Mari laid in her bed, bruised, bloody and trembling as her body felt so, so cold. It was so different from her time with Yumichika; with Yumichika, her body felt warm and light afterwards and she felt so happy. Now here she lay, convulsing with her wide eyes gazing at the ceiling and she couldn't even control her shaky breathing, even when she could hear Yumichika calling her name and even when she could hear his footsteps enter the room and the sound of his zanpakuto hitting the ground with a clatter.
"Mari," he gasped, kneeling down beside her, "no... What happened?" He trembled when she didn't respond and he buried his face into the blanket and her heart sank even further than it already was at the sound of him sobbing. "I'm so sorry, Mari... this is my fault... I shouldn't have left you alone."
She lifted her shaky hand and ran it through his soft hair until he gazed up at her and she gave him a weak smile, shaking her head to give him comfort and it seemed to work as he got to his feet and sat at the edge of the bed, leaning forward and giving her a delicate kiss on her head.
"Don't worry, Mari. I'll take care of you until you feel better. And whenever I can, I'll find out who did this to you and I'll kill him." Mari said nothing as he lifted her up, letting her lean on him for support before he pulled back the blanket and let her lay back down, lifting the blanket over her shoulders. He kissed her again before getting to his feet. "Get some rest. When you wake up, you can take a hot bath and I'll make you something to eat, okay?" There was a long silence before he murmured, "I love you."
She closed her eyes at his words and the comfort of feeling him beside her helped her sleep much easier than she would have without him.
When Mari awoke, her body felt weak and she had to force herself to sit up and she gazed around before getting to her feet, stumbling a bit. She was still undressed so she took it as an advantage and hurried to the bathroom, closing the door and preparing the bath, easing into the water. It stung where she had scratches but she persevered, washing herself to get all the dried blood off of her body until she felt clean and she climbed back out of the bath, draining the bloody water before putting on her clothes. Her body still felt weak and at this point, she was even beginning to feel lightheaded as she stumbled to the living room to find Yumichika, asleep as if he was sitting at the table with his head buried in his arms. She smiled, approaching him before sitting behind him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his back between his shoulders her heart racing as she let herself fall back asleep easily.
Mari's eyes fluttered open at the sound of footsteps and when she sat up, she noticed that the sun outside was beginning to set. She climbed out of bed and approached the doorway, leaning against it as she watched Yumichika as he darted back and forth from the kitchen, where he was cooking something, to the living room, where he was cleaning the table and she smiled. "You look so busy," she giggled and he turned, startled by the sound of her voice.
"Oh, Mari," he said softly, approaching her, "Are you sure you should be out of bed already? You can rest some more if you want."
She shook her head. "I do feel a little tired still but I can't sleep on an empty stomach."
He smiled and held out his hand to her, which she gratefully took and he led her to the table. "The food's just about ready so give me a minute."
Mari nodded and watched as he disappeared into the kitchen and not long after, he reappeared with some food that he set before her and she waited for him to return with his own food before they began to eat together. "Yumichika, how long was I asleep?"
"Since yesterday morning," he answered, "but I guess you woke up after I fell asleep because I woke up and you were behind me and, since then, you've been asleep for a couple of hours."
She touched her chin, recalling what he was saying. "Oh yeah, I remember that." As soon as she began eating, she could feel the weakness in her body beginning to disappear. She ate quickly, devouring every last bite and once she was finished, she lifted her gaze to Yumichika beside her upon hearing his chuckle.
"I'm guessing you were hungry," he teased as he got to his feet and took the dirty dishes.
Mari blushed, looking away. "Well yeah, but the food was delicious too." She watched him take the dishes away and he returned after a few moments with a napkin and he knelt down in front of Mari, wiping the food off of her cheeks. "Did you carry me back to the bed?"
He nodded. "I figured you wouldn't be too comfortable sleeping like that."
She smiled. "It doesn't matter to me because I just wanted to sleep next to you. I was only up for about an hour; I took a bath and cleaned up and got dressed but I felt really weak and tired."
He gently kissed her cheek before pulling her into a firm hug. "Mari, I was so worried about you. I wish I knew who did that to you... it's probably the same person behind that woman coming to attack you."
Mari closed her eyes, returning his warm hug. "I'm not sure because the man that did it had these... black eyes. He was just different from that woman, not just the eyes. And he... he said my name." She held on to Yumichika tighter, burying her face into his shoulder. "He... After he took my clothes off, he said to me 'oh, Mari, you're so soft'..." she sniffled before continuing, "'I can't resist you anymore... you gorgeous girl.'" She stifled a sob, feeling him clench the back of her top into his fists before she continued, "Yumichika, I always thought that... sex was something that only happened between two people who really love and care about each other. I thought that after the way I felt when you and I did it, my assumptions were confirmed. I didn't know there was another way besides for the way we did it; the way you were so gentle with me and the way you were trying so hard to please me. I didn't think people could want sex from someone they didn't love, especially not to the point where they would force someone else into it."
Yumichika pulled her against him and into his lap, holding her as if she were a little girl but he had his face buried in the clothing over her chest and she could feel him shuddering as if he were crying and she held him tightly, fighting back her own tears. "This is my fault... This is my fault. If only I hadn't left you alone... if only I would have stayed here with you."
Mari shook her head quickly, running her fingers through his hair and kissing his head. "It's not your fault, Yumichika. What would you have done? Would you have just ignored your own captain's orders? I would never ask that much of you. It's my fault for letting my guard down; I didn't even have my zanpakuto on me. I think, whoever it was... I think he was watching and waiting for me to be alone. So even if you did stay behind somehow, he wouldn't have come."
She let Yumichika cry on to her for a while before he sat up again wiping his eyes. "I'm sorry," he chuckled, "I shouldn't be crying like this."
Mari shook her head, touching his cheek. "It's okay, Yumichika. You can cry to me whenever you feel like crying, okay?" She gave him a smile and he leaned towards her, giving her a tender kiss on the lips and the second their lips met, there was a knock on the door and it slid open just after they parted lips and Mari quickly pulled off of Yumichika, sitting down beside him instead as Ikkaku entered.
"Yumichika, we have a job today, remember?" Ikkaku examined Yumichika for a moment before leaning close to him, over the table. "Have you been crying?"
Yumichika nervously avoided his gaze and Mari chuckled. "No, of course not," she answered for him, "We were laughing so hard that his eyes got all watery. Everything's fine."
Ikkaku appeared skeptical at first but he got to his feet and crossed his arms. "Well? Are you going or not?"
Yumichika clenched his hands into fists, looking from Mari to Ikkaku and back again. "Do I have a choice?"
"Are you serious?" Ikkaku scoffed.
Yumichika sighed, gazing at Mari. "I don't know if I can bring myself to leave Mari alone all day long after what happened to her yesterday."
Mari gave him a smile. "Yumichika, you have to go. If you don't, your captain might get upset with you. Don't worry about me; this time I'll keep my sword close to me."
Yumichika still looked reluctant to go, even when Ikkaku reached across the table and pulled him to his feet. "We have to go, Yumichika. We don't have a choice."
Yumichika pulled away from Ikkaku. "Then Mari's coming with us."
Ikkaku's expression was just as shocked as Mari's. "We can't bring her. What if her family happens to see her with us? Or what if the captain happens to see her? There are too many risks."
Yumichika clenched his fists again. "There are too many risks leaving her by herself here, too! If I have to go, then she's coming too."
"Yumichika, do you hear yourself? What if we're in danger somehow? Do you want to put her in danger with us?"
"I'll protect her with my life," Yumichika declared.
"What if that's not good enough? What if you try to protect her and you're killed but she's killed too?"
Mari got to her feet and interrupted, "If that's the biggest risk, then I would be glad to come along if it will put Yumichika at ease." They both gazed at her with wide eyes and she gave Yumichika a smile. "If I die, I would be happy to die with you. But if someone finds their way in here again and they kill me, then I won't get to die with you. Of course, I want you to live but knowing you, you'd probably throw yourself in front of me to protect me. Besides," her smile became one that was almost sarcastic and her eyes were cold as ice as she gazed at them, "I don't want you two to underestimate my abilities and talk about me like I would just be extra baggage. I can protect myself too, you know."
Ikkaku chuckled nervously, holding his hands up and Yumichika gave her a friendly smile. "Then it's settled."
Mari walked between Ikkaku and Yumichika, holding her zanpakuto in one hand and the other casually swinging at her side. Yumichika touched her shoulder from behind her with his free hand. "Are you bored? The sun's gonna come up soon. Do you want to go back home now?"
"If the mission is over, then can we?"
Yumichika nodded, returning his zanpakuto to its scabbard and taking Mari's hand as she did the same. "Ikkaku, we'll be going now."
"Wait," Ikkaku demanded and gazing at him, Mari realized that he was holding his zanpakuto firmly and standing in a fighting stance. Yumichika was holding his breath as he took out his sword again, holding Mari close to him protectively and she clenched her jaw, grasping the hilt of her sword as she gazed around, sensing that there were people nearby. She stifled a gasp when they suddenly appeared, surrounding the three of them; there were at least twenty of them and Mari wasn't sure how the three of them could possibly handle them all on their own. They looked just like the first woman who attacked; pure white eyes and they looked like regular konpaku from the soul society except they each held a sword. They had blank expressions on their faces, almost appearing brainwashed somehow.
Then Mari heard a woman's laughter from above and she lifted her gaze to see that there was a woman standing above them with her arms crossed. "Thank you, princess. We were waiting for a moment to strike but you brought yourself out in the open so this should be easy, even with those bugs you brought for us to squash." This woman was different; her eyes were normal and she seemed to be acting of her own accord. She put a finger to her chin. "You know, it was very easy to figure you out by sending our first soldier as a dummy test." She pointed at Yumichika. "He is your boyfriend." Then she pointed at Ikkaku, "And he's the one who always jumps in to save the day when your boyfriend utterly fails to." She returned her finger to her chin. "So then we will kill the bald one first so he won't interfere and then we will kill the boyfriend in front of the princess. Let the princess live; I want to be the one to kill her in the end."
Yumichika pushed Mari behind him. "Stay behind me."
Mari took a step back, clenching her jaw again. "Remember what I said, Yumichika? I can protect myself." She withdrew her sword and held it in a fighting stance, standing with her back to Yumichika's. "I'll have your back, okay?"
Yumichika nodded once and the woman laughed again. "Okay, soldiers. Attack!"
Mari was immediately bombarded by multiple of them and she swung her sword to keep them back because she knew if she made one mistake, she could cost Yumichika his life. The thought made her panic but they were everywhere; she couldn't protect Yumichika like this. She stabbed the one in front of her and gave the other two deep slashes in their torso, turning each of them to dust before spinning around and killing the one who was prepared to cut Yumichika's side. "This is ridiculous!" she shouted before holding out her zanpakuto as it glowed blue. "Storm, Sukai Mizu!"
"Mari, don't do it!" she heard Yumichika gasp behind her but it had already begun to rain and her zanpakuto's blade disappeared, the guard and hilt remaining and changing into a beautifully woven intricate blue pattern with long blue ribbons on the end, flowing like water.
Mari gazed around at all of the soldiers around as the water thickened around their necks and she lifted the hilt in her hand and tugged at it and, as if she had an invisible blade to their necks, their heads snapped off and they immediately turned to dust. She lifted her gaze to the woman, who was gazing at her in utter shock and the water thickened around her neck and torso and limbs and Mari jumped up to be at her level. "You know, from that first battle with the woman, I didn't have my zanpakuto so you don't know how strong I am. How dare you be so naive to think you can kill me when you've never even seen me fight?"
Mari lifted the hilt to her side and it began absorbing the remaining water on the ground and some of the rain water too and a thick blade began forming with smaller points all along it and she lifted it over her head, swinging it down. The blade stretched out, aiming for the woman and just as the woman took out her sword to block it, Mari did a flash step behind her and the flexible blade wrapped around her neck and cut off her head like the rest. This woman, however, didn't vanish into dust like the rest; she fell to the floor and slowly began shedding into flakes of reishi, the way any other soul or soul reaper in the soul society died.
Mari slowly descended to the floor, her shikai slowly transforming back into the regular sword form and the rain stopped. Once her feet hit the floor, she fell back and Yumichika caught her just in time to keep her from falling to the floor, sitting on his knees and holding her on top of him. "You'll be okay, Mari," he quickly said, "I'll take you home and you'll be okay."
"Yumichika," Ikkaku approached from behind and at the sound of his voice, Yumichika sighed, closing his eyes and nodding.
Mari could feel herself weakening but her vision was still clear as she gazed at the man approaching; he was frighteningly tall and he wore a captain's coat over his shoulders, although it was worn and shredded at the bottom, showing how often it's been in battle with him. "Who is this?" he said and Mari felt Yumichika hold her tighter. "By the way Yumichika is straddling her, I can tell she's not an enemy. It's a shame; she seems like she'd be a strong opponent, the way she just killed all of those people. But she's not a soul reaper." He knelt down in front of her. "Who are you?"
Mari opened her mouth to speak and Yumichika held her even tighter, shaking his head. "She's not strong, captain. She hasn't even completely mastered her shikai and she's not much of a fighter. Her zanpakuto is mostly only good for taking out masses of weak people. The way she killed the other woman was a stroke of pure luck. Look at her; just using her shikai wears her out this much. If she over does it, she could even die."
"Is that so?" the captain said, "Does she have a name? Only soul reapers are supposed to be in this part of the seireitei."
"My name is Mari..." Mari's throat clenched at the thought of revealing her surname; would he send her home? But not only that, she didn't even want to utter her family name because that was the reason why she couldn't stay with Yumichika.
"It's okay, Mari," Yumichika whispered to her, "He won't send you home; he doesn't care enough to be involved."
Mari trusted Yumichika's word the most and managed to finish, "... Mari Suzuki."
The captain tapped his chin. "Suzuki?" he repeated slowly and Mari's heart raced with fear, clenching Yumichika's sleeves over her belly, gazing up at him with wide eyes. "That name sounds familiar."
Mari nearly fell over with relief, happy that he didn't even know where the name was from. "It's not important," she told him.
Yumichika's grasp on Mari loosened a bit and she could tell he was relieved as well. "Did you see everything that happened?" he asked the captain, who nodded.
"None of you happen to know what those are, do you?"
Mari shook her head. "Captain, if you don't mind, I want to take Mari home," Yumichika lifted Mari like a child, getting to his feet, "I'll meet you and Ikkaku at the squad barracks." Ikkaku and the captain both nodded and Yumichika began walking, a relieved expression on his face. Mari glared at him angrily, crossing her arms and he didn't happen to notice her expression until halfway there. "What's wrong?" he asked her and she responded by turning her face away, closing her eyes. Once they arrived, he laid her down on the bed and pulled the blanket over her shoulders. "Can you tell me what's wrong? Did I do something to make you mad me?"
"You called me weak," she answered, turning away from him, "You lied to your captain and said I didn't master shikai when I did."
"You don't understand," he chuckled, shaking his head, "If I let him think you're strong, he might want to battle you. My captain is brutal when it comes to battle because that's how squad eleven is; you wouldn't stand a chance against him and I don't mean that, by saying that, I'm calling you weak. He's just too strong. And besides, you haven't completely mastered shikai. It still takes away all your energy. Your shikai is very powerful so I don't expect that you master shikai so quickly; it's just that your zanpakuto has more power than you do and that's why it drains your energy."
Mari sighed. "But you always treat me like I'm so inferior to you but when we were training, you told me that we're at equal footing. You always act like you have to protect me, like I'm some kind of fragile doll or something."
Yumichika chuckled again and Mari could hear him climbing on to the bed beside her and he turned her to face him before lying down, resting his head on her belly and wrapping his arms around her. "I don't think you're inferior to me, Mari, really. You're very strong, as a matter of fact. But I know that you have so much potential and you could probably end up becoming captain-level and so there's always a chance that you could get hurt if you go into battle. I just don't want to take that risk. My top priority is your safety. I protect you so that if the time ever came, I would die before you even got a scratch on you."
Mari closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the pillow. "Then if you die, who's going to protect me?" When he stayed silent, she continued, "What if I got hurt in battle after you're dead? You know, I'm sure Ikkaku would try to protect me for your dying wish but you know he's got things to do too, sometimes. He can't protect me all the time, like you can. He has his own life too." He lifted his gaze to her but said nothing and she continued, "You know that feeling you get when you think about me getting hurt or dying? That's the same way I feel about you."
"Mari, I... I don't want to see you get married."
"But if you die, that's not going to stop it from happening so you will have died for nothing. I love you, Yumichika, and I don't want you to waste your life like that."
He buried his face into her top, staying silent for a few long moments, as if her words were sinking in and she lifted a hand, stroking his hair gently. "So what do you want to do, Mari?"
Mari gazed up at the ceiling again, continuing to stroke his hair as she took a deep breath. "I think it would be best if I went back home again the day after tomorrow. That's a couple days before the wedding and I'll have time to prepare... do you want an invitation?"
Yumichika shook his head. "No... thanks." There was a long pause as Mari closed her eyes, wishing that the days they had together would never end. "Mari... will I ever see you again after you go?"
Mari kept her eyes closed, a wave of sadness coming over her at the sound of the hurt in his voice and she continued to stroke his hair. "I don't know," she answered honestly, "but I really hope so. I promise that if I ever get the chance, I'll come visit you."
He held her tighter, whispering, "It's... it's not fair. Why does he get to have you but I don't? Have I... have I done something to deserve to feel like this?"
Mari felt tears welling in her eyes and she sat up, forcing Yumichika to sit up with her. "Yumichika... sleep with me. I want to have as much of you as I can before we have to part."
