Hello and welcome to He Talks of Duty!
Thank you for tuning in today.
Yeah...Anyway please enjoy.
I dont own Bleach or any of its characters. They belong to Tite Kubo...Lucky dog.
There it was...
Another drop in someones spiritual pressure.
A significant drop.
Within a few seconds Orihime recognized it as...
"I-Ichigo...?"
She jumped up from her spot where she sat cross-legged on the floor.
No.
No.
No!
Please not Ichigo!
She ran to the door, eyes wide.
She didnt know what to do, so she banged on the door.
"Let me out!" She screamed.
"Hey! Let me out of here! Please! Just let me out!"
She continually pounded on the door for a few minutes until she collapsed to her knees, shaking uncontrollably.
"-out..." She said weakly.
"Let me out. Ichigo..."
No...This couldnt be happening.
Minutes later, the door started to creak open. Orihime jumped up so as to not be hit by the massive doors.
Ulquiorra walked in, hands in his pockets, and eyes fixated on her.
He stopped.
His head tiled ever so slightly to the side.
"What is it, woman?" He demanded.
She hesitated. "I...huh...?" And then she realized she had been crying.
"You felt the drop in his spiritual pressure." It was a statement.
"You-"
"If its any consolation, it was quick."
She clamped her hands over her ears.
No!
She didnt want to hear it.
Her eyes widened when she noticed his torn collar and the spot of red on his right pocket.
Blood.
Ichigo's blood...?
He followed her gaze to his pocket. "Hm, I suppose I should have changed..."
"You..."
She was blinded by fury.
Blinded by grief.
She clenched her hand into a fist and threw it with all her strength.
It connected.
She stood, frozen for a few seconds, breathing ragged.
Her eyes eventually move upward to him.
Ulquiorra stood as he always did, hands in his pocket, hips extended, but his head was turned to the side.
He turned his head to look at her and she let her arm fall.
Her tears had stopped now.
"You..."
"I?"
"You monster!" She said, teeth clenched and hands shaking.
Her hands were shaking too much so she couldn't form a fist.,
so when she threw her hand out toward him again, it was more of a slap.
Again, in connected.
He didnt move, didnt try to stop her.
He just stood as he always did, quietly.
When she saw that he didnt react at all, it irritated her.
Something that sounded like a scream left her lips as she made strike him again.
But this time, he did stop her.
He caught her hand in mid-air as easily as if he were just flicking a finger.
Why hadn't he stopped her before then?
She noted with small surprise that he was grasping her wrist very gently.
"Are you done?"
Her shoulders slumped and she bowed her head, feeling utterly deflated.
He made a "Hm.." sound and dropped her hand.
Silence passed between them unit Orihime gathered enough courage to ask one question that had been racing through her mind.
"Is Ichigo really..." Her voice failed her.
"Is he what? Dead?" He looked at her. "Very much so."
"No!" She screamed. "You're lying! I dont believe you!"
"Then dont believe me." He said simply.
"You asked me a question and I answered."
She stared at him, eyes wide and then her knees gave out and she sat on the floor.
"No..." She said, shakily.
He stared hard at her.
"Get up woman." He said, a note of authority creeping into his voice.
She looked up at him but didnt do anything.
"I said get up."
"You killed him..."
He sighed, as if irritated. And then he turned on his heel and walked out.
Orihime stayed frozen, staring ahead at the massive doors close.
Tears silently welled in her ash eyes.
"Ichigo..."
Not even ten minutes later, Orihime had shakily gotten to her feet.
She'd figured it out.
Holding her breath wouldn't work.
But biting her tongue would.
She'd heard about it once.
She wasnt completely sure if it would work,
but she was desperate.
And scared.
But she had to.
For the sake of her friends...
It surprised her how much will power it took to bite herself.
She clenched her fist and clamped down.
The pain was awful.
Tears welled in her eyes and she wimpered and she felt her teeth break a hole.
Blood started gushing out.
Still she bit down harder until she cried out.
Looking down, she saw the floor covered with red. Her blood. Her life.
She was shaking hard, drowning in crimson metal.
She coughed hard, choking .
Lightheaded.
Pain.
Crimson.
Her tears ran down her cheeks.
It was for her friends.
Thats why she did this.
It didnt take long for dots to start invading her vision.
She felt tired.
Was this finally it?
Ichigo
Uryu
Rukia
Chad
Renji...
And surprisingly, the last coherent thought she had was of a pair of vivid green eyes...
Hello and thank you for reading.
Yes I realize that biting the tongue wouldn't be the quick or drastic. It would take a long time to bleed to death and the most realistic thing to happen would be an infection. But, hey, I gotta write something.
Please stay tuned for the next chapter!