Ignoring the need to catch her breath after running to the top of Soukyoku hill, Orihime released Shun'o and Ayame as soon as she saw Ichigo lying on his stomach in a pool of his own blood, sprinting towards his body, adrenaline releasing throughout her system. Panic nearly consumed the healer as she realized that his spine was the only thing holding the two halves of his body together. Orihime choked back a sob when Ichigo turned his head, looking up at her with those defeated eyes. 'How on earth can he still be conscious? How could someone do something so cruel?' Orihime shook the thoughts from her head, taking a deep breath. 'I need to be strong. I can do this. I refuse to let him die. When I'm done, he won't even have a scar.'
Droplets of sweat ran down Orihime's face as she focused her energy, pushing every ounce of reiatsu she had into the brightly glowing shield underneath her trembling hands. The healer choked back a sob as she forced herself to inspect the damage thoroughly. The blood on the ground was slowly retreating back towards Ichigo; his organs stopped seeping blood from their cuts as severed intestines began to curl back up into his body. Orihime wrenched her eyes shut as she swallowed the bile gathering in her throat, taking slow steady breaths to keep herself calm.
The world was complete chaos around her. Orihime was barely aware of her surroundings as orders were barked left and right, attempting to organize medical attention for all of the injured. By the time the others had arrived, Orihime had managed to regenerate enough skin over the wound so they could help her roll Ichigo onto his back safely. Keeping her eyes focused on Ichigo, each of her friends took a place around her healing shield as they watched her powers at work.
Orihime's heart ached as she heard Rukia's screams calling out for her brother, trying to make sense of his actions. The healer knew better than most what it was like to lose a brother; and as much as it hurt her, she knew couldn't afford to heal them both.
A soothing presence overtook Soukyoku hill as Unohana arrived, riding upon the large creature of her Zanpakutou. Orihime felt a state of calm wash over her as the captain dismounted and walked past her towards Byakuya.
Within the depths of his mind, Ichigo could hear the faint murmuring of a conversation inside his inner world. There was no pain as he was enveloped by her powers. Ichigo almost felt like he was dreaming. It felt like he was floating on air in a daze. Warm… as if he had just woken up from an afternoon nap in the sun. Watching a stray tear run down her cheek as she focused so fiercely on rejecting his wounds, Ichigo reached a tired hand out towards her without thinking. Something akin to a static shock zapped his hand as it came in contact with her shield, leaving a lingering buzzing sensation in his fingers. Ichigo stared at his hand for a moment as he tried to comprehend what had happened. 'Rejection, huh?'
Good job, moron. You made her cry over your pathetic ass twice in one day… his hollow commented.
Ichigo cringed at the familiar voice, hearing it for the first time outside of his inner world. He really needed to get stronger if there was a war coming… There had to be some way to get his hollow under control.
You, control me? HA!
Don't tempt me, asshole. I'll come in there and kick your ass, Ichigo replied.
Go ahead and try, the hollow taunted. I'll just kick your Technicolor butt and claim the princess for my own.
Like hell, the shinigami growled. I won't let you touch a hair on her head.
Bringing a palm to his forehead, Ichigo began attempting to force the hollow back into the depths of his inner world. Surprisingly enough, it worked.
"Are you alright, Kurosaki-kun? Does your head hurt? Are you in any pain?" Orihime asked as she noticed Ichigo clutching at his head.
"Ahh… Betsu ni," he brushed off. "Just a little tired."
What was he supposed to tell her? The monster inside his head was fighting him for control over his body? And if it succeeded, the demon would claim the girl as some kind of trophy?
"But I thought…" Orihime trailed off, cocking her head to one side as she thought for a minute about the abnormal reiatsu vibrations she felt moments ago. "Never mind! You should get some rest," Orihime said energetically. "I'm actually feeling a bit tired myself! Maybe I'll take a nap before I finish healing you." The glowing orange shield flickered as she paused for a moment, her speech becoming a bit slurred as she continued, "I'm shurrr I can get somebodyy to take you… downnn to the… 4th divisionnn…" Orihime trailed off, her shield disappeared as she fainted. Ichigo tried to catch her only to be stopped by the severe shooting pain in his stomach when he moved.
A blonde fourth division officer approached the group after he saw what had happened. After a quick inspection of the girl, eyes lingering in an obvious manner, he determined that she had merely passed out from severe exhaustion and reiatsu depletion.
"I was surprised to see how quickly she healed you. However, it seems to have put a severe strain on her system," Iemura explained, his glasses catching sunlight as he readjusted them. "She will be able to finish your treatment by tomorrow. Until then, I will move the two of you to the intensive ward in the medical center. I will carry Miss Inoue and have someone send for a stretcher for you."
Ichigo had a scowl on his face at the mere thought of some 4 eyed pervert carrying an Inoue off to who knows where. Chad took one look at Ichigo's face before exchanging a silent conversation with Ishida.
"That's unnecessary," Chad informed the 3rd seat, placing a hand on his shoulder as the officer went to pick up the girl. "I will carry her."
Iemura thought it over as he stared up at the ryoka giant. Deciding it wasn't worth arguing with the intimidating man, he allowed the human to carry her.
"Thanks, Chad," Ichigo murmured.
"Mmm," he hummed as he gently lifted the girl up into his arms, carrying her easily with an arm under her legs and supporting her back. Ishida followed shortly behind the giant as they made their way back to the fourth division.
Ganju was left alone with Ichigo until his stretcher arrived. "Man, you're one lucky guy to have a girl like that," he commented with a slight blush on his face as he watched Chad walk off with the healer. Ichigo quickly corrected him, stuttering as he informed the other that he was only friends with Inoue.
Well you better change that soon," Ganju said over his shoulder, following after the rest of the group. "Actually, never mind. I bet a ride on Bonnie-chan would totally make her fall for someone as handsome as me."
"There's no way someone like her could ever want to be with a monster like me," Ichigo muttered to himself as he saw a stretcher coming to take him away.
Who would want to be with your weak ass? The princess deserves much better, his hollow agreed.
Underneath the floors of Urahara's shop, the dusty floors of the training area were illuminated as a senkaimon appeared. "Mendokuse…" Akon grumbled with a sigh as he stepped out of the gate. Reaching into his white lab overcoat as the door closed behind him, he fished a lighter and his cigarettes out of his pocket, placing one between his lips and lighting it. Breathing out a sigh of relief as a fresh dose of nicotine entered his system, a loud noise on the other side of the training center captured his attention.
A quick bit of shunpo over to the makeshift reiatsu-proofed cell and Akon found that the captive espada had awoken; apparently none too happy about his current circumstances.
"Oi, teme! I need to talk to somebody!" the hollow bellowed from within his cage, banging against the sides of the cage.
Akon quirked his brow at the captive's actions; he was unconscious a couple of hours ago before Akon had left... "Then talk."
"I need to talk to Kurosaki, get his ass over here," Grimmjow demanded from within his confinement.
The substitute's history with the Sexta was rather well known throughout the ranks. Their explosive battles were rather hard to ignore, not to mention messy. Needless to say, Akon was a bit skeptical that the arrancar only wanted to talk with the boy. "Why Kurosaki?"
"I've never even seen yer ass before," Grimmjow growled as he paced the length of the enclosure. "I got some important information and I can only talk to Kurosaki about it!"
"What kind of information are we talking about?" the scientist inquired.
"None of yer business."
Akon smirked and flicked the ash from his cigarette. "Somehow I doubt that he'd want to see you, let alone talk to you," he explained, taking a long drag from his cig.
"He'll want to hear what I have to say," Grimmjow said confidently, crossing his arms across his chest.
Akon studied the espada for a moment, fierce blue eyes refused to look away until the other relented. After closing his eyes and shaking his head, Akon decided that he'd just inform Kisuke and let him deal with the unruly espada. As he turned around to leave, he heard the espada add, "And get that damn cat out of here! It's creepin' me out…"
Cat? Akon looked around for a cat, only to spy the former second division captain perched atop one of the nearby rocks, flicking her tail lazily as she looked down upon them with amusement. You knew he was awake this entire time and didn't bother to inform anyone…
Sunlight had just barely begun to shine through the bedroom window as Ichigo was awoken by the sound of feet thundering up the stairs towards his bedroom. Groaning as his father broke through his door flying feet first through the air, Ichigo rolled over, sticking his leg out at an odd angle to put his foot on an unavoidable crash course with Isshin's groin. Ichigo snuggled back into his pillow intent on getting more sleep, ignoring the high-pitched wail as his father fell to the floor. Shiro cracked open his eyes to see what all the commotion was only to be met with the sight of Ichigo's father on the floor, seemingly cupping his manhood in extreme pain as tears flowed freely down his face.
"Why does my lovely son forsake me so!" Isshin squeaked out between sobs.
"I warned you last night that I wouldn't put up with your bullshit," Ichigo grumbled. "But you just had to come flying in like a maniac."
Isshin quickly recovered, moving over to the bed, yanking on Ichigo's blanket as he defended himself, "Only because Urahara just called for you to go to the shop in an hour for training!"
Groaning at the prospect of having to spend quality time with the ero-tenchou this early in the morning, Shiro rolled over, burying his head underneath his pillow to block out the noise.
Ichigo knocked his father back down to the floor with the base of his fist in as he rolled over to sit up and rub the sleep from his eyes. "That doesn't excuse your rampant insanity in the morning, old man."
Isshin made his exit as he complained loudly about disrespectful sons, door slamming behind him. "Crazy old goat," Ichigo grumbled as he slid his long legs to hang over the side of the bed, running a hand through his shaggy hair before forcing himself to stand up and start getting ready. Ripping the blankets off of his new roommate as he made his way over to his closet, the orange head began searching through his wardrobe for something clean to wear.
Orihime was half awake as she blindly reached towards the source of incessant ringing
"Moshi moshi…" she answered with a yawn.
"Ah, Inoue-san! Ohayo gozaima~su. Your beauty radiates through telephone lines even at this early hour."
Orihime held the phone in front of her, staring at it in confusion before responding, "Urahara-san?"
"The one and only. I was calling to inquire if you could come to do a check up on our little prisoner now that he has awoken."
"Ano…"
"Thank you, see you soon."
Orihime lay in bed for a moment; staring up at the ceiling as the dial tone blared into her ear before comprehending what had just happened and setting the phone back down on the receiver. Eyes fully opening as she saw the time on her alarm clock. "EH?"
After eating one of the biggest meals of his life for a 'welcome home' breakfast, Ichigo groaned at the uncomfortable feeling from his stomach stretching past capacity. They made their way towards the shop just as the sun was starting to rise. Ichigo had known that he shouldn't have eaten that much before heading off to train… but after seeing how effort his sister had made, who was he to refuse such an extravagant meal?
Shiro didn't seem to be fairing much better. The white-haired demon had nearly hugged the life out of Yuzu after rushing down the stairs to figure out what was making such a heavenly smell. Shiro had easily put Ichigo to shame, eating three times as much as the strawberry. Ichigo could already tell that the hollow had a soft spot for Yuzu. He was glad that his family had accepted his hollow so easily and visa-versa.
They were probably late but Ichigo couldn't make himself care. He missed spending time with his family and he would be the first to admit that he was in desperate need of the haircut Yuzu had forced on him before they left. Ichigo didn't mind the longer hair but his usual style was much easier to deal with on a daily basis, especially when most of those days had been comprised of one heated battle after another. Surprisingly, Shiro had tried to refuse a haircut from the girl but ended up relenting after she promised to only do a small trim.
"Your sister is going to kill me with her cooking…" Shiro groaned from beside Ichigo as they neared the shop.
Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle. "I warned you not to eat so much."
"I couldn't help it! It was too delicious to pass up!" Shiro defended, groaning as he put a hand to his slightly bulging stomach. "It hurts so good…"
"We're supposed to be training in a couple of minutes, how do you expect to fight like that?"
Walking up to the door of the shoten, Shiro pondered the question before admitting, "Can't say I was really thinking about it at the time… Hopefully when I ditch this gigai, I won't feel so…"
"Bloated?" Ichigo supplied as he opened the door.
"Yea."
The two made their way back to where the ladder down to the training grounds was located, opening the hatch before making their way down. As the albino made it to the bottom of the ladder, he spotted Grimmjow talking with Orihime half way across the training area. Quickly using the battle badge Urahara had made for Shiro, he ditched his body before launching himself to kick Grimmjow in the face, sending him flying back several yards.
Rubbing the unmasked side of his face and slowly picking himself off up the floor, Grimmjow yelled "SON OF A BITCH!"
"Shiro-kun…"
Rage flooded his veins as he breathed heavily. "What? You mind explainin' why you're actin so casual with that bastard?" Shiro asked, irritated and hiking a thumb in Grimmjow's direction.
"Eto… I got done healing him and we were waiting for you two to show up…" Orihime tried to explain.
Ichigo walked up carrying Shiro's gigai before carefully setting it down against a rock and walking up next to the two arguing over why it was dangerous to talk to the enemy. Rolling his eyes, he interjected, "Can't you feel it, Shiro? He has a reiatsu inhibitor on. He couldn't make a cero large enough to hurt a fly right now."
"Just cuz he doesn't have any reiatsu doesn't mean he couldn't hurt her, idiot," Shiro seethed.
"Urahara is less than half a step away. If he tried anything he'd be knocked out before you could say shunpo."
Shiro looked over, spotting the pervert sitting on a nearby rock, smiling and waving in his direction as he petted the black cat in his lap who was purring happily. "I still don't like it," he growled.
"That fuckin' hurt, you prick," Grimmjow complained as he finished walking back towards the group, pausing as he saw the glare Shiro was giving him. "I thought if you saw me talking nicely to your friend instead of shoving my fist through her chest that you'd understand I ain't here to cause any harm. Obviously I was mistaken," Grimmjow said with a huff.
"Doesn't matter how nice ya think yer being. I don't wanna see you within 100 miles of her."
"Who the fuck're you anyways? I've never seen yer pasty ass before."
"He's my hollow," Ichigo explained. "Aizen used the hougyouku to separate us. Why are you here anyways?"
"Shit... Well, I guess it could have turned out worse," Grimmjow said as he walked closer to the group. "At least it doesn't seem like you're under his control. Kinda strange that he looks like you though."
"What are you talking about, Grimmjow?"
"Whatever, I've been waiting for you to get here. We need to talk."
"What could you possibly have to say to me?" Ichigo asked.
"This war has been going on a long time, ne?"
"Yea, so?"
"Aizen ain't gonna stop until he's taken over the world or he dies. I know you're tired and sick of it. I could see it in your eyes the last time we fought. The question is how far are you willing to go to end this war?"
"I'd do anything," Ichigo said without hesitation.
"Even if it meant working with your enemies?" Grimmjow questioned.
"What kinda bullshit are you spoutin', fuzzball?" Shiro demanded.
"It ain't bullshit. You think it's a coincidence I'm here? I ain't so easily captured, ya know."
Urahara flitted over. "You're saying that all was a show?"
"Course it was. There's no way I would have let myself get hit by all those attacks. The only reason I could get away with it was because that freak Szayel gave me something to make it seem as if I wasn't fully recovered from when you went berserk. With any luck, Aizen thinks I'm dead or will be executed soon enough. Either way, he's glad to be rid of me."
"That's not surprising," Shiro scoffed.
Ignoring the comment, Grimmjow continued, "We've fought hard for him and paid back our debt for these forms and he repays us with murder and deceit. We want this war to be over and to be rid of him just as much as you do, so why not work together? It's the only chance we have."
"What terms are you proposing?" Urahara asked.
"The terms are simple. Seireitei and the shinigami stay out of Hueco Mundo unless they have permission and the hollows and arrancar will stay out of Soul Society unless they have permission. Anyone found to be ignoring those rules can be killed. The human world will remain a neutral zone. The arrancar will not attack shinigami or human souls. Arrancar will control Hueco Mundo and Shinigami will control Soul Society. Don't expect the lower hollows to obey any agreement between us or anything," Grimmjow explained. "Shinigami are obviously welcome to continue cleansing any hollows feeding upon souls in the human world."
"Why should we believe a word you say?" Ichigo asks quietly.
"What do you think we gain by this war? We've already paid back our debt to Aizen for our new bodies and powers with our blood. It's obvious we are nothing more than tools to him, he will slaughter those of us that remain alive after he wins this war."
"Is that all?" Urahara prompted.
"Oh yea, I wanna be able to fight Kurosaki anytime I want," Grimmjow said with a grin.
"I'll fight ya any time you want, Kitty," Shiro interjected.
Grimmjow snorted, taking a moment to size up his potential opponent. "Nah, I like yer attitude but it's the Berry I wanna fight, not your pale ass."
Shiro's smile quickly fell into a menacing glare. "I thought I heard you say that you wanted to fight. It shouldn't matter if it's me or him."
"I'm the one calling the shots here so fuck off, Whitey."
"I don't think that yer tellin' us the whole story, Blue."
"I got no problem fighting you too," Grimmjow growled, "if yer jealous."
"We about done here? I'm thinkin' its time for a little spar, ne Grimmjow?" Shiro taunted as he held a pale hand out to summon his bleached Zangetsu out of thin air.
Grimmjow unsheathed his sword, grin quickly matching the one on the demon in front of him. "Sounds good to me. I'll enjoy poundin' you into the floor, Snowflake."
Shiro was buzzing with excitement - he was itching to fight now that he had a body to call his own. "I'd love to see da big ol' putty-tat come and twy it," the hollow teased, tired of waiting.
"Kono yarou!" Grimmjow growled as he lunged forward.
Urahara pulled out a remote, tinkering with it for a moment before explaining, "If you leave this area whether through a garganta or the front door, you will be incapacitated painfully. You can use a portion of your reiatsu but don't release your sword, understand?"
"What, you afraid I'm gonna hurt him?"
"To be honest," Urahara drawled, "Yes. I haven't seen their combat abilities since the two were split but I think it's safe to assume that neither is at their previous level of power yet."
"Tch. Fine. Just don't go blabbing the information I've given you. There are quite a few spies among your ranks." And with a bit of sonido, Grimmjow chased after the waiting hollow, reiatsu flowing through the air as their swords met.
Urahara just sat there with a smirk on his face. These hollow hybrids were eliciting much more emotion than he had ever thought possible - jealousy, concern, possessiveness, greed, irritation… maybe even love. Urahara sighed; he supposed that he should probably relay this new information from the espada to the soutaichou immediately. He could always watch the fight later from his recordings anyways.
Urahara left the two bright haired teens as they took their seats to watch the battle play out before them. Neither hollow was holding back as swords clashed repeatedly. Shiro was about to fire off a getsuga as Grimmjow caught him by surprise, returning the kick to the face, punting him into the furthest wall.
"Iteee," Ichigo groaned as he clutched his head. Before Orihime could ask what was wrong, Ichigo fished his substitute badge from his back pocket, quickly changing into his shinigami form and closing the distance between him and his hollow.
"Sonuvabitch!" Shiro hollered as he picked himself up out of the pile of rubble that had fallen from around where he had crashed into the wall.
Before the two could start fighting again, Ichigo put himself between them, stopping both of their swords. "No more fighting until we talk to Urahara about getting some more medicine, Shiro. I don't want to get a splitting migraine every time you're over a 100 yards from me."
After another stressful visit to the Urahara shoten, the trio debated what to do for the rest of the day. Orihime suggested going to see Ishida since he was in town, but that was quickly vetoed by Ichigo, "I don't have the patience to deal with that proud Quincy bastard right now."
Shiro suggested food, quickly seconded by Orihime. Ichigo turned around, intent on telling them no, only to stall after seeing their expressions. Orihime was nearly in tears and seemed to be sparkling and Shiro looked… almost exactly identical. Something about seeing that look on a pale version of his own face was highly disturbing. Deciding to simply nod and turn around, he said, "Yea, where ever you two wanna go."
"Where would you like to go Shiro-kun?"
Shiro ignored Ichigo and simply threw an arm around Orihime as they followed Ichigo, deciding on something foreign, then several other places before settling on a burger place they happened to walk past.
After placing their orders, they sat down while they waited for their food to come. "Hey, why don't we stop by the high school after lunch?" Ichigo suggested. "It's been a while since we've paid them a visit."
"That sounds like a great idea, Kurosaki-kun. I haven't gotten to see Tatsuki-chan in a long time and they can all meet Shiro-kun," Orihime said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Ichigo wrote that detail off at first, but Orihime stayed quiet for most of the meal. Answering questions when they were directed at her but otherwise stuck to just nibbling on her burger slowly. He started to worry that he had done something stupid to upset her when he noticed that she had neglected to add anything to her regular combo burger and fries. Ichigo attempted to get Shiro to pay attention to what was going on, but he was too focused on savoring his first burger.
"We could probably stop by when they get their lunch break… It starts half an hour from now," Ichigo suggested, disheartened when he only received a small nod in return from the girl. "I hope school is going alright; it'll be nice to see them again…" Frowning at the lack of response, he tried to lighten the mood. "I'm not making any promises if that perverted lesbian tries to grab you again," Ichigo said, laughing nervously.
Orihime's eyes went wide, hand shaking slightly as she dropped her burger on her plate. "What did you say?" she asked quietly.
He had managed to get Orihime to respond, but not at all in the way he was hoping. "I was saying that if Chizuru were to jump you, I'd have to rip her off you…" Ichigo watched in utter confusion as the girl choked back a sob before suddenly standing and nearly running out the door.
"Oi… What's wrong with the princess?" Shiro asked, taking a sip from his pop.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Ichigo said, leaving his food and quickly striding to the door but by the time he had gotten outside, she was nowhere to be seen. Ichigo groaned. Thanks to the reiatsu bracelets Urahara had given them, every time he tried to sense her location, her reiatsu slipped through his fingers. Ichigo stood looking around and trying to sense Orihime when Shiro finally came outside.
"Mpphku… Herrmmy duuk," Shiro said with a burger hanging out of his mouth and an order of fries in his hand.
Ichigo's eye was twitching in irritation as he grabbed the burger from Shiro's mouth, throwing it in a nearby trash can. "Don't talk with your mouth full of food!"
Shiro took a moment to chew and swallow the remaining food in his mouth as he glared at Ichigo. Opening his mouth to prove it was empty before he started talking again. "Mattaku, Hime wa doko da' to itten datta."
"I don't know where she is," Ichigo admitted. "I can't feel her anywhere."
"That's no good, King. We can't lose our queen with that bastard after us."
"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?" Ichigo yelled at the hollow, clenching his fists in frustration.
After receiving some strange looks, Shiro dragged Ichigo away into an alley. "Ya need to calm the fuck down, Ichi. We can't be actin' all crazy, ne? Stay calm. We can't exactly split up to find her but we can ditch these bodies and we'll find her in no time. She couldn't have gotten far."
Orihime was sitting down on one of the hills near the river; head buried in her arms, quietly weeping when Ishida spotted her quickly ran over. "Inoue-san? Daijoubu ka?"
Embarrassed to be caught crying, she froze before wiped her tears and looked up at him with a weak smile. "Just having a bad day. It's alright, really."
Ishida narrowed his eyes at the gentle healer… she really was too selfless. "I'm afraid I don't believe you," the Quincy said as he took a seat next to his friend. "Crying here, out of all the places in town… It wasn't your fault you know. You can't protect everyone."
Orihime brought her knees up to her chest as she hugged them tightly; trying to fight back the tears that threatened to spill over at any moment. "If I would have told her what was going on, she would have known to stay away," Orihime said, voice void of any emotion.
"No one knew that she could see what was going on until it was too late. You can't go around telling everyone that there's a war going on that normal people can't see," Ishida argued.
"She was my friend!" Orihime insisted loudly. "I should have told her. She deserved to know…" quiet
"It may have been a misjudgment, but it was one we had never imagined," Ishida said gently. "We learned from our mistake and informed the rest of our friends that may have been affected by Kurosaki's abnormal reiatsu."
"So her loss was justified because now we know better?" Orihime asked bitterly.
"Her loss was inevitable. You can't change the past. You can only learn from it and move on as best you can."
"I miss her..." Orihime admitted as tears began rolling down her face again, no longer able to keep her tears at bay. "I should have spent more time with her."
"You can't keep beating yourself up over this. Honshou-san was a unique individual," Ishida said with a small smile. "I'm not sure that you spending more time with her would have been possible without giving her the wrong idea."
"Maybe I should have then..."
"Inoue-san… You would have been okay with leading on your friend then?"
The healer wiped the tears from her face. "No…"
"Besides, you wouldn't have wanted to give Kurosaki the wrong idea." Ishida teased. Inoue hiccupped as she laughed weakly. "How is that dunce doing anyways?"
Orihime peaked up over her knees with a small smile on her face. "He's doing really well."
Ishida felt relieved seeing even a small smile on her face. It was days before she was able to function normally whenever she came here. "Still as dense as always?" he scoffed.
Orihime buried her face behind her knees as she tried to hide the blush on her face. "Nooo…" Orihime admitted.
"Figures… Wait. Nani?" Ishida yelled as he processed what she had actually said. "Seriously?"
Inoue buried her head even more. "Maybe?"
Ishida sat down next to her. "Congratulations. I'm glad he finally was able to get his head out of his ass and finally realize how much you mean to him."
"It's… slightly more complicated than that."
"Huh? Complicated how?"
Orihime looked over at Ishida, confused. "I had assumed Urahara had informed you of what had happened."
"No… I've been training or sleeping when I'm not doing night patrols. Besides, my father still isn't fond of the fact that I'm helping out in this war. Urahara knows not to contact me unless in an emergency."
"There were several attacks during our mission," Orihime explained.
"I thought it was supposed to be some sort of low risk supply mission?"
"It was," she confirmed. "But Aizen sent several attacks after Ichigo. There were so many injured and several killed… That pink haired espada injected him with something and Ichigo's hollow was able to come out more easily after that." Orihime held up her hand before he could interrupt her. "We had a couple days break before it was decided that we were going to return to Karakura town. I got to meet his hollow on several occasions and we ended up growing closer. When we returned to Karakura… Aizen was waiting for us and had detained Urahara elsewhere. He… He used the hougyouku on Ichigo."
"WHAT!" Ishida exclaimed. "Is Kurosaki alright?"
"Hai. Urahara came before Aizen could take us away. But apparently Ichigo is having some memory problems amongst other things… He didn't remember about Chizuru-chan… We were going to visit the high school today. He joked about her and… I couldn't take it so I ran here."
About three seconds after Ishida threw an arm around the girl to comfort her, he had a familiar looking but white sword pressed up against his throat. Ishida was surprised as he looked up to find an oddly inverted looking version of Kurosaki. "Kurosaki…? What-"
"Shiro-kun!"
"Who is this bastard and why does he have your arm around you?" Shiro growled in a watery tone.
"Shiro-kun… You don't remember Ishida-kun?"
"The hell do you think you're doing?" Ichigo yelled as he finally appeared behind Shiro, wrapping his arm around his throat as he dragged him away from Ishida.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING KING?" Shiro yelled as he was dragged back, arms clawing at the arm wrapped around his throat. "You're gonna let some random bastard get all buddy, buddy with our queen?"
Ichigo released his hollow, looking down at him, half in shock, half in confusion. "You don't know who that is?" he asked, pointing at the Quincy.
"Some megane-yarou that's putting moves on OUR queen!"
"Our queen?" Ishida asked aside to Orihime.
"I probably should have explained this before the memory thing," Orihime replied in a hushed tone.
"You don't know who he is?" Ichigo asks again, grasping Shiro by the front of his white jacket and pointing at Ishida.
"Ano… Ichigo-kun?"
"Yea, Orihime?" He asked, looking towards her, still grasping Shiro
"I think you two are having some serious memory problems," Orihime said quietly.
"Serious… memory problems," Ichigo repeated, quieting for a moment before releasing Shiro. "Both of us?"
Orihime nodded. Trying to keep her voice calm and emotions under wraps she asked, "Do you really not remember about Chizuru-chan?"
"What does that perverted lesbian have to do with anything?"
"She's dead, Kurosaki. Honshou-san died several months ago. Right here, at this very location," Ishida explained.
"Seriously? She's… dead?" Ichigo asked. After receiving a small nod and seeing a tear fall down Orihime's cheek as she kept her head bowed and shadow's covering her eyes. "So that's why you were acting so weird. I'm really sorry."
"Baka Ichi," Shiro teased, grunting as he received an elbow in the stomach in response.
"Probably some sort of side effect," Ichigo said quietly. "I was afraid of this."
"Damn it!" Shiro cursed.
"What now?"
"We're gonna have to go see that damn pervert again, aren't we?" Shiro groaned. Ichigo rolled his eyes.
"Is anyone going to explain why there are two Kurosaki's now?" Ishida asked.
"It's Shirosaki," Shiro grumbled, keeping himself occupied by swinging his sword around by the chain.
"Don't freak out… but he's my hollow. We call him Shiro. We were separated by the hougyouku," Ichigo explained quickly.
Ishida took a moment to process the information. First eyeing Shiro then Orihime, then back to Ichigo. "Ah, I understand now. The hollow was the missing element."
"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked in frustration.
"It's nothing, I need to get back to my patrol," Ishida deflected. "If you make her cry again Kurosaki, I'll put enough arrows through your neck to remove your head."
The little flashback at the beginning is right where this story veers off from the canon story line (Chapter 179/Volume 21) Will probably start doing more regular flashbacks at the beginning of each chapter. I hope you enjoyed the chapter~
Japanese
別に[betsu ni] – Nothing; nothing special; nothing in particular
めんどうくせぇ…[Mendokuse…] – What a pain…
おはよう ございま～す [Ohayou gozaima~su] – Good morning~
このヤロー [Kono yarou] – You bastard!
いてぇぇ [Iteee] – Owww!
「全く、姫はどこだ」と言ってんだった。["'Mattaku, Hime wa doko da' to itten datta."] – "I said, 'Jeez, Where's Hime?'"
大丈夫か [Daijoubu ka?] – Are you alright?
メガネ ヤロー [Megane-yarou] – Four eyes; Glasses-wearing bastard