The Sun and the Moon
Chapter 9
Ichigo awoke with a start.
At first he thought Takada had found it funny to disrupt him from a good night's sleep once again, and hoped to block off whoever had woken him up using a pillow. However, there was a loud explosion and the ground beneath gave a lurch, then a woman's scream finally woke Ichigo up completely. He was out of the lounge in an instant, and he was dumbfounded by the sight which greeted him.
At the end of the corridor was a huge gaping hole, and one could see few storeys down, as if someone had bitten off a huge chunk of the hospital building.
Around him, there was a big commotion as the nurses and patients scrambled out of the wards to safety. Thunder broke from the sky, while torrential rain now poured in through the hole at the side of the building, soaking the floors and the exposed beds and equipment. Ichigo squeezed past the incoming crowd towards the gaping hole, through which now one can see the streets outside the hospital. Finally, he saw a familiar face among the crowd and pulled the person towards him.
"Takada, what happened?"
The other doctor blinked through his wet hair plastered across his face, looking lost as if he did not know what to do. "I don't know… there was an explosion, then—"
"Takada, listen to me," Ichigo shook the other man violently by the shoulders. "Snap out of it."
Takada continued staring at him with the panic-stricken expression on his face.
"I don't know what the senior doctors are doing right now, but we have to take control. Get the nurses to stop running away and help the immobilized patients out of the building. We don't know how long it will hold."
The other doctor looked horrified by Ichigo's suggestion. "You can do this, Takada. Go now!"
Takada seemed to pluck up courage as Ichigo spoke. Finally, he gave Ichigo a nod before going off to gather all the hospital staff he could. At that moment, Ichigo heard a loud eerie wail, confirming his initial suspicions about the cause of the explosion.
Through the gaping hole at the side of the building, a three-storey tall Hollow was preparing to launch itself again against the building.
Ichigo was gripped with crippling panic. But he had to get these people out immediately. There was a flash of lightning, which struck the Hollow but the monster remained unscathed. Ichigo knew that the Hollow would attack again any minute.
Thankfully, he saw that Takada had lived up to his promise and was now ushering all the patients and staff down the emergency stairs. The immobilized patients were all being quickly transported down to the ground floor via the only remaining functional lift. Running towards his friend, Ichigo asked, "Is everyone out?"
"I think so, we checked every ward! Where are you going, Ichigo?"
"Protect them with your life, Takada!" Ichigo shouted back, he was now running towards where the Hollow was. "I'm going to check if anyone's left behind!"
Takada opened his mouth in protest, but there were too many patients who needed his assistance. Ichigo stared at the Hollow which towered in front of him. The Hollow was relatively bigger than most others he had encountered in the past, but Ichigo knew that were he in shinigami form, even with his powers degenerating over the decade, he would be able to defeat the monster in front of him in a minute. However, he reminded himself with frustration that he had no means right now to switch to his shinigami form. In fact, he had not quite changed into form for almost a decade now.
The Hollow was huge but it seemed stupid as well; there was a long lapse of time in between its attacks, which gave Ichigo some time to plan his attacks. But still, Ichigo was starting to really panic. Where were the shinigami? He was sure there was at least one patrolling shinigami in Kagamino, because Ichigo was certain the Hollows he heard around the city all these years did not disappear by themselves. As Ichigo searched the wards for any signs of life, his body shivered from the cold of his now completely drenched white coat, and he could not help but feel frustrated once again by his lack of power.
Then suddenly, he heard the Hollow give a guttural howl. Turning around, Ichigo saw that the Hollow was now advancing to attack, and he caught sight of its intended target.
Near the edge of the hole at the side of the building stood Hidemi, clutching her water-logged teddy bear and standing rooted to the spot, her gaze transfixed in horror at the towering monster above her.
"Hidemi!"
It all happened too fast. One moment, Ichigo was running, his feet making loud squelching sounds as he darted towards the girl, who could not find it in herself to command her legs to move as the Hollow's mouth approached her at alarming speed. The next moment, Ichigo's left shoulder screamed in pain; he was face down on the floor, his right arm pinning the girl down. Seeing the crimson liquid spurting out of his left shoulder, Hidemi let out a bloodcurdling scream.
"Shut up, brat!" Ichigo cursed as he stood up, scooping Hidemi up with him. He had managed to shatter a part of the Hollow's mask by attempting to do a Chad, but in the process his left shoulder turned out a mangled lump of flesh. The Hollow now howled in agony and was preparing itself once again to launch its next attack. Ichigo looked around desperately for a solution to fend off the impending attack; oh how he wished at that moment that he could switch back to his shinigami form.
All of a sudden, an excruciating pain shot through his thigh. Ichigo looked down and saw that besides his left shoulder and arm, the Hollow's teeth had also shredded through his left thigh, which was now bleeding profusely, blood mingling with salty rain as it flowed down his limb. He fell sideways on the floor, writhing in pain. Above him, Hidemi wailed uncontrollably.
"Listen, Hidemi! You've got to run away now!" But the girl gave no indication of wanting to leave him alone. Ichigo grabbed the girl close to his chest. The Hollow was now coming closer. Ichigo wondered if they would die right then and there, this horrible death of getting eaten up by a Hollow, in this pathetic manner in which he could not defend them. Looking at the frightened girl, Ichigo knew that even if he was to be eaten up by a Hollow, he could not let Hidemi suffer the same fate.
With much difficulty and agony, Ichigo hoisted himself up, half-kneeling with Hidemi behind his back, used his body as a last barrier and watched in resignation as the Hollow's huge teeth advanced closer to him…
Then it was over.
There was a clean horizontal gash across the Hollow's mask, causing the Hollow to recoil in pain and give a loud howl. How—?
Ichigo's question was answered by the swift motion of a kimono-clad figure, which seemed to glide through the air. The shinigami jumped off the edge of the gaping hole towards the monster, and sliced a gleaming sword down the Hollow's colossal head. Finally, it was over in seconds and the Hollow disappeared into reishi.
The shinigami set her foot down on the floor beside Ichigo. Through half-lidded vision obscured by the unrelenting downpour of rain, Ichigo saw what seemed like a wooden badge on the shinigami's right armband. Even though he was rapidly losing consciousness, his eyes going out of focus, he was certain from the soothing presence of her reiatsu that it was her… No, he was not imagining this time.
"R-ru..ki-a…"
His last vision was that of the black-haired shinigami turning her head slightly back towards him before disappearing into the darkness, then everything went black.