Make your heart beat whole

Chapter 2

Orihime just stared at Ichigo, in slight disbelief. *I was bought to become some kind of servant or maid?* she thought doubtfully, there has to be some form of catch. She only bore into his eyes, completely lost for words. "We will be leaving for the UK Early tomorrow morning, I doubt you've ever heard about the city of Westminster, but that's where my Estate lays." Ichigo announced almost rudely. *Well he isn't as friendly as I thought." Orihime contemplated, taking note at how disinterested and distant her Buyer was revealing to be. Ichigo cleared his throat, disrupting her analysis on his ever so delighted character, his deep scowl making his opinion on her competence insultingly obvious. Orihime being slightly agitated at the blatant disregard for her ability to think and speak properly ushered her to jump up from the stiff mattress and into a slight bow before his legs. Her eyes adverting to only the worn green rug that melted into the bleached wooden floors. "Thank you Kurosaki-Sama, I will make sure I am collected and ready for our departure tomorrow morning." She said in a clear voice, waiting for another snide remark, from the man in front of her. Her Ears heard only a small Humph before his loud footsteps made way to the adjoining door on the right side of the room, with one swift motion the door closed loudly followed by the screech of the lock turning.

Several hours had passed, the moon slightly glimmered in through the double windows above the wide ironed bed frame that had orient flowers carved into the cool metal. Ichigo sat on the edge of the dusty sheets of the slightly springy mattress in his room, staring intently at the curved handle of the adjoining door. *Why would I go and do something like this* he thought almost uncomfortably as the dark haze was creeping into his head for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. He shut his eyes tightly as the blackness creeped in that the corners, threatening to take over the irises at any moment. 'Are you scared?' A blood curdling menacing voice came from the inside of his head. Ichigo deeply inhaled, attempting to keep his composure, *I thought I told you to stay away!* he mentally screamed, the voice just chuckled in response hardly drifting back below the surface. With the mental ordeal over, Ichigo started to shake, he'd thought over the days events repeatedly. *I was getting a grip on things, I was learning how to control it!* he continued to mentally yell, only this time at himself. He remembered the silence in his head, he hadn't heard it speak in what felt like a very long time, he only had the nagging feeling at the base of his skull, but now, it felt horribly consuming. *I even came here to put an end to it fully, if I had only found that stupid mage.* his thoughts turned irritated, recalling what stopped his venture, how he was dead set on the small shop at the edge of town, how he could basically taste the freedom. Until his eyes caught the brief flash of auburn hair in his peripheral vision, he didn't even support the human slave trade of any kind, but he felt his feet mindlessly walking to the crowd next to him, and that's when it hit, the second his eyes met the woman on the platform, all defenses against the nagging in his head failed, and the 'voice' took over, controlling his movements, his actions, his voice, he was merely watching through his own eyes, he was the one inside now. Ichigo cut off his own thoughts, as he could still feel the pulling from his 'other side'. Giving one last look at the curved handle of that door he laid back on the deflated pillows and closed his eyes feeling guilt and fear for the poor woman sleeping behind it.

The sun was still hidden when Orihime peeped an eye open, the moon invisible from her single window, and the sky was more of a gray than the blackness which held small shining stars. She had hardly slept that night, even tho it was the first time she had the luxury to lay about a mattress. She sat up slowly, stretching long silky arms above her sleep knotted hair, she let the thin cloth sheets of her bed slide off her bare shoulders. She folded her Yukata neatly and placed it in the dusty dresser, leaving her only in her undergarments, the greened chain around her neck hung the two hair clips and pendant right above the tops of her slightly exposed breasts. She mindlessly ran her hands over the skin, delaying the inevitable, the traveling that came before her. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Ichigo was right, she had never heard of the City of Westminster before and she certainly had never left Japan in her 17 years of life. *Well there's nothing you can do about this now, you might as well hurry and dress before he comes bustling in the room* the mere embarrassment of being caught in such indecency quickly jolted her across the room and to the dresser, where she hastily tied the Yukata into place and slid her sandals back on. She didn't have a mirror in her room but she brushed her long silky hair out and pulled it back into a low bun, leaving her bangs to slightly frame her face, the left bang partially shielding the still purple bruise across her cheek. She grabbed the bottle of perfume and lightly dabbed more of the intoxicating scent to the base of her neck, slipping that and any other of her newly loose belongings back into the cloth bag that she pulled over her head and laid upon her shoulder to wear as a makeshift satchel.