𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 | 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 [MINOR EDITING]

𝟏𝟒 | 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐔𝐬

I don't leave my room for several days, and for this, my meeting with the Shihōin Clan, as well as Shōri's with the Kuchiki Clan, on account of Sōjun's wife's passing, has been postponed.

The guilt doesn't go away. Yes, she was ill. But everything could have easily been avoided. Better choices could have been made. Maybe if I didn't drink that day; maybe if I had accepted Sōjun's assistance.

"Too late, too late!"

"Yes, the deed is done. There is no room for regrets."

A growl crawls up through my throat, and I find my hands shaped into fists.

"You two... I've had enough of this." I sit up in my sheets, tossing them away from me in a flurry of white. "Get the hell out of my head. Get the hell out of my head!"

"We're not in your head, silly!"

"We're in your soul."

-

My... soul...?

A sudden intense light fills my vision, so bright I have to cover my eyes with both of my hands. It's almost searing my skin; I've begun to feel like I'm on fire. I know I've damned myself by putting my arms down, but just like this heat, the curiosity of its source is killing me.

Strangely enough, the moment I do, both the light and the heat, disappear.

"What in the world...?"

In their place? A thick layer of clouds beneath my feet, and the sun shining painlessly ahead of me.

I turn on the spot. For some reason, the sun seems to follow me in whichever direction I face. There is no glare of any sort, so I am not blinded by it, even when I stare directly at it. It's strange, indeed.

"What is this place," I murmur. I am still exhausted after the events of four days prior, so my tone lacks any real desire to know. However... it is problematic that the Kaoku Manor is nowhere in sight, so I force myself to alertness, and narrow my eyes at the space - possibly - ten yards away.

The clouds, which had previously been calm and neutral, have begun to twist and spiral toward the sky above them. I take a shaky step backwards, only to have a draft sweep up my sleeping gown. I turn once more, only to see the same spiralling cloud formation. I do the only logical thing I can think of:

Run in the complete opposite direction of them both.