Justice & Love: An Ichihime Story

Chapter 7: Worries Before Dinner

Ichigo slowly pulled up to the curb beside Starrk's house, which is enormous and located in one of those neighborhoods that do well for themselves. "Orihime, I'm going to go in. I need you to stay in the car until I say it's safe, okay?" Ichigo looked over to Orihime, who nodded her head in response. "Okay, I'm going to need you to duck down, so no one sees you. If Rukia were here, I would've told her to stay with you in case someone like Kyle came by."

"Okay, Ichigo," Orihime nodded and did as he said, nervous about the entire thing. Ichigo could tell she was scared, and he was a bit too if he was honest. He doesn't want to see another person he cares for to get hurt. "Okay, I'll be right back. Don't open the door for anyone but me." Ichigo got out of the car and made sure to lock it. He walked up to Starrk's door and prepared to show his badge. Ichigo ringed the doorbell at least three times before he decided to knock. When he did, the door creaked open, and a foul smell reached Ichigo's nose. He sniffed. Furrowing his eyebrows, he sniffed again, just to make sure. It smells like death. 

Ichigo promptly pulled out his gun and entered. He saw the living room was a huge mess, and this worried Ichigo. What happened here? He swept through most of the places to find that every room was just as messy as the first. He walked up to the last room, which was in the back of the house, and opened the door, gun in hand, to find that this room was even messier, and not to mention the smell. Whew! Ichigo held his nose. He walked in slowly, stepping over a broken vase that was blocking his path. From the looks of it, it used to be a home office.

Ichigo walked further in and saw that around the corner, there were papers everywhere, but most importantly, there was a decaying body sitting in the office chair and slumped against the desk. Ichigo frowned and walked around the office desk to get a better look at the person's face, which had been facing the opposite direction Ichigo was. "Dammit!" Ichigo closed his eyes and put away his gun. He sighed as he pulled out his phone and dialed Rukia's number. "Rukia, we have a problem. It's about Starrk. He's dead."

It was at that exact moment Ichigo heard a scream from behind him. Ichigo whipped around with wide eyes only to see Orihime there. "What are you doing here?!" Ichigo yelled at her as he walked up to her, making sure to step over items that were spewed across the floor as not to mess up the crime scene. She was staring at the body with tears at her eyes, and that made Ichigo lower his voice a bit while still being stern. "I told you to wait in the car!"

When he reached her, she covered her eyes in her hands and cried. "I'm sorry, I- I just got anxious while waiting in the car," she stuttered as Ichigo turned her around and led her out to the front. "What's going on, Ichigo? Is everything alright?" Rukia asked from the other side of the phone call. "Yes, everything is fine, Rukia. Orihime just saw the body, that's all," Ichigo responded with a grimace. "Oh, okay. Well, the team and I will be there in a bit, and I'll see if my brother can spare Rangiku for Orihime's sake. She managed to calm her down last time. Sit tight." Rukia said before she hung up.

Ichigo sat Orihime down on the concrete steps outside the large house, and then he sat beside her. "Why did you ignore my instructions, Orihime?" Ichigo asked in a soft voice, not wanting to upset her even more. "I just kept hearing cars drive by a- and sometimes they slowed down a bit. I got nervous, so I decided to follow you in. I wasn't expecting to see... to see..." Orihime started crying even harder, "just who are these people, Ichigo? Just how much danger is Tatsuki in?"

Ichigo pulled her into his chest and began stroking her back to help calm her down. He was debating on whether or not to tell her the truth. "Do.. do you want to know the truth, or do you want me to spare you the details?" Orihime nodded, "the truth, please," she looked up at Ichigo with tears in his eyes. The sight made him want to hold on to Orihime and not let go, and he knew the truth would worry her about Tatsuki even more, but he didn't want to lie to Orihime. Not anymore. "Do you know who the Aranncar are?" He asked.