𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 | 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 [MINOR EDITING]

⁴⁰ sᴀɪɴᴛs

Ah... everything hurts.

You'd think, in your dreams, your subconscious might dull the pain of injuries, even just a little. Maybe I'm just not all the way out. Maybe I'm just barely hanging on. But I can't be... dead, can I? If everything still hurts, maybe there's still a morsel of hope that I survived this horrible injury.

But then again, seeing the face that I do, hovering over my numb body like some kind of vulture, I may actually be in hell, the face belonging to my new twin brother, Shuren.

"... ugh... gross," I grunt, my eyes barely able to open. With a loud huff,  suddenly, the sheet covering solely my body now covers my face, too, obscuring my view.

"Also, that's just rude."

"You just woke up and you're already insulting me-- that's not rude?"

"It is, but you're also the person who shot me with an arrow not too long ago, so there's really no comparison if you think about it."

Suddenly, the numbing sensation previously flooding my body with minimal relief disappears, and the pain comes on full force, making me wish that the minimal relief was still actually there to mask the intensity.

"Shit, shit, shit--" I've shot up in my cot, grasping the closest solid object to me-- incidentally, Shuren's arm. He audibly winces, and I try to let up on him, but the massive, somehow-healing gash in my body has me trembling in both agony and fear. I still can't believe I survived my injury. I still can't believe I survived all of that.

"W... What day is it?" I gasp, still clutching Shuren's forearm. Clearly unable to tolerate me grabbing him, he surprisingly exchanged his arm for his hand, where he's gripped me back, tightly.

"It's been almost three weeks since that night. We had to place you unconscious so your body would relax for the healing process. It's a little different than how it works in the Soul Society. Besides the pain, how are you feeling?"

"Ah... shitty," I answer through my teeth. Shuren chuckles, yet another surprise from him.

"Yes, well, if you said anything other than that, I'd be a little concerned."

I squeak out a laugh of my own, shaky and weak.

"So... what happened?"

"Well... Father had been following your spiritual pressure the entire time you had been away, just in case things went wrong. When they did, he sent a group of us out there to help you, but you were already injured. So we brought you back here immediately."

"What about Kūgo?" I rasp.

"Oh, that human you were with," Shuren realizes after a moment of consideration. "He's in the next room, probably resting. As a human, his condition had been touch and go, but because you'd shared some of your spiritual energy with him, you saved him."