I Promise

Ichigo's POV

I woke up in a hospital room. "Ichigo-san? Are you awake?" A voice asked.

I looked up and saw none other than the greatest doctor in Japan, Retsu Unohana. She was a close friend of the family, treating my dad whenever he managed to injure himself. "I'm very glad you're awake, Ichigo-san. I was beginning to get worried."

"What happened to me, Dr. Unohana?" I looked down and say that my arm was broken and my ankle was sprained. I had a strong surge of pain near my rib cage.

"I was leaving after my shift ended, then I saw you outside the hospital door. There was a note in your hand saying that you were in a car crash. I stayed here all night treating you. I did the best I can," she explained.

I guess that bastard beat me up and left me to die at the hospital. And on top of that, he lied that I was in a goddamn car crash! If I see that motherfucker one more time, I swear I'll murder him.

"Thank you very much, Dr. Unohana. I am forever grateful for your treating me." I guess I have to go with being in a car crash. I'm too damn proud to admit I was a victim of relationship abuse.

"It's no problem, Ichigo-san, just doing my job." Dr. Unohana replied modestly. "Oh, and you have a visitor."

"Who is it?"

"Hello, Ichigo! How are you doing?" I saw a flash of long burnt orange hair, which belonged to my childhood friend, Orihime Inoue. "Dr. Unohana called me right away. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks for coming, Orihime." I'm glad she came to visit me. Her cheerful attitude always lifts my spirits.

"Ah, I brought cookies!" She said joyfully, showing off a rectangular tin. "Wasabi honey chocolate chip!"

"Great…" Orihime has been testing her cooking on me for years, and compared to her other dishes, the cookies didn't sound half bad.

"Well, I'll be going now. Leave whenever you please, Orihime-san," Dr. Unohana said as exiting the room.

"Yes. Thank you, Dr. Unohana." I saw Orihime's happy expression diminish as the door closed. "Ichigo, what happened?"

"I was in a, um, car crash. Yeah, a car crash," I lied. I didn't want Orihime to worry about me.

"What was the last thing you remember?"

"Um, I remember waking up in the hospital room, then seeing you."

"No, you don't. Don't lie to me Ichigo. Unbutton your shirt for me."

Unbutton my shirt? I did exactly that, but I soon regretted it.

I saw the mark of the devil.

Orihime gasped, and she had a horrified expression. Then she unbuttoned her own shirt, showing the same stamp of misery I had on her right breast. "Did you, by any chance, date a man named Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez?"

She took my surprised expression as a yes. "I dated him a year ago. I separated with my former boyfriend, and Grimmjow used my breakup as a chance to get me off the 'rebound' as some people say. He treated me with such kindness and compassion. Then he started to… he…" She burst into tears, unabe to continue looking back on dark memories. I had no idea he fucked up Orihime's life too. Why didn't she tell me before?

"Orihime, I-"

She held me close, her breasts crushing the wind out of me. But I really didn't care, enraged that blue-haired motherfucker. "Please, Ichigo, don't go back to him! Please! He physically, mentally, and emotionally breaks you down, threatening to kill you, so you won't leave him! He's a man capable of doing the things he says! Ichigo, don't! Don't go back to him! Please…"

"Orihime, I won't go back to him. I escaped him once. I won't allow myself to go back to him ever again."

"Promise?"

"Yeah," I said, a tear rolling down my cheek. "I promise."

This is the happy kind of sad, isn't it? I didn't know I had it in me. *Feels accomplished*