya, didn't mean to wake you," Ichigo kept his eyes averted as a slight blush of embarrassment colored his face.

Byakuya merely grunted in reply before observing the teen lying beside him, "How are you feeling?" A slight tone of concern for the younger shinigami colored his usual cold tone.

Ichigo once again stared at the noble in shock. He definitely heard he concern lacing the stoic man's voice. "I must have been pretty bad off, if you're concerned about me. Don't worry though, I feel fine compared to last night." As if to prove himself, Ichigo forced himself to sit up. He couldn't avoid gritting his teeth as his body screamed in pain. He'd rather that, than alerting the other man to how much it had really hurt to complete that simple action. He couldn't, however, hide the gasping breaths as he waited for the pain to ease.

"You should rest while you can, Kurosaki Ichigo. Let you injuries heal however much they can before they return." Byakuya stated after watching the teen's tough act. It was painfully obvious how much it had hurt the teen to move.

"Yeah, yeah, like I said before, I'm fine. It'll take way more than what these guys can dish out to break me. I'm pretty durable, you know." Ichigo replied with a smirk.

Byakuya frowned in reply. He opened his mouth to release yet another lecture, but was cut off when the cell door suddenly squealed open. Byakuya stood up at the sound and looked towards the substitute shinigami. He watched as Ichigo's body tensed when their captors waltzed into the small cell.

The greasy man from before looked over at the noble before snapping his fingers. "You need not be so jumpy dear prince," he sneered at Byakuya. "We won't be needing you during our sessions. You're here only as a witness. We can't have you getting in our way of playing with this young fellow. We need someone from the other side to verify the breaking of the strongest hero." He then turned to the two figures that had entered at his signal. "Shackle him. Just one hand, I don't care if he moves a bit. Just make sure he can't interfere."

Byakuya stiffened as the man's subordinates grabbed his arms and dragged him the few feet to the back of the cell. A heavy shackle was locked around one wrist, successfully limiting his range of movement. A couple feet of chain allowed him sit or stand, any other movement was almost impossible.

Once the man was satisfied he wouldn't interfere, he motioned the two helpers toward the teen. Byakuya clenched his fists as they grabbed the defenseless teen and dragged him out the door. He caught a tight encouraging smile from the teen just before the door closed.

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EirSensei: I hope you have enjoyed chapter two! I hope it turned out a bit longer, I like long chapters. Anyway don't forget to review, follow, and favorite this story!

Thanks!