A/N: You guys *sniffs* you all are just fantastic thank you for your thoughts and comments! I hope to hear more! I am excited to say a new character who has been mentioned in passing will be appearing in this chapter today! Cough cough Rukia. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any other copyrighted material.
Lie To Me Chpt.8
"Gin…" She whispered his name breathlessly like it was the only thing she ever wanted him to know. His hands tilted her chin towards his lips, stealing a chaste kiss before deepening a second one. Her hands slid to his chest gripping the fabric of his shirt tightly, never wanting him to leave. She wanted to be this close to him, always.
"Rangiku…"she gasped as he moved his torturous lips to her vulnerable neck feeling the erratic pulse quicken beneath him. Her hands slowly laced into his silver hair as his moved to grasp her hips. His icy gaze held her hostage to his every move and action…
BBBRrrrrrinnnnggggggggg!
Rangiku was pulled away from her daydream of the events that had taken place before he'd left…again, by the shrill metallic cry of a telephone. She groaned rolling out of her bed and grabbing the inconvenient nuisance.
"Hello?"
"Rangiku-san?"
"Oh! Hime! What's up?"
"W-Well I was wondering if you wanted to come over and have one of those parties…"
"How soon are you available?"
"Right now, works."
"I'll be there soon."
She ended the call with a click of her finger, a small smile creeping unto her lips. This was exactly what she needed.
When after taking an hour to decide on what outfit she would wear that day Rangiku finally arrived at Orihime's place. She was taken back by the fancy décor of the little place wondering how jacked up her friends rent must've been. She heard the faint beat of a song on the other side of the white paneled door.
She twisted the knob experimentally finding it was unlocked and sighed disdainfully. Her poor Hime was always so careless about things like this. The girl would probably happily let a robber take all her belongings if they smiled just right. She entered the spacious flat feeling a small rhythmic throb in her chest from the boom of the bass in the song. Orihime was already swaying her hips to the beat flooding her apartment.
"…and I wanted it, I wanted it bad but there were so many red flags…"
The voice of the female singer rang out as Orihime sashayed towards Rangiku beckoning her to join in. Rangiku cast her purse carelessly along the floor and slid out of her shoes. She followed Orihime's lead and began to express all her worries and troubles into her movement as the song continued. She and her auburn haired friend did this every once in a while when they felt down and out. They would throw a large dance party and shake around until they dropped, then they would talk it out and usually end up crying into each other as they watched a chick flick in their sweatpants.
"…Well, I've got thick skin and an elastic heart, but your blade it might be too sharp…"
She began to think about Gin as she twirled around rolling her hips soundly. His face flashed through her mind as she closed her eyes losing herself to the euphoric melody. She wondered how long it would be before she saw him again. He'd left in the dead of the night a couple days ago knowing had he waited until morning he'd have to deal with her tears and her pleas for him not to go.
"…you won't see me fall apart…"
What unnerved her about his absences the most was that she didn't know where he was going, what he was doing, or how long he'd be gone. They'd briefly talked about it once or twice both discussions ending in fights. She knew he worked for the government in some way shape or form but part of the parameters of his job included not divulging any information about his exact duties.
She sighed breathing a little heavy as the song faded into a distant drumroll. Orihime collapsed onto the couch and Rangiku took the floor leaning against the arm for support.
"So what's eating at you?" She offered hoping not to have to divulge first. Orihime was silent at first causing Rangiku to shoot her a concerned glance noticing her precious friend cover her eyes by crossing her arms across her face.
"I filed for divorce papers today…" She saw the slight hiccup in the red-heads speech and moved closer to the girl offering her arms, which she gladly took.
"Hime its okay, you don't have to cry about it. He had it coming." The sniffling girl choked out a sob.
"I-I'm won't see him anymore o-or his face, and I r-really liked his face!" Rangiku gently stroked the shuddering girls long beautiful hair somewhat understanding her thought pattern. Orihime had been head over heels for that Kurosaki since the start of high school. She'd had these deep-rooted feelings for a long time so she had a right to be a little upset about losing them. But she would get back on her feet, she always did. And someone would sweep the busty girl off her feet in a matter of no time, and treat her the way she deserved.
"I-I really loved him Rangiku…W-Why does it hurt so much?" she cried. Rangiku pondered the question. Wasn't it silly how something so wonderful and fleeting could burn so bad, leaving nothing but ashes in the wake of its passionate fury.
"Because it was real." She replied softly, effectively calming the girl down until her shaking stopped.
"I miss Gin." She continued. Orihime pulled away from her looking her in the eyes seriously, understanding the situation perfectly as usual when she said something that pertained to Gin.
"How long this time?" she asked her puffy eyes holding a worried tone.
"I don't know…" Orihime stood up and walked towards the TV stand rummaging through her collection of DVDs until she happened upon two shiny disks that piqued her interest. The girl always knew when Rangiku wanted something to take her mind off of her strange and possibly dysfunctional relationship.
"Stuck in Love or Toy Story?"
"Toy Story."
As her short black hair swished back and forth in her sassy gait Rukia Kuchiki neared the meeting place. Ichigo had agreed to meet her on the roof of Karakura High School after not returning her calls or messages for quite a few weeks. She was not happy about it to say the least.
As she ascended the steps she recalled one of her teachers that had possibly been one of the root causes of the mess she had gotten herself into crossed her mind. Kaien Shiba. He was tall and had dark raven locks that were in stark contrast to his turquoise eyes. She recalled staying after class with her sensei many afternoons just the two of them. He had been her first and even though he'd been married he said he loved her more. As a foolish 14 year old at the time of course she'd believed him. She wanted to be loved. She'd grown up in a home with cold, distant parents who didn't hold love for her but expectations instead. Her big brother, who she respected immensely, was also the type to say 'I love you' yet keep you at an arm's length distance. She wanted that warm feeling in her stomach, that happy comfort she recognized in the eyes of so many other students as they walked home. She wanted the feeling of being held in another's arms. And what older man wouldn't have taken advantage of a vulnerable cute little teenage girl? She only had herself to blame for being so weak.
She walked onto the roof finding Ichigo leaning over the rail with the most pitiful expression plastered on his face, knowing that she was the cause of whatever his trouble may be. She was feeling rather introspective today it seemed. Amidst her crazy schedule of defending clients in court and doing the 2-story tall stacks of paperwork accompanied with each of those cases somehow she'd found the time to make this happen. As the carrot-top turned she watched his broad shoulders contract and ripple along his back against his t-shirt causing her to turn away her face reddening. She wasn't sure at first what it was that drew her to him. Until she made the connection between him and Kaien. History had a nasty habit of repeating itself. Their faces were so similar, they were both married and strong-willed. And in both instances when they'd taken her, she was irrefutably vulnerable. The only difference between the two who both came from loving homes and had strong hearts was that one was dead and the other alive.
Once Miyako Shiba, Kaien's dutiful wife, had discovered their affair she'd been so devastated she'd taken her own life. Kaien had come home to find her wrists slit vertically and scarlet blood pooling the floor and staining the note she'd left before ending her suffering that simply read 'How could you do this?' Rukia still had that note to this day. She'd received it from Kaien in his final moments as he took his own life right in front her, by putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger. She kept it as a reminder of her shortcomings. She'd never forgotten what he said before that gunshot.
"I made a mistake Rukia. Sorry."
Those words still haunted her to this day.
They followed her everywhere. A mistake, she was always the mistake and never the right choice.
"Rukia." He said her name hoarsely, like he hadn't spoken in days. There were faint yellowish blue marks along his cheek. She had a nagging hunch that she already knew why he seemed so upset. Her mind shifting to one of her old kind-hearted friends.
"Does Orihime know?" He said nothing but nodded in response. She clenched her hands tightly. She'd messed something up again.
"What about Renji?" He asked turning his head back towards the street filled with all kinds of people. She chuckled darkly moving next to him sharing his view and recalling what Renji had done about a month ago.
"He left me." The Spaniard simply walked up to her one afternoon and placed a pile of divorce papers at her feet kissed her forehead and walked away without a word. The silence that ensued in his departure had disturbed her deeply. It was as if all the tension that had been placed between them was shifted to guilt. The air seemed like it was trying to smother her. Every sound whispered it's your fault.
Ichigo did not apologize and neither did she. They weren't there to comfort each other mentally. They never had been. They were simply reminders to each other that they were both alive and breathing. Yet seeing his heartsick expression seemed to ignite a spark of anger in her for some odd reason. She was not going to allow Ichigo who was not hopeless and had the potential to live a happy life sit here in front of her defeated.
"Ichigo. " She spoke. He swiveled his gaze towards the petite girl only to feel the sharp sting of a slap in the face that sent him sputtering back.
"Rukia what the hell?!" He yelled holding his nose.
"Quit feeling sorry for yourself we both agreed to this!" she yelled.
"We both know you don't love her like you think you do because I know that Ichigo Kurosaki wouldn't cheat on his wife if he truly loved her, because that's just the kind of person you are idiot!" Ichigo's anger faded into realization. She always had to hit him to get him to listen. And she would not be blamed for the shortcomings of his marriage. Were both of them really too blind to see that they didn't really love each other? I mean, surely Ichigo had feelings for her if he'd slept with her…more than once?
"You didn't have to hit me you pipsqueak!" He shot back.
"If I hadn't hit you, you would still be moping!" He seemed to stiffen and thought about launching another witty insult at her but dropped it and instead mumbled:
"Thanks, Rukia." She felt her heart race and turned away so he wouldn't see the flush on her cheeks. How could he be so unreasonable and then so charming?
"Whatever, idiot."
Ulquiorra stood leaned against the railing of his balcony. He was not sure what the occupant underneath him was doing but he could clearly hear some popular song blaring noisily from the ground under his feet. The only place he found that could give him the satisfaction of a peaceful silence was this tiled deck upon which he now stood. He tried to pick up his violin with its soft mahogany curvature to play out the feelings he was itching to express but winced upon trying to grip his bow. He studied his hand. There was still traces of bruising along the lines of his knuckles that ached whenever he tried to grip his hand. Which annoyingly forced him to take a few days off to recover. After all, his hand was literally worth a million dollars and he had to have it in prime condition before toying around inside people's heads. But he didn't really care in all honesty about missing work.
"Does it hurt?" her voice whispered into the quiet room.
"A little, yes." He admitted as she stepped closer towards him. She gently took his hand in hers running her small fingers over the irritated skin gently not looking him in the eye.
"I'm really sorry about this." He could tell she had been crying. If the faint tear tracks along her cheeks weren't a good enough indicator the fresh batch of tears laden along the bottom rim of her watery silver eyes were.
"I'm sorry Ulquiorra." She reiterated dipping her head down further to try and shield her face from him as she cried. He gingerly took his free hand, that wasn't being held so tightly and caught the small droplets running along her skin.
"There is nothing to be sorry for." And there wasn't. He would have punched Ichigo a hundred times, no, a thousand times for her sake.
She moved from his hand to his shirt staining the material with the salty tears. He placed his arms around her his breath hitching in his throat.
Ulquiorra sighed looking to the ground below him being able to partially see the row of terraces beneath him and he swore he caught a glimpse of auburn receding to where he could not trace it.
