Chapter 2: Start

"Is he alright?"

"Calm down, Grimmjow. He is unharmed. It seems as if his body is just reacting to the stress."

"I don't blame him."

"Mh."

"Are you sure that's all?"

Starrk groaned as his friend paced around the room, looking towards Ichigo's sleeping figure every few seconds. Although light, Grimmjow's footsteps sounded much louder in Ichigo's eerily quiet room.

"He's been asleep for a week, Starrk, a week."

After rescuing Ichigo from the attack, the poor teenager had fallen asleep on the bed and had remained that way for seven days now, and probably more to come. Grimmjow was almost distraught with worry, and the rest of the team came and visited everyday as well. Ichigo was important to everyone, desperately important.

"Let him heal. As long as he is alive, we are okay."

Grimmjow growled and eyed up his friend. "Do not talk about my partner that way."

"I didn't say anything wrong."

With a deep sigh Grimmjow sat down in the off white chair next to Ichigo's bed, the chair he usually sat or slept in. His emotions were running all over the place ever since he had finally located Ichigo. With just one look, Grimmjow had known it was Ichigo. The orange hair didn't change, even after all these years.

"I'm sorry, Starrk. I'm just-"

"You don't have to say it." Starrk held up a hand and smiled. "Really, I understand."

"Thanks."

Starrk stood up to leave, grabbing Grimmjow's attention once more.

"I was just about to go out with Shiro for some practice, you want to tag along?"

Grimmjow looks once more at his sleeping partner's face, and opens his mouth to utter a rejection, but Starrk interrupts him.

"It'll do you some good. You look like death on legs, Grimmjow, and if we're attacked you won't do any good."

The reasoning is fair, and Grimmjow can see how he had let himself go after finding his partner and now being able to train with him; it was taking its toll on him, mentally and physically.

"Fine then, but I'm coming back in after two hours. No longer."

Starrk sighs and opens the door to the hallway."Fine, fine."

The familiar white chair crashed against the wall and splintered into different pieces.

Why wouldn't Ichigo wake up?

Grimmjow grabbed a nearby vase, and rolled it between his hands gently.

Was he doing something wrong?

With a roar of outrage the vase crashed against the white wall, leaving shards of glass along the flooring and some still stuck in the wallpaper. When he glanced at Ichigo and noticed a few pieces laying beside him on the white bedsheet, Grimmjow cleaned up the mess he had made and pulled a new chair up to calm his attitude.

Two weeks.

Two full weeks since Ichigo had come to the base, and still he would not wake up. Grimmjow was about shot, unable to do much more than sit by Ichigo's bedside and watch his sleeping face for signs of movement. Sometime Grimmjow read to him; past journals, random novels, newspaper articles, anything that might spark Ichigo's awareness and bring him back.

The door creaked as it opened and closed behind him. Grimmjow craned his neck around to see who was entering the room, thinking it was Starrk, who was often here, but his eyes find the lazy smile of Urahara coming to sit next to him.

"Ah, hello Grimmjow! How is he doing?"

"No changes, yet."

"Well," Urahara claps his hands together softly. "We're just going to have to change that, aren't we?"

Grimmjow's eyes widen. He looks over at Urahara who is smiling bigger than he's ever seen, and he chokes on his words.

"Did you-Did you find some way to wake him up?"

Urahara's smile stays as he nods his head.

"Fucking do it then!"

Urahara laughs behind his brown fan, and stands up to get closer to Ichigo's dormant body. The teen doesn't look to be in any sort of pain, his breathing was regular, and everything about his outside physical appearance looked completely taken care of. Urahara couldn't help but wonder how badly Ichigo's mind was, and if it was fixable at all.

"It seems that there is a spell we've been overlooking, one that will forcibly wake someone from this deep sleep they've been dragged into. However," Urahara glances over at the blunette with a determined look. "It may be very painful, and very harmful to the body. We've never used it before, so..."

"Shit." Grimmjow starts pacing around the room. He needed Ichigo to wake up, needed someone to fight beside, but if he died...this whole cycle would have to start over again. Never-ending, it seemed.

"Do it. We have to."

The room temperature drops in degrees, and the cold air caresses Grimmjow as he stands, frozen to the spot he had paced to. Urahara steels his mind, and places his right hand over Ichigo's chest. He then summoned to words to the front of his mind, and recited the words as he had read them.

Time seemed to go in slow motion.

The words ceased, and Urahara stepped back, now knowing what to expect. Ichigo didn't move.

"No!" Grimmjow fell to his knees in desperation. This was fucking unbelievable! He'd never had this much trouble in the past!

"Wait." Urahara came over to Grimmjow and offered his hand to help him up. Grimmjow accepted it and stood on shaking knees. "Look."

Ichigo's forehead was furrowed as if he were in concentration, and his lips had parted to take in a deep breath.

"No way."

Grimmjow walked over to his downed partner and gently grasped the tan hand within his own, intertwining the fingers. When those cold fingers twitched in his Grimmjow barked out a sudden laugh. The rush of joy was more addicting than drug, and he was becoming addicted to this 'happy feeling'. Urahara must have been wearing off on him.

Slowly but surely one ocher eye peeked open and landed on him. Grimmjow's smile could have lit up the world.

"Ichigo!" he said, smiling. Urahara walked over next to him with a matching smile.

But the shrill cry of pain that left Ichigo's lips drained every bit of happiness from him, and the world stood still.

Chapter 2: End