Nightshift 30: F1-F10 Hallway.

[heartcrown]

[ inside f7]“What?” Kairi had been in the middle of getting off of the bed when she heard the announcement the head doctor made, surprise overtaking her face. Hadn’t the man on the radio been well known? Hadn’t he helped all kinds of people

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F7

[bewarethecute]

[ From here]

Thankfully, Ururu was good at running, and the distance was short. She hadn't even lost her breath by the time she made it to Rukia's door.

But she hadn't been able to keep all of the tears away. It hurt so much, all of it. And though she was still trying hard, her face felt wet when she touched it.

Ururu didn't like this at all.

With unusual nervousness Ururu knocked on the door, rapidly seeking entrance, safety in the company of someone familiar.

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia had taken a few minutes to lie down; her legs felt stiff and swollen from sitting all day long, so she thought that elevating them might help. She had even dozed off, not noticing Kairi's movements as she changed clothes and left the room. Ururu's knock on the door, though, woke her.

As quickly as she could manage, Rukia flicked on the flashlight and set it on her desk, then grabbed her katana and hobbled over to the door; she wasn't using that chair if she could get away with it. Blade held at the ready, but not so as to appear threatening, Rukia opened the door.

"Ururu! Are you all right?" she asked when she saw the wetness on the girl's cheeks. "Come on in."

[bewarethecute]

Ururu didn't need to be told twice, quickly stepping out of the hall into the safety of her room. She raised her arm to wipe her eyes, then stopped when she saw that it was the one marked like the ghost.

Marked with their sins, and all their pain.

Ururu didn't want to touch the skin, afraid of what would happened. So she switched hands, swallowing hard to try and finally force the lump out of her throat. It didn't work though.

"Th-there was a ghost." The small girl's voice hitched as she tried to speak, but Ururu had to warn Rukia. She had to warn everyone she cared about, so no one would get hurt again. "I couldn't hit it. I tried, but my arm went through. And n-now it hurts."

It. Everything. It all hurt so much, Ururu didn't know if she could bear it.

"I'm sorry."

[haiiro_no_chou]

"When did this happen?" she asked, feeling very guilty for asking Ururu to come to her room. "Just now? Well, come on and sit down on the bed anyway."

Stretching out one arm, Rukia set her katana on the desk, then grabbed the back of her desk chair for balance. Hopping a couple steps toward the bed, she waved her hand at Ururu, indicating that the girl should follow. Rukia hopped some more and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. She patted her hand on the mattress next to her.

[bewarethecute]

Ururu saw what a hard time Rukia was having, and moved to help the shinigami inspite of her own agonies. It was such a fundamental part of her that even as she sniffled, the girl wanted to do something.

But Rukia made it on her own, leaving Ururu to climb up beside her. "Last night." The girl folded her hands in her lap, looking down quietly at them. "With Rangiku-san and Ichimaru-san. The ghost was after Rangiku-san, so I tried to stop her."

But she hadn't. Ururu had tried, and it'd done no good at all. And worse, Rangiku was hurting too because of it. Because Ururu messed up.

The thought made the girl cringe.

[haiiro_no_chou]

NOw that they were both sitting, Rukia took a closer look at Ururu. There were dark marks on her... tattoos! Which reminded her of one of the descriptions she had copied down from the bulletin board. A ghostly woman whose touch was painful. And there had been something about the tattoos lasting for a couple nights; at least Ururu hopefully wouldn't be in pain after tonight.

"You were very brave to try and protect Vice Captain Matsumoto," she said, patting Ururu gently on the shoulder. If both Ururu and Vice Captain Matsumoto had been hurt... What about Ichimaru? It would be just like him to stay out of the way while others were hurt.

"Is it just your hand, or are you hurt anywhere else?"

[bewarethecute]

Ururu shook her head slowly. She didn't feel very brave, or that'd she'd done well at all. "It didn't work." Her words soft, Ururu ducked her head lower as she admitted her failure. "I...I tried. But it got her anyway. I couldn't stop it...and..."

Messing up. Of all the things Ururu hated, that was the worst. She felt so bad, even worse than when she read the box wrong back at home.

She hadn't been able to help crying then either.

"I couldn't help." Her sin in so many ways, that she couldn't stop the ghost, couldn't stop what'd she seen in her memories. The things that Ururu had seen when she was touched haunted her, and she couldn't keep it in anymore. So much had gone wrong! "Rangiku-san was hurt. And Kaname-san...Kisuke-san. He was bleeding!"

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia moved her hand to Ururu's other shoulder, gently pulling the girl to her. "Now, don't feel guilty, Ururu," she said, "You tried, and that's what matters." At least, that's what Captain Ukitake had always told Rukia.

She was confused by what Ururu said next; Urahara was gone. Could they have come across one of those mimics? "...Urahara?" she said uncertainly. "You saw him last night?"

[bewarethecute]

Ururu had tried, but it hadn't worked. Maybe it was what really mattered, but when people got hurt, how could she settle for that? She wanted to help everyone. Wanted to so bad--she let herself be nailed to the ground, spikes pounded in, over and over, holding her--and she hadn't been able to do anything at all. Even as Rukia pulled her close, Ururu hugged herself, cradled her marked arm protectively against her chest.

"I remember it." Ururu nodded, but it wasn't quite true. "I didn't see him, but I remember. He was bleeding. He came to save me, and someone hurt him. S-Someone..."

So much blood. Kisuke-san holding her hand. Too much blood. The warmth of his touch. His eyes glazing over.

Ururu couldn't say it. She couldn't, she wouldn't. Saying it made it real. So she just sobbed instead.

[haiiro_no_chou]

What was she talking about? It didn't make any sense, what she was saying! Rukia could only assume that the pain, or some other effect of the ghost's touch, was causing Ururu to hallucinate.

Rukia held Ururu close, smoothing her hair with one hand. "Shhh, it's okay," she murmured, "No one has hurt Urahara. I promise you. If you did see someone who looked like him, it was only a monster who was disguised as him." Poor girl must have seen something awful; it was probably best just to let her cry it out.

[simpleastherain]

[from here]

Despite her hurry, she was still a little bit late. The door was already slightly ajar but Orihime tapped it lightly before letting herself in. She'd heard the sobbing but she didn't want to startle either of them too badly.

She moved towards them without a second's hesitation and kneeled behind Ururu to reach her more easily. She wrapped her arms around the girl from behind, her hands coming to rest near Rukia's shoulders.

"What is it?" She asked gently, directing the question at both of them. She had a good idea already.

[bewarethecute]

Ururu was having a hard time finding the right words. Between the memories and the tears, it was hard to talk, and harder to want to. But she felt the added warmth of Orihime's embrace, and the part of Ururu that hated making people worry began to spark.

She couldn't stay sad. Staying sad wasn't going to help anyone at all.

So Ururu swallowed hard against her tears, though she didn't try to wriggle free of either embrace just yet. With how lonely she felt, how guilty she felt, there was something wonderful to be found in the arms surrounding her now.

"I-I didn't see him." Ururu lifted her head, just enough to be able to look up at Rukia. "I remembered it. I remembered a lot of things...when the ghost t-touched me."

[haiiro_no_chou]

Brows knitted together, Rukia looked at Orihime over Ururu's head. "She ran into a ghost-like creature last night," she explained. "It... I don't know exactly what the creature's touch did, but it's painful. In more than the physical sense."

Rukia nodded, still stroking Ururu's hair. "You remembered Urahara getting hurt?" she asked tentatively. Somehow she couldn't imagine the sneaky shopkeeper allowing himself to be wounded, but Ururu had apparently seen him injured once.

[simpleastherain]

Orihime nodded, swallowed. "I should be able to heal the physical wound..." But she didn't know about the important ones, the ones that were really causing Ururu so much pain. Maybe the little bit would help. "Is there one?" She asked uncertainly.

She moved one of her hands to stroke Ururu's hair. Each one of those sobs tore out a little piece of her.

[bewarethecute]

Ururu nodded quickly. Oh, she remembered that too well, could see it clearly when she closed her eyes. Kisuke-san bleeding, because Ururu couldn't help. "I remembered lots of things." The girl sniffled, the effort of talking making her tears lessen, if only a little. "L-like being nailed to the ground. To try and help."

But it was strange, because Ururu hadn't remembered any of that before. It seemed like something she wouldn't forget. It was so real now. So clear.

When Orihime mentioned healing, Ururu pulled away from Rukia, just enough to show the mark on her arm. "Just this. It hurts." And indeed it did, a cold so cold it burned. But as much as it did hurt, Ururu's pain wasn't the only one felt in the room.

"Rukia-san is hurt too. She was limping before."

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia looked alarmed. Had that really happened to Ururu?? It seemed too awful a thing to do to such a gentle girl, but if she was remembering it... Unless it was some effect of the ghost's touch? It was very confusing, and Rukia felt like she just couldn't make sense of the situation.

She shook her head at Ururu's concern, looking to Orihime. "Worry about her first. I can use a little kidou to heal myself." She knew it wouldn't grow the toes back, but she could at least jump-start the healing process in her foot and knee.