Moonlit Shadow of the Wild Rose
Prologue
Author's note: (Edited) Previously rated M, but I've decided to make it a T since there will be nothing mature appearing anytime soon.
Spoilers up to chapter 312. In other words, I'm creating a resolution for the HM arc to fit into what I had in mind for the story. More notes at the end of the chapter.
Warning: Some suggestive actions ahead, and a mini-smut at the near-end of this chapter.
The moon shone brightly and illuminated his sharp, angular features. The high cheekbones, his hard jaw, and his tough muscles. Orihime's fingers were twiddling his, except that he is currently deep in slumber, and she was watching him, naked and barely covered with the sheets of the futon mattress, which she normally used as a solitude sanctuary at night. Only that it hadn't been only her on the mattress these days, and that nights weren't her escapades from the obscurity her life had been thrown to lately.
She had been watching Ichigo sleep for a while now. He stirred, and tightened his hold on Orihime's finger in his fingers. Her free hand moved to his hair and very gently running her fingers through his hair. She had not felt his hair enough to appreciate the softness, the other times when she had done that was simply her rummaging her fingers into his hair when they are kissing, or when they are busy making love. She can't help but smiled at how the muscles near his eyes twitched slightly at the touch.
Her hand moved from his hair and now gently traced his cheeks. Despite being roughened by scars of his trainings and battles, having features toughened by his personality, his face now looked strangely child-like. Having his forehead relaxed now that he is not frowning, his face reverted to its original innocence that was untainted by his sudden emotional growth, which is the consequence of the power which he possessed, the responsibility which he bears, and the sorrow which he sometimes contain.
Even though she had always imagined him as a prince, it's weird even to her that he looked closer to an angel than a prince while he is sleeping with such serenity. Away from challenges in battles, free from paranoia of the upcoming war, and devoid of insecurity of being unappreciated. She knew the last one very well, because he just told her that a few hours ago, which was what triggered a series of actions that led towards the eventual lovemaking.
'Orihime, I had something in my mind for quite sometime,' he said in a soft voice after seeing her finally awake from a slumber in his arms, and they were both lying in each others arms in a sofa in her living room.
She merely cooed, being half awake, which he answered by, 'I had a irrational thought that maybe you hadn't wanted to leave Hueco Mundo, and you didn't want me to bring you back here.'
This had woke her up with quite an alarm. She turned her body around to face him, and said, 'No, Kurosaki-kun! I didn't feel that way at all!!'
He merely smirked, 'Havent I told you, I didn't want you to call me that anymore?'
She blushed, and whispered in obedience. 'Erm, yes, Ichigo.'
He brushed her bangs aside, and planted a light kiss on her forehead, 'But it was true that I had thought about that, Orihime. I always had fears that you never wanted to be back, and I had thought that perhaps I had forced my feelings on you.'
She fell into silence upon hearing that. She didn't know what to tell him, and the few months that she had been in real world after leaving Hueco Mundo with him was not exactly a paradise for her. In fact, the only times when she had been remotely happy was before those dreams haunt her sleepless; the harder times was when she was around him, conflicted on choosing to cry onto his shoulders, or to push him away. And they were not helped by constantly seeing their friends hurt someway or another.
Keigo and Tatsuki suffered major injuries which resulted from a sneak Arrancar attack. Matsumoto chased after Gin and was injured, so did Hitsugaya. While Nemu's poison suffice in counterattacking several Arrancars who had planned an assault on the real world which were coincidentally nearby Ishida's house, she is still recuperating. Rukia barely survived an attack and is accompanied by Renji in the Kuchiki mansion. Even Vice-captain Isane was dispatched to the real world, just in case.
'You can stop this, woman.'
She knew that. How many times had he chosen to enter her thoughts using the synchronized recognition implanted into her mind?
'You know what to do.'
She does, but she isn't sure that she could do what is on her mind. She would loved to have the courage too do it, but she couldn't, and meeting Ichigo's eyes, she couldn't bring herself to make that decision.
'We'll be in this together,' he said to her, hands caressing hers. 'I told you that I will protect you, and I will do it.'
Orihime felt her heart almost melted. She could hear his words filled with determination to protect her everytime, and yet, they never fail to move her. She was more than happy to have him made such a promise, after all, she just realized how emotionally vulnerable he could be. He could be broken, as she discovered painfully, and she could be the one doing the breaking.
The testament was revealed to her just a few hours ago, as she was trapped in a Hueco Mundo-real world intermediate dimension which was a new creation of whomever succeeded Szayel Apporo as the Hueco Mundo's resident researcher. The megalomaniac himself, Aizen Sousuke appeared before her, persuading her to return for the complete awakening of the scarlet creation that was the Hougyoku.
'Orihime, I will not force you. Remember that you are a very important person to me.' His drawl droned on as her face froze in the shock that had witnessed the phenomenon that she previously thought was impossible, even for Aizen.
'Do you fear me, Orihime?' he had asked her as he approached.
She couldn't react, and instead of speaking, she remained immobile.
'There's no need for fears, Orihime. I wouldn't kill you, and you have my words for it. I hope you will come back to me, because I will need you.'
'I will be glad if you will do that, Orihime.'
With the last, he disappeared and the dimension dissolved, but not her terror.
It had dawned upon her that she will have to make a decision very soon, and there will be no other way. It's up to her, and she could change the fate of her friends, as she looked up to a very worried Ichigo, across the street.
He ran to her, disregarding the maniacally honking vehicles, and panted as he was a step away from her.
'Orihime…' he was clearly about to run out of breath.
'Your reaitsu…I can't feel any of them…I thought you were…'
She raised her gaze to meet his eyes, and realized how relieved he looked, and how painful it had been for him. A few months ago, she would have thought that his concern was those of a friend to another; but time and again he proved that he wanted her more as more than just a friend. The was which he watched over her like a hawk and the way he never complained about the daily walks to her home to take her home. The way he softly whispered in her ears, the way his eyes gently glanced towards her, and the way he kissed her.
She suddenly felt guilty to have caused him all the troubles. To have pushed him because she wasn't sure that she could stay with him without hurting his feelings. To have worried him to have him skip class because he couldn't feel her presence anywhere. To have scared him shitless with her transportation to another dimension which could have resulted in her capture. Again.
It doesn't matter now that there are many conflicts, tension and turmoils awaiting them, and it doesn't matter now that she could make a decision to leave the real world to solve the trouble.
She finally understood the magnitude which her safety is placed in his mind, and that instead of growing as a fighter alongside him, she had worried him.
'I'm sorry, Ichigo, I hadn't meant to worry you..' guilty tears began to fall from her eyes.
She couldn't complete her apology because he pulled her into a tight embrace.
'I'm so glad, Orihime,' he said. 'Nothing else matters anymore. You are safe, and I'm very glad.' She held him in return, and her tears magically receded.
They stood in the position for quite sometime, until he decided to skip school altogether, and spend the day with her, even though it was all about her catching with some sleeps. He never knew it, but her insomnias were results of the messages that were transmitted via the synchronized recognition system established during her brief stay in Hueco Mundo a few months back.
'I will not fail you, Orihime,' he continued after an awkward pause. 'Trust me.'
She willed her heart and finally spoke. 'Ichigo is sounding like Naruto,' with a chuckle.
Obviously taken aback, Ichigo scratches his head, as if trying to figure out an answer to that, and her continuing giggles didn't seem to make it easier for him.
'Please don't laugh,' he whined.
'You have a really funny face, Ichi-' he silenced her with a finger, then moved nearer and kissed her softly on the lips. She was surprised by his sudden move, but went along with him, and wrapped her hands around his neck. A wave of electricity flowed through her body, and revived her energy. His kisses grew hungrier, and more passionate, and his hands started to touch the part of her body which he is greatly fond of – her waist. She never failed to feel aroused by the way he touched her, and that was how she realized that they are in the wrong place.
She broke the kiss, and spoke to him, 'Ichigo…'
'The couch is a bit too small.'
They exchanged awkward glances in that awkward position, and Ichigo hesitated before he finally spoke.
'Alright, we'll move.'
What follows was something which had officially made the day her favourite in a very long time. He took it slow this time, and started off with him going to her neck, kissing and sucking lightly, while hands removing her clothes with skill that was perfected in times they had been together, and her savouring the proximity by doing the same to his clothes, unbuttoning his shirt. It was a good thing that they are in their unifoms, because that way at least they are clothed in shirts which are buttoned. They were almost in unison as the shirts are thrown to the floor, and their bottom halves were about to be bared.
He eventually left a mark evident enough, then unhook her bra and bent down to her generous chest, and Orihime felt her body shivered from the pleasure that was generated by that sensation, and her breasts automatically hardened, with her nipples getting erect a fleeting moment after. And as he pulled in closer, she could felt his manhood, and she knew that he was getting a hard-on. Her hands moved by themselves to his pants and unzip it, and before she could do anything, he already had her skirt slid to the floor, and was pushing her to the mattress.
It didn't really occur to her that he had taken the pants away by himself, and that from her breast, his lips are now focusing on hers, working his tongue with hers, and her hands to her bottom. They were very closely locked with each other, so close that she could felt him hardening there with the most sensitive part of her thigh. Her hands, which are previously touching his chest, now moved to the back of his neck, and pulling him closer. Her body is heating up, and every move he make now could only raise her temmperature further. Much further.
His kisses began to slow down in pace. He rose, and stared into her eyes, burning them into hers, causing her to blush. She released her right hand from his neck, and touched his face, and realized that he had been sweating. He in turn, took the hand and kissed it, while his other hand took in a few strands of her hair. He swept her hair behind, and continued working his way to her belly. She couldn't help moaning in pleasure, and he never stopped making her lose her breath, by taking her into him more and more.
All was blurry after. It all happened slowly, but she was too absorbed in the moment that it was never registered into herself to remember all the details. The way he moaned as he kiss and touched her. The way he spread her legs to touch her there, and the way he slipped into her. They were all moments that she felt taken by him completely, and when he laid his head on her chest after their climaxes, which magically happened simultaneously, he was slumping in pleasant exhaustion. She wrapped her hands to envelop him on his shoulders while his muscular arms curled on her dangerous curves. They did not speak, only occasional whimpering to tell each other that they are tired, and slept a moment after.
Her thoughts were suddenly torn from him and her eyes were looking back into the sleeping Ichigo as she was jolted by the soft ringing sound of the wind chime that was hanging above her window. She looked for her alarm clock and saw that it's only 3am in the morning, but the sky showed the roaring of thunder almost immediately after she took a look outside. She rose, and looking for parts of her outfit which were thrown all over the floor. She blushed as her eyes caught the sight of her torn panties, and remembered how rash was Ichigo to have accidentally torn it while having a hard-on. She wondered whether he would accompany her for lingerie shopping after this, and whether she should buy the branded ones or not. She headed for her small closet, wrapped in sheets that was separated from the futon mattress that was her bed, and took out a pair of lingerie to replace the one that was torn.
Fully clad in her usual t-shirt and pants, she headed to the window and pulls the glass pane closer to shield the house from the rain. The thunder roared again, this time, hearing the sound and shocked by the blinding lightning; she let out a little yell, and took a few steps back.
She calmed herself down, and glanced to Ichigo to check on him, but he was visibly unaware of the rumblings of the weather, and instead of being shaken, he merely stirred, and tighten his grip on the blanket that he's using to cover himself.
Seeing that he was not affected by the rustles of weather foreshadowing imminent rain, she returned her attention to the half-closed window and was mortally shocked by the familiar silhouette that she was left with a soundless gasp.
It was the very same Espada who had been responsible for her capture to Hueco Mundo a few months earlier, and the very same Espada whose voice had been haunting her in her sleeps.
"Ul…Ulqui…orra…." She stammered, unsure of his intentions.
The said Espada was floating in the air, and looked at her from outside her window, he disappeared a moment after, then appeared behind her. She knew because her neck was already pointed with something cold and sharp, which she could only assume was his sword.
"This time, woman, no persuasion is needed." With that last, she blanked out.
Author's end-of-fic ramblings: As I have mentioned earlier, this is only true to the manga up to chapter 312, and I'm creating an alternative ending of HM arc. This prologue took me quite some time to write, even if it is short, because this is the back bone of what follows next, and will be the only one told from Orihime's POV, thus, it had been through lots of rethinking and rearranging.
I really liked this idea, so much that I spend almost a month thinking about the entire plot, and thus, I hope you guys will like it too! Comments are well appreciated, thank you very much, and I will now take my time and focus on my other fics, since this had gone off my chest.
About the short-lived smut…..more will come! Thanks for reading, and have a nice day!
