Chapter Text
They refused to show him her whole body. By the time they had gotten her out, she was burnt beyond recognition. The only evidence that it was her was the six-petalled flower tattoo on the inside of her wrist which somehow survived the fire with only a thin stripe of black across it. She had called it her shun shun rikka — six fairies in a flower who protected her as a child. Where were they that afternoon?
Why his wife was back at her old apartment when it happened, was beyond Kurosaki Ichigo. She had sold the place six months ago after moving all her baking equipment to their home when she decided to operate her home-baking business from there.
Ichigo glanced at the other body lying under the white sheet a few feet away in the mortuary, also burnt to a crisp. A long red strand of hair dangled from where the head was. There were only two people with fire-engine red hair in this small town of Karakura, as far as he knew. One of them was Urahara Kisuke’s adopted son and that was definitely not him, judging by the length of the body. So that must be…
Squeezing his eyes shut, Ichigo exhales deeply. Why the fuck was his wife found together with Abarai Renji?
Firm, purposeful steps entered the mortuary and jolted him out of his thoughts. He didn’t have to guess whom they belonged to as the petite woman came to a halt at the feet of her husband’s dead body.
Kuchiki Rukia.
Rukia knew something was wrong when she received a text from her brother at 3.00 pm, demanding where Renji was the whole day. First of all, she was pretty sure he had left the house much earlier than usual this morning for the important board meeting, which Kuchiki Byakuya was chairing. Second… Nii-sama doesn’t text , Rukia sighed.
Apparently, he was still at the meeting and he had seen neither hide nor hair of his brother-in-law/chief operations officer today. He had to resort to texting under the table so he wouldn’t disrupt the meeting.
As busy as she was with all the case files piling up on her desk, Rukia tried calling Renji a few times to find out where he was, but she was met with his voicemail every single time. So when her phone rang two hours later, she was prepared to give him a piece of her mind, only to hear a stranger greeting her with a, “Ms Kuchiki? Mrs Abarai Renji?”
Standing here, in this cold room, Rukia didn’t know what to think. Her rage had not quite subsided and yet she had a million questions running through her head about how her husband had ended up on this steel table. If not for the red head of hair peeking from under the white sheet that wasn’t long enough to cover his entire length, she wouldn’t have believed it was him lying there.
What was she supposed to do now? Scream at him to wake up? Demand answers from him? Weep? She didn’t know. All she was feeling was numbness. The lady doctor who came in with her to show her the body had left her alone with her thoughts when she didn’t respond to anything the doctor said.
It was a good thing it was Momo’s turn to pick up Ichika from school today. Rukia couldn’t possibly drive in the state she was in. Her brother had immediately sent his chauffeur and bodyguard to take her to the hospital.
“Rukia.”
Tearing her eyes away from Renji, the petite woman turned towards the voice calling her.
“Ichigo?” She looked at her former classmate quizzically before she realised there was another body next to her husband’s. How could she have missed that? “Your patient?” she asked after clearing her throat. She hadn’t seen Ichigo in ten years but she heard he was a doctor and she supposed this was the hospital he was attached at. He was, after all, standing next to her in his doctor’s coat.
Shaking his head, his reply came out in almost a whisper as if fearing the other two people lying there would hear him, “It’s Orihime.”
“What? How…”