The pain had been unbearable. Rukia had spiraled into a world of darkness. It felt like someone had literally reached inside of her chest and pulled out her heart with their bare, meaty hands. The death of Kuchiki Hisana had taken its toll on the entire town. There was no longer this buzz of happiness that seemed to be there before. Hisana had been a bright and smiling woman, who nurtured to everyone's needs. She made calls to the sick in hopes of bringing up their spirits and to let them know that it would all be okay, even when her own days were numbered. She planted flowers in her garden to make her home more welcoming and pretty, and inviting to everyone. She had sent Christmas cards to distant family, forgotten friends, and the elderly at the old folks home who just wanted to know someone was thinking about them.
She had handwritten every single one.
Even birthdays, Hisana would never forget. Everyone received pretty little cards that said something nice and personal. They made people smile and it was nice and it was uplifting.
Even when the sickness had taken over Hisana and she had become too frail to even pick up a pen, she made the effort to call. She did everything she could to make sure everyone around her was happy. She wanted everyone to be happy. The fact that she was sick hadn't even occurred to her, and to Hisana, it wasn't even a major factor in her life.
She'd always say it was just another bump in the road, although she very well knew it was much more like a mountain that she wouldn't be able to climb. But it kept people happy to think that she was okay. So she made them think that she was okay.
And everyone was happy.
But then that dreadful day had come along and taken nearly everyone but Byakuya and Rukia by surprise. They had not known of how sever her illness was until it was too late. Many did not even know she was in the hospital, for they would have sent her flowers or cards or balloons. But no one knew. No one had seen the light of their town slowly fading.
It was just like when Kurosaki Masaki had passed. The town was in a depression, not just the family. Masaki was part of the town, she was their family too. She was family to Hisana and even then, she managed to smile and pull it together for everyone else. Hisana had become the new Masaki. She would replace her, becoming the light of the town and making everyone happy and spreading her joy the best she could.
It became easy for her to make people happy. She enjoyed it. Putting others before her had become second nature to her now. It was the love the felt and the smiles she received that made every moment worthwhile.
Not a day past by that Hisana didn't make at least someone smile.
But then, in a blink of an eye, she was gone.
And all over again, the town went into their depression. People murmured among themselves, to their friends, to their family. Rukia could not bring herself to even go to school anymore. She had missed an entire week, but nobody said anything about it. They didn't dare. It was still believed that Rukia was somehow a curse. First it was her mom, her dad, Kaien, and then Hisana. She was dangerous. The murmurs spread and soon people began to whisper, and then talk a little louder, and before anyone knew what was happening the whole town was talking and shouting about it.
Nobody had heard from Rukia for weeks.
She didn't dare leave her room.
She didn't answer the house phone.
She didn't answer the door.
The school sent home many letter of concern; not a single one was open or read.
Byakuya was surprisingly no better. He was colder if possible. His eyes were so dead, so lifeless and so dull. He made eye contact with no one unless necessary. He did not speak unless spoken to, and even when he did talk, it was short clipped answers.
That house began to slowly fall apart. The flowers Hisana had so beautifully planted were slowly dying now. The birds were no longer coming to play in the fountain because there was no one to leave bird seeds for them anymore.
The lights in the house never turned on. Byakuya would come home from work to find Rukia still in her room, unchanging and unmoving. She didn't get up from her bed not once unless to use the bathroom. She would just lie down in her bed and lay there and lay there for hours and hours until she had to use the bathroom again. And although she would lay there for such a long time, she rarely slept. In an entire week, she probably slept about 7 hours. That was about an hour of sleep a day, right? It was too hard to close her eyes. She would immediately see images of Hisana's smiling, happy face and it would become too much for her. It was too soon to see that face. It was too hard to have memories of the one person who had never left her side, no matter what. She was so close, yet so very far away. Out of her reach. Out of range. But right in front of her.
Sleep only came when her body was too exhausted to even have the time to daydream. She'd close her eyes and be out like a light. But then she'd have dreams and she would wake up with a start. That too, was too much for her to take. Her dreams were usually about Hisana and that day at the park when it was snowing, and she was so small, so innocent and young. They were on swings, happy and cheerful and so carefree. She felt almost content with this connection with Hisana, but somewhere along the way, her dream would turn morbid. Hisana would be coughing up blood, in agonizing pain and she would be crouched over on the floor. She would be holding her sides as if she was bleeding internally and it was just too painful for her. Hisana would look like a crazed creature. She bled from the mouth, and then her nose, and then it came from her ears and finally her eyes filled with the crimson colour as well. Rukia would scream and scream, but nothing happened. Hisana usually either let out this earsplitting scream and then collapse, and die in the pool of blood she had created, or just disappear as Rukia tried to grasp for her.
Either way, Rukia did not enjoy sleep.
She had these same dreams for days. Days turned into weeks, and before she had known what was happening and how fast time could go by when life didn't matter to you anymore, those weeks had turned into a month in no time.
Byakuya lived by clockwork. It was just a repeated cycle that he lived day by day, week by week. It was as simple as waking up, going to work, coming home, leaving some food for Rukia in her room while she slept for once, and then going to sleep. Somewhere in there, he'd do some mindless paperwork.
His priority was Rukia.
As hard as that is to believe, she was all he really had left. Hisana made him promise to take care of her no matter what and to watch over her with everything in him and he would keep that promise. If it weren't for Byakuya, Rukia would've starved by now. She never left that room unless she needed to and food just didn't seem important to her.
Along with rarely sleeping, it was practically once every full moon that Rukia would actually eat the food Byakuya put out for her. He usually just put rice and water, and sometimes the occasional ramen. Her health was deteriorating by the day. She refused to sleep, and that was messing with her head. She could no longer think straight and her thoughts seemed like voices in her head. She struggled to keep sane some days. She barely ate and her strength was no longer. It took all of her energy to even get up to use the bathroom now. On those days, Rukia would sit herself down and make herself eat. Sometimes she could finish the entire meal –ramen and rice, and even guzzling down all of her water- and still be hungry for much more.
But she didn't like leaving her room, so she did not eat at her own free will and when she did, she ate bit by bit and that only made her hungrier. The hungrier she felt, the weaker she was, and with this weakness, she felt herself going crazy. Her muscles just did not work the same way anymore. Her mind was practically fried. It told her to eat every day, to go outside and get some sunlight, but she thought she was hearing voices and she would push them away. She wouldn't listen and Rukia would end up not doing a single thing that day; she did not use the bathroom, eat, sleep, or move.
When Kuchiki Hisana died, she brought along her entire family.
Ichigo was going crazy just as well. It wasn't the death of Hisana that had shaken him, although that played a big part in his problem. It was the fact that Rukia hadn't spoken to him in an entire month. She had pushed him away before, but never to this extinct. He'd go to school, only hoping that she would show up, yet she never did. He went to her house numerous of times to check up on her, but Byakuya would either send him away or no one would answer at all. Usually he would've fought to see Rukia, but never before had he seen a man look so destroyed. Not even his father, the head over heels in love with his wife crazy man, hadn't looked so broken when Masaki died.
But Ichigo looked into the eyes of this man and felt his insides chill. He had only met Byakuya one other time, and even then his eyes were cold and he was stoic. This time, Byakuya had no emotion behind his eyes. They could barely be classified as cold. There was absolutely nothing there. Those once amethyst eyes had somehow become the darkest shade of purple he'd ever seen. Too dark for an eye colour.
He didn't even want to imagine what Rukia's eyes looked like.
Ichigo was persistent. He would call the house almost every day. But again and again, there would be no answer.
It was driving him crazy. He didn't know what had happened to Rukia or what she was doing, or how she was coping. He couldn't protect her from any pains, kiss away any tears, or sooth her cries. An entire month away from her, and he didn't know how much longer he could take being without her. He wanted to comfort her, but there was just no way he could do that if she wouldn't even leave her room. He hated feeling like he had no way to help.
And somewhere deep inside of him, he knew that he could not. Such eyes like Byakuya's were eyes that could not be healed. He had eyes no man should ever have and it was disheartening. Ichigo was completely powerless, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it, and it was driving him crazy.
If there was one thing Rukia had forbidden herself from doing, it was to cry again. She was done with that. She was fed up with feeling sorry for herself. Even if she starved to death, went crazy from sleep deprivation, or just dropped dead –she would not cry. Not for anything.
She had once knocked into the bowl of rice she had planned on eating that day and as it clattered to the ground, she felt herself falling to her knees. Everything stopped.
She remembered spending hours in that position, staring at the rice on the floor as if it had done something terribly wrong. The world, it seemed, had stopped just for that rice bowl. There was no sound, no light, no taste in her mouth, and she didn't smell even her own upper lip. Her body was shaking violently, like she wanted to cry, but her eyes were completely dry. She did not want to cry, in fact, she couldn't even if she did want to. Her eyes were so completely cried dry, that crying just took too much strength from her. So she could only stare at the rice bowl on the ground in pure rage for reasons she still could not understand to this day. She slumped down and fell to the floor completely. It was then that she realized that she hadn't slept once this entire week and it was already Wednesday. She hadn't eaten either, and there was her food, on the ground and dirty to the touch. Exhaustion took over her in that instant. Rukia took in one shuddery breath and closed her eyes, preparing herself for the gruesome dreams.
For once, they did not come, and Rukia slept for hours and hours. When she woke up again, she was in her bed. The bowl of rice was cleaned up and replaced, and there was a glass of water by her bedside. And a note.
Rukia read it carefully, her eyes unclear with sleep and her mind was still slightly crazy from her lack of sleep. Although she was sure she had just slept for a full day.
The note simply said one word: drink.
And that's what she did.
She later found out that she wasn't really exhausted in that sense, but instead her body had simply passed out. She hadn't drunken anything in the longest time, plus she wasn't eating, and then she wasn't sleeping; her body just couldn't take the punishment anymore so it gave in and Rukia just passed out.
She had drunken the entire glass in one gulp, nearly choking on it. She had eaten the food at a pace too fast for her to swallow, and she nearly choked again, which made her finally slow down when she realized she was too weak to fight against no breathing. And slowly, Rukia began to come around again. She still did not leave her room for anything, but to use the bathroom. She would welcome Byakuya when he came into give her food. She would nod at him and he'd nod to her, but still he did not make eye contact. Rukia was okay with that. His eyes were almost too scary and lifeless to look into.
She ate everyday and slept more often. She walked around her room to stretch out her joints. At the end of the day, she would crawl into a ball at the edge of her bed and silently sip the glass of water. Sooner or later, she would fall asleep. She no longer had any dreams.
A few more days passed by and Rukia finally decided to leave her room. She only left for an hour or so to put up her dishes herself and to use the bathroom, and then occasionally she would stare out the window for long periods of time. For what reason, she wasn't sure; she guessed it just gave her something to do. One day, Rukia had stayed down there longer than usual and she nearly jumped out of her skin when her doorbell rang. She had heard it almost every day from upstairs, but she made herself believe it was all in her head. Hearing it now, it was so real. There was no way that was in her head. It rang again, several more times actually. It sounded almost urgent, but something just wouldn't let Rukia answer the door.
She stared at it and waited there until the ringing finally stopped and the house was silent again. Rukia had placed her hand on the door, feeling the cold texture against her fingers. She stayed there for a few more seconds before she finally went back upstairs and crawled into the corner of her bed to sip away at her glass of water.
The next day, Rukia was downstairs only momentarily to put away her dishes and to refill her glass of water, when the doorbell rang again.
She stared at the door again, not making any movements to answer it. She had stopped moving completely and listened as the doorbell rung urgently over and over again. She just couldn't move. She couldn't imagine really talking to anyone. She hadn't seen a single face but Byakuya's in the last month.
The ringing finally stopped, and Rukia filled her glass with water and went to go back upstairs when suddenly there was a low thump on the door. She stopped, mid step. She stared at the door carefully, no emotions on her face. Her mind still hadn't processed those yet. Every moment was one that she just did to do. Nothing had a purpose.
But Rukia walked over to the door, clutching the water in her hand. She did not know what was on the other side, yet she stared at the door for several minutes, even long after the thump. Again, Rukia went to her room to quietly sip her water.
This time, Rukia waited at the door. She waited for what seemed like forever. She felt like a puppy. She felt more like a baby, learning new sounds and words. She sat and waited at the door as if she had never heard a doorbell before, but it was kind of like she hadn't. Her mind had forgotten everything beyond what was important. Right now, water was important to Rukia.
The waiting went on for several hours and Rukia was ready to go back to her room before she realized that she would just be doing more waiting up there. There was nothing up there for her, but a bed. And she wasn't tired, so she sat there longer until the doorbell finally rang again.
She jumped, staring at the door once again. Her hands clasped together as she stood. She stumbled towards the door, gulping as her hand reached out for the doorknob. She clutched it tightly and waited for the ringing to stop, although she did not know why since this was the whole reason she had stayed down here for much longer than she had needed to.
The ringing finally came to a cease and Rukia sucked in a breath that seemed to take all of her strength. Her knees wobbled and felt like jelly underneath her.
But then she had heard the thump.
She heard the thump and it came twice before there was only silence once more.
Rukia opened the door.
'Ichigo,'
Ichigo stood at the door, his eyes wide with surprise like he hadn't expected anyone to answer, especially Rukia. He stared at her for a moment before smilingly warmly. His expression grew soft and gentle.
"Rukia,"
Rukia shook her head and cleared her throat to say something. It was overwhelmingly hard since she hadn't used her voice in nearly a month. She tried to say something, but her voice cracked the second she opened her mouth. No amount of clearing her throat had helped. Rukia swatted her hand back in forth across the air in front of her throat to indicate that she could not speak.
Ichigo scowled and stepped forward.
He was inside her house now and he closed the door behind him. Rukia stepped away from him and tried looking him in the eyes, but couldn't stand the eye contact any longer than a second.
Ichigo brought out his hands and cupped Rukia's face. Her cheeks were so bony and cold. Her skin was paler than it should've been and she was really thin.
"Rukia, have you been eating?"
Rukia nodded, still not looking up at Ichigo.
He cocked his eyebrows and gazed down at her like he didn't believe her and his suspicions only amplified when a sudden shiver shot through Rukia's legs and her knees buckled with weakness. Her stomach growled angrily and it was almost painful how it churned and turned inside of her.
She looked down from his eyes, ashamed. It then dawned onto her that she had spent most of that day waiting at the door for him, and the thought of eating had not yet occurred to her. It seemed trivial, the way she could just forget something so important like eating and yet it didn't seem to bother her and Ichigo was much more worried than she was. Her well being didn't exactly matter anymore.
Ichigo caught her by her thin arm as her body leaned subconsciously towards him. They locked eyes and suddenly images of Byakuya flashed through Ichigo's mind. That couldn't be good.
"I'm taking you out to eat. Shut up and come with me."
XxXxXxXx
Orihime giggled and twirled around in the grassy field. Her bright yellow dress blended in with the even brighter variations of flowers. Her bare feet brushed against the grass and the small plants. It tickled the skin of her toes and more giggles bubbled from her plump, pink lips. She smiled happily at the people across the field from her. Her friends were laughing and grinning as well. Renji and Tatsuki were laughing and pushing each other in the grass. They shoved one another until Tatsuki fell to the ground and brought Renji down with her.
Ishida smiled softly as he watched this beautiful girl running through the field, almost like a movie. Her hair was vibrant as the sun reflected from it and soaked itself in. Her tanned skin seemed flawless. Her laughter was so loud and so bubbly. So perfect. Everything about her was so perfect. He wouldn't want her any other way.
The four friends had made plans for a simple picnic in a random field of flowers and grass. Orihime had picked it of course, and Ishida was invited on behalf of how close the two had gotten in the last few months. Renji and Tatsuki tagged along, inviting Ichigo, but him obviously being too busy to attend.
"Ishida-Kun, come look at this rose! It came out of nowhere! Isn't that amazing? There are no other roses around, just this one! And it's so pretty!" Orihime squealed as she carefully plucked the rose from the ground and admired its red and shiny beauty.
Ishida smiled as he came up behind her and watched Orihime as she held up the rose to the sky. Her butterfly bracelet twinkled in the sunlight, just like it did the day Rukia had bought it for her.
Orihime brought her wrist down to look at the small, pretty little reminder of her troubled friend. She sighed and turned towards Ishida who was staring at her intently. Her breath caught in her throat in that moment. She had never seen Ishida so handsome before. The way the sun was reflecting off of his glasses just made him seem so mysterious. His sleek black hair had grown longer over the months and he looked so grown and mature. His scowling had been limited due to all of the time he had spent with Orihime; there was just no real reason so scowl anymore.
Orihime looked him up and down, taking in his cool form. He was lean and tall and slightly lanky, but underneath that white dress shirt she could see slight muscles and she knew if the incident ever occurred, he could protect her. He would protect, that much she could see in those dark blue eyes. They held so much pride and wisdom, and Orihime found herself staring into them much longer than she had wanted to.
"Ishida-Kun…" Orihime whispered into the cool spring air as it rushed past her face and through her hair. She smiled at him as he reached his hand out and touched her cheek with his rough hands.
"Having fun, Princess?" Ishida murmured coolly, taking a strand of Orihime's auburn hair and twirling it around his finger. Her cheeks turned pink and she inhaled a small wisp of breath. Were those butterflies in her tummy? Or was she just hungry?
"Y-yes!" Orihime squeaked, blushing even darker than before. She laughed nervously and slipped away from Ishida. She skipped away through the field of grass, the rose still gently in her grasp. Ishida watched from close behind, following her slowly.
She was just so beautiful.
She was like a delicate flower, kind of like the rose in her hands; so beautiful and elegant.
She was currently tripping on her own two feet and landing face first into the grass.
"Inoue-san!" Ishida called out to Orihime, slightly amused at her flailing arms and sudden shout. Orihime laid sprawled out in the grass, her face red from the fall and her chest heaving up and down from all of her skipping. She began to laugh and then giggle and cackle at her own clumsiness. Ishida shook his head, chuckling at how silly she looked. He held out his hand for Orihime to take, and she grasped it, but suddenly pulled him down with as much force as she could muster. It wasn't much, but it caught Ishida off guard and he went tumbling to the ground. The laughter only proceeded as he fell on top of her. Orihime laughed so loud her chest vibrated and her body shook. Her face was pink and cute.
Ishida used his arms to hold himself above her, so as not to crush her. His own face was flushed from the impact of the fall and the overall position they were in. He was staring down into her eyes and at that moment, he didn't want to move.
Orihime sighed and tilted her head in the grass, letting the flowers rustle into her hair. She didn't care about the dirt or if rather she was crushing innocent flowers below her.
Looking up past Ishida's head, she saw butterflies fly by and she smiled sweetly at how beautiful she felt even though she couldn't see herself. It wasn't how she looked, that didn't matter. It was the innocence of this moment; peaceful and calm and almost silent except for nature itself and the faint voices of Renji and Tatsuki.
Orihime locked eyes with Ishida and grabbed his arms. Both of their cheeks turned red at her small action, but somehow it felt right.
"Inoue-san…" Ishida whispered. Orihime smiled and squeezed Ishida's arms, looking into his eyes and almost pleading with him. He seemed to get the hint, but was still slightly hesitant. He leaned down slowly and watched as Orihime's eyes closed.
Their lips met and sparks flew in a sense that made no sense, but somehow this just felt right. There was no one else Ishida wanted to be kissing right now.
Orihime's mind raced. His lips felt so soft and he was so gentle. He felt warm and right. His lips were sweet... kind of like... kind of like strawberries.
Ichigo's face flashed through her mind and she paused.
Ishida noted her hesitance and he pulled back from her. Didn't she want this too? He looked into her eyes and silently wished he wasn't seeing what he was seeing.
"Kurosaki?" Ishida grumbled, sitting up digging his fist into the grass. Orihime sat up as well and shook her head, touching her hands to her cheeks.
"Ishida-Kun, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay," Ishida smiled at her sadly, apprehending the remorse in her eyes. But Orihime shook her head, suddenly on the verge of tears. Ishida leaned forward and placed his hand on her cheek. "Inoue-san, what's wrong-"
"Ishida-Kun, I'm sorry I'm still so attached to him... I'm trying to let go, I swear!" Orihime cried, her tears pooling around the edges of her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Ishida's neck and buried her head in his shoulder. "You're so kind, and sweet, and you were so nice to me from the very beginning. You never lied to me or hurt me, and you always did what you could to please me. You're so perfect and amazing and I don't know why it took me this long to realize this but," Orihime pulled back to look into Ishida's eyes, hers shining with tears. She swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled at him until he was smiling back. She laughed nervously and closed her eyes.
Their lips connected again and this time Orihime did not hesitate or pull back. She kissed him full on and tasted his sweet lips that she now realized tasted more like blueberries, than strawberries. She smiled into the kiss and felt the sparks now. Her whole world suddenly wanted to make sense.
Ishida laughed and pulled back, holding Orihime's face in between his hands.
"I don't believe you ever finished your sentence, my Princess." Orihime giggled and pecked his lips.
"I don't know why it took me this long, but I think I love you," Orihime whispered, staring into his dark blue eyes watching for a reaction. For the past few months she had gotten to know him so well and everything about him had amazed her. The small crush formed long ago, but she had always pushed it away in fear that she'd lose her admiration for Ichigo. But the feelings for Ishida had grown so strong, she couldn't compress them. Ichigo was still in the back of her mind, but not as much or as strongly.
Ishida had become a much larger priority in her life.
Orihime nearly crawled back into her skin with the long pause from Ishida, but she felt at ease again when he smiled and kissed her again.
"I think I love you too."
"Oh, gross, Orihime why didn't you tell me you had a thing for the dweebs?" Tatsuki laughed, sticking out her tongue and throwing her best friend a thumbs down with a wink of her left eye.
Orihime and Ishida pulled away abruptly at the new visitors, completely forgetting about the two other friends they had come with. Orihime's eyes widened at Tatsuki's and Renji's intertwined hands. Tatsuki noticed her gaping mouth and laughed.
"Yeah, while you two were getting cozy in the grass, buffoon boy here and I got to know each other... uh yeah I guess you could call it that," Tatsuki elbowed Renji gently in the ribs and winked with a wide grin. "Anyone want details?"
Renji coughed loudly and glared at his new girlfriend. She only laughed and patted his hard, built chest.
"Anyways, we're hungry so we're gonna tear apart the picnic basket unless you guys come along and help us," Renji stated, thrusting his thumb in the direction of the forgotten picnic basket. Orihime's stomach growled hungrily, and she blushed, holding her tummy and giggling.
"Yeah, let's eat, I'm starving!" Orihime shouted with a bubbly laugh as she pulled Ishida up with her.
The four surrounded the picnic basket, picking around the food Orihime made, and shoving down the small meals Renji bought from Burger King.
Tatsuki shoved a handful of fries into her mouth before grabbing a cup of coke. She nudged Orihime in the side and grinned at her with a wink.
"So, miss Princess," Tatsuki began, watching as Orihime blushed and bit down into her grape jelly and past sandwich. "I want details from you. What happened to your whole, Ichigo thing?"
Orihime sipped her tea and shrugged.
"I still love Kurosaki-kun... very much," Orihime started, looking down into her cup of sweetened tea. She bit down on her lip. "But, I can't bring myself to be in love with someone who doesn't even know how I feel. I admire everything about Kurosaki-kun, I think he's amazing, but I..." Orihime paused and looked up at Tatsuki. She smiled and looked over to Ishida who was explaining something about sewing to Renji who seemed rather bored with the conversation.
"But I fell in love with someone else," Orihime giggled and blushed when her words caught the ears of Ishida and he turned pink and glanced at her quickly before going back to explaining different types of fabric. "I don't think Kurosaki-kun will mind much."
Tatsuki laughed, remembering how they had invited him to come along on their picnic outing. But he had said he wanted to visit Rukia just one more time to check up on her, and that if she didn't answer again, he would join them later. Obviously from the absence of Ichigo, Rukia must've answered this time.
She remembered his last girlfriend, and how much of a disaster she had turned out to be. He once had this look for her, so special and so private and just between those two. But then something happened and she turned bad, just plain evil and nasty. Ichigo was crushed when she dumped him. It tore him apart and he didn't talk to anyone except for herself and Renji, and even then, he used short clipped answers. A girl had never shaken up Ichigo so much. He never cared for anyone like that before. He had even said he was so close to falling in love with her, which Tatsuki didn't believe from the beginning. But he seemed so sure, and then when it didn't work out, he just stopped believing.
And then Rukia came along.
And his beliefs seemed to come around again. He had never said it out loud, but he had those same look in his eyes. This look was stronger though, it burned immensely and the slightest mention of Rukia's name brought this stupid grin to his face like never before.
Tatsuki was happy that he had found someone so wonderful and who made him happy. She could only hope she wouldn't be like the last girlfriend, but Tatsuki had a good feeling about this one.
She smiled and looked over to Orihime who was smiling and laughing as she wrapped her arms around Ishida's elbow.
A loud scream erupted from her own throat as a pair of strong arms snaked around her waist. She was startled at first, but soon melted into the warm embrace of her boyfriend when he brought his teeth and scraped them against her ear.
Renji chuckled darkly and laid his head in the crook of Tatsuki's neck, kissing her pulse point.
"I know you're very turned on right now, but I think we should do this somewhere else you horny loser," Tatsuki chuckled darkly, feeling Renji growing against her. He pulled back blushing and scowled at her. Tatsuki laughed and pointed her thumb in the direction of Orihime giggling and Ishida blushing for whatever she had just done to him.
"I think this can wait, Arabai."
"Fine," Renji grumbled, kissing her cheek, but not letting go. "Let's just sit here and watch the sky like those lovebirds in those movies and talk about our feelings."
"Oh shut up, and kiss me you dork."
XxXxXxXx
Rukia sipped silently at the glass of sweet tea in her hands. Ichigo brought her to a small café that had nearly anybody in it, which she was thankful for because she was still dressed in only gray sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt that smelled strangely like apples and dried drool, whatever that smells like. Her hair was still a mess on top of her head and her makeup was smeared and she just felt disgusting and was kind of angry that she had to be out in public like this. But at the same time, she couldn't really bring herself to care.
Thankfully, Ichigo chose a spot for them way in the back of the café, so far back that the waiters usually didn't even notice them and Ichigo had to shout for them to come take their orders. No one could really see them unless they were really looking.
The waiter put down a plate of fries in front of both of them, winked at Ichigo and smiled a toothy grin before walking off to do the same routine with another costumer.
Rukia picked up a fry and bit the edge of it before setting it back down and going back to her drink. She pulled at her shirt uncomfortably, adjusting it so that she wasn't sitting on it anymore.
"You know, when my mom died, it was around the same time my last girlfriend dumped me; it was just a few months after. In fact, she had been seeing another guy while I was in the hospital... she never even visited." Ichigo mumbled, moving his fork around the plate of greasy fries. Rukia's ears perked up and she stared at Ichigo. She couldn't see his eyes, but his voice just seemed so sad.
Rukia cleared her throat, indicating she was listening because she still wasn't so sure if she could yet talk. Ichigo didn't look up to meet her eyes; instead he stared intently at his glass of soda.
"Her name was Senna. She had these weirdly coloured eyes, kind of like mine, but much brighter. Her hair was so dark, it looked slightly purple. She was always smiling, and always happy and upbeat about everything."
"Senna loved high places, and she was so curious about everything she didn't know about. She wanted to know everything. She wanted to see the world, and visit restaurants and eat new food, and shop and experience everything life had to offer. I could never keep her still." Ichigo smiled sadly, stabbing at an innocent fry. Rukia sipped her tea, not entirely comfortable with the conversation of an ex girlfriend who sounded so amazing. Wasn't she supposed to be a disaster? Was being perfect disastrous?
"She was kind of like you, actually." Ichigo looked up briefly to catch Rukia's eyes. She gulped and looked down. Senna sounded too perfect to be her.
"She was outspoken and stubborn, but loyal and strong-willed. We met in middle school, and liked each other for awhile, but didn't start dating until high school. We were inseparable, you could say. I really liked her, and I thought she really liked me; at least that's what she told me. I remember this one time when she took me out for my birthday and we spent the whole day on the beach and we just talked."
Rukia scowled at her fries. Was she really getting jealous of someone who wasn't even in his life anymore?
Ichigo scoffed and looked to his side, not staring at anything in particular.
"I really thought we had something. I thought I loved her, actually." That word, Rukia had never heard Ichigo really say it before. At least not about a girlfriend. Love, a strange concept she knew, and she had used it before many times, but coming from Ichigo seemed so foreign. Did he feel that way about her? Could she even bring herself to think about such things at a time like this? After everything that happened with Kaien, everything that happened with Momo, or her parents, and then her sister? Was love even a notion in her life anymore?
Rukia mentally shook her head of the thoughts and peered at Ichigo. He was scowling hard and had folded his arms over his chest almost angrily like the mention of his ex girlfriend made him agitated.
"And I thought she loved me too. I would do anything for her. But one day, she just started getting distant. She was still sweet; although it was all an act, but it fooled me long enough. She was pulling away from me and leaving me to pick up the pieces."
"One night I walked her home from a date, and I went to kiss her goodnight, but she just scowled and pulled away and went inside without saying a single word to me. And then weeks went by, and all she would say to me was 'I love you'. Nothing else unless it was needed. She wanted to convince me and trick me that she still loved me so that I wouldn't be suspicious of her."
"And then the night came that I got into that car accident and I didn't wake up for weeks. I was in the hospital for months so that I could recover. She never visited me. And when I finally got out, I found out that she had been seeing someone else the whole time I was in the hospital. They met a long time ago and she was actually dating him while we were dating."
Rukia cringed. Ouch.
"Everything she told me was just to fool me. She left me with rain and more rain. It was so cold and wet, and I was angry and hurt and everything just didn't matter to me anymore. All I wanted was to kill myself and forget about everything. I had just lost my mom; my light, and then I find out that my girlfriend had been cheating on me the whole time. Oh, and get this," Ichigo chuckled darkly, his scowl deepening. He still refused to look at Rukia. He was staring at the wall with an angry glare.
"She dumped me the day I got out of the hospital for some dude who looked like he belonged in a psycho ward, and then after our second year in high school, she just ran away with him to elope or something and I never saw her again. It crushed me." Ichigo sighed heavily and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He turned his head to finally meet Rukia's eyes.
"She made it rain in my world for so long. She made it hurt. She made everyday harder and harder to get up in the mornings."
Rukia gulped, a weird feeling in her stomach began to stir.
"The rain was unbearable... it never stopped."
Rukia's heart skipped a beat for a moment and she gripped her glass of tea tightly in her hands.
"But then I met you."
The intensity in his eyes burnt a whole into her heart. Rukia was engulfed in a feeling so strong and so wild and passionate, she didn't want to let go of the feeling itself. She caught Ichigo's gaze and held on tight. Their eyes were locked onto each other.
"You made the rain stop, Rukia."
Immediately, Rukia was out of her seat and holding onto Ichigo as tightly as she humanly could with her strength. She smothered his face with kisses.
Oh, he knew exactly what to say to pull her out of her funk. He made her feel important in life again. She wouldn't trade him for the world.
Rukia buried her head in the crook of Ichigo's neck and let herself be engulfed with his spicy scent. Oh, how in love she was with his beautiful scent, his sweet and wonderful scent.
How could that girl hurt him so much? Who would dare hurt someone so beautiful and wonderful?
"I'm sorry about everything that has happened to you, baby. I'm sorry you were hurting, and I never want to see you so sad again. Rukia, you are my world, my light, my everything. I don't want anyone, but you. I don't want you to hurt anymore. You stopped all of the pain I was feeling, it all just went away and there was no more hurting. I want you to be as happy as you make me. Please, oh please, stop hurting. Don't cry. Just let me ease your pain and I'll stop the rain, Rukia, I'll stop the rain forever and you'll never hurt again." Ichigo murmured into Rukia's hair, kissing her head and her ears and her neck and taking in her apple scented hair and her feverish body. She was red in the face and her body was shivering against him. He held onto her so tightly, neither one of them caring who saw them in the small café. It was just them and no one else.
He was holding his world in his arms.
Their eyes met and only one thought passed through Rukia's mind.
'Dear God, I love this boy...'
She would never know if he felt the same, or when she would tell him. The foreign concept suddenly seemed familiar and warmed her heart with butterflies and a fire burning with her love.
And she would never know that this exact moment would be the calm before the storm; the most horrific and out of body experience storm of her life.
XxXxXxXx
"What the hell are you doing in here?" Ichigo demanded through his clenched teeth as he slammed his textbooks down onto the desk. Momo looked up startled, but quickly recomposed herself.
"What does it look like I'm doing, you idiot? I'm studying obviously." Momo flipped a page in her textbook and pointed to a big word she had never seen before.
"I can see that, but you never study in here. I always study in here and I never see you studying here Sherlock." Ichigo growled, pulling out a chair from the table Momo was sitting at. She rolled her eyes and placed her elbows on the table to rest her chin in her hands.
"Am I not allowed to study where I please?" Momo cooed, leaning forward slightly so that her cleavage was peeking out at Ichigo. Ichigo didn't even notice.
"I never said that, I've just been using this place to study in my free time ever since I came to this school and I have yet to see you show up until now. And my girlfriend is meeting me here in about 10 minutes. So what the hell are you doing in here?"
Momo sighed and kicked her legs back and forth. She was going to have fun with this. Her feet brushed up and down the length of Ichigo's legs, which he somehow seemed to not notice or just dismissed it as accidents. Momo let herself believe that he liked it.
She took her hands and placed them on the table and pushed herself onto it more so that her cleavage was much more noticeable. And yet again, Ichigo was only staring at her obnoxious face.
"I just decided to study in here this time, that's all. Why? Don't you want me in here?" Momo asked sweetly, getting up from her seat and sauntering over to Ichigo. He growled and shook his head.
"Last time I checked, you made my girlfriend's life miserable and put her into such a huge funk, she has self-esteem issues so deep, it's caused depression. Oh yeah, I totally want you here," Ichigo barked sarcastically. The mention of Rukia made Momo pause and she stopped mid step. Her snooty face melted into a slight frown and she sat down beside Ichigo with an ungraceful plop.
"I made her go into depression?" Momo asked, more to herself than to Ichigo. She swallowed the guilty lump in her throat and turned away from him to reach for her textbook.
Ichigo watched with curiosity as Momo flipped through the pages mindlessly. Did she really not know what Rukia was going through?
"Did you know that her sister died?" Ichigo noted Momo's sudden stop of everything. She stopped flipping through the pages, stopped breathing or blinking, and was completely still. The only motion he witnessed was the large lump in her throat when she swallowed.
"Hisana-san?" Momo croaked, clutching the edge of the textbook in her hand tightly. Ichigo nodded his head, and Momo closed her eyes and cringed. She breathed deeply and shook her head. "Oh..."
Momo suddenly got this faraway look in her eyes and Ichigo thought it'd be a good time to leave her alone. She obviously once had a close relationship with Hisana. But just as he stood, Momo grabbed his arm. Ichigo scowled and went rigid.
"Need something?"
Momo only looked up at him and stood to her full height, which wasn't much.
And then she kissed him.
Full on lip action.
Her arms wrapped around his neck.
Her grip tight like a cobra.
Her lips plump and soft and sweet. They were foreign and strange and Ichigo didn't like it. Nothing in his mind processed. He had no idea what was happening until he felt Momo's tongue trying to pry into his mouth. He took his hands and tried pushing her away, but he had nowhere to push against except for her waist.
Momo thought he was holding onto her so she pushed herself closer to him and moaned into his mouth, using her tongue to taste every bit of his mouth and his lips. Ichigo scowled and tried pushing her away again, but her grip seemed to only get tighter. Could this girl not take a hint? He didn't like this! He had a girlfriend!
"Ichigo?"
That voice, so broken and so upset. That voice was so scared and so hurt and filled with a pain he had never thought he'd hear from it. That voice belonged to the girl that he had promised that he'd never, ever hurt. Her voice was still so weak and so fragile.
Momo finally ripped her mouth away from Ichigo's with a stupid grin he wished he could slap off of her, but he knew he could never hit a girl.
Rukia could only stare as her boyfriend kissed her ex best friend. Her mind frizzled to nothing and her heart dropped so low into her stomach, she didn't even know if it existed anymore. Everything came crashing down around her at such speeds, she couldn't believe it.
Suddenly, the tears flooded her eyes faster than she wanted. Rukia immediately turned and ran for the exit. Ichigo called out for her and ran after her, but this time Rukia kept running. Nothing was going to stop her.
Her legs pumped and pushed for her to go faster.
It was all just an act.
Her own words rang through her head and the tears streamed down her face like waterfalls. Everything hurt. Her face was red and her palms were sweaty and her legs were aching, but she kept running. She kept pushing.
He never felt the same way.
Rukia pushed past a few people who scowled and cursed at her, but none of them mattered anymore.
He said he'd never hurt me...
The tears blurred her vision. Her mind was slamming against itself like a ton of those red bricks. Her body was no longer a part of her, but more like something she was just using to get away. She was no longer a part of any of this. She wanted nothing to do with anyone.
He promised...
Ichigo's voice called out for her, but she ignored it and pushed past more people who cursed her.
He lied to me...
Ichigo cursed as he stumbled over himself and Rukia only seemed to be getting further and further away. She was almost at the doors now. She would be outside and away from him and he'd lose his chance.
Everything he told me...
Rukia pushed on the doors that would lead to her freedom. She'd be away from the pain and the people who hurt her. She would never look back. She would never hurt again.
None of it was true.
She was running away from their kiss. Her lips on her boyfriend. His hands on her hips. Her arms snaked around his neck like a stupid snake.
He made me fall for him.
She was running away from the pain. She was running away from all of the lies.
Why did I believe him?
It hurt so much.
Strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist and she thrashed and screamed and yelled as her tears streamed down her face. She was so angry. She was so very angry and all she wanted to do was run and hide and crawl into a fucking whole and die.
She was just so angry.
Ichigo held onto her tight and shouted over her for her to listen to him. But Rukia screamed and cried and her body shook with sobs. Her angry tears fell onto Ichigo's arms in small puddles that only added up.
"Rukia, please! Listen to me!" Ichigo pleaded, holding onto Rukia as tightly as he possible could, but she was strong. She thrashed in his arms and pounded on his chest so hard, he knew he'd have bruises later.
"No! Don't touch me! Get off of me! Get off of me! You lied to me! This whole time, you've been lying, and saying things, and you made me believe, dammit, you made me believe you!" Rukia screamed, her tears breaking up her words into sobs, but she said it all so fast, it just spilled out naturally. Her heart hurt so much.
"Rukia, she kissed me!" Ichigo shouted, taking Rukia by her shoulders and trying to make her understand. He shook her, but Rukia only slammed her fist into his chest angrily.
"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Rukia cried, sobbing uncontrollably now. "You expect me to believe you? You lied to me!"
Rukia clenched her teeth and shut her eyes tightly. Her tears were not going to stop anytime soon.
"You made me love you!" Rukia cried angrily, feeling herself getting tired and weak. Her legs shook and her heart was pounding weirdly. She bit down on her lip and almost let herself melt into Ichigo and his warm embrace.
But memories of that kiss slammed back into her. Pure anger raged through her blood and she pushed hard against Ichigo so that he stumbled backwards.
"Don't touch me!" Rukia cried angrily once again.
She turned and she ran.
She ran and she didn't plan on looking back.
And then the storm slowly moved its way in.
MERRY CHRISTMAS !
SORRY FOR ANYTHING !
HAVE A WONDERFUL YEAR AND JUNK ! I'M LATE AND I MUST GO GET READY FOR MY GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE ! BYEEEE(:
REVIEW! Flames or IceFlakes!
XOXO~ Chappy-Is-Mine