Serendipity

Death and Strawberry [Reprised]

"Tch! That emo-looking guy pisses me off..." Seren muttered darkly as she bandaged Yoruichi's arm for her. "... Calling other people 'trash'..."

"That's just because you were wearing those synthetic sekkiseki earrings that Kisuke made for you a while back, in addition to consciously keeping your reiatsu low. Anyone who doesn't know you would've assumed you were just a normal human," Yoruichi reminded her, smiling slightly, as she watched the younger girl blush a little and tuck her hair behind one of her delicate ears, exposing the earring in question.

He had made them for her a few days into their training after realizing just how much potential she had. They acted as a safety net to keep Hollows from noticing spikes in her reiatsu while she was learning to keep it under control. Seren didn't actually need them now, since she had become very skilled in controlling her reiatsu and could easily defeat most Hollows by herself, but she still wore them out of habit... and sentiment.

"Anyway... I can't believe you got hurt just from hitting that mountain with legs... At least none of your bones were broken, I guess," Seren said, smiling wryly, as she finished the last bandage and shut the first-aid kit.

"That's because I'm always drinking milk!" Yoruichi said, grinning proudly, as she held up her glass with her uninjured hand.

"No, no, I think you're giving the calcium level in there way too much credit!" Seren corrected her, waving her hand at such a silly notion. "Even if drinking lots of milk is supposed to give you strong bones, there's a limit, you know..."

"Whatever," Yoruichi said carelessly, shrugging slightly. "Anyway, I've been taken care of, why don't you go check on Ichigo? Kisuke and Tessai are still using healing kidō on Inoue and Chad. Ichigo said he could manage by himself, but that kid can be pretty troublesome sometimes. Make sure he isn't just off sulking by himself," she added, frowning slightly in concern.

Since their injuries were fairly severe and had been inflicted directly on their human bodies, Orihime and Sado had needed immediate attention. Ichigo was pretty messed up as well, but since he had been in his Shinigami form, he could take a beating a lot better than them, thanks to his massive reiatsu. They weren't pretty, but none of his wounds were life-threatening after taking Urahara's special medicine.

"Okay," Seren said, nodding in understanding, as she stood and went to do just that. "Take care of Yoruichi-san for me," she told Ururu and Jinta, patting them on the head reassuringly as she passed.

"..." Seren said as she stared down at Ichigo, who was leaning back against the wall as he stared out at the darkened sky, watching the rain fall.

Yoruichi's suspicions had been proven right. He was obviously sulking and wallowing in guilt and self-deprecation after his defeat. He hadn't even touched the first-aid kit they had left out for him. The room was heavy with an incredibly dismal atmosphere.

"If you stay like that, mushrooms will grow on you..." Seren deadpanned to break the oppressive silence.

"!" Ichigo said, startled. He had been so absorbed in his pity party, that he had hadn't even noticed she was there. "You...! Who are you, again...?"

"I'm Seren. You're Kurosaki Ichigo-kun, right? I've heard a lot about you from Kisuke-san and Yoruichi-san," Seren said, smiling kindly at him as she grabbed the first-aid kit.

"Seren, huh? You look kind of familiar... Have we met before? How do you know Urahara-san?" Ichigo asked, furrowing his brow slightly, as he tried to figure out what it was about her that seemed so familiar while she started treating his wounds. He didn't have enough energy to raise any protest against being treated by a stranger, like he might have if he were feeling better. Besides, he knew Urahara and the others were busy taking care of Orihime and Chad, and he wasn't going to do anything that might interfere with that.