Hime
By hell butterfly
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Disclaimer: No I don't own Bleach.
I have always wanted to be your princess; but now, I can only settle for being your knight. With all her effort she remembered him, the day he suddenly walked into her life, the laughter in his eyes when he spoke, the warm touch of his fingers on her face. Memory was pain…especially when she knew that he was not hers…that they were never meant to belong. [mainly Benihime-POV, onesided BenihimeUrahara, with eventual UraYoru]
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I. Names and First Meetings
'Why are you crying?'
The man's voice sounded distant and reverberant in the empty grounds. Through teary eyes she looked up, and his figure loomed into focus. Tall and lean, the young man looked as though he could hardly be more than seventeen, but his hard features, his worn complexion and his set jaws seemed strangely unsuited to his age, and gave him all but the appearance of a finely carved, windswept relief. Torn, bloody robes hang from his body, and dangling at his side was a broken sword. His face, bruised and gashed in several places, was shabby yet unmistakably handsome under his matted, dirty-blond hair. But his eyes…his blue eyes were bright and shrewd, incredibly out of place in his pale, haggard face. Searchingly, she looked into those deep eyes, trying to make out what his thoughts really were, but to no avail. Secretly she wondered whether light itself, upon entering his eyes, would be trapped in that profound depth forever with no way out.
In silence she turned her face away from him, yet at the same time she felt herself trembling uncontrollably.
'Don't be afraid.' His voice was warm and reassuring. 'I'm not here to hurt you.'
She whimpered and shifted away from this stranger. A sharp pain in her limbs almost caused her to cry out. When she looked down, she saw that blood had already soaked her robes, shining piercingly red, like the colour of her own hair.
Exhausted and dazed by pain, she abandoned her efforts and lay instead in a crumpled heap.
The young man stood in silence for a minute, keeping a pointed distance between them. All the while, she felt his gaze, acute and piercing, but at the same time with gentle warmth almost akin to sympathy.
Then, taking a few steps, the man approached her and knelt down at her side. She tried to edge away, overcome by a sudden surge of apprehension and fear, but her broken body felt like a sack of lead.
Then, his voice, warm and soothing, caressed her like comforting, dreamy balm. His hands, meanwhile, had started busying themselves with the treating of her wounds.
'It is all over now…I'm not going to hurt you…Your parents had put you under my care… I'm going to take you to a place that is safe…there's no need to feel scared again…'
She did not struggle anymore.
There's no need to feel scared again…
A small, weak smile crossed her lips as she felt his rough calloused hands brush lightly over her face, and her skin tingled. He gathered her up in his arms, his touch light and gentle, as though scared she might shatter if more force had been applied. With all the strength she could muster, she wrapped her frail arms around his neck.
He walked a few steps, cradling her carefully in his arms, and passed out of the clearing where she had lain hidden among the corpses, out of the place that had meant nightmare for her.
'And I haven't introduced myself to you yet.' There was a delicate rise in his tone, as he stroked her fiery red hair. 'My name is Urahara Kisuke.'
'Ura…hara…Kisu…ke…' She repeated wearily after him, every single syllable printing itself deeply into her heart. Quite distractedly, he started humming a little tuneless lullaby.
Thus smiling, she closed her eyes, and slowly lulled herself into blissful sleep.
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Benihime woke with a start.
So it was like this again. Exactly how many times she had had that dream she could not count. Every time in her dream she could vividly feel the dry warmth of his fingertips, the light that glimmered in his eyes when he looked down at her, the light rise in his tone as he told her his name.
She had thought then, that she would never ever forget him.
Benihime sat up. The moon was bright tonight, its clear cool light streaming through the high window like a sheet of fine silver. Sighing, she rested her chin on her knees.
It had been a long time, so long it felt like eternity.
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'I have no name.' She said quietly as he set the large pot of chicken soup down on the table and wiped his hands. Only now did she realize how hungry she was. Her eyes followed his calloused hand as he set a crude wooden bowl in front of her and started ladling soup into the bowl.
She sniffed contentedly as the bowl filled up, and snatched up her spoon.
He pulled over a chair and seated himself opposite her. As he ladled himself soup, he smiled at the girl and said kindly, 'I hope it's good enough for you. I don't have that much experience with cooking, you know.'
Obediently, she dipped her spoon into her bowl. Delicious, she thought, as the rich liquid warmed her throat, its luscious taste still thick in her mouth. Soon, the bowl was drained.
When she put down the bowl and looked up, she found Urahara watching her intently from across the table.
'More?' He suggested.
She nodded emphatically and watched him refill her bowl.
As she was gulping down the delicacy, he suddenly said, 'You won't object to my giving you a name?'
She choked and looked up in surprise. Then, slowly, she muttered, 'No, I suppose not.'
Urahara crossed his fingers and tilted his head to one side. Winking, he said with a chuckle, 'How about…"Benihime"? Princess in red. That was the first thing that leapt into my mind when I first saw you. Red hair. Red eyes. Robes in red…literally the red girl.'
She lowered her eyes to avoid his gaze. In almost a whisper, she said, 'If you like it, that's OK to me.' She looked up. 'So from now on, you will call me Benihime?'
He nodded, smiling. Her face tinged (probably visibly), and she muttered a slightly confused thank you.
-TBC.
A/N: Alright, I know it appears kind of weird, but I've always had this little kind of idea in the back of my head so I decided to give it a try. I've always had this strange little interest in Benihime and wanted to explore a bit (with imaginations run wild) about her relationship with Urahara. I've made up lots of things in the midst, anyway, and I'm not sure whether some of the stuff I came up with is exactly in line with Kubo's settings. Oops. Well give it a try anyway.
And in case it's confusing, the main episode is taking place a long time ago in the human world (save for scenes when we jump out of the flashback). And Yoruichi doesn't appear until later in the story, and she will figure, but, well, as I said, it's Benihime's POV at the moment.
And a final note, please review, I'd really appreciate your opinions, whether you like this or not~!
-HB