IMPORTANT NOTICE:
As you may or may have not noticed, I am putting flashbacks in the beginning of each chapter. It is VERY important that you watch the dates put on the flashbacks, because right now, I am flashing back to the part where Ichigo leaves, but soon, I will be flashing further back than this to show the plot and how Ichigo and Rukia got into SS with the kids without SS killing them all.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to CrystalRaindrop007 for Beta'ing!
"I'll make mommy proud of me, daddy."
Whispers In Your Heart − II
June 7th - 2007, 3:44 AM
He was only going for them. They were in danger. If he and Raye stayed, Michio and Rukia could be, no ... would be, killed. He had to go.
"Renji ... will you do something for me?" Ichigo asked, smiling sadly at Raye as he pulled her coat on. Raye whimpered, her eyes closing as she sleepily shuffled around in Ichigo's arms. Renji nodded.
"Yeah man, anything. Just glad you let me in on all this."
"Take care of Rukia and Michio. Please? Take care of them for me."
Renji nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Sure. I'll make sure they're fine."
"Thanks, Renji. You have no idea how much it means to me to know they'll be alright," he said, hugging Raye to his chest. She didn't much like this and began crying. Others were watching, waiting. Byakuya and Unohana were there, and Isane and Yoruichi and Urahara. They were waiting for him to leave to the human world.
"Kurosaki," Byakuya said, walking up. "Rukia doesn't know what's going on does she?" he asked.
Ichigo shook his head. "She might suspect something, though I doubt it. I ... I wanted to say goodbye to Michio. I was alone, but ... when I sad goodbye to her, I think she thought something was going on. But I'm sure she doesn't know. She wanted to tell me something before I left, though. Will ya find out what it was?"
Byakuya nodded and reached out to gently rub his hand over Raye's soft hair. Despite trying not to, he loved his niece and nephew, and he would probably never see Raye again after this.
"Tell Rukia I love her, alright?" Ichigo said, taking in a deep breath to try and control his emotions. "Michio, too. And ... here, give this to Michio when he's a little older. And ... if I ever die, give this to Rukia. Please ... please don't read it."
He handed Byakuya a small box, for Michio, and a letter put in an envelope and tied with a beautiful, silk ribbon. Byakuya fingered it for a second before nodding. He said,
"Kurosaki, I might not have always liked you, actually for a while, I hated you, but you were good to my sister and made her very happy. And you gave her Michio and Raye ... and I'm sorry that you're leaving. If we were never friends, you were at least there for my sister when I wasn't. Thank you, and if we ever meet again in the future, we could try and be the brother-in-laws we never were."
Ichigo smiled. "Yeah. Guess so, huh?"
Byakuya stood back and Renji walked forward. Ichigo stuck out his hand to shake Renji's, but the red-head pulled him into a hug. It was the first time someone male, besides his father, had hugged him, but Ichigo found it felt strangely ... right. It was the last time he was gonna see any of them.
"Well ... see ya later," Ichigo said, waving as he began to walk through the gate. Before he completely passed through, he whispered, "See you soon, Rukia. I know I will, because nothing in this world, or in any other, can keep me from you."
July 12th - 2009
"Daddy, do I have to go to school?" four-year-old Raye Kurosaki whined, kicking her legs back and forth as Ichigo tried to put her light pink shoes on her small feet. He smirked and caught one foot and held it still enough to shove the shoe on and tie it. Now, just to get the second one ...
"Yeah, ya have to go to school."
"Why?" Raye said, sticking out her bottom lip. Once Ichigo got her other shoe on, he picked her off the counter.
"Because you need to grow up really smart like daddy."
Raye laughed and stuck her tongue out of a large hole in between the teeth she was missing. Ichigo stuck his tongue out at her, too, and began walking outside. Once she was on the sidewalk, she began skipping along, and Ichigo had to run to catch up with her. When he had, though, he took her hand, limiting her bouncing.
She had grown a lot. Since the day that he had disappeared with her, she had grown so much, though she was still short. But he saw Rukia in her. Her hair, though it was still orange with black stripes, it was now longer; he had tied it up in pigtails with the ribbons that Rukia had made for Raye for her first birthday. They were bright red and matched the jumper she was wearing. Her eyes were still ice blue, but now they seemed to have a ring of violet around them. She acted like Rukia, too. She loved bunnies, had one as a pet, loved to draw, badly - although he told her they were great, especially when she drew the ones of him, her and Rukia. She loved to laugh and smile and her attitude was a perfect match of Rukia's.
But she didn't remember Michio. At all. He had never showed her pictures, though; only told her stories about a brave little boy that she, Raye, had once saved the life of.
Raye snapped Ichigo out of her thoughts by suddenly hiding behind him and saying in a small voice,
"Daddy, I'm scared."
They had arrived at the pre-school that Raye was going to go to; it was her first day. When he kneeled down beside her, she was nearly crying. He hugged her gently as he said,
"Can you be a brave girl for daddy?" he asked softly, reaching down to pick a flower out of the ground. "Can you take this to school with you -" He handed her the orange daisy "- and bring it back to me when you get out? If you can do that, and have fun, then I'll take you out to dinner tonight."
Raye nodded slowly as she wrapped her tiny, slim fingers around the flower.
"OK, daddy. But I'm still scared."
"Don't be, sweetie. It'll be fine."
"Promise?" she asked, her wide eyes moving up to meet his.
"Promise," he said, kissing her on the forehead. She smiled at him and took his hand again. Once she was in the school yard, she tugged at his hand, wanting to go play on the swing. He smiled as he watched her go.
Rukia would have wanted to be here. For her little girl's first day of school. She would have wanted to be with him as he reassured Raye it would be fine. Rukia had been there for her first word, Mama, first steps, and first smile ... but not for her first lost tooth, her first scratched knee, learning to ride a tricycle, her first real Christmas, and her first day of school. Rukia had missed so much of her baby girl's life. It wasn't fair. But he knew she was fine. Because he had asked Renji to take care of Rukia, and if there was one thing he knew, it was that Renji loved Rukia; he would take good care of her and give Michio a good life.
"Daddy?" Raye asked, pulling on his arm. He smiled as he looked down at her. "I wanna go inside. I scared of the mean boy."
Ichigo smiled and nodded, picking her up under the arms and setting her small form on his shoulders. She squealed happily and grabbed onto his hair, grinning as he walked her inside. When he walked up to the desk and the woman behind it asked for Raye's name, she said proudly,
"I'm Raye Anyame Kurosaki. R-a-y-e A-n-y-a-m-e K-u-r-o-s-a-k-i!" She smirked as she spelled it slowly. The woman smiled at her.
"Well, hello, Raye. You're a smart one."
Ichigo smiled up at Raye and poked her in the foot. Raye then used said foot to kick Ichigo softly.
"She gets it from her mommy, dontcha, Raye?"
"Uh huh!" she said. "Lemme down, daddy!"
Ichigo let her down and she began to run in circles while he filled out all the paperwork. He glanced back her every few seconds, then asked the lady, "Will you keep an eye on her? She likes to get in trouble."
The woman nodded, and as soon as Ichigo was done with the paperwork, he walked over to Raye and kneeled down beside her.
"I have to go, sweetie. I'll be back later, though."
Raye nodded, her bottom lip trembling as Ichigo hugged her.
"Come on, it'll be alright. Mommy's watching, OK?"
Raye nodded and immediately perked up a little.
"I'll make mommy proud of me, daddy."
"Right. Bye bye now," Ichigo said, kissing her forehead. She bounced off, sending him a sad look before following the other kids when they all ran into the story room. She would be OK, she always was. No matter what it was, whether a doctors appointment, dentist or first day of school, she would make it. Because she was strong like mommy.
"OK, I promised that I would take you out to dinner ... so where do you want to go?" Ichigo asked. Raye lifted her arms as Ichigo buckled her into her booster seat. Once she was buckled tight, he jumped into the front seat of the mini-van and began driving away from the pre-school.
"Micky Dee's!" she yelled, bouncing up and down. Ichigo looked at her in the mirror.
"MacDonald's for dinner?"
"Uh huh!"
She giggled and kicked her feet into the back of Ichigo's seat. He smirked and said, "Well ... I said I'd take you if you were a good girl, so Micky Dee's it is."
"Yay!"
Ichigo turned the radio on to Raye's favorite children's station and she sang to several of the songs she knew well. When they arrived at the MacDonald's, he unhooked her from the booster seat and put her on his shoulders as he walked inside. She smiled happily, and when he went to stand in line, several of the other parents who were making their children stand still gave him weird looks.
"Daddy, I wants nuggets," Raye said. Ichigo nodded, and once he had ordered her nuggets and his burger, he sat her down and gave her some ketchup to make a mess with. She never ate it.
"Daddy, why did mommy go away?"
Ichigo smiled sadly.
"Mommy didn't leave, baby, daddy did. And only because he had to. He had to take you with him, too, to keep mommy safe."
"Oh. Daddy, why did all the other kids that came today come with mommies and not daddies?"
"Dunno, sweetie. Maybe the daddies were at work."
"Daddy, I wanna see mommy."
"I know, I know. And we will someday. And you can see Michio, too."
"I wants to see a picture," Raye said, sticking a nugget in her mouth and thoughtfully chewing on it. Ichigo nodded and shuffled around in his wallet. He smiled at the picture. It was one of him, Michio, Raye and Rukia. He handed it to Raye and she said, though a mouthful of nugget, "That me as a baby!"
"Yeah. And the other baby is Michio."
"My brother, right?" she asked, putting the picture down beside her. Ichigo nodded and she was silent throughout the rest of the meal. Said silence, however, went out the window when they got into the car.
"I met lotsa people! There was one mean boy, but then there was a nice boy; his name was Kane. Then there was a girl I met and she said she's be ma friend. Her name is Anjuia. And another girl ... "
Ichigo listened as much as he could. He liked hearing Raye's voice, really, but he really needed to concentrate on the road.
"And then ma teacher gave me juice like the ones I get at home!" she said happily, kicking her feet back and forth in the booster seat. "Daddy, can I play with Cookies when I get home?"
"Have you fed him?"
"Course I have! I always feed ma bunny," she said, smiling. "And I wost a tooth!"
"When?" Ichigo asked, turning to look at her for a second.
"Class. I saved it, like you ask me to."
Ichigo nodded. He liked to save Raye's teeth. She had lost three so far, which was weird for a child so young, but he wanted to save them for Rukia to see. He remembered what his dad was like when he had missed Yuzu's first lost tooth. The least he could do for Rukia was save the tooth. Besides, it made Raye believe there actually was a tooth fairy.
"And after I lost my tooth ..."
Ichigo turned into the driveway and parked. Raye forgot all about telling him about her day in favor of her bunny. Once they were inside, Ichigo made sure both Raye and Cookies were happy then went to do the laundry. That was when the phone rang. It was Keigo.
"Hey, man! Come on over tonight!" he said, his voice hurting Ichigo's ear.
"Nah. Tonight is the night me and Raye watch a movie together."
"C'mon, Ichigo, live a little! You're always doing something with the girl. Come on over," Keigo begged. Ichigo could just picture the tear tracks floating down his face.
"Nuh uh. Staying home with Raye. I don't want to watch porn with you and drink myself dead," Ichigo said, sighing.
"That's right. You've never seen a woman naked since Kuchiki-san, have you?" he asked, a slight sarcastic edge to his voice. But it was true; Ichigo hadn't even so much as glanced in a woman that way since Rukia. He was going back to her, and he wouldn't do anything with another woman. Ever.
"Shut up, Keigo. I have to do laundry."
And with that, Ichigo hung up the phone and continued folding the small jumpers and socks of Raye's. He smiled, fingering them. She was now wearing a child's size, not a babies anymore.
She was growing, and Rukia was missing it all. When Ichigo went into the kitchen to shuffle through the mail, he accidentally knocked over the small jar that held locks of Raye's hair from her first haircut. As he fingered the small soft hairs, he sighed deeply. He took the jar in his hand and gently ran his fingers over it. God, why couldn't Rukia be here? He wanted to see her ... he wanted to see their son. He wanted to be a family.
Gritting his teeth together, Ichigo balled his hands into fists and threw the jar against the wall. As he stared at the broken pieces, he slid down to the ground and put his head in his hands.
Why?
He would find a way. He would; he had to. He wanted Raye to have a mother and her brother, and he wanted to be a husband to Rukia and a father to Michio, too, not just Raye.
Just then, the little girl in question came in and gasped when she saw Ichigo. She walked over, Cookie in her arms, and sat down beside him.
"Daddy, are you sad again because of mommy?"
Ichigo didn't speak. Raye always knew when he was thinking of Rukia. She put her bunny in his lap and Ichigo smiled sadly at it. Years before, he had refused to get Rukia a bunny when she had asked for one. If ... no, when he saw her again, he would give her a bunny. He would give her a tiny, fluffy, baby bunny; like the one she had wanted.
"Yeah, baby. I'm sad about mommy. It hurts."
"Can I kiss it better?" Raye asked, reaching over to pet Cookies.
"No, it's not that kind of hurt. But you can give daddy a hug and help him do the dishes from this morning."
"OK!"
Raye hugged Ichigo and he stood up while she was still in his arms and carried her over to the sink.
Yeah. He would see Rukia again. He was sure about that.
He had to.
Well, that's all for now. I updated sooner than I thought I would ... see that's what reviews do.
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