Day 20: Breakfast

[right_handed]

Scar felt as if he'd passed out as soon as he'd gotten to his bed due to the admittedly strong fatigue and pain that having a badly injured arm tended to cause a person to feel, even one as conditioned and battle-worn as the stern-faced Ishbalan. He woke up feeling rested but regretful, and his fear that he'd wasted a Nightshift ripe with the

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[stray_shinigami]

That was damn unsettling. One minute he'd been talking with that guy in the hall - Zexion - and the next, he was waking up in the room, except this time it was morning and there was a nice lady in a clean white coat that cheerfully informed him that he was insane, and that his name was actually Kyle

[soul_defender]

Moments before things had changed to a brighter shade, Ichigo's throat had been practically crushed, so that when he awoke to a pleasant new day, his lungs were still completely empty and shriveled. Waking up feeling so completely winded was a brand new experience, at least. Not a pleasant one, though; the kind of experience that leaves you in a cold, dead sweat until you feel your stomach lurch like a lead weight. As his nurse entered the room, hoping to find him resting peacefully, Ichigo shot out of bed like a bullet, his chest heaving in and out while his poor, aching lungs clawed desperately for air

[stray_shinigami]

Renji stared at Ichigo. What, just 'good morning, let's eat' like there was nothing wrong? It was a good thing he hadn't had a mouth full of food at that moment. He would have choked. As it was, he seriously contemplated choking Ichigo instead.

It was a relief to see someone he knew. Misery loved company. It really was a relief. But something more important instantly sprang to mind.

He set his glass of orange juice down carefully, so he wouldn't drop it. He had to keep his voice low, or else he'd be on his feet, shaking Ichigo like a rag. "Where is she?" he asked. Low volume or no, none of the intensity was lost from that question.

[soul_defender]

Resting his head in the palm of his hand, Ichigo began the casual process of eating, digging his fork into the soft, warmed pancake batter, then clumsiy guiding the bite into his open mouth. He didn't need to be alert or worried at the moment; no, that was too much of a 'rookie' mistake at the institute. During the day, when there weren't any feral beasts or lumbering powerhouses, he'd relax. Tension would just have to wait until nightfall.

"Where's who?" Ichigo mumbled back, thoughtlessly talking with his mouth somewhat full. "Why don't you just eat? I thought you were always hungry with Hat 'n Clogs."

[stray_shinigami]

So this was apparently the proof that they were in an asylum. Ichigo had gone completely, and utterly, insane. Which certainly didn't brighten Renji's day at all.

Renji stabbed his remaining pancake. The plate beneath it let out a rather tortured squeal, and the fork bent slightly. But Renji kept his voice down, still. "Are you out of your fucking gourd? Rukia. Where is she?"

Is she still alive?

He couldn't bring himself to ask that question, even if it was probably the better one to be asking. It meant admitting, out loud, that she probably was dead.

[soul_defender]

The angered jolt against the table was more than enough to jolt Ichigo as well, finally sending enough of a live signal up to his sleep-starved brain to wake him completely. Carelessly, Ichigo dropped the fork from his hand, his eyes widening with a dawning sense of surprise and comprehension just as the syrup-drenched bite clattered against the tray below. Ichigo practically leapt out of his chair and leaned over the table towards Renji

[stray_shinigami]

Renji dropped his own fork. Okay, last night was weird, but this, this had to be the nightmare.

"Are you out of your fucking gourd?" he repeated. "Fine back in soul society? The fuck are you talking about?" With Ichigo leaning over the table, it was easy enough to grab the front of his shirt and yank him that much closer, until their foreheads actually were touching and all he could see were Ichigo's eyes. He glared into them, searching for any hint of the truth. "The last time I saw Rukia, Aizen had her by the fucking throat," he hissed. "Stop playing with me, you bastard!"

[soul_defender]

To say the least, this simply wouldn't do. To put it less mildly, though, there was no way in hell Ichigo would take that kind of attitude! If his own collar was going to be grabbed and jerked, he'd do the same thing right back, locking his vice-like fingers around the front of Renji's dismal uniform shirt. "What, you think I'm kidding around? I wouldn't joke about something like this, idiot! Rukia was fine!"

Even the briefest of looks into the endless pools of Ichigo's eyes would give away nothing but the truth Renji was searching for. Truth, mixed with a good helping of frustration.

That feral look in the man's eyes was somewhat familiar, though; Renji hadn't looked quite so furious since their determined clash in Seiretei. "Wait...Aizen? Rukia never said anything about seeing him again, so..."

Wait! Ichigo had stopped, suddenly looking rather concerned. Hadn't he met people here, people who knew each other, but seemed to be separated by time? Is this the same sort of thing?"No, you don't understand!" he began, shaking his head

[stray_shinigami]

Alright, that was the dumbest thing Renji had ever heard.

But, hey, if you had to assume that what was happening right now was possible, you pretty much had to assume that any other stupid shit people had come up with was possible. The night before, he'd met some guy from a place he'd never even heard of. This, slightly weirder...

But a relief. A real relief. Because it meant that Rukia was alive, and okay, at least as far as Ichigo knew.

Renji abruptly let go of Ichigo and sat with a thump. "Oh. Then that's okay, then," he said.

Then he put his head down on the table. He kind of felt like screaming, and vomitting, at the same time. He hadn't felt like that since he was a kid. It wasn't any more fun, as an adult.

[soul_defender]

"Right. Yeah." Ichigo was likely just as surprised, but in his own case, surprised that Renji seemed to accept things so readily, when moments ago he looked ready to start strangling someone. Kurosaki was able to settle back down again as well; clearly, the heated exchange hadn't damaged his appetite, as he immediately set back into his breakfast.

"Renji..." Ichigo began, his expressions softening with concern. "I guess you weren't around to see that Rukia was fine after all that mess." He chuckled lightly, taking a soft sip from his morning's glass of milk. "She even got all her powers back, then started acting like a real pain again."

This place had that same sort of effect on nearly everyone with something, or someone, to lose. It was an awful shock, even to the strongest souls. Naturally, Ichigo didn't want to seem too worried over Renji's well-being, but he couldn't help but frown lightly.

[stray_shinigami]

"Oh. That's good," Renji said. His voice was rather wooden, not to mention muffled by the table. "Glad she's doing good. That's really... good."

Okay, asshole. You just said 'good' three times in three sentences. Suck it up.

But 'suck it up' was a lot easier said than done.

I mean, Rukia's okay. This is good. We can do anything as long as she's okay, right?

But... why does Ichigo get to know this and be okay? Renji's last sight of Rukia had been a rather horrifying one.

You should be happy. Jerk.

And since when had he started talking to himself, even just in his own head?

Aw, fuck.

"So how are we getting out of here?" Renji asked. He did his best to inject a bit of his normal energy into the question. The effect was pretty much ruined by the fact that he was still face down on the table.

[soul_defender]

Ichigo took another bite, drawing the fork slowly out of his mouth as he stared off at the ceiling with a distant, contemplative gaze. How best to answer the question was on his mind, and judging by how his features had twisted thoughtfully, it was going to be a rather sensitive subject. It took a moment before Ichigo finally opened his mouth again to speak.

"I'm not really...umm...sure." he finally replied, cutting through the longing silence. "I've been here for a while now, and the whole place is locked up pretty tight. The stupid doctors are in total control of everything. Plus, nobody has much power here, so we can't do much about it."

Hopefully, Renji hadn't expected any sort of elaborate escape plan. Since they apparently had not shared much experience together, Captain Tattoo here had to learn the hard way that ideas like that weren't Ichigo's specialty.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji levered himself back up into a sitting position. He was a bit pale, but out of force of will, he set his face back into an expression approaching normal. "Fine," he said tightly. He picked his fork back up, but rather than eating the remains of his breakfast, he began methodically mashing them into paste

[soul_defender]

One of Ichigo's bright orange brows suddenly perked up, giving the replacement shinigami a very offsetting look. There was that attitude again, rearing its ugly head with Renji's sharp, stern demands. He could only glance back with a look of mild irritation as he slouched comfortably back into his seat

[stray_shinigami]

Renji's own eyebrow went up as a mirror to Ichigo's. He imagined saying, 'Looking, jerk, either I cop an attitude or I throw up on your lap. Choose.' But he couldn't see that going anywhere productive. And it would be really, really embarassing, too. So he just ignored it, for now. He wasn't all that fond of Ichigo, but they'd deal with it as they went. All that mattered was getting out

[soul_defender]

Ichigo himself had just finished up the remains of his breakfast, looking and feeling very satisfied on a full stomach as he pushed the emptied tray off to his side. No matter how crummy this insidious establishment was, Ichigo could at least find a little solace in a decent meal