Ichigo parked his car and took his keys out of the ignition. But instead of getting out, he sat there with his arms limp by his sides. With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headrest.
One week. It's been one week since the party and since he last seen Rukia. And it was taking a toll on him. He was already missing her scent, her smile, and the warmth that she brought whenever she was in his arms.
"Dammit!" Ichigo hit the steering wheel with palm of his hand, shaking his entire car. With one more sigh he opened the car and stepped out.
After the party he had asked Unohana for a leave of absence. After hearing his circumstances, she pulled some strings to help him but was forced to wait a week. Now he was standing in front of the door of the Kurosaki resident/clinic and opened it. "Tadiama," he softly announced.
Yuzu stepped out from the kitchen and wore a small smile. "Okaeri, oniichan."
Ichigo slipped his shoes off and entered the house. As he made his way to the kitchen he saw Jinta sitting on one of the chairs by the dinner table. "What are you doing here?"
Jinta shrugged. "Just visiting. Yuzu here has been pretty lonely so I've been coming over often to hang out with her."
More like trying to flirt with her, Ichigo inwardly scowled. He took a seat across the table from Jinta when Yuzu came back with a glass of water for him. "Arigatou," he replied as he accepted the refreshment.
Jinta watched as the orange head gulped down his drink. "How long are you staying this time?"
Ichigo shrugged. "Until things calm down I guess."
"Wouldn't you get fired if you're gone for too long?"
Again Ichigo shrugged. "Then I'll just get a job here, which would be better anyways."
Silence overtook the three as Ichigo stared intently at his cup while Jinta watched Yuzu cook in the kitchen.
"Where's everyone else?" Ichigo finally asked after looking around the house from his seat.
"Otousan is at the clinic and Karin-chan went out to get me some groceries," she told her brother.
"And the kids?"
Yuzu's stopped chopping the carrots and was silent for a moment. "Taki-chan is in his room." She refused to say anything about Mai, and thankfully Ichigo didn't really say anything either. He just automatically thought she would be in their room as well. So without another word Ichigo got up and walked upstairs towards the kids' room.
When he came to front of their door he lightly knocked.
No answer.
"Takeshi," he called out, hoping his voice would be enough to get his son's attention. And it did. Within seconds he heard someone scrambling around inside the room. Ichigo heard the lock getting undone and the doorknob twisting.
"Otousan?" Ichigo heard Takeshi's weak voice as he opened the door.
The father looked at his son and slightly smiled. "Hey kiddo." As soon as Ichigo placed his hand on his son's head Takeshi allowed tears to pour out, jumping into his father's arms. Ichigo held onto Takeshi's small body that was trembling against him.
Ichigo peered into the room to look for Mai but noticed her bed was empty.
"Takeshi, where's your sister?"
The ten year old pulled away from his father and wiped away his tears. "She's down at the clinic," he choked.
Ichigo's scowl deepened at this news. Without another word, Takeshi grabbed his hand and led him downstairs. With each step he took Ichigo felt a sudden chill run down his spine. Something wasn't right…
As they passed the doors into the clinic they noticed Isshin standing by the front desk, reading over some charts.
"Hey pops," Ichigo called out as he and Takeshi came to a halt in front of him.
Isshin turned around, but instead of giving his son the usual jumpy greeting, he just gave him a small smile. "Hey there son. Mai's in the second room; she should be getting up now," was all he said before going back to work.
Ichigo nodded in understanding as he walked towards the room. As carefully as he could he twisted the doorknob and slide open the door. When the door was open enough, the father and son peeked into the room. And the image that Ichigo saw almost ripped his heart apart.
Little Mai was asleep on one of the clinic's bed with an IV-tube sticking out from one of her arms and several other machines strapped onto her tiny body.
Nothing in the world could have been a more scary sight for Ichigo.
Takeshi released his grip on his father and walked over to the bed, carefully climbing in next to his sister. He waved his hand, signaling Ichigo to come closer, which he did.
Ichigo carefully took a few more steps closer towards Mai. When he reached her bedside, Mai slowly started to fidget in her sleep until her eyes slowly opened, blinking several times to get her eyes to focus on her surroundings. The father lifted his hand and carefully wiped away some of her orange bangs.
"P-papa?" her weak voice called out.
Ichigo weakly smiled before leaning down and kissing his daughter's forehead. "Hey there. Go back to sleep Mai."
The little girl smiled back before closing her eyes again.
"Ojiisan brought her in here several days ago because she wouldn't eat or sleep properly," Takeshi announced, "According to him, she might have to stay here for a few more days and continue being force-fed by the tube."
Ichigo sighed. He reached over to the foot of the bed to pick up her charts. Being a doctor himself, he knew how to read and understand what was written on the piece of paper. What Takeshi said was true; she's been malnourished for some time and it had weakened her body immensely.
I have to stop this before it becomes too dangerous, Ichigo thought to himself. I have to take Byakuya's information to the cops. Renji and the others better be there…
Ichigo walked inside the building and looked around, searching for the familiar faces that he knew worked there.
"Kurosaki?"
Ichigo turned around to see the stunt face of his old friend Histugaya. He let's out a sigh of relief. "Hey."
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm actually here to see you," Ichigo replied, "I desperately need your help."
The young captain raised his brow. "You? You're actually asking someone for help? Wow, this has got to be a first."
"Shut up," he glared, and then scratched his head with an annoyed frown, "Look, I need you to help me get some information on a guy named 'Aizen Sousuke.'"
"Did I just hear 'Aizen'?" a sudden loud voice cut in. The two men turned around to see where the voice was coming from and from the other end of the building, a tall figure with spiky hair (and with bells hanging off the ends) quickly ran towards them, knocking over whoever was in his way.
"Did you just say 'Aizen'?" the captain asked again, towering over the other two men.
Ichigo gulped before nodding his head.
Kenpachi eyed Ichigo, looking him up and down. "What do you know about Aizen?"
Ichigo didn't know why but the fear he felt before disappeared and wore his serious scowl. "All I know is that that bastard is trying to steal my woman for the sake of continuing some messed up business that might be illegal. Of course it's a rumor, but my fiancée's brother has some information to prove it to be true."
The two just stared at each in silence. After several seconds passed, Kenpachi threw his head back and roared in laughter. "FINALLY! After FIVE fucking years I just might have a lead on that bastard!"
With a huge grin, Kenpachi grabbed Ichigo by the shoulder and bend down to meet his eye level. "Now, are you going to introduce me to this brother-in-law of yours, or do I have to beat it out of 'ya?"
Ichigo gulped as he pulled out his cellphone. "I can call him right now."
Rukia paced around the bathroom, furiously biting her fingernails as she waited.
What's taking so long?
Finally the timer went off on Rukia's watch and she quickly ran over to the sink. She picked up the small object and stared closely at the small display circle.
There were two blue lines.
"…Shit!"
A/N: Another, Dun dun DUN!
Did you guys figure out what that ending means? If not, it's okay 'cuz each chapters will slowly give more obvious hints. I really LOVED the last few lines. hehe. I guess I'm killing you guys since you'll have to wait awhile for the next chapter. I will write and update ASAP so please be patient!
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