Chapter 5: An Act of Grief

Ichigo is studying at his desk, and he gives a big stretch. His phone rings and he answers promptly.

"Hello?"

"Ichigo!"

"Oh, Rukia. What's up? How's married life treating ya?"

"That's not important right now."

Ichigo gives a sorry look. "Wait, what, not important? Sheesh, I feel sorry for Renji, then."

"Wait, n-no! You know that's not what I meant!

"Renji's fine, I'm fine, w-we'll tell you all about married life another time!"

Ichigo is confused. "Wait, what exactly is the problem? It sounds urgent."

"It's about Inoue." Ichigo's face turns serious. "What happened?"

"It seems that she has been abducted from within the Seireitei."

"Are you kidding?"

"... Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Huh? Is that you, Byakuya?"

It seems the two Kuchikis are gathered and seated at the Kuchiki manor.

"Initially, it was discovered that Orihime Inoue had been taken by the third and fifth seats of Squad 11, Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa, in order to heal the squadron's injuries, so there was no urgency to retrieve her if her skills were being used functionally within the Seireitei.

"However, it appears that Kenpachi Zaraki has recently taken her as a true hostage. His whereabouts are currently unknown."

"You've gotta be kidding me!" says Ichigo, standing up. "Kenpachi? Why would he…?"

Byakuya hands the phone back over to Rukia

"It's not an official statement, but…" starts Rukia, "It's widely known that Zaraki-taichou has not exactly been himself since the death of Unohana-taichou and the disappearance of Kusajishi-fukutaichou. He has not been regularly attending to his duties; the captains are unsure how to console him."

"So he just… took Inoue?" wonders Ichigo.

"We and other search parties are looking into the matter as we speak. No further action is required on your part; we just wanted to inform you of the situation and will update you when–"

"No, I'm going."

Rukia looks a bit hesitant. "Ichigo, we want to diffuse this situation without incident. Given your history with Zaraki-taichou, I don't think it's advisable for you to be involved."

"Rukia," says Ichigo. "I'm going. You've got Renji, so you understand, right?"

"Ichigo…" Rukia nods. "... I understand. Yoruichi-san said she'd be part of the search party, so you should join up with her before she leaves the Human World."

"Got it."

As Rukia hangs up, she stares at the phone for a moment.

"Is there something wrong?" wonders Byakuya.

"N-No. Nothing is… Nothing is wrong, actually."

"Oh?"

"Oh, no, I mean, of course things are wrong, with Inoue captured! But… but…"

Byakuya stands up. "We should head out now, Rukia."

She nods. "Ah, yes, Nii-sama."

—

Yoruichi is waiting around at the front of the Urahara Shop.

"You made it," she says as Ichigo in his Shinigami outfit is running toward her.

"Kisuke's still setting up the Senkaimon. He's just about done wrapping up."

"I see."

"So you're sure you want to come, Ichigo? I know Inoue is your friend, but we can handle this internally within the Seireitei. Plus, I know that you've been busy with your studies. At least that's what I overheard when you were on the phone with Inoue."

"What?" wonders Ichigo.

"Yeah. I was up there, she was over there… It looked like a fun conversation, what, with the girl getting flustered and all."

Ichigo looks down, blushing a bit, and says, "Inoue was…?"

Yoruichi inches closer saying, "Ehh, did I hit the mark?"

"D-Don't move so close to me!" says Ichigo, putting some distance between him and her.

Yoruichi smiles. "So it's that, isn't it? Well, good for you, Ichigo. With things pretty much settled down, it's about time you got hitched, too."

"You're jumping really far ahead there!" says Ichigo. He looks down. "I haven't even… I've barely told her what I think of her as a person."

Yoruichi tilts her head, "That can't be true. Even now, doesn't coming here mean something about her, too? Not everything needs to be said in words."

Ichigo nods a bit. "I… just hope she's alright. I mean, what is Kenpachi thinking?"

"It's a tough one," says Yoruichi. "All we know is that the man needed space with his grieving. But I didn't think it would come to something like this."

"According to what I heard in the report," says Urahara, coming out of the shop, "Inoue-san was consoling the hearts of the members from Squad 11."

"Consoling?" wonders Ichigo.

"Initially she was there to heal the men who were wounded from the random in-fighting occurring in the barracks. But it looks like the more time she spent with the squad, the more they could rely on her to lend an ear to them as they struggled with their grief."

Ichigo looks down. "This is the first time I'm hearing these kinds of struggles within the Seireitei."

"My theory is that it's not only grief that the squadron is dealing with, but the fact that their leader has been MIA for nearly three years," says Urahara. "That sort of leadership trickles down, you know."

"Then we'd better get Zenpachi to snap out of it soon," says Ichigo.