The Long Way Home

Part Two

The blanket was quite cool.  Soft against his skin.  A breeze from an open window was flowing over his face.  He didn’t really want to get up; wasn’t he off school today?  Couldn’t he have a lie-in every once in a while?

He heard voices although he couldn't make out what they were saying.
Ichigo smiled.  Rukia.  She was back. 

He opened his eyes. 

The first thing he noticed was that he didn’t know where he was.  He didn’t know this place.  An unnamed panic swiftly tightened his chest and he felt a sudden, soothing sensation that he knew was Zangetsu.  Peace, Ichigo…

“You decided to wake up then, huh?

Ichigo sat up.  “Renji?”  He looked around the room he was in and suddenly realised where he was.  “Is this the Kuchki house?” The wall opposite his bed had a large mural on it, a scene depicting a large battle.  Samurai’s fighting to the death.

Renji was sat with his feet up on Ichigo's bed   He took his feet off the sheets, as if Ichigo had reminded him were he was and what his Captain would do if he saw it.  He'd get looked at. 

“Yeah.” Renji leaned forward on the bed and looked him over thoroughly.  “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.  Why?  And while we're at it, what am I doing in the Soul Society?  And in the Kuchki residence, no less.”

“I don’t know if I'm the one to be telling you this.” The 6th Division Lieutenant shrugged.  “But...” 

Ichigo saw how uncomfortable his friend was.  “What!?

“Ok, Ok.  What's the last thing you remember before waking up?”

“Uh...”  Ichigo searched through his memories.  “I...”  He tried to remember, but there was this huge ball of panic shaped blackness in his mind.  “I...  I fought and killed a Hollow.  Then I went home, obviously."

Renji shook his head.  “You're missing out on what happened when you got home.” Renji sighed and reached out his hand, giving Ichigo what he thought was a comforting squeeze.  “You were attacked.”

At that moment, the door to the bedroom slid open, with Rukia and her brother coming in. 

“You're awake, I see.” Byakuya stood by the door as he closed it.

Rukia came up to the bed, smiling.  “Ichigo! You had us all so worried.”  Unable to help herself she gave him a hug. 

Ichigo turned back to Renji.  “I lost in a fight?”

Rukia tutted and glared at Renji, but the Lieutenant took no notice of it.

“You didn't lose in a fight.
“A coward attacked you.  From the shadows.  He hid himself in your room and when you were least expecting it, attempted to kill you.”

“Attempted to what!”  Ichigo threw back the sheets he was under only to find himself naked.   He quickly covered himself back up, cheeks burning as he avoided looking at Rukia.  “Damn-it!  Where's my clothes?”

“Removed.  For your comfort.”  Ichigo glared at Byakuya.

“There is more to it, Ichigo.” The tone of Rukia’s voice brought his attention away from her brother.

He looked at all their faces. “What are you not telling me?”

Renji and Rukia looked at one another but it was Byakuya who spoke.  “You were shot with a gun.  Your father informed Rukia that you briefly died on the operating table as they removed the bullet from your brain.”

Rukia nodded.  “That was two days ago, Ichigo.”

Ichigo slumped back on to the cushions of his bed.  He was looking right at Byakuya and knew there was more.  He closed his eyes.  “What else?”

He sensed rather than saw Byakuya move to the foot of his bed.  “They have still to assess the seriousness of the damage. They are not...certain of your survival.  They have placed you in a coma in the hope that it will aid in your recovery.”

The room was silent as they let Ichigo take in what was said.  Which he was having trouble doing to be honest. 

His eyes flew open. “Karin! Yuzu!  What about my dad, did they-"

Byakuya held his hand up.  “Rest assured.  They were not injured.  Your father is a credit to you.  He kept you alive.  If he had not been at hand then you surely would have died there and then.”

“If you had not been close at hand, brother, Ichigo might have been tethered by his chain of fate.”

“What?”  Ichigo didn’t understand.  It seemed like there was nothing about this he could understand.  “I thought I broke my chain when I became a Soul Reaper.”
 
Renji spoke this time.  “You did.  But you're still a mortal, Ichigo.  You have a body in the real world.  We don't.   When you die in the real world you come to the Soul Society just like everyone else.  Well, actually no one is sure what way it would work out when it comes to you.  There is nothing normal about your powers, Ichigo.   Most people come here or are born here and then find their Soul Reaper powers.  You have them already plus you have a mortal body.  But you were still in shimigami form when you were attacked. Just. Captain Kuchki got you here before your body could trap you.”  He shook his head. “We think it would have trapped you as you aren’t dead, but in a coma.”  He smacked his fist into his hand. “Whoever it was that done this is a damn coward!”

Ichigo stayed silent.  It was almost too much to take in.  Finally a question came to mind that he had to ask.