"Are you hungry? If you are, you should come out now and sit in the bed. You cannot very well eat broth under a bed. At least I do not think so, as I have never tried. But I imagine it would be difficult." smiled Jushiro.

There was rustling under the bed again and Akane's face appeared again. She peered out and, deciding it was safe again, she crawled out from under the bed. She whimpered as she slowly sat up again.

"All this crawling around is not good for your wounds. Let me put you back in bed so you can rest." Shunsui offered her his arm.

She flinched away from him and shook her head. She slowly turned to face the bed and tried to pull herself up by grabbing the bed covers. She got halfway up when, with a cry, she tumbled backward. Jushiro reached out and caught her before she hit the floor.

"Hey now, you can't go around falling like that! You will hurt yourself and then you'll never be allowed out of bed again." Shunsui admonished her. Jushiro gently laid her on the bed. He looked down at her and brushed back her hair from her face. He frowned as she flinched and looked at him with her fear filled eyes.

"Where is your family? Can we contact someone for you?" asked Shunsui as he looked down at her face, which was seemed to pale even more than it was. It seemed almost white next to her bright red hair. She looked around as though hoping to escape.

"I just remember my name is Akane. Everything else is blank. I…I…I don't think I have any family, but I don't remember." she said as she nervously chewed her bottom lip. Jushiro and Shunsui exchanged glances. They were thinking the same thing. She was hiding something. They turned at a knock at the door. Airi entered with a tray with hot broth and tea on it. Hayato followed her into the room.

"How are you feeling? Do you think you can eat some broth?" Airi asked with a smile. She placed the tray on the bedside table. Akane gave a small smile and tried to sit up in bed but sank back against the pillow with a small whimper.

"Be careful, my dear!" frowned Hayato as he moved swiftly to her bedside. He began to examine her quickly. "Where does it hurt the most? Are you feeling dizzy at all?"

"I feel fine. I am not hurting at all and there is no dizziness." Akane lied. Truthfully, she felt like her whole body was screaming in pain and she could barely focus on anyone.

"Don't lie to me!" Hayato said with a stern look on his face. She flinched and tried to shrink back farther into her pillows. With a sad look in his eyes he amended, "I can't help you get better if I don't know how you are really feeling." Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked at him.

"I…I'm sorry." she whispered as she blinked away the tears. "I hurt all over and the room keeps spinning around." She looked nervously at him as though expecting a reproach. He smiled at her and she seemed to relax a little.

"It is ok; we want to get you healthy again." Hayato said softly. He gave her some medicine for the pain. "I know you don't want to talk about this: however, it must be done. Do you remember what happened to you and who did it?" Hayato looked at her with concern in his eyes.

"NO! Leave me alone! I don't know what happened or who did it! I don't know who I am, besides Akane and I don't want to talk about it!" Akane yelled. She tried to roll away from him but she hurt too much. She bit her lip to keep from crying right there in front of everyone. She did not want anyone to know her shame. Hayato sighed and got up.

"It's ok; you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. We will not force you to remember. At least you remember your first name. That is a great start in finding your family! I will put the word out and soon we shall have you back with your family again!" He smiled at her and headed to the door.

"NO! NO! NO! You can't find them. Please don't look for them. They can't know where I am." She cried out, frantically reaching for him, though he was too far away. "They can't know I'm here. Oh Lord, please, don't let them find me!" Everyone looked on in horror as she started sitting up. She threw the bed covers off and tried to get up.

"Stop fighting! You are too weak to get up!" Airi held her down easily while Hayato hurried back to the bed.

"NO! Please, Mama, don't let them hurt me! Please!" Akane started screaming and tried to fight them but she was just too weak. She collapsed on the bed whimpering.

"I am going to give you a small sedative. It won't make you fall asleep right away, just calm you down." He said as he injected her in her arm. "You are hurt and need to stay in bed until you heal. I will not have you get worse by trying to get up and run away. I will not tell anyone about you if that is your wish but you must stay in bed and heal your wounds." Akane slowly stopped fighting and started to calm down.

"There, that's better isn't it? Just calm down, you are safe with us here. No one will hurt you in my house!" said Airi forcefully. She looked down at Akane and patted her arm. "We have my son Shunsui and his friend Jushiro Ukitake here. They are both Captains in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads! They will never let anyone hurt you. You are safe now and no one can harm you here. I promise! Now let's sit you up so you can eat something before you fall asleep, ok?" Airi signaled her son and Jushiro to help her lift Akane into an upright position. Shunsui stacked the pillows up while Jushiro raised her up. Airi set the tray down in front of Akane. However, what little strength she had left was gone after her attempted escape. She tried to pick up the spoon but did not have the energy to bring it to her mouth. Tears prickling at her eyes again but she refused to let them fall.

"Here, let me help you." Airi said as she took the spoon from Akane. Slowly, one spoonful at a time, Airi fed her all of the broth. Then she held the teacup up to Akane's mouth and let her drink from that. Airi wiped Akane's mouth and smiled at her. "All better, I think you should rest now. Can I get you anything?" Akane was so tired and the sedative was really kicking now. She could barely keep her eyes open but she too terrified to close them.

"I'm ok, just tired. You promise you won't tell anyone I am here, right? Don't let them get me! Please!" She gave up the fight to keep her tears in. They poured down her cheeks as she sobbed. "I can't live through it again! I can't! I can't!"

"Shhh. It's ok. No one will get you! Here, let me help you lie down so you can sleep" Jushiro gently lifted her slightly and Shunsui moved the pillows again for her. Jushiro settled her against the pillows and fixed the bed covers for her. As he did so, he caught her eye and smiled at her. She looked so lost and forlorn sitting there, her pale face streaked with tears, making her eyes seem bigger than they should be.

"I swear I will do all that is in my power to keep you safe. Please, believe me when I say that everyone in this house will never betray you, and will fight to keep those who hurt you away." He reached out a hand and brushed the tears away. She squeezed her eyes closed but did not flinch away from his touch. More tears leaked out at his gentleness and he wiped those away too. Then he stood up to leave the room.

"No! Please don't leave me alone! I…I'm scared to sleep. They will come for me while I sleep! They are coming for me." She started sobbing from exhaustion and fear. Jushiro sat down on the edge of the bed. He gently gathered her to him and held her close in his arms. "It's ok to sleep now. I will watch over you. If I have to leave for some reason, Shunsui or his family will stay with you. You are not alone. Shhh. It's ok now." He tenderly ran his fingers through her hair and rocked her. Her sobbing quieted down and she drifted off into sweet darkness.