(A/N) I wish that I owned Bleach, but I don't; that honor belongs to Tite Kudo. In other words-I do not own Bleach. I only own my OC. Please Review!
I ran for what seemed like forever. I didn't know why I was running or from what, but some of the things I noticed were, I ran close to a sprint for over two hours, and still wasn't tired. The other thing I noticed was I liked the sound of my naked feet slapping against the wet forest floor.
The light rain started to pour through the forest canopy, and yet I didn't care. I didn't care that it was making it hard to see, I just ran faster. I didn't care that my long hair was plastering its self to my torso; I liked the feeling. I didn't care that my long-sleeved shirt was starting to shrink from the water, I liked the tightness. I didn't care that my skinny jeans were getting heavy, I liked the weight.
At this point I realized why I was running. I was running from something that I never learned to accept; something that was torture; a nightmare in my eyes. I was running from reality. All I ever thought about was my next escape. It didn't matter if it was from a million page book or a hundred mile run or a thousand cuts. It didn't matter to me anymore. I wanted away. I wanted away from it all. Away from the abuse of others. Physical. Emotional. Sexual. Verbal. I wanted away forever.
My parents never cared about me; they acted more like sperm and egg donors than parents. The teachers acted like nothing happened in the class, when they saw everything. My one and only friend was killed in eighth grade. No one cared anymore.
My saying 'life and death are two sides of the same coin'. I was hoping that it was going to flip in my favor when I saw a cliff.
I slowed to a jog then to a walk and finally a stop. I walked over towards the edge and looked over, the rain still pouring over me, jagged rocks and a decent drop… enough to kill me. I'm not going to be called the girl with scars anymore.
I turned to where my back faced it. I was already on the edge. You become numb after ignoring everything for so long, and with that thought in my mind I stood on the edge, on my toes and my eyes closed. An image of my best friend that I would soon see again appeared in my mind. Then I pushed off to my death.
OoOoOoOoO
I didn't die… was the first thing that popped into my head when I came to. I didn't break a bone either, but I did feel bruises beginning to appear. My head hurt like a son of a gun. I liked the pain though.
That was when I noticed something big and warm curled up beside me. I opened my eyes to see an orange, spotted, and furred back. I shifted to my side, slowly and painfully and not at all easily. The orange furred object must have noticed my movements and stood up and stretched. A cheetah..? I couldn't believe it.
He looked at me with deep golden brown eyes. Yep, sure enough it was. "Why didn't you kill me..?" I said in a whisper so low I could barely hear it. It stood straight and walked over to me. I propped myself up on a very sore elbow. The cheetah licked my cheek. Its tongue was rough like sand paper. Okay I'm dead or I'm dreaming, because I shouldn't be alive if this was happening.
He tucked his head under my armpit and lifted up. Pulling me onto his back. I was too weak to fight nor wanted to, so I just tried my best to hang on. He started walking away with me on his back. Five minutes later I blacked out.
OoOoOoOoO
I came back from the dark on a wooden mat. The cheetah right next to me again. I opened my eyes to see a small room inside a cave and the red hot coals from the remains of a dying fire. The big cat right next to me had to have been awake, because almost right after I woke up he stood and exited the room after glancing at me. This is not just a normal predator. I'd be dead by now if it was. I thought.
I started hearing yelps and cries of pain not even a minute after it left, causing me to jerk up to a stand and fall back because of a sudden head ache. I then heard cracking of bones. I stood again being careful of my rapidly growing head ache to the sounds. I fell right through the curtain of vines onto my stomach. Lifting my head up I saw the cheetah or what was left of it change into a naked man and stand up rolling his shoulders. I quickly looked up from the back of his legs to the back of his head. Spiked orange hair… the way he stands… it can't be him; he died three years ago… I couldn't stop the name from coming through my lips "Ichigo?" at the sound of his name he turned slightly but mostly looked over his shoulder. When he saw me he turned all the way around. I dropped my head and closed my eyes, knowing that a bright pink color was coming to my pale face if I didn't. His bare feet walked across the cave floor barely making a sound. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter. He kneeled down next to me. I then heard the rustling of fabric and let out a sigh of relief.
I mumbled under my breath, "Thank you."
"Oi, Sky, you can look now." I opened my eyes, and let out a groan of relief. I looked around and he was on the other side of the room.
"Thanks," I said, slight annoyance in my voice. I started to shiver, and then I realized I was still in my wet clothes.
"What did I do?" Ichigo asked playfully defensive, "Well besides save your life and put pants on." He added.
"That's the point you saved me… besides that I thought you were dead?" I pushed myself into a sitting position.
"Well I'm not; you were there when that thing attacked me. It dragged me into the forest and you ran after, but once you entered you couldn't find me, and I know that you didn't go home or anywhere except search, you probably didn't sleep or eat either, but you did pass out on day three from exhaustion. Some hikers found you not very late after." He took a breath, "The thing took me here. It left before I woke up. I haven't seen it since."
All I could say was, "Oh…"
"On a different turn of events, why are you mad that I saved your life?"
"Because I wanted to die; I was tired of it. You're smart; you knew you were the only one that cared a rat's tail about me. So why did you leave? It has been more than three years, and you were my only friend." I said in a flustered fit. Then I said lower than a whisper," You were the only one who cared…" I was almost in tears. I started echoing in my head 'crying is a sign of weakness, crying is a sign of weakness.' I started to feel my eyes watering, 'I will not cry.' After that my eyes became dry.
Ichigo walked over to me and leaned against the cave wall opposite of me," You are still telling yourself crying is a sign of weakness?" I didn't answer, "Heh, I thought you would have gotten over it by now. And to answer your question on why I left, I left because I didn't want to hurt anyone I cared about." He looked down at where I sat, "Now I have a question for you, Sky," the air grew thick with tension ,"How do I look?" he said while running a hand through his orange hair, I could not hold back a laugh and cackled like a fool.
"You look like a mess!" I said while laughing. No joke he really did, his orange hair was starting to turn brown from the dirt and his skin looked like it was made out of dirt. "You look like you haven't bathed in a year!" I said still laughing.
"…." was the only answer I got from him.
"What? Did you want me to lie? Okay, I'll lie. Oh my Goodness, Ichigo, you've never looked sexier! I mean look at yourself!" this time I about peed myself from laughing. He couldn't suppress his laughter either.
"Okay then, if I'm so dirty why don't we go for a swim?"
"Wait a second; did you just say that we should take a swim? Because if you did who are you and what did you do with the real Ichigo?!" I acted like I just saw a ghost.
"I'm still the same Ichigo. If you don't believe me I'll show you my birthmark." He started to unzip his shorts.
"Nope I am good, but the last time I saw you, you couldn't swim." He zipped them back up.
"Well I can now."
"A subject off topic, why did you save my life?"