He had the brightest hair and the biggest smile. Tatsuki had always liked that about him, but he got picked on a lot for it. She had to save him from bullies many times throughout their childhood. She didn't mind though. To tell the truth, she kind of liked protecting him, him and his big goofy grin.
.
.
.
On June seventeenth, when he was only nine years old, his mother died. He spent days afterwards pacing up and down the river with his little backpack hanging off his shoulders. He'd squat down whenever he got tired and then would get right back up and keep walking. It was almost like he was searching for her.
Tatsuki couldn't bear seeing him like that. Each step she watched him take along that riverbank tore her up inside a little bit more. He paced that river from morning to night. Eventually he stopped but he was never the same after that. His mother died June seventeenth, and the happy, goofily grinning kid Tatsuki had once known died with her.
.
.
.
She had the brightest hair and the biggest smile. Tatsuki had always liked that about her. She got picked on a lot for it though. It wasn't uncommon to see her with bruises covering her face and body. It bothered Tatsuki but even more than that-and she'd never admit this-, it scared her. She wasn't ready to lose another friend. She was still mourning the loss of the other.
The first time she'd witnessed the girl being bullied she didn't save her. Anger broiled in her gut at the sight of it but she couldn't make her legs move. The guilt would plague her for years afterwards.
The second time was too much and she burst. She grabbed hold of the girls arm and yelled at her. That was all it took to make her listen. She had to save her from bullies many times throughout middle school. She didn't mind though. To tell the truth, she kind of liked protecting her, her and her beautiful shining smile.
.
.
.
She could never quite shake that fear. Many times Tatsuki had been afraid she'd lost her. First her brother died, then after that there were those few agonizing months were they weren't sure she'd be able to keep living in Karakura. They went down to the river one summer to watch the fireworks and Tatsuki had almost lost her to a red dragonfly which she'd chased for a mile.
There was a time, when her presence faded away, to the point it felt like it was behind a wall. The girl had stayed true to her promise, and she came back, but for a while she still felt far away from her... as if she'd been left behind again.
Then one day, without warning, her presence completely vanished.
.
.
.
"What are you talking about, Inoue? You were amazing!" Ichigo scolded her.
"But…I didn't do anything…" She trailed off, almost sounding confused. He snorted and grinned widely at Tatsuki, like a proud parent of honour roll student. Or like a husband of his wife.
"She saved my life. I was as good as dead and she still managed to bring me back," He told her. He turned back onto Orihime with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "Bringing the dead back to life isn't 'nothing', Inoue."
"I didn't say I did 'nothing', I said I didn't do any-"
"Wait a minute! What? Are you trying to tell me you died!" Tatsuki snapped, dropping her sandwich onto the roof.
Ichigo rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Er… I… well…um… I guess so?"
She wasted no time in sending a kick at his head. "You idiot! How could you put Orihime through something like that?"
"It's not like I did it on purpose!" Ichigo protested as Orihime's eyes darted warily between the two of them a crimson blush glowing on her cheeks.
"Yeah right, you didn't! You were probably doing something reckless!" Tatsuki flared "How'd you die?"
"For which time?" Ichigo blurted before smacking a hand over his mouth. Flames erupted behind Tatsuki's looming figure as she leered down at the doomed boy, cracking her knuckles. Unconsciously, Ichigo gulped.
"How many times?" She asked with a sneer.
"J-just two... calm down."
"Calm down? Calm down! You expect me to calm down when twice you've had Orihime bring back the corpse of your idiotic-"
"Tatsuki, wait! Wait! She only brought me back once! I managed the second one on…o-on my own…"
Tatsuki's eyes narrowed. "Explain. Now."
.
.
.
She saw them both sitting by the river. It was June, the eighteenth.
It was true her fears had never gone away but over time they had lessened, despite all that had happened. For all the times Tatsuki had feared her friend would leave her she always came back. Tatsuki had done her part protecting the beautiful, shining smile and though she felt her part would never truly be over, she shared it with another now. A boy. He had the brightest hair. And also, Tatsuki noticed as he laughed at something the girl had said, causing her to flail her arms wildly, he had the biggest smile. Tatsuki had always missed that the most.
He had told Tatsuki that she could bring the dead back to life and it was only now that Tatsuki felt she truly understood what that meant. Mentally, she took a picture of that big goofy grin and shoved it away with her old memories of it, the ones she kept next to the memories of the beautiful shining smile. She smiled to herself as well and turned in the opposite direction, away from the couple if only to give them a few more hours with each other before they met up to go to the movies together. Because to tell the truth, she kind of liked protecting them… them and their and big silly smiles.
This is just something I wrote back in may. Thanks for any and all reviews.
