[DISCONTINUED] Strive | Bleach

Chapter Eight: Shut Down and Reload.

Chapter Eight: Shut Down and Reload.  BEGIN SOUL SOCIETY ARC

                            

Ichigo’s POV

It doesn’t hurt… Oh, no. Am I about to die? I probably don’t feel pain because I’m on the verge of death. That’s right… my body was so cold before, but now I feel warm. It’s warm. I forced myself to open my eyes. And what a mistake that was. I screamed at the man who was lying on top of me.

“Oh, what a good reaction,” he said, inspecting my face at a closer view. “Quite excellent.” I began to sweat.
“Y-you’re… too close!” I said, trying to push him off of me.
“Boss, you wanted me to call you the moment Ichigo woke up!” he shouted, turning his head toward the door. “Well, he’s awake!” I turned my own head, and saw that a girl was standing in front of it, hiding the wide grin on her face behind her hands. “Boss…?” I suddenly remembered where I’d seen them before. The girl… was from a dream, if that’s what it really was, and the man…

“Wait, you’re Mr. Hat and Clogs friend!” I shouted angrily. “Why are you under the covers with me?! Get off!” I pushed up on his stomach with my feet, kicking him up and over into the wall across from me. That’s when a sharp pain ripped across my chest and left shoulder, causing me to clench my teeth to stop me from shouting out. I realized something. I wasn’t dead. And then I realized something else: where I had just been in pain, the girl was holding onto the same areas on her own body. I looked around the room, avoiding Hat and Clogs friend, who was folded up against the wall with his feet in the air. This isn’t my house. Where am I? I saw the girl move aside as the door next to her opened, revealing Hat and Clogs. But then the girl left, sending me an odd look.

“Now, now, Ichigo, try not to move around so much. Your wounds haven’t healed yet…” His friend jumped up into a more composed position. Hat and Clogs took out his fan and held it in front of his face and hid his eyes with his hat. “You’ll die if you do.”

“So, this is your house, then?” I asked.
“That is correct!” he said, shutting and stuffing his fan away.
“So then it was you who saved me?” He eyed me strangely.

“That’s a little unexpected,” he said, looking down at me. “It sounds as though you didn’t want to be saved.” I didn’t say anything. Maybe I didn’t want to be saved. Maybe I didn’t deserve to be saved.

“Wait, Uryū was there, too!” I said, remembering how he was attacked by that red-haired soul reaper, Renji Abarai. I’d never forget that name. “What happened to him? Is he here, too?”

“Nope; he went home. He lost a lot of blood, but his wounds weren’t too serious. Even if just laid there, he would have died until a couple of days passed. So I was able to treat most of his wounds there. He was worried about you when he left.”

“He was?” I questioned. “No way.” Hat and Clogs looked up at the ceiling.

“When I asked him to rest, he told me he was fine…” I waited for him to continue. “He also told me to take care of you, Ichigo, and that if there’s anyone who can defeat those men and rescue Rukia… it’s you.” I crossed my legs and stared into my lap, taking in what Hat and Clogs was saying. I had a brief flashback of seeing Rukia get taken by those two guys I fought against. I let out a quiet laugh and forced a small smile on my face.

“Only me, huh?” I repeated. “What does he expect me to do? Rukia has gone back to the Soul Society! How can I go after her? How can I save her? There’s no way I can do that. There’s no way.”