Door to the Dead

The darkness enveloped Chiaki like a blanket and smothering her face, every breath she took becoming labored and tiring. Reaching out frantically, Chiaki looked for something, anything, that she could hold on to, but found nothing but air, much to her frustration.

Deciding that she had no choice but to keep moving, Chiaki extended her hands and felt for anything that could possibly lead her out of whatever structure she was in while she trekked forwards. Eventually, she would come across the first lead to possible escape, her hand brushing against what felt like a stone wall, a wave of relief washing over her as she did. Grabbing on tightly, Chiaki would slowly follow the pathway, using the contours of the wall as a guide as she moved.

"There's gotta be some way to get out of here… fuck, why is it so dark…"

Chiaki would continue on in this fashion for what felt like an eternity, every step she took chipping away at any hope she had of salvation, or even escaping before she starved to death for that matter. With every footfall, she heard what sounded like the clinking of chains, as if she was making her way through the darkest out of hell itself, every step seeming to drain her of more and more vitality.

With no choice but to press on, however, Chiaki steeled herself, forcing her body to take another step forward even as the stability of both her mental and physical state deteriorated. It might have been hours or even days (not that she could tell), but eventually, her determination was rewarded with a light at the end of the tunnel- and not a metaphorical one either. As Chiaki reached the edge of the wall and turned the corner, she saw, ever so faintly, a dim outline of light at the end of the corridor. Without any hesitation, Chiaki ran forward towards it, hoping to find anything that would reveal a path forward.

As she got closer, however, she noticed that the source of the light was something very familiar to her. Upon further inspection, the door was revealed to be the same gray gate that she had seen with Ayane in her mental world, and as she began to get even closer, the door began to open further with every step she took, revealing a blinding green light from within that bathed the area in an emerald glow.

Dazzled by this light show, it took a moment for Chiaki to realize that the area around her was now revealed by its glow, piercing through the darkness to reveal that the emptiness she had been wandering around in was, in actuality, a structure filled with finery worthy of an empress, but now eroded by the passage of time. Dead lamps, unlit for centuries, adorned the walls, too high for her to reach, and ornate decorations of both the Eastern and Western varieties. What she had taken for the clinking of chains had been the motion of coins that had been kicked over, gold falling against silver in a cacophony of clashing metal.

In her diminished and disoriented state however, Chiaki could neither understand nor care about the meaning of these things: at this point, she only wanted to go home, and ran towards the doorway, carried by the hope of escape. However, before she could make her way in, the door suddenly swung shut, the green light disappearing behind it as the pathway was sealed off. Then, she heard a rumbling beneath her like a thousand dead souls roaring for vengeance. Before she could do anything, Chiaki felt the ground beneath herself give way, swallowed up by the red light of death.

—————

"Ow!"

Chiaki woke up with a start as she felt a sharp pain on the top of her head. Rubbing the injury gently, Chiaki sighed deeply as she readjusted herself to the world of the living. For the last few days, she had not been sleeping well at all: every night was filled with nightmares like these, and despite their best efforts, neither her nor Ayane had been able to get to the bottom of it. Whatever it was, it was obviously related to the doors she had seen within her inner world, which she was still locked out of accessing, and as such it had been an incredibly difficult few days. She'd been hoping that napping a little would relieve her of the tiredness she'd felt, but the nightmares had gotten so bad that even that extra sleep did little to help.

"You alright up there Chiaki?"

Chiaki heard Yuzu's voice from downstairs, prompting her to groan a bit. Nonetheless, she knew she should at least say something to her family, and so, making her way downstairs, Chiaki rubbed her eyes and saw Yuzu and Isshin watching a certain shaman on television with wide-eyed enthusiasm, as Karin and Ichigo looked onwards, slight disappointment visible in their expression. Karin was the first to acknowledge her presence with a slight smirk.

"Hey, you alright? You haven't been yourself for the… couple of days or so? You sure you're not supposed to be in bed as a patient?"

"Ehhhhh… I can't stomach spending anymore time in bed, need to get out and about. Besides, I wanted to see what all of you are up to."

Ichigo frowned, before simply sighing in exasperation.

"We were discussing that one show that's been blowing up lately, the Ghost Bust show? Everyone without any spiritual awareness has been suckered in by this guy. I guess if people knew the struggle of actually having those powers, they wouldn't be so enamored with these sorts of cons."

Chiaki shrugged, looking towards the TV screen. From what she could gather, Kannonji really was just making a show of dealing with minor spirits, but there was some charm to it in her eyes, even if you didn't know about the shaman's exploits from the manga.

"I mean, I don't see anything wrong with it. People might not understand, but they want to. I mean, we know spiritual powers exist, I don't see it as a con. If anything, chances are he's risking his neck to show people something they've never seen before, something outside the norm. If he is the real deal, I don't see anything wrong with that."

"Hrm."

Ichigo simply frowned and continued to watch the two enthralled members of his family watch the show. The silence between the group continued on for a while- then, without warning, their contemplation was suddenly interrupted by the excited shrieks of their younger sister:

"Kannonji is coming to Karakura Town! Ichigo you have to come watch with us! It'll be extra cool cause you can see ghosts too!"

Ichigo (with visible effort) stifled a groan, causing both Karin and Chiaki to chuckle. Giving him a pay on the shoulder, Chiaki gave him a knowing grin.

"Come on, it won't be so bad. Besides, you might learn a thing or too. It's worth "investigating" at least, to see if he's the real deal you know?"

Chiaki hoped that Ichigo understood the implication, but luckily he seemed to grasp it, shaking his head, but ultimately relenting.

"Fine… Guess I'll check in with Rukia and see what she thinks."