TO REVIEWERS ;) :
uzamaki898: Thank you :) It's nice to hear feedback :)
: Thank you so much! Your review made me smile a lot (and she will, don't worry ;) ) 3
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Echo Uchiha: Oh-kay. -points towards the IchiRuki section of fanfics-
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Miishiiee: Aww, my longest reviewer :) Thank you so much for just taking the time to type that all :) Thank you also for the feedback on my writing and not just the story. It's greatly, greatly appreciated. I will try to keep doing whatever it is I'm doing for all the chapters. Again, thank you 3
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I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER! :)
Orihime turned on her side, and stretched. The sunlight hit her face, making her squint in the sudden light. She had been having a strange dream about fairies she remembered. Fairies who could heal anything. She smiled somewhat, it had been a funny dream.
Yawning she stood up, her red hair hanging like a waterfall down her back. She made her way over to the window, where she could see over the tops of buildings. The sky was a golden colour. She smiled, and made her way over to the bathroom to get ready for school.
…
"NO! STOP IT!" Orihime's shriek rang loud through the air of Las Noches, her voice carrying up to where Ichigo was being held, powerless to stop the blow that was about to come.
And explosion ripped through the air. And Ichigo could not feel anything anymore, could not see anything, his vision swallowed by a blinding whiteness – a nothingness. He could hear his heartbeat slow down. And stop. But somehow he was still there. Or maybe he wasn't. He couldn't remember.
"Pathetic." His inner hollow taunted him now.
"Shut up."
"Really pathetic. You can't save her now, can you?"
Anger boiled in Ichigo's blood. He wanted to lash out at that smirking voice but couldn't, because he had no body to do so.
"I don't know what to do anymore." Her voice rang out through the chamber of nothingness, and suddenly Ichigo felt heavier.
"I just don't know anymore." She was crying.
Please don't cry. Please... Please don't cry...
"ISHIDA!" Her cry echoed through the nothingness, and Ichigo could feel his body slowly returning.
"ISHIDA!" Again. She was terrified.
"HELP ME, KUROSAKI-KUN!" She was desperate. She was breaking down.
'Stand up… I have to… Stand… Up… I must stand… Up… I will… I will… I WILL PROTECT HER!' And Ichigo could feel the heaviness of his body returning. Could feel the air hit his lungs, could feel the rush of wind again. But he wasn't in control.
'I will… save her…'
"Kuro… Kurosaki… Kun?"
…
Ichigo woke with a start. His heart was beating faster than usual. He could still see Orihime, covered in her comrades' blood, her ocean-like eyes enormous with fear.
He went to the bathroom, splashing his face vigorously with ice-cold water, trying to wash away the memory of her fear. Drying his face he glanced out of the window. The sky was gold. Just like Orihime's aura had been. A warm comforting colour, not one meant for battles and bloodshed. His ribcage suddenly felt a size too small. He let out a breath.
…
Orihime watched the snow fall gently down, spiraling sometimes, falling in arches. It reminded Orihime of someone. But she couldn't remember whom. All she remembered was a pair of deep plum coloured eyes. She shook her head.
"Orihime!" A voice sounded across the classroom.
"Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime beamed at her friend.
"Didn't you bring gloves? Your hands are all pink with cold. That's pretty stupid of you Orihime."
"I'm not stupid!"
Tatsuki's eyes widened.
…
"ARE YOU STUPID?"
Orihime's face fell.
"How rude, I am not stupid."
"You should have seized the opportunity when he asked to walk you home!"
…
Gray eyes swam in front of Tatsuki's vision.
"Tatsuki-chan? Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Tatsuki blinked in confusion, the classroom coming back into focus.
"I'm fine!" She smiled reassuringly at Orihime who looked relieved.
"Can we go and make a snowman during lunchbreak?" She asked hopefully.
Tatsuki glanced out of the window.
"Oh alright, but if I freeze to death you'll have to give me your coat."
…
Ichigo watched Orihime and Tatsuki interact, frowning slightly when Tatsuki seemed to be shocked by something.
"Stalker."
"Good to see you too Ishida."
Ishida sat down next to Ichigo, looking down at him coldly.
"Why don't you just talk to her?" Ichigo glared at him.
"Because, dumbass, you should know it's not that simple. She nearly died because of me."
Ishida's eyes softened.
"Because of us, Kurosaki."
Ichigo blinked, somewhat shocked that Ishida would want to admit to that.
"My point. We nearly killed her."
…
Renji had been training more than ever lately, his palms were now blistered and saw, his muscles screamed in protest whenever he began doing sit-ups and his back ached terribly. But it was better than doing nothing, and letting himself start daydreaming about the past. At least he now had something to distract him from his thoughts on Las Noches and the girl who was Orihime Inoue.
Fair enough, he had never had much to do with the girl, but there had always been something very likeable about her. She had made him laugh when he felt like shit. She had brightened up everyone else's day when she couldn't find the courage to brighten up her own. She was something else. But if she started remembering them, or if someone told her about her past, she would be sentenced to death. And so Renji sought distraction, trying to prevent himself from thinking about the sentence that would await her, and hoping against hope that his friends wouldn't try to make her remember them. And so Renji trained, for distraction.
…
Ukitake frowned at the lone figure in the distance. Kuchiki Rukia had never been popular in his squad. People had whispered behind her back. They had known that the only reason she was allowed in a squad at all was because she was a Kuchiki. They could buy their way into anything. But it hadn't been the case with Rukia. Sure, she had never been as strong as the rest o the squad, but she had proven them wrong in the recent battles. Had shown her full potential. And the squad thirteen resented her for that.
Ukitake sighed; his head was beginning to ache.
…
Orihime was building a snowman, rolling the ball of snow along the white ground, in order to make it much bigger. Her fingers were numb with cold, but she really didn't mind. This was relaxing, creating something from nothing.
"I'm going to make a snow bunny Tatsuki."
"Oh-kay. Not a snowman?"
"Nope!" Orihime chirped cheerfully. She started to mold the ears, humming softly. And then it happened.
…
Orihime was humming softly to herself, a lullaby her brother sometimes sung. Snowflakes got caught on her long lashes and in her red hair.
"Orihime?" Orihime glanced up at her brother.
"Look big brother! A snow bunny!" She smiled up at him, seeking approval.
"Very good Orihime-chan. He looks very happy."
But something was worrying Orihime.
"Big brother do you think he'll get cold?" Orihime's brother looked down at the rabbit, and then he handed Orihime his scarf.
"Put it on. He won't get cold with a scarf."
Orihime smiled up at her brother.
"Thank you."
But then the scene changed.
"YOU BELONG TO ME, ORIHIME!" And there was blood spattering the walls, and there was someone else, standing in front of her, shielding her from the monster who was her brother.
"S-Sora?"
…
"Orihime?"
Orihime's eyes looked vacant.
"Hey… Orihime?" Tatsuki poked her, afraid of shocking her.
"Hmm?"
"You must be too cold to think properly. Told you, you needed gloves."
And with that Tatsuki seized Orihime and dragged her back towards school.
…
Orihime was dreaming.
Blood was dripping off the walls. Orihime was running towards someone who had fallen. A girl with long dark hair tied up in two bunches. She slipped in an oily pool of blood, and the white linen she was wearing stained a sickly crimson colour.
The girl was breathing shallowly, her mouth opened and closed, but Orihime could not hear her.
"…monster!"
She was a monster?
"Monster!"
She was a…
"MONSTER!"
A….
"MONSTER, MONSTER, MONSTER!"
Orihime awoke with a jolt. Sweat trickled unpleasantly down her back, between her shoulder blades, and for a moment she thought it was the blood in the dream. She rubbed at her back vigorously, feeling slightly skittish. She glanced around her room. Yes, she was still in her bedroom, safe and alone.
Alone.
The word did not sound safe, yet here she was, alone, unharmed. She closed her eyes, allowed her breathing to even out, and eventually, she fell asleep again, into a dreamless state.
…
Ichigo could not sleep. Out of sheer desperation, he decided to take a walk.
His breath created crystallized clouds, each taking on a different shape, as the drifted in front of him. Moving was doing him good. It gave him something to concentrate on doing. Just one step after the other, he kept repeating to himself.
He found himself walking past Orihime's house. Or maybe he had planned to do so all along. He wasn't sure. Everything was so strange.
Ichigo might pick up his daily routine like a missed stitch, but when he was alone in the shower, or in the interstitial space between waking and sleep, Ichigo would find himself shaking uncontrollably, the way you do when you've swerved to avoid an accident and have to pull to the side of the road, just to make sure you are really in one piece.
He gazed up at Orihime's apartment, but the darkened rooms gave no sign of life away, gave no hint that just at that moment Orihime had woken up from a nightmare, and so Ichigo walked on, too preoccupied to realize that maybe his friend did need help. Just like the first time.
…
Ishida looked over at Orihime, and with a shock realized that, even though they were only five feet away from one another, they might as well have been on different continents.
"Ishida-kun is it?" Orihime enquired, her big grey eyes looking at him out of curiosity. Her eyes reminded him of oceans, not because of the colour, but because of he depth.
"Yes." He said. He wanted to say more, but he couldn't think of anything to say.
"I've heard you sew." It was a statement not a question.
"I do." Ishida cursed himself for sounding so awkward.
But then a big pink pair blocked his vision.
"Do you think you could fix him?" Her eyes looked imploringly up at him. There was a tear just above the bear's eye, and a bit of the stuffing hung out limply.
"I have no idea what I did, but I woke up today and I saw the stuffing had come out, he might have been liked this for ages and I didn't realize!" Ishida absorbed this information, gazing at Orihime's guilt-ridden face. She was, extraordinarily like a child. Too innocent for her own good.
"I'll see what I can do." He said and offered her a smile, which she returned. He gently prized the bear out of her hands. Their hands touched, and instantly a memory sprang to Ishida's mind.
…
"If you change your mind, Ishida-kun, you can come and train with us… any time, okay?"
'Thank you Orihime… But I have to do this alone.'
…
Once again, Ichigo had not meant to walk home with Orihime, but here he was, yet again stuck in the same situation. He wouldn't have minded, if she could still remember the things they had experienced together. But she was… A blank slate. Sometimes he wanted to shake her, in the vain hope that her memories which had been taken would come rushing back. It was a stupid notion.
"Neh, Kurosaki-kun, do you like sledging?" The question came out of the blue.
"Umm… I guess it's alright." He never wanted to give away too much information to this girl. He would rather keep it all to himself, for fear of exposing him and his friends.
"Would you like to come with me and Tatsuki?"
For a moment, Ichigo had hoped that she would say, "Would you like to come with me?" and leave the Tatsuki part out. But no.
"Yeah, maybe."
Orihime looked up at him. Her eyes were so deep. They reminded Ichigo of nightfall and mirrors and the edge of winter. The colour that filled the sky before a storm.
"Are you okay, Kurosaki-kun?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He lied.
For a moment she looked as though she wanted to question him further, but thought better of it.
"Kurosaki-kun… Your house is uhh… back there." She said, pointing to his house. In his musings he had walked right past it. He flushed.
"Oh, right, sorry."
She smiled. " No problem. And then she placed a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye again. Ichigo caught a faint scent of autumn – like apple and cider and slanting sun and the snap of the coming cold. He felt his heart scrambling, caught inside the confines of his body.
"Take care of yourself, Kurosaki-kun." She was so close, he could taste her words, sweet as mint on her breath.
And then she was gone, running to watch her favorite TV show.
Ichigo's gaze followed her in to the distance, attempting to figure out what it was that she had meant.
Constructive criticism is always appreciated. :)