At the Hands of a Hollow

Chapter 4: Secret

Previously: "If I tell you..." she glanced up at his forehead by instinct, "...they'll know, and I'll be in trouble."

"Who cares," he shrugged, "I'm supposed to protect you. How can I do that if you won't tell me what's going on? Just tell me...why can't you say anything?"

One tear trickled down her cheek, "It's dangerous...h-he's dangerous. It'll be better if I deal with it myself. And that's why..." more tears started to fall down her face, "...I can't talk to you until it's over."

Ichigo didn't say a word, he only helped her up and closed his eyes. He left without even a simple goodbye.

Orihime finished in her head, 'If it's ever over.'

He woke up with a headache.

It was Tuesday morning, the day after all of the complication with his 'friend', if he dared to call her that with consideration of his feelings for her.

Ichigo slammed the palm of his hand into his forehead as he sleepily rubbed his eyes, slamming the alarm clock off. Today was just another day, but he'd have to spend the whole thing, much like the previous night, mulling over ideas about what could of happened to her.

The whole thing was hard to imagine. He knew she didn't like fighting for herself, but wouldn't she protect herself if somebody hurt her? Or was this somebody...much too powerful?

If that was the case, he'd have to be even more frustrated that she wouldn't tell him anything.

Orihime was making it rather difficult, he thought. Or maybe he was just still a little insensitive to her feelings, just like always. He'd rather not think that though, almost everything he did was for her safety and well-being.

Just like any other friend, he protected her. That was all he really cared about.

Now he was practically going insane, desperate to get the information out of her. He wanted to kill whoever was doing this to her. Though, he didn't actually know what they were doing still. Maybe somebody with a knife, as he'd guessed from the scars. There were only ideas so far.

The bruises were more of a mystery, he couldn't imagine why somebody would harm her like that. But then, he didn't understand why she'd been hurt at all, not without the information he'd requested. Maybe it would be more clear when he found that out, if he could ever get it out of her.

There was no doubt, he'd have to get her to talk, somehow. It was far too important to just forget, he needed to know, and he needed to stop it. She didn't deserve to get hurt.

He rolled out of bed and slowly got dressed into the school's uniform. Today was going to be hard, no matter what. Especially since they would be getting some lectures today, with tests coming up. He was supposed to study last night, just a little extra time, but his mind had been taken.

Ichigo shuffled downstairs to eat breakfast and tried to forget, which he knew was an impossible task.

–

Orihime's eyes flickered open. She was in bed, she'd actually gotten some sleep. Not a lot, just a little.

A particular visitor had arrived in the early morning, the same visitor that had come both nights before. The hollow.

It hadn't been nearly as bad as before, he seemed to be a little on-edge. He did what he wanted quickly and disappeared in a hurry, she wasn't sure why. She was only glad that he chose not to make her suffer too much.

Judging by all three times that he came for her, he probably learned to take control during the time that Ichigo was sleeping. It made more sense than anything else she could come up with. So maybe Ichigo hadn't slept much that night, that could be why he wanted to finish and leave her as fast as possible.

Another sickening thought was that he still came even though it was a risk, and he wouldn't have much time. He wanted her every night, and he was determined.

Then she thought, it didn't surprise her that Ichigo probably hadn't slept. She blamed herself for that, for not telling him. But it was dangerous to let him now, she didn't even want to think about what might happen if he found out.

Somewhere, she knew it was inevitable that somebody would tell him eventually.

Her, the hollow, or anybody else who she might have to let it out to. Nobody came to mind right away, though. If she told Tatsuki, she'd kill him. Rukia was at the Soul Society, but if she told her then it really was unthinkable what she might do. Something extreme, knowing her.

Orihime had tried to get back to reality, but it had been a bit of a struggle. School wasn't so bad, she'd managed to focus even with Ichigo staring at all he could see of her battered face. The worst part had been her arrival back home, where after a couple of minutes she'd gone to bed and cried into her pillow.

It was time to get up now, though. School would be starting in about thirty-five minutes.

She'd been glad to have slept, that was one thing she really needed. After she pulled herself up, she pushed back a strand of hair. Brushing along the surface, she noticed her face felt strange. Orihime wandered over to her mirror and looked carefully.

The corners of her eyes had collected tears, some streaks were drying on her face already. She'd had a dream, a really good dream. Her favourite part about it was that the hollow didn't exist. It wasn't immediately clear to her why she was crying. It was must have been even better than she thought.

A little while later, with twenty minutes to spare, she set out the door on her way to school.

–

Ichigo found it hard to believe, that it was already Friday. The week had gone slowly, but now he'd reached the end it felt like it was flown by.

He was just walking home after another conversation with Orihime. Every time he had the opportunity, he would confront her again. Every time, she would tell him the same thing. To stay out of it. That, as it had been since he first saw her covered in injuries, was not something he planned to do at all.

For one good thing that Friday bought, exams were over. They had gone on since Tuesday, and Ichigo was feeling confident. He'd made sure to try harder than usual, because of his usual reasons when it came to grades, and because it was something he could do instead of stare at the back of a certain someone's head.

There still wasn't anything he could do, yet. He didn't really want to think about sitting outside her door all weekend, waiting for her to talk. But getting this problem solved was at the top of his mind, above school and everything else, maybe just a little above hollows.

He'd obviously have to do something, anything.

Nobody else seemed to care. They'd either been blown back by her harsh words about leaving her alone, or had chosen to leave her to her own personal life. That was what Uryu had chosen. He said to Ichigo, if she was in danger of dying, then let him know. It didn't seem to make any sense at first, but he'd started to think he was leaving apparently little problems to her.

Maybe he thought it was just her being clumsy.

He was too smart for that, so maybe he just didn't know what to do, what to think. She wouldn't tell him if not Ichigo, so maybe he was just slowly going crazy. Ichigo didn't really care, but a little more help on getting her to answer him would be good.

Thinking about his crazy motives was too tiring. He prepared himself for an attack as he pushed open the door to his house, slowly, expecting his father to jump out. It was clear, almost. Karin was sitting at the table, flicking through the pages of a strange-looking green book.

"He's in the clinic," she said, not even looking up at him.

Ichigo nodded, not sure if she'd see it in the corner of her eye or not, and proceeded upstairs. The safest place for him to go was his bedroom, nobody bothered him too much there. Well, except for the one that lived in his head, he'd never leave him alone.

It would be an easy weekend, or so he thought. He didn't have to study or do any assignments, nothing too difficult or boring. But he wouldn't spend his time relaxing as usual, he'd have to seek out advice.

The idea had just sparked in his mind. If Orihime wouldn't tell him anything, he'd have to speak to somebody else about it. Maybe somebody spiritually aware, the cause of her problems could be anything, but something spiritual seemed likely considering they lived in Karakura Town.

He threw down his bag and turned, running a hand through his hair. He didn't know what to do now. It didn't seem fair to go after Orihime again, not after he just cornered her at the end of school. Perhaps he could start to find answers another way, though.

Urahara was at the top of his mind. He'd probably have a way of finding what he needed to know, but perhaps he couldn't be trusted. As helpful as he'd been to Ichigo in the past, he was still a shady character. Once exiled from the Soul Society, after all.

But he was his best chance right now.

–

Orihime fell onto her bed.

She was exhausted. Today had been another day of hard work and silence. Even after five days, she'd managed to keep everything from Ichigo. It was important that she kept it up, but how long would it be before she had to tell him?

The hollow could hurt other people too, then she should. But he didn't seem interesting in killing anybody, just entertaining himself with her.

It still felt wrong to keep it from him, despite the fact that it probably was for his own good, no matter how much he might ask. She wondered why he was so desperate to know. She wondered why he'd always protected her, like he insisted on doing now.

What was she worth?

Nothing, she thought now. Not that there'd been any reasons in her mind before, but the last of her self-esteem had been vanquished. There wasn't really much of a reason to be alive, as she'd already thought. Though she still lived on through the pain, through the daily visits from the hollow, hoping that she could save lost souls from hollows, if not herself.

There were plenty of reasons for her to give up, but she decided to stay a little longer. It wouldn't be long before the hollow killed her anyway, he'd have to get bored eventually.

Maybe it would be a good idea to end all of the suffering, anyway. She didn't really want to live with herself after letting him trample all over her. She let him do what he wanted, because she knew that if she didn't, he would kill her. What was the point now?

Orihime pulled herself up and sighed, perching on the end of the bed. Her phone buzzed, turning her head to the night stand.

She got up and walked over, picking up the device. It read Ichigo's number.

*beep*

"Ichigo...?"

"Orihime, please could you-"

"I-Ichigo you know...you know already that I can't tell you. Why must you keep asking? One day, it...it might be the right time to tell you."

"But Orihime...I need to help you. Whoever is doing this to you, I want to stop them. You shouldn't have to be treated like this."

"I don't have anything else to say, s-so..."

*beep*

She felt immediately horrified. Did she just hang up on him? That was something she never would have dreamed of before this started.

He was so desperate to do this for her, she wasn't sure if she was happy or angry. But there probably wasn't much he could do when the one he wanted to save her from was a part of himself.

Orihime moved to the kitchen. Maybe she could find something to do, or anything she could do. After circling the apartment several times, she pulled out an old cookbook and decided to make something. Normal food, maybe. Since the first incident with the hollow she hadn't had bean paste on anything, partly because she hadn't eaten a lot either.

Pulling out the necessary ingredients for curry, she set to work. It was hard to have so many things going on in her little kitchen. There wasn't much space for anything, but she just about managed.

Some time later, she stared at the delicious meal. She wasn't sure if she should eat it or not, after working so hard on it. But it looked too good, too hard to resist.

She poked in her fork and pulled it up to her mouth. The spicy flavour hit her tongue and burned her throat. Possibly too spicy.

Several mouthfuls later, her stomach began to churn. She wondered if she even liked curry at all. And she doubted that she was hungry.

Wondering what to do, she shifted her weight across each foot, back and forth, until she ran to the bathroom. She emptied out all the curry she had eaten, including lunch and breakfast.

Breathing quickly for a moment, she got to her feet. When she'd cleaned herself up a little, she shoved the plate into the fridge and lay down on the sofa.

Just as she began to relax and feel comfortable, somebody knocked on the door. Now really wasn't the time for the hollow to make his appearance.

"Just a minute!" she called, hoisting herself up and walking over. He never knocked, and he rarely came in daylight.

As soon as the door opened, she felt herself wanting to close it again.

"Hey."

Ichigo leaned against the outer door frame, holding one hand up in greeting.

"Are you here to make me talk?"

"Not exactly, I'm here to be your friend. I'm just going to try to understand you," he smiled.

The corners of her mouth twitched upwards. He was going through a lot of trouble, she could see his viewpoint now.

"...Okay," she almost grinned back at him, acting more like herself again for the first time in quite a while, "come on in."

He followed her inside, sitting down on the couch next to her. In an attempt to avoid awkward silence, he tried to start a conversation right away.

"S-so...how well do you think you did on the tests?" he scratched his head, remembering that he actually wasn't very good at talking at all.

"Well..." Orihime pondered, "it could have gone better, but it was probably not too bad." She offered a warm smile. It really had been a long time since she could be herself.

He was turning her back into herself already. She'd owe him for that later.

"I doubt you'd have to use it, but if I don't pass I'm blaming the snow," he smirked.

"You think there's some chance that you won't pass?"

Ichigo tapped his head, "Hopefully if," he laughed. They were somehow able to continue like this for an hour, until the tension was freed.

Orihime covered her mouth, regaining herself after a moment of looking down at the floor. Whatever was left in her wanted to make another appearance. She tried to keep it down, swallowing and looking back up to him. He watched with confusion.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Then he looked at the scars and bruises again and thought about his question, of course she wasn't okay.

She watched his eyes on her arms, still scarred and considered her original choices. They still caused her pain, but she tried to ignore it. He wanted to help her. And he would stop at nothing. She went over and over in her head, wondering...if she should tell him.

"...Orihime?"

One tear rolled down her cheek, the warm liquid cut through the blush caused by his presence. More followed, from each eye, and she exhaled. "I don't know what to do."

His hand slowly came up and rested on her shoulder, "I'll help you then," his voice was gentle.

"I don't...I don't think there's anything you can do," she whimpered, shaking as his touch reached her mind. Whether she was breaking down or not, she wasn't sure what to say to him.

Ichigo took a deep breath. A few seconds passed before he pulled her into his chest, careful not to touch the marks on her arms. She cried more and more, settling only after he asked her again.

"Now, please, will you tell me what's going on?"

Orihime sat up back in her seat, nodding slowly. "I-I..."

He nodded, taking one of her hands and squeezing it in encouragement. It was finally happening.

She pretended the hollow wasn't listening, that would it make it much easier for her.

When she didn't say anything for a minute, he squeezed her hand again. "Since...since Saturday night, last week, I..." he nodded again.

"Whatever you're going to tell me," he promised, "it's fine. Don't worry, just let me sort this out."

"You won't be saying that once you hear it..."

"Why?"

She looked at him cautiously, and inhaled. "Because every day since Saturday night I've been raped by your hollow."

–

Here it is! Next chapter's gonna be fun... xD

Sorry, it's a bad chapter, I know, really. I have today and tomorrow to write another one and then school starts again, so you can probably imagine that it's gonna be haard to write.

Oh ja, and please review! Reviews are much needed, or else something bad will happen! :3

~HellYus