BrightRhyme: HIII EVERYONE! What's up? Sorry it took so long to update, my summer school class a lot more work then I expected and I had/have writer's block... again. Thanks for being paitent! And thanks to those who reviewed :) Anyway, here's chapter 11!
Chapter Eleven: Something More
"Aww, how cute," Yoruichi grins as she finds Ichigo by Kara's side, her hand in his.
Ichigo blushes brightly and drops the girl's hand. Turning on her side, the sleeping Kara cuddles down into her pillow with a soft sigh, a cute sleeping habit of hers. "I-I just wanted her to know I'm here," Ichigo says still blushing.
Yoruichi raises an eyebrow at him, "Uh huh," she sits on the other side of Kara, "We need to talk." Ichigo looks her in the eyes. Yoruichi folds her arms across her chest, "I'm taking her to Soul Society," she cuts him off before he can say anything, "And you are staying here."
The substitute Shinigami narrows his eyes at her, "And what makes you think I'm-"
"You will stay here," Yoruichi says firmly as if speaking to a child, "Kara will be fine. You need to be here."
"You can't just take her away from me!" Ichigo clenches his fist.
Yoruichi raises an eyebrow at him, "You're acting like I won't bring her back. She has to go Ichigo. She's an extraordinary human," Yoruichi pauses for a moment, "It's just to see what makes her tick," this is of course a lie, "That's all."
"What makes her tick?" Ichigo glares at her, "She's not a ticking time bomb you can take apart!"
"It's not your decision to make now is it?" Yoruichi stands up, "Don't worry Ichigo. I'll bring her back the same way I took her there, down to her pretty eyelashes," she leaves the room, he can no longer hear her, "Well… almost. She just won't need you as a bodyguard anymore," Going to the front of the shop, she finds Rukia and Urahara outside.
"Well?" Rukia asks as soon as she sees her.
Yoruichi sighs, "He can't know the truth, not yet at least."
"Not until it's too late for her to back out," Urahara says.
Rukia looks back and forth between them, "She won't back out, she's too determined to give up on anything. You can tell by just looking into her eyes."
"Let's just hope so."
"It's not your decision either…" Ichigo mumbles to himself after Yoruichi leaves. He looks back at Kara, peacefully asleep. He lets his mind drift. Kara in Soul Society. They want to know what makes her tick… they'd take her apart… as if she were nothing more than a lab animal…
"Why do you look so worried…?" her voice reaches his ears. He blinks realizing Kara's awake. Her eyes are heavy with sleep as she smiles at him from the pillow, "Hi."
Ichigo can't help but smile at her, "Hey. Feeling better?"
She nods, "Much," she reaches for his hand, "Now… Why do you look so worried?" she repeats her question from before.
"I…" Ichigo holds on to her hand tightly, "Yoruichi wants to take you to Soul Society."
Kara looks at him confused, "Who's Yoruichi?" Ichigo goes on to explain who Yoruichi is to her. "Oh… you mean that lady who…" she trails off.
"Yeah," Ichigo replies. The silence that follows is awkward, "She… she had her reasons."
Kara forces a smile, "Yeah, I know, there's a reason for everything right?" Ichigo nods. "So… if there's a reason for everything, then maybe she has a good reason for wanting me to go to Soul Society."
"She doesn't want…" Ichigo says, "If you go… she wants you to go without me."
The blonde looks away. The idea of going to Soul Society without Ichigo seems… wrong. He'd been there for her since this little adventure started. "Why am I going?"
Ichigo hesitates, "To find out… why you tick…" he imagines a science student dissecting a frog to see why it ticks… then he imagines that crazy Captain Kurotshuchi dissecting a frog, to see why it ticks… he shakes his head before the thought can be painted in his head… Captain Kurotshuchi dissecting Kara to see why she ticks. "You can't go," Kara blinks up at him. "He's gonna dissect you like you're some kind of lab frog!"
"Now, now Ichigo, Yoruichi won't let that happen to Kara," Urahara comes into the room, "How are you feeling Kara?"
"Umm… I was feeling better… but I really don't want to be dissected…"
Yoruichi comes in followed by Rukia, "You won't be. I promise. Ichigo is just being overprotective," Yoruichi says grinning at Kara.
Kara looks at Yoruichi and then at Ichigo, who says, "I'm not being overprotective!" Kara tries to sit up, but finds her body is still a little in pain. "Careful," Ichigo says putting his hand on Kara's back to support her, "Here," he moves closer to her, letting her lean against him. Ichigo ignores the looks he's getting from the other three occupants of the room.
I don't raise my eyes up at any of them. I relax against Ichigo for a few moments, looking at my hand in his. I can't lie… I have butterflies in my stomach, I like being near Ichigo so much. Maybe… it's possible… that maybe I like it too much. A part of me wants to fight it… a part of me is telling me I can't lose my entire self to these feelings. "She's right," I finally say as I let go of Ichigo's hand. He opens his mouth to say something but I don't let him. I force myself to stand up on my own, "You are overprotective. And… as much as I like being your damsel in distress, that's not who I am Ichigo…"
Ichigo looks up at me, "Kara," he stands up, "I-"
"I'm going to Soul Society without you," I look into his eyes, "I have to… you have to let me do this. I'm not a child, don't treat me like one. I trust you Ichigo, but now it's your turn to trust me."
He keeps looking into my eyes. I wonder what he's thinking right now. I see him look at Rukia, he sighs when he finally looks back at me, "Just… don't do anything stupid while you're there."
I smile, "I'll try," I turn around, "So Yoruichi, when are we gonna go to Soul Society?"
"Tomorrow?" my mother asks me as she finally settles down on the living room couch. It's late Saturday afternoon. They came back yesterday morning and didn't suspect that Emi and I hadn't been home in the last few days either. I hadn't gone to school yesterday, deciding to be a good daughter and help Mom and Hideo relax from their long trip, "Kara, I don't know about this… what play is it anyway?"
"Uhh…" I'm not a very good liar, "Some Shakespeare play… Mom, c'mon. I've been cooped up in Karakura Town since we got here, don't you think it'd be nice if I got out of it for a few days?"
"How long is a few days?" my mother asks.
"A few days, I'll be on my best behaviour, I promise!" I say. My mother is exhausted from her trip, there wasn't a better time to ask her if I could go away on a trip with a few friends. She isn't going to put up too much of a fight.
After a few seconds, she finally sighs, "Fine, but only because I trust that you will be a responsible young lady that will come back in one piece."
I smile brightly at her, "Sure no problem Mom." Well, well, looks like I've gotten a bit better at lying… y'know just a bit.
"It's been awfully quiet around here." Ichigo glances at Rukia from his desk. She's sitting on his bed flipping through a magazine, her eyes never moving off the pages. "In other words, you're even more quiet than normal," she raises her eyes up to his, "Did you talk to Kara today?"
Ichigo blushes and turns his attention back to the school work on the desk, "No."
"Why not? She's leaving tomorrow, aren't you going to miss her?"
"It's only a few days," he replies back.
Rukia goes back to her magazine, "Uh huh. But a few days can feel like a long time."
"Yeah well, she decided to go without me."
"Is that what this is about?" she asks, "You're being all moody and sulky because Kara decided to stand on her own two feet?"
"You heard her she doesn't want to be a damsel in distress, so I'm just gonna back off," Ichigo says this slowly, "Weren't you the one who said I should?"
Rukia groans in frustration, "There's a difference between backing off and avoiding! You're avoiding her!"
"I am not. Not talking to someone for one day is not avoiding!"
"Yes it is. Why are you avoiding her?" Rukia says finally putting the magazine down.
"I…" Ichigo begins but then he notices Kara's hair clip sitting on his desk from the night she was here. Picking it up he sighs, "I don't know why. I just… I guess I'm confused."
Rukia fought back a smile, "About Kara?" Ichigo nods. "You like her, don't you?"
Ichigo blushes, "Wh-what? Yeah of course I do, she's my fri-"
"Noooo," Rukia says as she gets up, "I mean you, really like her," she leans against the desk and takes the clip from him, "It's obvious you know, well to everyone but you." Ichigo remains quiet. "I was trying to tell you the other day, but you were too riled up about what happened to her… I've seen the way you look at her. The way you smile so easily with her. It's okay if you like her, it's not a crime." Ichigo puts his head on the desk, "What're you so afraid of? Are you scared she doesn't feel the same way? Because I'm pretty sure she likes you too."
"You're wrong, Kara and I are just friends!" Ichigo gets up from the desk, "Watch I'll prove it!" and with that he leaves the room.
Rukia just shook her head, "He's in complete denial…"
"Kara, you better bring that cup back down here when you're finished!" my mother calls after me as I saunter past the living room with a full, hot cup of tea in my hand and go up the stairs. I have a bad habit of forgetting my tea cups upstairs. One time I actually lost my cup of tea, I literally couldn't find it, until Emi found it in her room the next morning. "Did you hear me?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll do it." Translation: If I remember. I take a sip as I get to the top of the stairs, "Mmm…" So good! I shut my room door behind me and head over to the desk, where my laptop sits patiently awaiting my return. Turning up the volume, I hit play on the… well playlist and let the music fill my room. I go over to the bed, putting the tea cup on the night stand to cool off. I lie back on the bed and let my mind wander as the notes and lyrics of the music coming from my computer fill my ears.
'…I know you love to feel, the strength of my attraction, the physical reaction, a love so strong so real, like a magnet to steel.
My brain automatically thinks of Ichigo, back when he called me a trouble magnet… and how whenever he was near me I felt… I blush and bury my face in the pillow. I really never felt this way before and I can't stop myself from thinking about him. I sigh and turn my head to the side as the song finishes. "It's just a song, it's not like it depicts part of my life." That's when I hear a knock at my balcony door. I get off the bed and go over to the door to find Ichigo in his Shinigami robes there. I open it, "Hey."
"Hey… are you busy?" he asks as I grab my cup of tea from the night stand.
I smile, "Nahh, not really," I walk out onto the balcony, the air is a little cool but it's nice. "Y'know…" I lean against the railing, "Tea is the secret of life," I grin as I put the cup to my lips and take a drink.
Ichigo just shakes his head in amusement and says, "Really?"
I giggle, "Well… maybe. At least for me it is," I wink at him. "So what brings you here on such a fine night?" I see from the corner of my eye that he's hesitant to say anything. "Ichigo?"
"We're friends right?" he suddenly blurts out.
I blink and look at him, "Umm… yeah… why would you even ask that?"
"It's noth-"
I raise an eyebrow at him, "Mm hmm, course not." I drink the rest of my tea, "There's something else, go on."
He takes the cup out of my hand and puts it on the wooden stool Hideo had put in the corner. I watch Ichigo curiously and he tries to find words to say. "So… since we're friends… it's… weird that… "
"Weird that…?" I can feel my heart racing.
He's holding my hands, looking at our hands together, "Weird that Rukia thinks… there's something more?" I bite my bottom lip as his voice gets quieter, "Is…" Ichigo looks into my eyes, his eyes deep and warm, "Is there something more?"
BrightRhyme: Alright that's all for now everyone! I realize it may be shorter then the last few chapters, but there's wasn't much else I really wanted to write for it. Hope you liked it!
Kara: What the hell am I gonna say?
BrightRhyme: For now, you can say, see ya later people! Until next time :)
Kara: See ya laterr!
