Title: Trepidation (Chapter 3! wh00t!)
And as for the rating and disclaimers and stuff... same as last time cuz im too lazy to go look at what is there...

A/N: I would just like to clear something up, I did not write the first two chapters -_- Yes, lame, I know, but what can I say? anyway, had alot of trouble with this chapter (major writers block) so I hope it meets your expectations! :)

Ichigo stirred in his sleep. He was slowly regaining conciousness, and he still felt the blissful warmth of his dreamless resting state. Then, a wave of pain hit him like a jet plane. It was like he'd fallen several stories and suddenly crashed to the ground. He couldn't even distinguish where the pain was coming from; the intensity of it almost knocked him back into unconciousness. He tried desperately to remember what caused this unbearable pain. But it was like there was a wall that began at the beginning of the week and ended when he'd awoken moments ago.

That was when his mind started spinning with the terrifying possibilities of his current situation. Was he captured by the enemy and tortured? But he reassured himself that that wouldn't make sense; he was just a high school student after all. He didn't know anything about the war aside from what he heard about on the news. Or... had he seen something he shouldn't have, and now he couldn't remember? He balled up his fists and forced himself to stop thinking so negatively. Instead of speculating wildly about things that almost definately never happened, he needed to focus his efforts on finding out what had happened. And his location would definately help him figure out the truth. He let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding; and relaxed his muscles.

He forced his honey-brown eyes open, and immidiately clamped them shut again. Harsh white light illuminted the room he was resting in. But now that he knew about the lights; he was able to steel himself against the shock to his retinas and crack his eyes open just wide enough to see. The teen lay in the same position for a minute or two in order to let his eyes adjust to the lighting, then glanced slowly around the enclosure.

The first thing he noticed was the stark white color of everything in sight. The walls, the bed he was laying on, and the door on the other side of the room. Definately not a torture center. However, he was slightly unnerved that there were no windows in the room, cutting him off from whoever had brought him there. As he continued his strict evaluation of the white-washed room, the doorknob turned slowly. He froze, immidiately thinking the worst.

But his suspicions were proven wrong yet again when a woman with black hair and kind blue eyes peered in at him.

"Oh, you're awake. That is very good young man. There are a lot of people wondering who you are. My name is Retsu Unohana, by the way. Nice to meet you." The woman, Unohana, smiled kindly and all of Ichigo's worries were shoved to the back of his mind. It suddenly made sense. He wasn't in some sinister government facility; he was in a hospital. It was justifiable; considering the fact that his injuries felt pretty serious.

"Nice to meet you too. My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. And... where exactly am I Unohana-san?" The nurse smiled encouragingly at the orange-haired male.

"Hello Ichigo, you are at a hospital. We're not quite sure what happened to you; but captian Shirosaki Ogihci of the fifth division found you and you were badly injured. It's a good thing he found you when he did; or you would've died." Her last statement was a real wake-up call for Ichigo. What if he wasn't in Karakura anymore? Where was his family? Were they worried about him? Or worse, had they gotten hurt too?

"Are you feeling alright? Your face suddenly became much paler..." the nurse inquired.

"Is my family OK? Isshin, Karin, and Yuzu Kurosaki?" the orange-haired teen almost screamed. His voice cracked from disuse, which made Ichigo think that he'd been unconcious for more than a few days.

Unohana could tell that the teen was becoming agitated.

"I haven't heard anything about anyone with those names; but I can check for you if you'd like," she said soothingly. Ichigo laid his head back onto the pillow and stared at the ceiling.

"Unohana-san..." Ichigo whispered. He was going to ask what had happened to him, when someone called to her from out in the hallway.

"Excuse me, but I have to go now. I'll send someone in to check on you soon."

"Oh... okay," he replied unsurely. He had been about to ask where in the world he was, and it was beginning to bug him.

He lie awake in the room for what seemed like days by himself. There was no clock, and no windows, so he had no way of knowing what time it was.

Then, without warning, the door opened. Ichigo turned his head, expecting to see the nurse Unohana-san had promised to send. Instead, he saw a very intimidating looking man. What surprised him most about the man was that he resembled Ichigo himself fiercely.

The man was an albino, with pure alabaster skin and hair every bit as white. He had yellow-brown eyes and unusual black sclera. There was a feral beauty about this man, he moved gracefully yet distinctly and he had a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"You're awake, huh?" Ichigo just stared at the man, unsure of whether to answer him or not. His eyes were narrowed suspiciously, he didn't know what to make of the strange man walking into the room.

"I'll take that as a yes... So how ya feelin' kid?" he asked. Ichigo detected some real concern in his voice, so he decided to answer him.

"I feel like shit," Ichigo stated bluntly. The man looked stunned for a second, then burst out laughing. It was a strange, slightly psychotic-sounding laugh, but it wasn't threatening. Ichigo couldn't help but smile just a little.

"I'm Shirosaki Ogihci, nice to meet cha' kid," the man introduced himself after he recovered from his laughter.

'Where have I heard that name before...' Ichigo asked himself. Then he remembered. Unohana-san had said that this man saved him life. Ichigo looked at him, wide-eyed.

"Wha's wrong kid?"

"Unohana-san told me... that you saved me..." he said.

"Oh, that? It's nothin', I'm sure someone woulda' found ya' in time even if I didn't..." Shirosaki said, shocked at Ichigo's reaction.

"But they didn't find me. You did. Thank you."

"Don' mention it kid," Shirosaki replied, smiling.

"That said..." Ichigo began.

"Hm?" Shirosaki wondered.

"Don't call me kid."

Shiro laughed.

"So yer name's Ichigo Kurosaki, huh?" Shirosaki asked.

"Yeah."

"Well Ichi, you can call me Shiro, 'kay?"

"Sure." Ichigo and Shiro had been talking for awhile, and Ichigo found himself liking the man. He came off as a strange person, but was actually quite likeable once you got to know him.

"Well Ichi, I gotta go fer' now, but I'll see ya' later, 'kay?" Shiro said.

"Yeah, sure. See you later Shiro." Ichigo said brightly.

As Shiro turned around to leave the room he thought, 'Might as well wait til I absolutely have to to tell him... God, all those kids and he's the only one who made it...'

The next few days were a blur of eating and sleeping for Ichigo. Nurses came and went, but Shiro hadn't come to see him yet.

Then, one day when Unohana-san was explaining that he should try to walk around a litlle, Shiro burst in the door.

"Hey Ichi, miss me?" he hollered.

"Captain Ogihci, please be quiet, you are in a hospital after all," Unohana-san said calmly.

"Yeah yeah. So Ichi, whaddaya say I show you around a bit?" Shiro said a bit apprehensively.

"I'm not sure he's up for that yet..." Unohana said.

"Weren't you just saying he needed to get up and walk around? Well come on Ichi, let's go," Shiro replied.

So Ichigo (with a little help from Unohana) got up and put on some scrubs they had lying around (he refused to wear the hospital gown out of the room) and left the room to walk around with Shiro.

As Shiro passed Unohana, he cast a nervous glance at her. She wouldn't look at him.

A/N: Okay, sorry that was so short and sorry it took so long -_-' I get writers block like every 2 seconds, so I had some trouble... So as you can tell, something ominous is coming up (cue spooky music) and the next chapter will be Shiro showing Ichigo around the...uhmm...
...place that they're in. Tho you guys probably already figured that out, you are smart cookies ^_^ So, until next time... R&R plz!