120 Hours
That night I didn't sleep and Gin came to me in the middle of the night to confirm the date and give me two bracelets. Szayel had made them and they could suppress spirit pressure as strong as Aizen's. I thanked him and made my way to Grimmjow's room. I opened the door and shut it again soundlessly. He smiled as I handed him the bracelet and told him what it was for. He took it putting it away so it didn't get lost or damaged.
That night he and I laid tangled in each other's arms. We talked about what the future and how we wanted it to go. We talked about maybe one day having a family and then we talked about life in general. The hours seemed to pass by at a normal speed, which was fast considering they'd been going slow.
By the time morning came I was tired but I pushed to keep myself awake. I ate breakfast like normal, even though my father decided not to join us that morning. My mother talked about her late friend whom she named me after. And the rest of the day I sat in my room trying to figure out what life would be like away from here. Away from everything I knew.
Everything that came to mind was just strange and gave me a headache. When I finally went to sleep that night, it wasn't peaceful, in fact, I woke up quite a few times started.
88 hours
The next morning I woke up feeling horrible. I went to breakfast after getting dressed and my father was already there, waiting. I walked passed him and noticed that my mother wasn't in the room. I ignored her absence and pushed my food around taking a small bite here and there. My father watched me with calculating eyes and a deep frown.
"Nikki, I know you're not happy with me but that doesn't mean you have to pretend that I don't exist." He said crossing his arms.
"I'm not pretending you don't exist. I just don't have anything to say to you." I said pushing so hard on the fork that it bent and snapped.
We both looked at the fork in shock. I'd never had the strength to do that before.
"You're coming of age, it's a Jengu thing. Once your mother is feeling better then I'll have her explain it better." He said trying to dismiss what had just happened.
"Right," I said still unable to look away.
"But until then, talk to me. You look tired and I want to help." He said leaning toward me.
"There's nothing to talk about," I said putting the fork down.
"Then why do you look like you haven't slept in days?" He asked.
"Because I haven't been sleeping well. Since you wanted to be an asshole about Grimmjow, I haven't been able to sleep." I snapped.
"Then you'll just have to deal with no sleep then won't you?" He snapped back.
"So much for caring and wanting to keep me safe," I mumbled as I stood up.
As I was walking out of the room, I was spun around and slammed against the wall. My father stood there glaring at me.
"You can't blame me for this. I told you from the start to stay away from him." He ground out.
"Yes, I can. Why won't you just let me love who I want to? Then again, I'm sure Mom never wanted to love you..." I was cut off violently as his hand connected with my face.
I looked at him shocked. Never had he hit me. Neither of my parents had. He stood there looking at his hand like he was as shocked as I was. I felt the sting settle in the skin and all I could do was shove him away. He moved easily and I left him standing there.
That night I didn't sleep.
