The Gold Pirate

Chapter 14: Truth

(Kurosaki Clinic)

The walk to Ichigo's home was silent, both teens not knowing how to strike up a conversation after what had happened. They trudged through the empty streets of the ghost town, the unsettling silence only broken by the trash that the wind would occasionally blow past them.

Naruto's questions only grew the more and more they passed through, wondering where everyone had been this entire day and why they hadn't come out of hiding. He watched Ichigo's back as they walked, his hand behind his head as he observed the empty town...he wouldn't pry since it wasn't any of his business.

Ichigo had taken his book out during their trek and had crossed another name from it. With that name eliminated from the large list, only three remained on the very first page of the entire book...and they were names that the orange-haired teen dreaded reaching but knew that they were necessary before he could leave the island.

Finally stopping in front of Ichigo's home, the duo walked in with Naruto curiously gazing around the abode in slight wonder and Ichigo leaning his sword against the wall by the front door.

"Make your way to the room on the right. It's where I keep all the medical supplies."

"Where's all the food?" Naruto rummaged in Ichigo's kitchen, looking for sustenance and angering his host.

"Who do you think you are going through someone else's kitchen!?" Ichigo growled.

"I have to heal somehow," Naruto shook his head at the swordsman's 'blunder'.

"What idiot heals by eating! Go into the patient room and I'll dress your wounds!" Ichigo shoved the invader into a room akin to a doctor's office and forced him to sit on a gurney.

In a matter of minutes, the swordsman had disinfected the blond pirate's wounds and wrapped them tightly with gauze with clear familiarity. When he finished the task, Ichigo set his supplies on a small table on wheels and wiped his forehead.

"Whoa, I'm good as new!" Naruto hopped off the gurney immediately and started to swing his arms around and stretch. "Are you a doctor swordsman?"

"No, I've just seen enough idiots get patched up over the years that I know how to dress wounds, at least. And sit down." Ichigo sat on the doctor's chair, resting his forearms on his knees, and sighed to himself. "No doubt you've got questions...I'll tell you what happened on this island, but tomorrow, if you understand the gravity of what I'm going to tell you, you'll leave," Ichigo brought his head up and saw the blond spewing blood and bleeding again.

"I twisted too much~" Naruto fell face-first on the ground.

"I told you to sit!"

After redressing the blond's injuries, the atmosphere once again grew heavy with the weight of the incoming conversation.

"I'm sure you've noticed that no one has been around the island all day," Ichigo finally started the tough talk.

"Yeah, everything was completely empty," Naruto rubbed his chin in recollection. "Where is everyone? You took out that monster, so you'd think they'd come out of hiding."

"...You've already seen one of them," Ichigo answered, a dark look in his eyes.

"What?" was the pirate's response, tilting his head.

"Remember what happened when you broke the bat's mask?"

Naruto's eyes widened when he thought back, "There was a human eye underneath it! You don't mean to tell me..." Naruto let the question hang in the air.

Ichigo gave Naruto a solemn nod, "That creature was once a resident of this island...and everyone on this island other than me has met the same fate," Ichigo revealed.