Corroded Spirits

Corroded Spirits: 14

Chapter 14: Puzzling Puzzle

 "You really don't remember any of it?" Ukitake asked again, to which he only received the same response. A shook of Orihime's head. Ukitake gave a deflated sigh. "I see then.. Well. Thank you for your time, Inoue-chan.." He said. Standing up, he looked at Retsu, who was standing just at the side behind him, writing down notes. He gave her a slight nod, and so Retsu took his place at the chair across Orihime. Said girl, internally grew uneasy, as the kind 13th Division captain left, and the doctor captain remained. "Now then, Inoue-san.. I will begin to explain the last few weeks you've been staying here in Soul Society."

 Outside, Byakuya and Toshiro stood in the hall, looking through the two-way glass window that let them have a view of the interrogation room that Mayuri had built (for reasons unexplained.)  Ukitake went got out and joined the two. "Any luck?" Toshiro asked. "Not one.. She doesn't remember a single day she had spent here." Uktiake stipulated. The 4 had been in the 12th Division's barracks for 5 hours now, interrogating Orihime. The moment she woke up after Retsu had knocked her out, she was calm and decent enough to talk with. They eventually took her where they currently were, and were having a very difficult time, wondering why Orihime, had all the sudden, forgotten the time she spent in Soul Society.

 "What does she say she remembers?" Byakuya asked. Ukitake knitted his brows. "She said, she remembers being in a white cell... In Las Noches." He said. Byakuya looked warily to Ukitake and then back to the room. "Are you saying the girl-" Toshiro cut himself off. "Never mind, I'll ask later." He said. And the three captains continue to watch the interrogation still taking fold. It takes another hour for it to finish, and when it does, Retsu signals for her fellow captains to enter the room. They do as swiftly as they're told, and the 4 captains all stand in the end of the room, with Orihime still sat on the chair at the other side.

 "So, Inoue-chan, how are you feeling?" Ukitake asked first. Orihime looked nervously at one captain to the next. "Uh... I really don't know what to feel, to be honest.." She said quietly. She was twisting her fingers, which gave the captains the impression, that she was still herself. More or less. "So you're telling me... that I've been here for several weeks? That you've been taking care of me?" Orihime asked. The captains were surprised. Her voice no longer had its' dark undertone. She was finally speaking in her original clear, and gentle voice. "Yes." Retsu said. Orihime slowly nodded her head, trying to process all of the new knowledge they had given her. "How's Hanatarou?" She asked.

 "Hanatarou is still in a coma, but you need not worry.. He's stabilized." Retsu quickly replied. Orihme grey eyes shone in agony. "And Ishida-kun, Abarai-kun, and Rangiku-san? What of them?" She asked further. "They're okay as well. They just need to rest for a couple of days. That's all." Retsu said quietly and patiently so as to not alarm the girl. "So all of that happened, huh?" Orihime said, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. "But... if I've been here... then what happened in Hueco Mundo?" The question was so sudden, all the captains gasped slightly. "How could I have been gone that long? Hueco Mundo... Hueco Mundo.. is.." Orihime cut off, when a sob cracked in her throat. It didn't took long for Orihime to cry on, and to raise her hands to cover her face.

 Gently as her overall gracefulness, Retsu came upon Orihime's side, and embraced the girl. "Hush now, my girl. Don't upset yourself.." Retsu coaxed. "What happened? What happened in Hueco Mundo? Why can't I remember anything?" Orihime cried, clutching harder against the captain, finding the act quite nostalgic. "It's okay, Inoue-san. Don't rush yourself." Retsu withdrew from the girl, keeping her hands on her shoulders. "Now, why don't you try and tell all of us, the last thing you remember?" Retsu said. Orihime lowered her hands after wiping her tears away. They weren't expecting her to say anything, which was why it surprised them when she said: "Well.. I remember talking to Ulquiorra.."
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 "What are you doing?" Ulquiorra asked quietly. It's dark in the room, in Orihime's room to be exact, as Ulquiorra stood in his usual spot by the door. It's automatically dark, because it's always night in Hueco Mundo, and Orihime's room is exposed directly to that part of Las Noches. It was dark all the more, because Orihime never turned on the lights in her room, and because she did, Ulquiorra never bothered to turn them on as well. And now, as the two stay in the dark, Ulquiorra starts again. "I'm asking you a question, onna."