The Darkness In Our Hearts (TDiOH Bk1)

Chapter 10: The Beginning of Trouble

"I'm telling you, Kenpachi, I didn't do anything wrong! In fact, I helped Ikkaku out. A lot!"

I struggled against the firm grip Kenpachi had on my upper arm as he dragged me towards the holding cells. Yachiru trailed behind us, defeated, with a black cloud over her head. I could tell she wasn't very happy with what I had gotten myself into and that led my thoughts to wander back to what happened the moment I had stepped through and landed myself back in the soul society.

Head Captain Yamamoto had glared at me, then pounded the ground with his staff, thundering in his voice how I was a disgraceful soul reaper, who not only disobeyed direct orders, but had put my friend's life at risk and those of the humans for my insolence.

I had tried explaining the situation, starting from the point where Ikkaku had created the whole plan, to ending with an explanation of how intelligent and powerful that 'medium- class' hollow had been. Only, the Head Captain stuck to the fact that Ikkaku had helped me all along.

Ikkaku denied the whole thing, saying I practically threatened him to take me along on the trip. Thanks for throwing me under the bus, Ikkaku.

Although, if I was in his position, with the Head Captain glaring at me with fire in his eyes and the air turning heavy, I would have pinned the blame on someone else as well.

So now, I was being carted away to the jail and Ikkaku was being reprimanded for not telling the soul society earlier that I had decided to go with him. He would have a small punishment, where I, on the other hand, had to spend two weeks in the cell, having no contact from any friends unless it was my captain or lieutenant.

"Hey Kenpachi, slow down!" I protested, just as my weary legs dropped out from underneath me.

The adrenaline from the fight and from being apprehended by the Head Captain had finished buzzing through my system. Now I just felt hollow, weak and extremely sore. I collapsed to the floor, my arm still held up by Kenpachi, who had also stopped but wouldn't turn to look down at me.

"Please be careful with her Kenpachi," Unohana stated, coming towards us. She had gone ahead to prepare some medical equipment in the jail cell for me. Her figure looked a bit blurry around the edges.

I placed a hand over my chest wound again and it came away just as bloody as it did the first time. Kenpachi merely grunted, bending down and carrying me bridal style. I didn't complain; I was actually grateful that I was being carried because my head was pounding and everything was moving in weird directions. It was miracle I had managed to walk as far as I did because I felt so close to fainting.

Entering the jail cell, which was quite wide and spacious, Kenpachi placed me on a single bed in the corner of the room before retreating into another corner. Yachiru climbed onto the bed next to me, snuggling up to my side, not at all her usual self. Lazily, I patted her head with my clean hand, the constant motion lulling me into sleep.

"Okay, Kera," Unohana's firm voice brought me back, "I'm going to need to cut open your soul reaper uniform a bit to get to the wound. We need to stitch it back up as soon as possible." My head flopped to the side so I could watch her wheel in a little table. On the top, jostling together, were needles, gauzes, thread, a pair of scissors, pieces of torn fabric and a large bottle of what looked like Ikkaku's sake.

This had me giggling slightly, before Unohana's words began to make sense. I had to strip. I threw an uneasy glance at Kenpachi; Unohana noticed this.

"Don't worry; I won't start until my lieutenant arrives with the screen I asked for."

Sure enough, her lieutenant, Isane written on a small name tag, walked in carrying a large folded screen. "Hello, Kera," she said to me, nodding briefly to her captain before setting the screen into position, blocking out Kenpachi from view.