6-reawaken-The next fight

Cool air wafted through the pearly white room. It’s scent, laced with chemicals and crisp silk sheets. Soft hums, and whirls and beeps from some device that read everything they needed to know about kasumi. His blood pressure, his brain activity, his heartbeat. Even his rieatsu levels where measured on a careful scale.

Six days, one hundred and forty four hours of the deepest sleep any living thing can withstand, without death. And a hundred and forty four hours of heart crushing worry.

“We’ve found it this morning. His brain activity his heightened, so has his muscle function. His rieatsu readings are returning to their normal levels as well.” A Thin, deathly pale Shinigami from the 12th division motioned to the various scales and monitors showing what was reading what. Shuunske stood at the foot of Kasumi’s bed. Nodding in turn with what the boy was saying. His clearer blue eye’s glued to the monitor as though it was the one talking to him, and not the figure standing next to it.

“With these readings we have deduced that he should awaken in the next four or five hours.” The shinigami replied with no emotion. He saw as Shuunske’s face relaxed with relief. They turned to Hiiro, who hadn’t yet even looked at the machine at Kasumi's feet. She stayed by his bedside. Her eye’s watered over and misty with tears sure to come.
“…. He is going to wake up…” Hiiro repeated, her voice soft. She had not yet put up her hair since they had returned, with Kasumi in such a critical condition and the rest of the 11th division trailing Shuunske in boxes. Torn beyond any hope of repair. Her hair seemed darker, a deeper crimson then it was before. Pushed over her shoulder and cascading down her back.

A warm, soft hand rubbed Kasumis shoulder softly. And a quiet smile of gratitude on her face.
“He will be here…again with us?” She looked away from Kasumi to look to the 12th division Shinigami.
“Yes, his injuries are manageable and his brain function is as crisp as it ever was.” He turned to Shuunske with his hands pressed to his sides bowing slightly.
“Captain Shuunske-sama. If you would care to join me to the research lab there are other statistics that I have been informed to show you.” He remained in a bowed position his hands placed firmly at his sides. It was clear that formality was beaten into the 12th division. Hiiro knew from experience, that it wasn’t good to take any chances when you are around Muriasachi-sama.

“Yes I will accompany you.” Shuunske gave the softest grin and turned to Hiiro. “5th seat Hiiro-chan. Would you like to join us?” He inquired turning to her. Hiiro looked up, away from Kasumi and to Shuunske.
“No thank you…if you don’t mind Shuunske-sama, I would like to stay here.” She answered looking back to Kasumi.

“Alright.” Shuunske looked back at the 12th division Shinigami who was still watching with a raised eyebrow but hurried ahead quickly. Walking past His 5th seat, he gave her a small smile before piveting on his heels. His Haori snapping in the movement and he followed the shinigami out. The door closing behind him with a soft snap of wood hitting wood.

Then there was silence; the room seemed to remain motionless as she was left alone. Looking down at him with soft brown eye’s Hiiro gave a small shaky sigh before taking a chair from the far wall and pulled it next to his bed. She didn’t want to leave him. Not when he could wake at any moment. Hiiro had spent most of her time waiting in this room; she could wait, just a little bit longer. Time passed and she felt her eyelid’s grow heavy. Leaning down she rested her arms upon the corner of the bed, next to his hip she rested her temple against her arms. One, dreamy eye, half lidded watching him. Waiting for him to awake.

It wasn’t even late afternoon, she didn’t know how she could be so tired. Emotional strain, Hiiro guessed. She had been with Shuunske when the shinigami came to them quickly. She swore her heart stopped for a moment and she almost cried. It was wonderful, the thought of him being awake. It seemed like eons since she had seen his eyes. Hurrying to his room, everything seemed to be a blur. The words of the shinigami became a muddled humming that made no difference to her.

He was waking up; she didn’t care about the science of it. Not that she would have understood him anyway. The shinigami enjoyed trying to stump them with big words. Such as encephalon, which Shuunske explained was some Latin way of saying the brain. Normally, the 12th division’s need to make her feel like a mentally stunted child would have angered her. But right now it didn’t matter.

Her eyes grew heavier still and she snuggled into the soft silk sheets of Kasumi’s bed. She could hear his steady breathing, soft, and quiet. Soothing her even in the state he was in.


Hiiro’s eye’s closed and she drifted of into a careful sleep. Left in a half sleep, still keeping her ears perked for any movement. She would wait, just wait, until he would come back to her.

Hiiro had drifted into a soft half sleep. Her eye’s closed and her head resting gently upon the white silk of Kasumi’s bed. Her head just barely brushing up against his side.

Her body stirred as a soft voice carried over to her ears. For a moment she thought that Shuunske had come to rouse her from her sleep. It had not been the first time she was found asleep at Kasumi’s bedside. However the familiarity of the voice settled in and her eye’s opened wide as her heart skipped a beat.

“Kasumi?” she lifted her head quickly, pushing herself up a bit so she could look at him. His eye’s remained closed and yet. Every small movement he made told her he was awake. Slight turns of his head, to breath. Tears formed in her eyes and she smiled warmly. Taking his hand in hers and squeezing it once, feeling the warmth of his hand. She could just die of relief right here and now. “ I’m here.” She answered him.

He was awake, alive and here with her again. Tears of happiness threatened to fall down her face and she couldn’t tear herself away from him. Carefully his eye’s opened. Looking up at her as though he had simply just woken up from a nap. Each word, though his voice still weak, reverberated into her making her smile wider and a look of heart melting bliss upon her face.

“I missed you, so much…” she reached foreword and gently wiped the stray tear from his face. It was rare for her to see him cry. She felt such a strong urge to comfort him whenever she saw the rare glisten in his eyes. But this time she knew they were tears of happiness as well.

Affection lit her eye’s, still glassy from her own tears. Through her thoughts and mind shattering worry, though the horrible six days she had realized how much she loved this man. This reckless honorable man whom she had known for far too many years. Seeing him now, alive, awake, and saying how much he had missed her. Something clicked in her mind and she knew that her feelings were true. She loved him, more then she had ever loved someone before.


Her breath hitched in her throat and she stroked the back of his hand that was placed on her cheek. Her body quivering lightly with emotions and tears fell down her pinkish cheeks. She gave a small chuckled.

“You better not.” She laughed trying to compose herself a little, glancing away from Him, looking to the hand that rubbed her cheek softly. “I don’t know what I would do if you did again…” Her words trailed off as his other hand cupped her cheek. Her heart fluttered suddenly and Hiiro’s words fell silent. Feeling her face drawn closer, she wanted to kiss him. For a stray moment her whole mind stopped.

…And then he smiled, his hands falling softly from her face and pressing against the bed. Her Face stayed stationary for a moment before she drew back slightly so she wasn’t leaning to heavily over the bed something heavy fell into her chest. Her face flushed slightly, and she chewed on the inside of her lip. It was foolish of her, to think of things like that. He must have seen her a friend, and nothing more. She told herself bitterly.


Kasumi pressed his hands against the bed and pushed himself up, making Hiiro’s eye’s widen in alarm.
“Kasumi your still hurt-“ Her voice cut off as the covers fell from his chest, pooling at his waist. Revealing his sculpted chest but also the huge gash that was upon his chest. Still healing she knew it would leave some sort of a scar, the Gash he had gotten because he was trying to protect her, and a pain she tripled once that rouge Shinigami escaped.

Her eye’s watched in pain as his body flinched and stiffened at the large wound upon his chest. A wound she had helped create. Looking away her eye’s cast to the ground for a moment as guilt overwhelmed her. She could hear his screams echo into her mind and another tear fell down her face. Not a tear of happiness but of horrible guilt and pain.


She looked up into his eyes. Looking pained now, her shoulders slumped and her hands placed gently onto her lap. She felt like she wasn’t even fit to touch him. Casting a small glanced up into his eyes. Oh, but his eye’s. They always did something to her that made her feel better; that he was able to somehow forgive what she had done to him.

Pressing on hand against the bed she pushed herself forward quickly wrapping an arm around his neck, and burying her face into the nape of his neck crying. He was real, solid and warm. But damaged, because of what she had done. Her other arm wrapped under her arm hugging his torso. Feeling the soft cotton binding around his chest. Hugging him closer, but she was gentle. Worried that she would hurt him any more then she already had. Guilt choked her and tears fell freely down her cheeks and onto his skin.

“I’m so sorry.” She spoke against his skin; a horrible pain in her heart throbbed like a sword was lodged into it and refused to move.
“Kasumi I’m so sorry…It’s all my fault your like this.” She hugged him tightly, her whole body shaking in the weight of the remorse she was feeling.

Still shaking quietly in his arms. Hiiro remained still, holding him close, her heartbeat quickened and she opened her eyes, listening to his words. That She didn’t feel she deserved. Such words of incredible kindness, it took her a moment to let his words sink in, that couldn’t have been right. Every word he said to her felt like a lie to her. That it was simply impossible for anyone to think of her like that.

But his words were sincere; She didn’t need to look at him to know what his expression must have been. Holding her close, with such kind words. All of the pain she held inside, melted away. Resting quietly she never wanted to leave his arms.

Hiiro opened her mouth to speak. God it should be illegal for her to love him this much, and have him never know. She wanted to tell him, but words never came, choked off by the same worries that silenced her before. Her heart pounded lightly, she worried if he could feel it against his own chest.


“I-I” Her words came and then suddenly left her again with that one little word. Her voice was silenced in her throat like all of her worries had grabbed onto those simple three words and pulled them back down into the depths of her heart. But new words arose. And once more an embarrassed smile spread onto her face.

“I’ll always be here.” She murmured against him, Her voice still soft. But she was close enough so she knew he would be able to hear him. She heard the steady beep of Kasumi’s heart rate increasing ever so slightly. So the soft pattering rhythm took a small notch higher, going faster, and indicating that he was what? Nervous? She smiled a bit wider at that thought, and pulled away from him, as their hug broke she had found her self now, sitting on the bed next to him. Rather then the chair by his bedside.

She gave a small happy sigh and rested her head on her shoulder, her whole right arm supporting most of the weight of her body as she leaned against it. She watched him happily as he took the few moments to inspect the devices attached to him. Watched every small suddenly movement of his face as he pieced together that they were reading his vitals and that he was attached to them via the wires in his arms.

Hiiro didn’t say a word when he pulled the needles out of his arm; her guess was that it was his heart rate because what was the steady rhythm became one shrill line of sound. A red light blipped and some sort of horn sounded, making Hiiro jump in surprise before holding her chest and laughing at her reaction.

Taking a moment Hiiro stopped her laughter when the 12th division shinigami hurried into the room. Panting quickly before they straightened there bodies and almost held their breath to stop there racing hearts, and try to get their breathing back to normal. Hiiro laughed inwardly. How many times has Muriasachi-sama yelled at somebody for breathing to loudly? She raised an eyebrow, being able to picture the man doing that far to easily.

“Oh no, please…don’t thank me.” Hiiro’s eye’s darkened and she held up her hands, sitting up straight. “I hope I don’t ever have to cause anybody that much pain in the name of saving them again…it was hardly a kind thing to do.” She glanced to kasumi, the sadness and guilt she had before shone in her eyes.

It tore her up inside, being thanked for the most horrible thing she had ever done to somebody in her life. If things didn’t get worse. She looked up buck to the Shinigami, and listened as he told kasumi the situation and the events that transpired while he was asleep.

How many times had she heard the situation told to her? Seven, eight times? Hiiro lost count and the soft brown eyes that had just moments before held joy, carried shame and sadness, now were cast to the ground as she listened to the horrible situation for the ninth time.

They were alone. Horribly and painfully alone in this safe house with the enemy fast approaching. Kasumi, Hiiro, and Shuunske were the last of the 11th division that was still alive, and with no contact to the rest of the Gotei Thirteen there was no hope of help or reinforcements. And the enemy that they were facing was still vastly unknown.

Hiiro had on several occasions scene the corpses of the falling 11th division. Helping however she could. More then once had she stumbled into an autopsy and scene the carnage first hand, and spread open on a metal table. Hiiro hated that they knew so little about something so great. She did what she could. Describing the strange Female shinigami with eye’s that craved blood and death.

She listened to Shuunske explain his encounter with the shadowed figure that so easily matched Shuunske in a fight. The force they were up against seemed to know everything about them. And yet, they knew nothing in return.

She thanked the Shinigami softly and bobbed her head in farewell to them as they closed the door. She didn’t move for a while, her eyes falling upon the corner of the door where the Shinigami had left. From her expression anyone could see that she was lost in thought, but her thoughts were not happy. Her mouth was formed to a small frown and her eye’s looked half lidded and sad.

“I keep hoping.” She spoke up quietly after a few moments of silence, once her silence was disrupted by his question. “ That they are joking. And we aren’t actually alone out here. That, they just wanted to see how we would react to this sort of a situation.” She Looked to him, her eyes were glassy.

“I wish Kifuume-kun was here.” She spoke her voice was becoming choked with emotions. “He always knew what to do and when he didn’t he didn’t care.” She stood up and faced kasumi, offering a small smile, showing that she was going to be ok.


“Maybe, when you’re starting to feel better, we can train a little. I don’t want you having to protect me all the time.” There was a hint of teasing in her voice. “And another thing.” She cracked a smile now, resting her hand upon his. She leaned foreword and kissed him gently upon the forehead. “Thank you, for coming back to me.” She murmured softly before taking his arm and draped it over her shoulders. Positioning herself next to him she placed her arm gingerly upon his torso, careful not to touch or hurt any of his wounds held tightly under the white wraps.