Dawn arrived and Chiori awoke in her own bed the next morning covered in a thin sheen of sweat. She had no recollection of what transpired the night before after setting her alarm and she groaned as she pushed her damp hair back from her face.
A shower was definitely in order. The cool air made her shiver, but the sound of voices coming from downstairs distracted her from any thoughts of a shower, at least for the moment. Despite the fuzziness of her mind Chiori could not deny her curiosity and followed the voices down the stairs.
She found her family the livingroom talking loudly to one another. Not wanting to get involved so early in the morning, Chiori leaned against the couch and stared blankly at the TV with the intent to listen to them all talk until they finally took notice of her.
They did eventually notice that she was awake, but it was about that time that Chiori finally realized what was wrong with their house and reacted accordingly. Stunned by the sight, Chiori let herself be led out of the house and into the street to marvel at the damage from another angle.
"It's a miracle!" Yelled Isshin as they all stared at the huge hole torn into the side of their house. Apparently at some point in the night, a truck plowed into the side of their home and none of them even woke up when it happened.
The incident left a gaping hole that gave them all a clear view into the house. It cut right through the kitchen to the door on the other side and worst of all, none of them had any idea who the offenders could have been or what could have caused the accident in the first place. They would have to pay for the damages themselves.
What Chiori really couldn't understand was how the hell any of them even managed to sleep through such a mess. Her jaw hung in disbelief and Yuzu reached up to close it for her, laughing when Chiori blushed. It was then that Chiori noticed that neither Karin nor Yuzu looked particularly fazed. It was a bit off, but she shrugged after a moment and followed the twins back into the house once they were done looking.
After getting ready and having something to eat, Chiori left the house in a hurry. She met up with Keiji and Inori in front of her house as per usual and together they walked to school. Of course Inori and Keiji were surprised to find out what happened during the night. They talked about it during break-time and it seemed to drawn the attention of a few of the nosier students in their class.
They stared openly and while Chiori and Keiji were able to ignore it, Inori was not amused.
"What are you staring at!" she hissed, glaring at anyone she caught staring for two long. Some of the other children flinched and looked away, muttering to one another. Inori bared her teeth, but Keiji placed a hand on her arm and urged her to back down. Inori scoffed and turned away, giving Chiori her full attention once again.
"But seriously, how does someone sleep through a truck plowing into the side of their house?" Keiji asked. He looked looking only faintly amused. Inori smacked him across the shoulder and the boy retaliated by pinching her cheek.
They would have continued on just like that if not for the teacher clearing her throat from across the room. Embarrassed, they boy settled down in their seats and didn't speak of the accident again until after school on their way home.
"You should buy some charms at the temple to ward away bad luck." Inori suggested innocently and threw her arms around Chiori's shoulders. The trio disturbed a few birds on their way along the sidewalk that had been busy pecking at something on the ground and they squawked indignantly as they flew away.
Inori squeezed tighter and Chiori stiffened for a moment before relaxing with a resigned sigh. She was used to Inori invading her personal space, but it didn't stop Chiori from swatting at the other girl in exasperation. Inori's expression turned devious and suddenly her hands went for Chiori's sides.
"Cut that out, Inori!" Keiji scolded only to be completely ignored by both girls. Inori made Chiori squirm fitfully in her grasp, drawing little hiccups of laughter from the girl. Finally, Inori let go and backed away with her hands up in surrender as Chiori tried to regain control of herself. Chiori panted and her lips twitching at the corners as moisture gathered at the corners of her eyes. Inori must have thought for a moment that Chiori might let her get away unscathed, but it was mistake.
Chiori lunged for Inori and pulled a squeal of laughter from the other girl. Keiji groaned in exasperation at the sight of them wrestling, but didn't try to stop them. He stepped to the side and grumbled about how immature they were being. When he continued to complain they dragged him into their game and tickling him mercilessly until he grudgingly surrendered. "Really though," continued Inori breathlessly. "You should come to the temple with me, spend the night, Grandma hasn't seen you in a while after all."
The temple Inori spoke of was a large family-run complex that her family cared for. Her grandmother lived there on her own for the most part and Inori worked there as a maiko in order to aid her.
Chiori had met Inori's grandmother a few times at Inori and her mother's apartment, but the old woman had always been just a little apprehensive about letting Inori bring Chiori to the temple to visit, let alone stay the night. Chiori had never quite figured out why and at first she'd thought that perhaps Inori's grandmother didn't like her. Though the old woman seemed nice enough most of the time.
"You're really persistent." Keiji muttered, rolling his eyes.
Inori scowled at him in return, crossing her arms defensively. "Well, you're just jealous because I haven't invited you." Her words seemed to irritate Keiji and he sneered at her before they both turned away from one another to fume.
Chiori took that moment to slip away from her friends and make her way across the street towards her home. She was already halfway there when they noticed she'd left them and they called out to her, waving goodbye as she turned to do the same with a small smile.
Chiori decided then that she might take Inori up on her offer to visit the temple at a later date. Besides she had other things to keep her occupied. One evening a classmate of Ichigo's came to their clinic with a large bruise on his back. He had not been very forthcoming with any of the details and he left pretty quickly after they patched him up.
His name was Sado Yasutora or 'Chad' as he was known by some and he was a very strong looking boy of Mexican descent. Chiori had never seen such a tall strong looking teenager in her life. He had to have been over six feet.
The day after Chad left Karin came down with something and wasn't able to go to school. She wasn't prone to getting sick, but Yuzu assured everyone that Karin would be fine and Chiori didn't think on it too long because everyone got sick at least once in their lives. She just hoped it didn't last.
On the day of their yearly visit to the cemetery, the unknown voice in Chiori's head returned. Rain, Rain, go away, come again another day, the voice sang. Chiori pointedly ignored it. The voice came and went all at once with only a mild headache left behind to indicate that it had ever been there in the first place.
Chiori thought fleetingly about telling someone, but decided against it, fearing what that fact that she was hearing voices that weren't actually there might imply about her sanity. She didn't want people worrying about her more than they already did and she didn't want anyone to think she was beginning to lose her mind. The nightmares were bad enough already.
"Hey Chiori, hurry up and get ready so you can eat something." Yuzu's voice carried faintly up to her from the second floor and Chiori slid out of bed to get ready for the day. They were going to the cemetery to visit their mother, same as every year, and it happened to be very, very, hot outside.
It didn't help that the only way to make it to the cemetery was to climb the enormous set of stone steps built along a hill next to a long road. The scenery was beautiful with lush green trees that stretched out across a vast expanse. It was like an oasis in the middle of a dessert, except instead of sand there was only concrete and stone.
In Chiori's opinion, it was too damned hot to be making such a long climb, but it wasn't like she would ever back out. There had to be at least 60 or more steps for them to climb. Chiori mentioned her complaints sometime after they left the house as the sun beat down on her head, her dark hair soaking up all of the heat.
She did it again on their way up, slumped forward in her white tank-top and pale, blue, jean shorts as Yuzu pet her on the back in an attempt to console her. She also fleetingly wished she'd thought to bring a hat.
"You're right, it is really hot." Yuzu whined
Karin made a face. "Don't let Dad hear you say that."
Unfortunately, Isshin heard them loud and clear and raced up the steps to cheer them on. His enthusiasm was way too much for them even at the best of times and they all sighed in unison. Eventually, Karin decided that she'd had enough and sent Isshin careening back down the stairs. It probably seemed a bit harsh, but Isshin was very resilient and they knew he'd be fine.
They watched for a moment before turning to finish their trek only to be treated to an interesting sight.
A slender, black-haired girl in a yellow dress beckoned them all with a wave of her white sunhat. A few strands of hair hung delicately between her eyes and she wore a ridiculously bright smile for someone most-likely on their way to a cemetery. After a while, they began to realize she wasn't really waving at all of them, just Ichigo.
"She's waving at you," Yuzu said to Ichigo while Chiori looked on in confusion. Neither of them had ever seen the girl before and Ichigo denied knowing her too at first before abruptly changing his views and telling them that she was a friend of his from middle school. Chiori didn't really buy it, but it wasn't like she was going to call him out or anything. Not that it even mattered. Before anyone could question him about anything both he and the young woman had already bolted off.
Chiori and the twins stared in the direction they'd gone for a long moment before Karin seemed to decide that she knew exactly what was going on.
"Aha~," said Karin, looking thoughtful. Chiori and Yuzu only stared at her, silently waiting for her to speak.
"What's that supposed to mean, Karin!?" Yuzu exclaimed. She didn't seem to get what Karin was trying to say, but Chiori did and pressed her fingers to her temples in an effort to will away another headache.
"What it means-"Karin began, "-is that our little Ichigo has finally grown up and become a man." She sounded way too pleased with her own assumption and Chiori stared at her in exasperation.
After that little display, they made their way up to the headstone without any problems though there was no sign of Ichigo. There were rows upon rows of headstones in the cemetery of various shapes and sizes. Some, Chiori noticed, had been tended recently with flowers setting at their bases while others had been left to gather dirt.
They had no trouble finding their mother's headstone, having visited so many times, and they rinsed the stone before putting down fresh flowers. The process was quiet and easy-going, but Yuzu didn't make it very long before the first of her tears gathered in her eyes.
Seeing Yuzu's tears made Chiori's own eyes burn and her throat constrict, but she managed to hold it together.
"Oh come on," sighed Karin, squatting next to Yuzu and then glancing up at Chiori. "Both of you, we're too old for this. You can't keep bursting into tears every time we come here."
"We know-" Yuzu replied through her tears, "-but this place just makes us so sad."
Chiori also wanted to inform her sister that she hadn't actually "burst into tears" along with Yuzu, but decided that there wasn't much of a point in doing so. Instead, she merely patted Yuzu on the back before tilting her head up to stare at the sky. It was at that moment that Isshin reappeared, startling Chiori from her thoughts. He grasped her shoulder briefly in apology before going off on another one of his tirades.
"I'll cheer you up!" he cried enthusiastically. It didn't take very long for Karin to get fed up with him again and kick him in the face...again.
Chiori sighed and took a seat next to Yuzu, content to watch Isshin chase Karin around the cemetery. Eventually, she lost sight of them and it was peaceful until something unexpectedly broke the air of tranquility around them.
Something sent Karin flying back the way she'd come and before Yuzu or Chiori could make sense of anything, the same invisible force threw Chiori into one of the nearby headstones. The impact knocked the air from her lungs and pain shot up her left side like fire.
One of her ribs was likely bruised at the very least and she whimpered pitifully as tears gathered in her eyes. She could hear the twins screaming, but she couldn't help them. From where she lay it looked like something was holding them high off the ground, but Chiori couldn't make anything out.
Her vision was growing blurry and she weakly reached out for her sisters in a desperate attempt to get to them. She wanted to help them so badly, but there was nothing she could do against something she couldn't even see.
She felt completely helpless and it was horrifyingly familiar for some reason.
How many times do you plan on losing consciousness?
The voice seemed to scoff at her before going quiet again and a stinging migraine assailed Chiori's head. She could just feel it throbbing at the edges of her mind and she could manage little more than a weak 'Shut up' before her vision went black. Lucky for her the creature tormenting the twins paid her no mind. It wasn't like she would going anywhere anytime soon.
Sometime later, Chiori awoke to the soothing sound of rain pattering against a rooftop and it took her a moment to get her vision under control. Honestly, this is getting ridiculous, what the hell happened? She couldn't remember anything.
There was this large blank space in her memory and her head throbbed insistently. Something flashed in her mind. It looked like some kind of beast with the body of a hamster and legs like a bird, but it was so blurry. Its face was impossible to make out; nothing but a white blob floating in a sea of darkness.
At first she didn't move much. Her neck was tilted at an angle that was quickly becoming uncomfortable. Unable to recall when or how she fell asleep, a sudden rush of panic made her jerk forward in a desperate need to locate her sisters.
Before she could truly work herself up she noticed the twins resting peacefully beside her, both of them fast asleep. At the sight of them safe and sound she began to calm down and focus on getting a good look at her surroundings.
They were all in an old building, perhaps a shrine of some sort, and she assumed that Isshin and Ichigo had moved them all when it started to storm. Chiori looked about the darkened building and took notice of the worn wood and ricepaper panels. What she didn't understand was how she'd fallen asleep in the first place and why she hadn't woken up until just then.
Eventually, she noticed Ichigo sitting in the open shoji doors, staring quietly out into the rain, and wondered absently where he'd run off to up until that very moment. As if feeling her gaze he turned toward her. He smiled, but Chiori felt that something was off about it. Her brother wasn't prone to smiling, at least not like that, and she narrowed her eyes in response to the uneasy feeling it gave her.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
People seemed to ask her that question a lot. Chiori nodded and glanced at the twins fleetingly before inquiring about where they all were at that moment. Her hands were fluid, her right index finger pointing upward and being waved back-and-forth a few times before crossing with her middle finger, set against her bottom lip, and pulled forward.
Ichigo didn't reply right away and that initially set off warning bells in her mind for reason she couldn't quite explain. Something about Ichigo just wasn't right but before Chiori could ask another question Karin stirred from her slumber and distracted her. "You were asleep on the hill," Ichigo explained. "Going on an outing for so long must have worn you all out."
He stood from his spot in the doorway and made to leave. "Rest for a bit longer," he said over his shoulder, "I'll go get dad." The door slid closed behind him, muffling the rain in the process. Chiori stood with the intention of following after him but a hand latched onto her wrist and stopped her.
"Where are you going?" Karin asked, sounding oddly tense.
Chiori shrugged and gently tugged her wrist free from Karin's grasp, reassuring the girl that she'd be back before she knew it in the process. Karin meant to call her back inside, but decided it would be too much effort.
"Oh forget it," Karin mumbled, slumping against the wall and glancing at her sleeping twin. "If we were all sleeping...was it all just a dream?" It was the same question rolling over and over again in Chiori's mind too and she paused outside the door before sliding the door shut without answering.
The rain seemed to be letting up a bit and Chiori spotted Ichigo and the girl in the yellow dress from before, conversing quietly in the rain at the bottom of the stairs. Chiori wanted to tell them to come inside before they both caught colds, but she was also hesitant to disturb them. Regardless, they must have heard her make a noise because they stiffened where they stood and suddenly turned to stare at her with wide eyes.
Chiori went rigid but managed to wave stiffly in return, hoping that they would stop staring at her like she was an alien. The girl in the yellow dress slowly raised her own hand and waved back with a smile, her inky black hair plastered wetly to her face. She was actually very pretty Chiori noted.
There was something that Chiori felt like she was forgetting and a feeling much like dread settled in the pit of her stomach. It reminded her of something that she couldn't quite recall and her instincts told her that it was probably better if she didn't at all. Wanting to ease some of her own tension, she gave Ichigo a thumbs-up that visibly confused and set him off balance before going back inside the shrine.
"What did you see?" asked Karin in a whisper as Chiori slowly returned to her side. The older girl could only shrug vaguely, drawing her knees up and resting her chin atop them with a peculiar look in her eyes.