ohhh sorry for the masssive break...its been like a year since I've turned on my computer...

Here's a little update. Read it and weep or review instead?

Ch 6

I'd managed to get into her house (with some difficulty. Luckily the window had been left open).

I laid her down on her bed and looked over her body.

I wasn't concerned. I didn't care for the girl. Tatsuki.

I was just…curious.

Orihime had healed her, she had healed her clothing too.

She said she couldn't get rid of the bite, not completely. I wondered what that meant. If it would still hurt her.

I pulled the top of her jumper down and looked over the scar.

It looked like a dark ark of skin, but when you looked closer you could see the individual punctures from the needle teeth. I sighed through my nose and rubbed the back of my neck. At least I could feel her reiatsu again.

It was weak but it was there. That settled me somewhat. For some reason.

I watched her face for a while. I could see her eyes moving beneath their lids again. Quick. Her lips were parted, shallow, quick breaths escaped them.

Her eye lashes were thick and long.

I paused, unsure as to why I had noticed, or why I couldn't stop looking at her. Its just a human. Just a face. A bag of bones and blood wrapped in skin. Smooth, warm skin.

I stood up quickly, a little too quick, and I could feel my blood rush to my head, my vision blurring for a second. I felt hot and cramped and suddenly too aware that I too, was now nothing but a bag of bones myself.

I practically ran to the window and climbed up and out, onto the roof. I breathed in deeply, the cold air rushing through me, making welcome of the goosebumps that ran over my arms.

I sighed.

How many times had I sighed today?

How many because of her?

Why couldn't I get that thought- that image- of her screaming, injured, out of my mind?

Why did I feel so rotten inside, like it was my fault?

How could it be my fault? She's not my fucking responsibility. She's the one who tried to fight it. She's the one who lost, not me.

I felt repulsed by myself.

I looked at my hands. They didn't feel like they belonged to me.

I gazed at my palm, vaguely remembering what that hag had said.

Life lines, heart lines head lines.

A gap in my life line?

I studied the lines, I'd never really looked at them before. They flowed like ink, getting thicker and thinner or disappearing completely. They couldn't possibly tell the future. They're just lines, folds in skin.

Was this, today…what she meant by something big and dangerous? Or was there something else to come?

I felt a spike in Tatsuki's reiatsu and I climbed down from the roof.

The warm air of the room gushed over me. I made my way over to her and sat on the side of the bed.

I focussed on her reiatsu.

It seemed to blur around the edges and pulse and grow and split and mend itself.

It didn't feel right. It felt like it was growing, glowing brighter and stronger.

My brows furrowed and I studied her face. Her face was screwed up slightly, like she was concentrating. I leaned in closer. I could hear her raspy breath and feel its warmth on my cheek.

Suddenly her eyes opened.

They weren't brown.

They were gold.

oh, yes, I went there. Hands up if you knew it was coming? Who thinks my writing is too predictable? Who wants to review? Who wants to touch my face?