After Five Years
I am not cool enough to own Bleach. It is all Tite Kubo's.
I run as fast as I can, trying to get away from it all. Away from the pain that chases me, away from the pain I try to leave in that room. I look up, trying to see where I'm going, and my tears start to fall harder as I figure out where my feet have been taking me.
There's no doubting it; they've been taking me to Ichigo's.
I stop, more tears falling down my face. My feet want to continue taking me towards Ichigo's house, but my mind keeps them from moving. I think about that day, so many years ago, and wonder about what Ichigo will do if I suddenly show up, sobbing, on his doorstep after not talking to him for five years.
Again, that day comes to mind:
'Ichigo.' I say after we break apart from our long first kiss.
'Yes?' He asks, still holding on to my waist.
'Thank you.' I put my head on his chest, and we stay like that for a while
Many hours pass after we kiss, and Byakuya comes, informing me that I must go back to Soul Society, and that I may never leave again. He doesn't agree with me loving Ichigo, and now he's doing something about it. He tells Ichigo that if he tries to take me back, he'll kill him. I go willingly, telling Ichigo not to come, trying to protect him, he seems so hurt, so offended that I would leave him, so sad.
That was the last time I saw Ichigo. He never came to save me, and I never tried to leave. That had been on the day Hisana died. Now, with Byakuya dead in a hospital room far away, it seems fit that I go see Ichigo again, even if he rejects me. Though Byakuya could have been a much nicer person, and most definitely a better brother, I miss him, and I always loved him. His death comes as more of a shock than Hisana's. When Hisana died, I had Byakuya. Now that Byakuya's dead, if Ichigo rejects me I'll be alone. Renji stopped talking to me when he found out that Ichigo and I kissed, and I fear that not even Byakuya's death will change his silence towards me.
As the tears start to fall harder at the memories of Byakuya, I start to walk again towards Ichigo's home, and soon that walk turns into a run. I make it without incident to the clinic where Ichigo lived with his family, hoping they're still there. I knock on the door and wait a minute, then knock again. Finally, Yuzu comes and opens up the door.
"Rukia-san!" She says, surprised to see me here after all this time. She's grown up in five years, and is now very beautiful. "What are you doing here? Are you okay? Please, come in and have something to drink, it's cold out!" She says all at once. I notice the cold outside only after she mentions it, and shiver.
"Is Ichigo here?" I ask. I know I must sound rude, ignoring her after five years, but right now the person I need to see, if only for a second, is Ichigo. The Ichigo I fell in love with more than five years ago, and the Ichigo my heart longs for at a moment of deep despair.
Yuzu looks at me, but she seems more worried about the tears spilling from my eyes than upset about my rudeness.
"Rukia-san, Nii-san moved out last year." She says, looking at me like she expected me to know this.
"Where does he live?" I ask, not stopping to think for a second.
"Not too far away." She says. "I mean, it's at the other side of town, but that's not too far away."
"So you have his address?" I ask, relieved that he lives so close. I notice how choked I sound when I speak from all the crying.
"Yes." She says, and takes a piece of paper and a pencil from a table near the door, writing something down. "Here you go." She says handing it to me. "Are you sure you don't want to come in and get something to drink?" She asks, but I don't hear; I'm already running away across the street to the other side of town.
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I take a bus to a stop at the other side of town, stopping in front of a small sewing supply shop. I look around and become instantly distressed; I don't even slightly recognize the area.
Frustrated and still thinking of Byakuya, I sit on a bench near the shop and start to sob into my hands.
"May I help you, ma'am?" Asks a vaguely familiar voice from behind me. I look up and over my shoulder to see a tall and grown up—but never the less him—Ishida Uryuu.
"Ishida-san!" I say, standing up, momentarily forgetting my brother. I can't believe it's him—he looks much older, and he even has a short, well-kept beard.
"Kuchiki-san?" He asks as if he can't believe it's me. I nod, and look at what he's holding; a bag of sewing supplies. Just like him to be in a small sewing shop in the far side of town.
"What are you doing here? And why are you crying?" He asks after hugging me. He really seems older than nineteen, but he still sounds like the old Ishida, I can't believe I didn't recognize his voice before.
"Ichigo." I say as an answer to his question. He nods as if he understands and starts walking down a small road.
"Follow me; I'll take you to him." He says, and I follow him.
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"Were you shopping at that store just now?" I ask Ishida after a few minutes of silence in which we walk down some empty streets. I figure that the reason no one is out is because of the cold weather, and I can't help but feel guilty for making Ishida walk out in the cold for me.
"Shopping? No, no. I own that little store." He says, turning to me and smiling. I try to smile back, but instead more tears start to fall as I realize that the whole time I've been gone, people's lives—my friend's lives—have been going on, and I know absolutely nothing about them. I start to worry—what if Ichigo has gotten over me? What if he's living with a girlfriend. Or worse, what if he got married early and is living with a wife? I feel as if I could gag. What will I do if that happens?
Ishida seems at a loss of what to say to a crying girl, so he starts talking about other things instead.
"So." He says, still leading me to our destination. He seems to know his way to Ichigo's house pretty well, and I can tell that they see each other a lot, even if they probably still argue about everything. "While you've been gone, Chad and Orihime decided that they love each other, got married, and moved to Karuizawa, where they own a cake shop that sells strangly flavored cakes. As for me, I live with my three-year boyfriend in a little apartment near the sewing shop."
I look up at him upon hearing this. Boyfriend? I'd always had my suspicions, but I'd expected it to come a little later. For him to already be living with this boyfriend is pretty big.
He laughs when he sees my face. "Yes, Mizuio Kojima, the lady's man of all lady's men, is actually very, very gay." He laughs again, and I cry some more. Things really have changed. I think again about Ichigo ,and about how maybe he's found the love of his life, too, and cry harder.
"And Ichigo?" I ask after a few more minutes of silent walking.
"What?" Ishida asks, confused, but then he seems to remember.
"Oh." He says. "Ichigo's still as straight and single as ever. Hasn't been able to find the right girl, I suppose." He then looks straight at me. "That, or he hasn't been able to get over the perfect girl." He stops, and I suppose it's just to make his point.
"I can tell that something's happened, Rukia, and I can tell that you're hurting very badly, but Ichigo's my best friend, and I have to ask that if you see him, that you're here to stay." I think about this momentarily, surprised by the hard tone of his voice, and then nod. If Ichigo will take me, than I am his to keep, and will be here for him as long as I live. Ishida sighs, then turns around and starts walking in the direction we just came from, rounding a corner we'd just walked around. I start to chase after him, but when I turn the corner, he's gone. Damn that fast douche.
I pull the piece of paper Yuzu gave me out of my pocket and glance at it, then look up. I almost smile, but instead—shocker—start to cry. I'm standing in front of Ichigo's house. If I could, I would kiss Ishida. I walk up to the door and put my finger on the doorbell. I start to push it in when I'm hit by a wave of nerves. I take my finger off the button and look around instead. The house is well kept, and pretty cute; it has a small yard that is freshly cut, and there's a small white mail box in front. I look at the house and notice something I hadn't before; the house is painted a familiar dark blue color, big I can't quite place why it's so familiar.
I stand there for probably ten minutes, surprised that nobody sees me, and I try calming my nerves. If we rejects me, I'll move on, I try telling myself. I'll go to Karuizawa, stay at an inn, visit Chad and Orihime, maybe try a sweet chocolate and kimchi cake that Inoue is very likely to have. I try telling myself this, but I'm not easily fooled. I sigh and, in one quick motion, ring the bell. I hold my breath, cursing my stupidity at what I've just done. Of course he's gotten over you, of course he cares for you no more. He did at once, but those feelings are long gone now. I start to cry again, and through my tears hear footsteps coming down a flight of stairs. I wipe off my nose—I, at the very least, will not have a snot covered face when seeing him—and stand up taller, knowing that my eyes are red and puffy and that I smell like hospital. Suddenly I remember where I'd seen the color of the house before—it is the exact color of my eyes.
When the door creeks open, and I see him standing there, I instantly lose the composure I worked so hard to gain. I expect him to close the door, maybe shout some profanity at me first, maybe even call the police, but what happens instead sends a shock down my spine and gives me happiness for the rest of my life. He grabs me and pulls me into his arms, hugging me while I sob into his chest, instantly soaking his shirt through.
"I've been waiting for you." He says. I note that his voice sounds the very same as it did the day I left five years ago, and his chest fits me the same way it did five years ago
Sorry if the ending was sorta lame. This is my first fan fiction, and it was turning out way longer then I'd planned, so I just sorta finished it. Please review, the good and the bad are welcome :) Please just remember that this is my firstXDXDXDXD