Chapter 24

 

I awoke in the morning to the sound of glass breaking against a hard surface. I groaned tiredly and rubbed my eyes, which were no doubt red from the crying I’d done the night before. Shrugging on a robe over my pajamas, I left my room and walked to the kitchen. There, I saw Renji standing over a broken plate and water glass.

 

“Renji, what happened?” I asked groggily.

 

“Wrong one, nyah,” he answered and I groaned lightly, realizing it was Renji’s troublemaking Modsoul. I ran my hand through my messy, knotted hair.

 

“Ginnosukem, what on earth were you doing? Never mind. Just clean it up and don’t leave any glass behind.”

 

“Rough night?” He had a glint in his eyes and a tone in his voice that implied more than his words. I scoffed in disgust, rolling my eyes.

 

“Shut up and clean your mess Why are you in the gigai anyway?”

 

“The boss has been out all night after Hollows, nyah. A huge group of ‘em came through,” the Modsoul explained, grabbing a broom and dustpan from the pantry. I frowned slightly at his answer. There had been an influx of Hollows in the middle of the night?

 

“Why didn’t anyone get me? I could’ve helped.” This only brought a laugh from Ginnosukem.

 

“You couldn’t tell me from the boss this morning. You would end up hitting the good guys, nyah. Besides, boss told me not to wake you.”

 

“Little late for that,” I muttered and turned to go back to my room. Once I had the door shut behind me, I walked over to my dresser and changed my clothes for the day. I quickly brushed my hair and finished getting ready before heading to the living room. Before I could reach it, I heard another crash, though this one sounded much more solid.

 

“Whoa, you got beat up pretty bad, nyah,” Ginnosukem exclaimed and I ran through the house to where I’d heard him. Just inside the closed front door, I found Toshiro, Renji and Ginnosukem. Toshiro was badly injured, but still standing, which was more than I could say for Renji. He’d collapsed to the ground, blood beginning to pool around him.

 

“Oh my God!” I yelled and kneeled beside the two Soul Reapers. “What happened to you two?!”

 

“There were too many Hollows,” Toshiro answered weakly, pressing his hand against the wall to keep himself standing.

 

“Ginnosukem, go get the medical kit and call Orihime. We need her now.” The Modsoul quickly ran to do as I’d asked while I sat Toshiro down and turned Renji so that he wasn’t facedown on the ground. He was still conscious, which surprised me greatly. “You’re both idiots. What were you thinking? You should have brought me with you.”

 

“That would’ve been worse. You’d be just as injured as us, if not killed,” Toshiro answered, gripping his bleeding forearm. I frowned and looked over my shoulder.

 

“Ginnosukem, hurry up!” I turned my head back to Toshiro. “A bunch of Hollows did this? I thought they weren’t that big a deal for Soul Reapers.”

 

“There were Arrancar as well,” Renji answered and my eyes widened. I’d known that Arrancar were more powerful than regular Hollows, and more intelligent.

 

“Arrancar? But Doesn’t Aizen control them?”

 

“He probably sent them to weaken us.”

 

“It worked, nyah,” Ginnosukem answered, setting the medical kit on the ground.

 

He also had the phone in his hand, the dial tone buzzing loudly. I took it from him and quickly dialed Orihime and Uryuu’s number. Shoving the phone back to Ginnosukem, I turned my attention back to the Soul Reapers in front of me. For a moment, I glanced between them before deciding Renji’s were more fatal. I opened his shihakusho, exposing his bloodied torso, and resisted the urge to cringe. It was moments like these that I wished I had more substantial medical skills. A large gash had been sliced diagonally across his chest, starting at the left shoulder.

 

“You’re lucky they didn’t get your heart, you idiot,” I muttered, opening the medical kit and pulling out the supplies I needed to clean and tend to his wound.

 

“Do you know how to use half of what’s in that box?” Toshiro asked, cocking an eyebrow. I glanced at him before sighing.

 

“Only the basics. I’m not a doctor, Toshiro. You know that. The best I can do it stop you both from bleeding to death before Orihime comes.”

 

I quickly tended to the worst of Renji’s wounds, doing what I could to stop the bleeding. After ordering Ginnosukem to keep pressure on the injuries, I turned to Toshiro. He wasn’t quite as bad as Renji, though I still had my work cut out for me. I thanked every higher power to Toshiro returning without immediate risk of dying. I wouldn’t have been able to handle it if he had. Orihime and Uryuu arrived only ten minutes later and I helped them move Toshiro and Renji to a better area.

 

“This is terrible,” Orihime murmured as she began healing the two of them. I noticed a few cuts on Uryuu’s face and arms, but he seemed no worse for wear. Had he encountered fewer Hollows, or had Orihime already healed him? I shook off the thought and turned to Ginnosukem.

 

“Make yourself useful and go clean the blood from the front hallway,” I told him.

 

“Why do I have to clean everything?” he asked.

 

“Because you’re not doing anything. Now go.” Ginnosukem pouted before leaving the living room, muttering under his breath. I sighed softly and looked down at the two being treated. Before my eyes, their wounds shrunk until they disappeared, as though they’d never occurred. It never ceased to amaze me.

 

“You’re lucky you weren’t in the fights,” Uryuu told me.

 

“I wish I had been. I might have been able to help then.”

 

“There were too many. You wouldn’t have lasted long against them. Ichigo and Rukia were badly injured as well. Orihime healed them last night.”

 

“Does Aizen know what Orihime can do?”

 

“He kidnapped her ten years ago so he could use her ability,” Toshiro answered and I frowned.

 

“Renji, your theory doesn’t make sense. Why would he send Hollows and Arrancar to weaken you, knowing what Orihime can heal your wounds? It would be a game of tug-of-war.”

 

“But how long do you think we can keep this up?” Renji asked. “He’ll likely send more until we can’t fight anymore, then he’ll come himself.”

 

“You think so?”

 

“It’s a good theory,” Uryuu answered. “But who knows what Aizen is really planning. The Arrancar we’ve been facing aren’t like the ones from before.”

 

“What do you mean?” I asked.

 

“They seem weaker than even the lower level Arrancar that were sent ten years ago.”

 

“Remember, none of them have been Espada,” Toshiro pointed out. That was a term I’d heard a few times, but never understood.

 

“What are Esapda?”

 

“They’re Aizen’s elite. They all have a number tattooed somewhere on them, like all Arrancar, but they are numbed from zero to nine. The lower their number, the stronger they are.”

 

“Captain Kuchiki and Captain Zaraki couldn’t even defeat the strongest of them,” Renji added, making me wonder if who these two other captains were. It sounded like they were strong, from the way Renji spoke of them.

 

“Either way, those Hollows last night were nothing compared to the Espada.” My eyes widened in shock. This was nothing? Renji and Toshiro came home bleeding profusely and his was nothing? My heart stopped fro a moment and I thought of just what my brother had gotten himself into.