DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BLEACH, KUBO TITE DOES.
BEEP! Click.
I turn my head towards the door as a timid nurse walks in with Hideki following closely behind her.
When I first got here, I attacked a nurse who was trying to give me my meds. Every day since then, it's been required for staff members to have a guard with them before entering my room. A small price to pay for attacking the bastard. I still say he deserved it.
"Uh- um... you're Kurosaki I-Ichigo, correct?" She asks me me, her voice trembling.
"I'm offended! You just met me and you're already afraid," I tell her, pretending to be highly offended.
"Ichigo, shh," Hideki tells me before turning to the nurse. "Don't speak to him too much, He's well known for twisting peoples' words.
"Y-yes."
"Eh? Since when have I ever done that?" I ask, feigning innocence.
Hideki groans. He obviously doesn't feel like dealing with me today. "You've done it to every nurse whose had the displeasure of being assigned to you." He directs his attention back to the nurse. "Moka, ignore anything he says to you, he just wants to break you. It's all a game to him."
"Yes, I'll... try to keep that in mind." She places the cup of pills on the table without meeting my eyes.
My table, like everything else in my room, has been bolted to the floor. That's also apparently my fault. I once threw the table at Jin, a guard who seriously gets on my nerves, and sadly, I missed.
I stared at the cup without blinking. "Just so you know, I'm not taking those."
"Um... I'm afraid that you have to-"
"Have to my ass. I don't have to do jack shit," I tell her, starting to smirk.
"Uh-ah, if you don't take them, then... then I'll go get Katamura-san."
"He's not here. He left to go to a meeting over an hour ago," Anzu says as she fades into view.
"Really? Lucky me," I say.
"Uh... What?" Moka looks confused.
"Hmm? You're still here?"
"She's your new nurse?" Anzu asks.
"Yep, she sure is," I reply.
"Is he talking to me or someone else?" Moka asks Hideki.
"I'm not sure, but I think he's talking to one of his 'friends,'" He tells her.
"The proper term is 'ghosts,' though, I do have to agree that she's a friend," I say.
"What did... your friend tell you?" Moka asks me.
"She told me that Katamura isn't here." My smirk widens. "You can't make do shit." Moka's face pales considerably. Me knowing this has obviously rattled her.
Anzu laughs. "Here we go again. This one is so wimpy, this ought to be fun."
"I have to agree with you. By the looks of her, my guess is that she'll only last a couple of days," I tell Anzu.
She laughs that shrill laugh of her's before smiling at me. "Well, as fun as it is helping you torment the poor staff, I'm gonna go. Tell me how this ends later."
"Will do," I tell her just as she fades out of view.
Moka, believe it or not, manages to pale even more. Hideki has to grab her shoulders to prevent her from falling over. "I told you to ignore him, didn't I? Now c'mon, we'll talk to Katamura-san when he gets back."
"O-ok..."
They exit the room and I chuckle. I honestly can't believe Katamura would assign such a wimpy person to me of all people. Haha. I guess he couldn't find anyone else.
Ayu runs through my door, her pigtails bouncing with every step. "Ichigo! Ichigo! There are two people coming to see you!" She excitedly yells.
"Visitors?" I question her. No one has visited me since I was thrown in this god forsaken place.
"Uh-huh. But they're a bit odd. They, like you, can see me!" Now that's interesting.
BEEP! Click.
I look towards to door and my curious expression quickly turns into one of contempt as I register the couple who walk in. Ishida and Inoue.
"Well, it sure did take you guys long enough to come and see me. I guess that just goes to show how much friendship is worth," I snap at them, venom in my voice.
"S-sorry-"
"Sorry? SORRY!? I'm sorry, but sorry doesn't cut it!"
"Would you please let me finish? No one visited because, well, how do I put this... we weren't sure if-"
"If I was really crazy? I assure you that I'm not, at least, not yet," I say, cutting Ishida off. Inoue doesn't say anything, she just stands there avoiding eye contact with me. I smirk. "You know, the least you could do is talk to me, but then again, you'll probably end up saying something that'll just end up getting me even more pissed than I already am."
"Kurosaki, that's a little uncalled for."
"Even more so than you guys abandoning me here? You know, this place isn't exactly what I'd call paradise."
"He's right, Ishika-kun, we were wrong not to do anything. If we'd really tried, then maybe we could have avoided this all together," Inoue tells him.
"You're kidding, right? Them thinking he was crazy was the only thing that kept them from throwing him in prison. Shit, they probably would've had him executed," Ishida tells her..
Our eyes meet for an instant. "Can you tell me something? Do you really believe that I'm a complete and total nutcase? Tell me truth, I'll know if you're lying."
He sighs. "I honestly don't know, but you can't blame me. There's proof that you are... Then there's proof that you aren't. Plus there's the fact that I haven't interacted with you in almost 6 years."
"And whose fault is that?" I take notice of the manila folder in his hand for the first time. "What's that?"
"A copy of your file." He holds it out for me to take and I cross the small room to retrieve it. "I got it from Ryūken, he-"
"Him, Katamura, and some other dude own this place, I know," I say as I flip to folder open, looking at it's many contents. I flip through a few pages until I find a picture of me paper clipped to a very promising document, it seems to have most of my basic info on it. I stare at the photo as I play with my bangs. My hair is getting a little long... I direct my attention away from the photograph and to the actual document. I frown at the words "paranoid schizophrenia" and "explosive intermittent disorder." Those two things are the only proof that I'm actually crazy. I mean, I know a lot of my "schizophrenic symptoms" are because of my ability to see ghosts, but I do occasionally see, or hear, things that aren't really there. It's highly troubling.
"What's wrong?" Inoue asks, her eyebrows knitting together. It's quite obvious that she's picked up on my displeasure.
"Nothing," I lie, closing the folder and handing it back to Ishida. "So, what's the real reason you're here? I know for a fact that you didn't come for tea and cookies."
"We've actually been starting to doubt that you're as crazy as the doctors here say. Plus, I don't think you'd ever hurt you're dad, let alone kill him," he tells me.
"How do plan on proving that? My dad was killed by a supernatural being. If you were to try to prove that, they'd throw you in here without a second thought," I say. If he thinks otherwise, then he's lost his mind. And If that's the case, then maybe he should join me here.
"Do you still believe it was a demon, not a hollow?" He asks. The question catches me off guard.
I nod. "Of course I do! I saw it with my own eyes! I mean, It was exactly how those old myths and stories described. It could change it's form and those who weren't spiritually aware couldn't see it."
Inoue shutters. " I really don't wanna believe that demons of that caliber exist. Even shinigami and arrancar are terrified of the thought of them really existing."
"There's plenty of reason behind it. That thing killed my dad, who was, at some point in time, a captain. It was all over before I could do anything to stop it. It really is something to be feared," I say. My hands start to tremble at the memory. I ball them into fists to calm them.
BEEP! Click.
All of our attention is directed to Katamura as he enters the room. "Ichigo." He sounds pretty pissed. "I was called from my meeting on the other side of town because of you. You made Moka, the nurse I assigned to you before I left, faint. This is the last time I'm telling you this. Stop. Tormenting. My. Staff." He looks over at Ishida and Inoue, seeming a little confused. "Wait, aren't you Ishida's son?"
"Yes, I am."
"And who is she and why are you two here?" He looks around. "And why isn't there a guard with you?"
"She's Inoue Orihime and we came to visit him. We're old friends. Why do we need a guard?"
"Because he's dangerous, he's attacked every staff member here, including me, at least once. And what do you mean you're visiting him? He's never once had a visitor."
"What kind of worthless point are you trying to make?" I ask him, my eye twitching.
"Who are you?" Inoue asks him.
"I'm Katamura Saizo-"
"Hey! Are you really ignoring me!?" I yell at him, annoyed.
"I'm Ichigo's-"
"Witch doctor."
Katamura glares at me. "Psychiatrist is the proper term."
"Maybe in your dictionary," I retort.
Katamura stares at the untouched cup of meds that Moka left on the table before directing his attention back Ishida and Inoue. "So you're friends with him?"
"Yes, these traitors were once my close friends. Hence the words 'were' and 'once,' as if in past tense," I say as I flop down on the edge of my bed. Ishida furrows his eyebrows and Inoue starts to play with the hem of her shirt.
Katamura once again glances at my meds. The fact that I haven't taken them is obviously making him nervous. "Ichigo, could you please take your pills?"
"Nope, not happening."
"Kurosaki, If you need you're medication, then you really should-"
"Why the hell should I take crazy pills when I'm not crazy!? That doesn't make any sense!" I yell. I've been fighting with people about this since day one, but Katamura refuses to give in and let me go without the damn meds.
Katamura sighs. "I'm afraid that I'm going to ask to two of you to leave."
"Why? Is him not taking a couple of pills really that bad?" Inoue asks him.
"Yes, it is, like I said before, he can get pretty violent. The medication helps keep him calm... at least calm enough so that he doesn't have to be under constant restraint," He explains to them without taking his eyes off of me.
"And if I refuse to take them, then he has me restrained long enough to force me to take them. Isn't that right, Ka-ta-mu-ra?"
"I'll ask the two of you to leave once more. I wouldn't want you to get hurt," he tells them.
I scoff. "You really think I'd attack them? I'm highly offended."
"You're a very unpredictable man. The aftermath of underestimating you is never pleasant. Now then. unless you suddenly decide to cooperate, I'm going to have to make your friends leave. And, might I add, if I have to force you, then I'll have you straight-jacketed and thrown into the padded room," he tells me, his voice pure ice.
"Fine! I'll have to talk to you guys later," I tell the two traitors. I hate the padded room, but also hate those damned pills. If anything, they're making me crazy.
"But-"
"C'mon, Inoue-san, let's not make things worse." Ishida grabs Inoue by the arm and pulls her out the room. He pauses halfway through the heavy metal door. "I'm begging you, don't disappoint me further."
Katamura sticks his head out the door, turning his back to me just long enough to order a couple guards into the room with a straight-jacket. I groan. Here we go again.
"I'm not getting into that thing," I tell him as I glare at damned thing. "It's demeaning, even to a crazy person, which, I may add, I'm not."
"Whatever you say. Hey, Jin, Hideki, Help me get him into that."
I groan yet again. "What the hell is wrong with you people? I tell you that I'm not gonna take my meds and your first reaction to that is to shove me into a- Hey! Don't touch me!" I yell as I jerk my body away from Jin. Him and Hideki both grab me and I start flailing around in an attempt to break free of their grasp. Wait... I suddenly notice something and freeze. The idiots forgot to close the door... I bash my head against Hideki's face and he lets go of me. Jin's grip slackens for and instant and I use to opportunity to jerk myself free and dash out the door.
"Shit!" Katamura cusses, realizing his stupid mistake.
I dash madly down the stark white corridor with the two guards chasing after me, yelling at the people in the hallway to grab me before I get away.
I slide into the closing elevator and grin through the narrow slit at those two idiots as they try to make it to the elevator before it closes. They, as you might have guessed, fail horribly.
"Uh..." I turn to look at the young woman behind me. She looks a little shocked.
"Don't say a word," I tell her before clicking the button for the 1st floor. We make it there with in a minute and I dash toward the doors leading into the lobby only to find them locked. Katamura must have called the guards down here and made them lock the doors the second I ran out the room. Damn him!
"There he is!" I hear Hideki yell as he and Jin round the corner. I take it that they ran down the stairs.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" I yell as I try to force the damned doors open. It's no use, they were specially designed to keep people like me in.
I'm suddenly slammed to the ground. I hear the clapping hands of a single person. "Wow. That was your most impressive escape attempt yet," Katamura says. I glare at him as I try to force myself from under the heavy guards.
"What's happening- Kurosaki?"
"We accidentally left the door open while we were trying to restrain him. He you used the opportunity to try to escape," Katamura explains.
"So you weren't bluffing about having him restrained?" Inoue asks, worry in her voice.
"I don't bluff, empty words have no effect on him." Katamura says as he runs a hand through his hair. "Know then, Ichigo, you're going to come with me and take your medication. You're violent enough without it."
"I'm not that violent!" I yell at him, still straining against the guards.
A male nurse holding a syringe runs up to us. "Please hold him as still as possible," He instructs Hideki and Jin.
"Oh, shit," I mutter. I already know what's in that huge syringe of his, it's a sedative The nurse grabs my arm and stabs the needle in the crock of my arm and presses the plunger. I instantly feel the effects of the sedative.
"You're such a pain in the ass," Katamura says before I black out...
I stare up at my ceiling. I'm so unbelievably glad to be out of that damned padded room. Katamura kept me in there for three friggin' days! I really ought to kick his ass.
Knock-knock. BEEP! Click.
"What is it?" I ask without looking to see who it is. I honestly don't care at the the moment.
"A-are..." Moka pauses for a moment. She seems to be building up her courage "Are you ok? A couple of days ago... I saw it... You-um, got tackled pretty hard. You're not hurt, are you?"
"I'm fine. Leave me alone. I'm in a bad mood," I tell her. She doesn't move, she just continues stand there.
"Do you want me to scare her away?" Ayu asks me.
"Please do."
"Ok!"She runs over to Moka and and tugs at her skirt.
"What the- Ah!" She starts to flail around in a manner that closely resembles a chicken. I smirk. "What's touching me!?"
"The would be Ayu."
"Ayu?" She looks rather startled at this. "As if in the little girl who stabbed herself to death?"
"Bingo! You're not as stupid as I thought," I say.
Moka pales and screams yet again before running out of the room, slamming the door so hard behind her that the sound echos for a while. Ayu laughs uncontrollably at this.
Speaking of Ayu... I look at the chain on her chest. She's running out of time. She's been here for almost a year and a half and she almost out of links. I frown. "It's getting dangerous for you stay here in the world of the living."
Ayu Holds the remaining links in her hand. "Yeah, I know, but... I don't wanna go."
"Yeah, I know you don't wanna go, most spirits don't. But... If you stay here too much longer, then you might turn into a hollow," I say.
"Yeah, but..."She sighs. "Ok. I get it. I'll try a little harder to pass on." She smiles at me before fading out of view. I wonder where ghosts go when they're out of sight like that...
BEEP! Click.
"Ichigo! Didn't I tell you to stop tormenting my staff!?" Katamura yells at me.
"Yeah. A million times. But it wasn't my fault, she was annoying me. Plus, it wasn't me, it was Ayu.," I tell him, crossing my arms.
He pinches the bridge of his nose and groans. "Not this again. Ichigo, Ayu is dead."
"I know that!" I glare at him. He's pissing me off.
"And it's the same thing with Anzu, she too is dead! Yet for some reason unknown to me, you seem to think otherwise. I don't get it, it should be pretty obvious to you that they're not real. They're hallucinations!"
"I don't hallucinate! I've told you this a million times! I. Can. See. Ghosts!" I yell at him, but he, as always, doesn't believe me.
"Ichigo, just... never mind. Just do me a favor and stop tormenting my staff. They're real living people, not toys. They're not here to serve as your play things." He leaves the room.
"And whose fault is that? You don't let me do anything else. It's because of your stupid rules that I have to use them as toys," I whisper at the door.
ME: Pretty good, eh?
ICHIGO: Mhmm... whatever you say.
ME: So cruel... Well, you know the drill.
ME & ICHIGO: REVIEW!