Disclaimer: BLEACH and its character do not belong to me.
Two porcelain skins touched in the rain, the wind blew an icy breeze that whispered the promise of colds in the future, but for one moment the world stopped spinning and gazes locked.
A man in a black outfit suited for a death god, held an injured woman in his arms. He told her to stay back, that he could handle this one. Oh how foolish he is, he must know that she too is stubborn. It has been so long since the rain had poured or perhaps it just seems like that to him.
Things were different the moment she entered his life. They got complicated and he wasn't so sure he wanted it that way. But every time he started an objection, a single glance her way and he'd stop. Those dark orbs held a hidden plea, the same one he locks within his chest.
Would it have been better to end it before? Maybe then she would not be bleeding from a clear hole straight through her torso.
He couldn't even protect her, breaking the unvoiced promise he made to himself.
"Rukia…"
And he ran as fast he could to the clinic he knew so well, praying it wasn't too late. Begging the gods as he ran to save this precious life that has yet to see the wonders of the world – has yet to see her own worth.
Her eyes that concealed her true thoughts let their veil fall for a bit. They spoke the words that she couldn't voice, in fear that she would choke on the iron taste in the back of her throat.
A quiet apology and he stared back at her with an emotion that she couldn't quite place.
"I know."
That was Kurosaki Ichigo for you, blunt and rough on the outside but still human underneath.
He knew her and for that reason he couldn't let her die. She belonged with him, even if only for a short time again. Death would have to try harder if it wanted its princess back.