Do You Call My Name?

-o-

An awkward silence filled the room and he felt the others look daggers at him. It was almost unbearable, and he just wanted it to stop - but he didn't want to flee from the chance that was given to him either - the chance to be accepted by Rukia's companions and friends despite the undeniable fact that he was from "the other side" and that he used to be their enemy.

His wish to forget about everything he used to be surrounded by made him go through the looks that still leaned on him, as well as the silence that hung upon them like a dark and heavy mist. Rukia didn't seem to feel too comfortable either and nobody said a word, until Kaien took the floor first.

"Yes... we know what... or who," he emphasized the 'who' particularly and cleared his throat "... You used to be."

Rukia gasped. Ichigo could feel his heart beat to his throat and was sure the others could see the tension which had taken possession of his face immediately. But what Kaien said filled him with ease. "But... we have no right to condemn you for what you did since it's not your fault that you used to be a demon. Everyone deserves a chance and the fact you actually did show emotion when you... met-" He coughed. "... met Rukia, shows that you had to have... a heart."

Ichigo's eyes widened with the end of Kaien's speech and he looked at the young man who seemed so gentle and wise, yet his look was pervasive and full of strength. Wow. What an impressive guy. Rukia gave him a soft gaze and squeezed his hand under the table. Ichigo felt better and better with every second that elapsed, faster and faster, like the wind.

And suddenly, it was all so easy: He saw Hisana smiling at him nicely and he wondered how Rukia and her, two sisters who looked so much alike, could be so different in character. The gentleness in her eyes, her posture and her whole demeanor was so... apparent you could actually feel it. He missed Rukia's strict glimpse, who somehow didn't like to see him stare at her sister like a rabbit hypnotized by the compelling gaze of a snake.

Since he didn't seem to return her look she nudged him rudely. "Hey! Are you gonna keep your freakin' eyes off my sister, you jerk? You look somewhat idiotic!" Woken up rudely by the punch of the girl that actually was supposed to be the most gentle creature ever, he tore his attention off her beautiful sister and punched her back, not less rudely than she had nudged him before. "Mind your own business, midget!"

And the tension was like blown away with a gentle breeze of genuineness, like it had never even existed. And all of them seemed to have forgotten what Ichigo actually used to be - now he was not more than an ordinary young man who had begun a new life and just got to know his beloved girl's friends and comrades. And those didn't seem to have in mind what he used to be at all - they smiled and laughed and chatted with him like he was one of them, like he had never even belonged to the enemy's side.

The way even Renji, who had been looking at him with skepticism all the time, treated him, was now so natural and even almost something you could call 'friendly' - it even hurt. His heart filled with pain whenever he thought of what he had left behind to gain what he had gained now and taking the loss of what was lost now. His family, own companions and friends, the place he used to call 'home', even a greater part of his blurred memories that now were coming back slowly like a creeping poison - a poison called remorse.

It was on the zenith between two seasons when he was reminded of who he was.

-o-