Her Guardian Angel
A/N: Hello! As I promised, here's the third chapter. This chapter contains mostly flashbacks, but I'm not really a master when it comes to flashbacks, because I tend to jump from one time frame to another. But I've tried my best to make this chapter easier to understand, so I hope you'll enjoy this.
Chapter 3
Sora never told her, but when Orihime was born, she didn't have a birth certificate. His mother had been planning to send the baby to an orphanage, but Sora had begged her to keep the baby. He said he would go to the hospital himself to get a birth certificate for her even if his parents didn't want to. His dad had called him a troublesome child, and his mother happily dumped the small, tiny baby girl into Sora's care. But the young fifteen-year old didn't mind. He wanted to take care of Orihime. He was the one who named her 'Orihime', because he had wanted for her to weave her own fate, her own life. Orihime's name itself had shown how matured Sora was for a fifteen-year old.
He had worked at a convenience store to save up money to run away from home, and when Orihime was three years old, he took her in his arms and sneaked away from the place his parents call home. It had been more like a hell hole to him.
They had run to a relative's house, their mother's sister whom was nothing like their mother. She was the only relative they had after their parents, and she had taken them in because she lived alone and wanted company. She worked as a teacher at Karakura High, and she had loved Sora and Orihime as if they were her biological children. When Sora turned sixteen, she had tutored him at home so that he could enter college. Sora had studied very hard in the day, and worked as a pizza-delivery boy at night to save up money to send Orihime to kindergarten. Orihime had been four and a half when she saw their aunt begging Sora to not go to work, because she was worried of him.
"Your job is to study, Sora. With the money that I have, I can send Orihime to school."
But Sora had smiled and patted Orihime's head when she came to him to tug onto the sleeves of his shirt.
"Obaa-san, let me help you too."
That was what he said before he went out to work. Orihime had hugged her aunt, and said that 'Onii-chan's going to come home with a pizza again, so don't cry, Obaa-chan.'
Sora entered college, and Orihime had joined kindergarten. He thought that they were at last living normally, but on his first year of college, his aunt died of cervical cancer. The doctors told him she was supposed to go earlier, but she had fought her illness to see Sora go to college. Normally, children of Orihime's age would have cried and shouted for everyone to bring back their aunt, but she was different. She had been the one to pat Sora's back when he had been praying in front of their aunt's shrine. She said that when she grows up, she would be a nice lady just like Obaa-chan. She wanted to be a teacher. She wanted to teach maths because she liked numbers. He had laughed softly for the first time after years when he heard her say that, and wondered why Orihime was too clever for a kid her age.
They lived through the years after that, and Sora met Shukuro Tsukishima on their second year in college. They were both alike. Tsukishima had ran away from his abusive father to stay at an orphan with nothing but the clothes he had worn when he ran away, that was what Tsukishima wanted to believe in. When Sora introduced Orihime to him, Tsukishima had instantly loved her as if she was his own sister. Orihime had called him Tsuki-chan ever since then. Both Sora and Tsukishima became the best of friends, and graduated together. They had promised to work very hard as attorneys and meet up again to build their private practice to do charity work.
Orihime had gone through elementary and junior high with great marks, although there were times when she would come home with tear marks running down her cheeks. She had even come home with her hair cut very short. Sora had been worried, but she had just smiled and told him she had really wanted a haircut. She entered high school, and all the tear marks were gone. But Sora had a hard time warding boys off of her. He was thankful that she had a best friend whom was also the second strongest girl in Japan to look out for her.
A few years after that, she entered college, and time seemed to fly when she graduated. Her resume was accepted almost instantly two weeks after she graduated, and she had been teaching maths at Miyashita high. She had wanted to teach at Karakura, but Miyashita was nearer to home. Sora and Tsukishima had already opened their private practice together and did a lot of charity work, mostly for single mothers and senior citizens. Sora was already forty two when she had finished her fifth year teaching, but he looked young for his age. She had asked him about marriage one day during supper, but he had smiled up at her.
"Why are you asking me this?"
Orihime smiled back. "Because when you retire there would be no one here to cheer you up. I'll be very busy with school, and I really want to be there for you, but what if there's an emergency at school?"
Sora looked thoughtful for a moment and nodded slowly. "Then what about you get married first, and give birth to cute children for me to play with?"
She laughed, despite the blush on her cheeks. "Why are you talking like that? Mou, it's not that you're going to leave me just yet? You're still of marriageable age, Onii-chan."
Sora leaned forward across the table and put a hand on her head. "Orihime, are you worrying about me? Please don't, I don't want you to worry about this silly brother of yours."
Orihime shook her head, a frown forming on her forehead. "Onii-chan! Whoever called you silly?"
He let his hand fall to his side as he looked down onto the plate of cookies she had baked for him.
"Orihime... How old are you?"
Orihime nibbled on another cookie as she answered him. "Twenty-seven... why?"
Sora sighed and ran a hand through his dark brown locks. "It's been three years, huh?"
Orihime stood up from her spot to settle next to her brother. "Onii-chan? What do you mean by three years?"
Her brother shook his head, and looked up to smile at Orihime. Her bright eyes were staring at him worriedly, and she lifted a hand to squeeze his shoulder gently.
"Onii-chan? Are you okay?"
Sora ruffled Orihime's long red hair, but she didn't react with the usual yelp and pout. He inwardly scolded himself for being so foolish to keep following Tsukishima even when he knew under the man's calm exterior, lied anger and revenge for something that happened years before they opened the practice. He had fallen too deep, that he knew Orihime would be dragged down with him in a matter of time.
"I'm okay. Just that... Orihime?"
"Yes?"
He lifted the corners of his mouth in what he hoped was a reassuring smile, and playfully pinched her nose.
"Whatever happens to me, please believe in me. Okay? Even if I end up dragging you down... Please, believe in me."
Orihime nodded, and tears suddenly clouded her vision. "Of course I will, Onii-chan. Why are you worrying me like this?"
Sora laughed. "Hey, you're already a big girl. What's a big girl doing crying like a kid?"
Orihime wiped off the tears vigorously with the back of her hands and pouted. "Then don't make me worried, Onii-chan. You're even coming home late nowadays."
Sora scratched the back of his head, as if he was embarrassed about something. "Sorry, Orihime. Now, go to sleep, it's late already."
Orihime gasped as she noticed the time and hurried to her bedroom. She was already snoring softly a few minutes later. Sora cleaned up the used plates and mugs, and settled himself on the couch facing the t.v; staring at a blank screen. He closed his eyes as he leaned into the cozy couch. It would maybe be after some time when he could tell her the truth, and by that time, he wasn't sure if he would still be alive to protect her.
Sora Inoue was going to bring Tsukishima down, even if it meant sacrificing his own life.
Tsukishima's eyes scanned the empty office of his business partner, Sora. It had been weeks when Sora would come to work late, but he wasn't mad. No, he wasn't mad. Tsukishima was just curious.
What was keeping his friend from going home as early as he used to? As far as Tsukishima knew, they never had cases requiring overtime. Sora was the one to suggest that no worker should exert themselves in overtime. He was the kind of man who would complete his work on time, without the need to stay late at office. He was clever, and diligent in his work. People loved him, and truth to be told, Tsukishima would be lying if he said he didn't love Sora as well. The brown-haired man was his only brother whom he could trust.
Something clicked in his head as he saw a pile of opened books on his desktop. A long finger leafed through the hard-covered books, and Tsukishima realized that Sora had been reading documentations about smuggled goods, and weaponry.
A smirk lifted the corners of his mouth. So his friend finally knew. He wasn't that surprised, though. He had always known that Sora had a good head, and that it would be a matter of time when Sora would tell him to stop whatever he was doing before the police would really take him in for good. Maybe Sora would tell him that today? Maybe the man he had loved and trusted as his own brother would lecture him on what he was doing was wrong and against the laws.
Tsukishima knew all of that. He perfectly knew what would happen to him and his men if that damned Ichigo Kurosaki got wind of his smuggling activities. It wasn't for the fact that he didn't know about the sentence they were going to get if that orange-haired man got them by the throat. He knew all of that all-too-well. He was an attorney after all, with years of experience. But it was because he had a reason. His reason told him to do this.
"Shukuro!"
Tsukishima turned bored eyes towards Sora who was entering the office. "Ah, good morning, Sora."
Sora's eyes dropped to the book Tsukishima was holding. "Shukuro... so you found it..."
Tsukishima nodded, and placed the book to its previous spot on the desktop. He crossed his arms over his chest as he levelled his dark eyes with Sora's brown ones.
"What's going to happen after this? Aren't you going to say anything about this, Sora?"
Sora stood by the door, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.
"Do you remember that day when we made a promise? That when we opened this practice we would help the society, that we would help those in need? Do you remember that?"
Tsukishima averted his eyes to look at the toes of his dress shoes. "I do, Sora. But you do know why I did this? Why I'm abandoning the laws? You know why I'm doing this, right?"
Sora shook his head, and walked over to stand in front of Tsukishima. He grabbed both the man's shoulders and gently squeezed them.
"It had been a long time, Shukuro. No one remembers about what happened, even if you put a hole through their heads, they'll never remember! Please, stop this, you're just harming yourself! It's been three years already since I've kept silent about this, but I just can't do it anymore! You're going to get arrested and hanged! Do you know what that will do to me and Orihime? You'll be leaving us alone, Shukuro!"
A mirthless smirk lifted the corners of Tsukishima's lips as he shrugged off Sora's hands.
"I'll make them remember, Sora. Besides, I have my eyes set on this guy who's currently working with Aizen... maybe when Aizen's caught, I'll take him in. His name's Gin, a very cunning man he is. There's nothing that can lead me to the police, or even the coast guards. Especially the Chief Officers, I've fed them well."
Tsukishima gave a last glance to Sora as he walked past the oldest Inoue.
"Shukuro, listen to me."
Sora was ignored as the dark-haired man twisted the door knob. Gritting his teeth, Sora tugged on Tsukishima's sleeve. His next words stopped the long fingers from further twisting the door knob.
"If you get out of that door I'm going to the police and expose you. At least that way when they arrest you I can still fight for the judge to lessen your sentence! I'll make them believe that you turned yourself in, Shukuro!"
Tsukishima snorted, and turned dark eyes towards Sora, prompting the brown-haired man to let go of the sleeve he had been clutching.
"You'll expose me? You know you could've done that three years ago, but you relented. Why now?"
Tsukishima put a finger to his chin, making it look as if he was thinking of something. He clicked his fingers together.
"Ah! Probably because you were too afraid that I'll come after Orihime, right?"
Sora widened his eyes in horror. His knees buckled and left him falling down on his knees as he looked up to Tsukishima. "Shukuro... No, not Orihime. Please, just... just stop, Shukuro! I beg you!"
For the first time in years, Sora saw how Tsukishima's normally calm eyes turned wild. He refused to believe that the man he had trusted for so long could do something as horrible as plotting a revenge against the government. Sora refused to believe that the man standing tall in front of him was the same Shukuro he grew up with, who bought Orihime candies every Sunday when she was seven. But when the man spoke up, the voice was indeed Tsukishima's voice.
"Have you been sold off like me? Have you, Sora? Have you ever spent all your life with the image of your mother selling you off to your father in change of a better life every time you sleep? I was five, but I remember it clearly, Sora. A five year-old boy was crying, crying when his mother sent him off to an abusive father. He could remember watching with his own eyes how his mother was counting the money on her hands as he clutched onto her leg, begging her not to sell him to an abusive parent as a boy toy used by sleazy old women. He could remember it clearly when he had held onto his mother, begging for her to forgive him, and when she had turned her face to look at him in the eyes and say 'I don't like you'. Have you ever felt how lonely I had been when the cops took my father away, and when those bald old men you call the government beheaded my one and only relative? I hated my father but he was my only lifeline!"
Sora watched as Tsukishima closed his eyes and breathed in deeply to keep his temper in check. When he opened his eyes to look at Sora, a lifeless smile ghosted on his lips.
"So please, Sora. You already have Orihime. I love you so much as a brother, and I don't want to take you from Orihime. It will certainly break my heart, Sora."
After that, Tsukishima walked out of Sora's office. The door closed with a soft click, and Sora clenched his fists as he stood up. He looked up at the closed door, his eyes daring.
If he could save Tsukishima, then he would have to steel himself and collect enough proof to expose that man.
"Sorry, Shukuro. But I only have Orihime."
"What are you thinking about?"
Sora looked up from the figure of Orihime's sleeping figure curled up on the couch. A smile lit up his face as he saw Ichigo coming out of the kitchen holding a mug of hot chocolate.
"Just about the past. About how I came to decide that Shukuro must be exposed."
Strands of Orihime's red hair slid off the crown of her head and covered one side of her face. Sora brought up a hand to brush the strands away, but he stopped before his hand could touch her face. A pained chuckle escaped his lips.
"I've always been a useless brother to Orihime. I only have her in this world and yet... I caused her so much pain."
Ichigo seated himself on the armrest of the couch, and recalled what happened earlier, from the moment he visited his mother, that time when he first met Sora and when Orihime bumped into him. Then Renji, Rukia and Ishida came to his place and they managed to open the encrypted file, and he couldn't forget seeing her cry in front him and the others. He had seen Yuzu and Karin cry –the latter not so much-, hell, even his dad cried on a daily basis. But never had he seen a person cry like Orihime did. They all watched the videos showing Sora conversing with several smugglers, and for some reason, when she cried he could feel how pained she was. Sora disappeared when he saw Orihime excusing herself to use the bathroom, unable to look into Orihime's tear-stained face. They all had looked at Rukia, and expected the woman to console Orihime. She had sighed, and tried to make Orihime feel better.
Orihime had smiled, although her lips were wobbling, and she said she was being emotional. She even apologized for killing the mood. Rukia had been reluctant to leave Orihime to stay with Ichigo alone, but she was living with Renji and Orihime reasoned that her clothes were still drying. The Kuchiki finally relented and had the nerve to shoot Ichigo a warning look when she walked out his door. As soon as the trio left his apartment, Orihime had retreated into the kitchen to eat the pizza Rukia had ordered. Ichigo joined her in the kitchen and after a few awkward minutes, she suddenly apologized.
"What for?"
She had blushed and looked down at her slice of pizza. "Um, I was crying so badly just now. I'm really sorry. It's just that, I miss my brother. I never knew how much I missed him until just now."
Ichigo nodded thoughtfully, and hesitantly, he patted her head from across the small kitchen table.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong in that. You missed your brother, it's just natural for you to cry for him."
Orihime nodded. Her lips wobbled as she tried to fight another bout of tears. "Kurosaki-kun... You're very kind."
Ichigo had cleared his throat, and looked somewhere else. "I'm not that kind, I've shot people before. That doesn't make me kind."
Orihime had laughed then, despite the tears running down her cheeks. They had finished the pizza, and when Isshin finally came to patch up Ichigo's abdomen, she fell asleep on the couch, as she waited in front of the television. The older male had gasped so loudly when he saw Orihime sleeping soundly, and started to annoy Ichigo with his ridiculous innuendos. After Ichigo had kicked his dad out of his apartment, he had stood by the kitchen door, watching Orihime sleep.
He couldn't believe how much things can happen at one day.
Ichigo decided on a mug of hot chocolate before he went to bed when he saw Sora hunching over Orihime's sleeping form.
"Why do you keep saying that you're useless?"
Sora shrugged and settled on the floor next to the couch, content just seeing his little sister sleeping peacefully for the first time ever since she lost him.
"I knew about Shukuro's past, and I thought that maybe if I had acted more like a brother to him, he would finally let go of what happened to his father. When I saw him living life as if he had forgotten the past, I had been ignorant, and never suspected anything to happen. It was my fault, Ichigo-kun. I should have known what he was thinking, but I failed."
Ichigo leaned against the couch, ever mindful not to shift the couch too much so that Orihime wouldn't wake up.
"Tsukishima's sick, and twisted. No one could've helped him. Even if it were you, I can't say that he'd change his mind either."
Sora laughed softly, before he let out a sigh. "I always thought so too. But I should have known sooner. I had been so determined to bring him down for his own good, but I had been too late. I should have protected Orihime, Ichigo-kun."
They both watched as Orihime mumbled something incoherent in her sleep, and Ichigo placed his mug on the table so that he could carry the sleeping lady into the guest room. Gently, he placed her onto the futon he had laid out for her when she had been washing the dishes. Sora hovered above them and watched as Ichigo adjusted the pillow to support her head. He joined the orange-head in on the couch as Ichigo turned off the television.
"What had actually happen other than what you've told me, Inoue-san?"
Sora turned to Ichigo, a sorrowful smile playing on his lips.
"She saw me, Ichigo-kun. She saw everything when they shot me, right here on my chest."
Ichigo widened his eyes when Sora unbuttoned his white dress shirt to reveal a clean hole.
"You were shot, in front of her?"
Sora nodded. "That's why I'm a bad brother. She had cried so hard, Ichigo-kun. Even when they left my body in my office, she had crawled to me. I remember when she had cradled my head and I can still feel her tears on my face."
Ichigo cursed inwardly. He didn't know why, but the image of Orihime crying with her brother's body in her small arms didn't sit well with him. He knew he would've beaten himself if he ever did that to Yuzu and Karin. He'd never be able to forgive himself.
"When was that?"
Sora thought for a moment. "That was five days ago." His face fell when he continued, the pain in his voice evident as he spoke up. "Shukuro had allowed her to give me a proper funeral, before he took her in."
Ichigo's drink was already finished, but he stayed there as he thought of something. How long had Sora actually trying to gather proof?
"When did you start gathering evidence? You know; the statistics and those hidden videos you made..."
Sora held up his index finger. "I've been gathering all that I needed for one year, more or less. Remember Aizen?"
"Yeah, we arrested him about seven months ago... and a few weeks after that Renji said they keep getting false alarms... wait, that was you?"
Sora nodded. "Yes, Orihime told you already right?"
"Yeah, but she wasn't sure... And there's one more thing, who helped you tape those videos secretly?"
Sora looked worried all of a sudden. "I hadn't wanted to involve anyone else, but I had no choice. The name is Kira Izuru, he used to be my apprentice and he didn't know about the smuggling, not until I told him a year ago, when I started gathering evidence. But he's hiding, and I wouldn't want Shukuro to know that he's involved."
Ichigo nodded, and stood up to fetch his guns and badge. "So, we just have to find this guy before Tsukishima does, right?"
"Yes, that's it, but... it's not going to be easy, Ichigo-kun."
Ichigo smirked as he turned around to face Sora. "I know, but we'll find him. I have the best people in my team, don't worry."
Sora was left speechless as he watched Ichigo's back retreat into his room. Before the door was closed, Sora called out to Ichigo.
"Yeah?"
Sora smiled and made a perfect ninety degree bow. Ichigo raised a brow. "What-"
"Thank you, Ichigo-kun!"
Ichigo scowled to hide the embarrassment he felt. "Yeah, yeah. Go disappear like you always do, I need some sleep here."
Sora straightened his back, and his smile widened as he caught a glimpse of Ichigo's face before the door was closed.
Ichigo was smiling too.
A/N: How was it? I know, there wasn't much conversation going on. And the change of tenses must be confusing, right? Sorry about that. I'll try to make the other chapters better. So, before I retreat temporarily for my finals, I hope you guys have a happy new year and always know that I'm very happy to have readers like you! I love you guys!
Hugs and kisses!