Okay, I'm back with the final chapter. :/ Bittersweet moment, that's what this is. :)
Anyway, thank you all who has stayed with this story and reviewed for me. I have gotten tons of great constructive criticism, and I appreciate it SO much! :)
For all of you wonderful readers, I will try to make the last chapter as great as it can be! :P Please, keep an eye out for the sequel, it should be up in a few days ! :D
Here we go, chapter 21, the final chapter.
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Mina's POV:
I continued to walk beside Renji, looking up at him as his face gave away his discomfort. Smiling, I said, "Renji, we need to talk." He only looked ahead of himself and refused to respond. Sighing, I stepped in front of him, blocking his path.
"Move Mina," he ordered, sounding frustrated.
"You gonna talk to me?" I asked, hands on my hips.
He continued to look forward, over my head, avoiding my gaze. "You heard what I said," he stated.
"Yes. I did."
"Then what do you want?" he suddenly demanded, glaring down at me.
"I want you to explain to me why you dumped me! And why you kissed me when you came into my room! Don't you find your actions a little contradicting? My God, Renji, and then you go and say you love me, what am I supposed to believe!" I returned the gesture and he held my gaze for a second before looking away. His scowl faded.
Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "I don't know..."
"Tell me. Tell me the truth," I said, grabbing his hands, trying to make him look at me again. He didn't.
After a second of silence his hands away from mine and stepped around me, continuing to walk. "I need to get you home," he said. I followed and looked up at him while keeping his pace.
"No, Renji. We're not just not going to talk about it!" I stated, my anger building inside me.
"You should believe," he began, a neutral expression on his face, "what I told Yamamoto."
"That you love me?" I asked, calming down.
"Yeah," he answered quietly.
I smiled up at him and shook my head. "Well, I love you, too. But I'm still confused. Why did you break up with me?"
He sighed before saying, "Because, you kept getting hurt. It was my fault, I wanted to keep you safe." Though his reason was ridiculous, it caused my smile to grow.
"I don't see how that's true," I said.
"The reason you broke your arm was because I wasn't there to stop the hollow. And because you're around me so much, you're more likely to attacked by hollows."
"So? You won't be around every time something bad happens to me, that's expected. And I'll still hang out with Ichigo and Rukia whether we're together or not, so I'm still more likely to be attacked. These reasons make no sense, Renji."
"That's why I didn't bother trying to explain anything to you, I knew they wouldn't. Not to you, at least," he answered.
I sighed, exhausted from this ridiculous argument that seemed to be getting us no where. "Renji, this isn't you're fault. Me getting hurt or being attacked by hollows. It's really not. Why are you depriving yourself of happiness?" I asked, teasing him.
My comment got him to glance over at me and smile, rolling his eyes.
"Listen," I started, grabbing his hand as we continued to our destination. This time he didn't pull away. "How about we continue to date and if you still feel too guilty about these things that aren't your fault, I will completely understand if you have to dump me."
"But you won't," he stated, knowing I was only talking, not meaning it.
"Fine, maybe I won't understand. But I'll accept it. I won't get mad at you, I'll...kind of understand why you decided to do it. Okay?"
He stared off and eventually nodded. "Alright."
-:-
A month after Renji brought me home from the Soul Society, he came back to Earth for a few days. By then my arm had healed up pretty nicely but I had a fractured rib from another hollow attack. The first day he acted like everything was fine but by the end of the second day he told me he wanted to break up with me again. I told him it was alright and the next day he was back in Soul Society.
I dealt with the break up, but it wasn't nearly as easy as I imagined it would be. In the month we had been together again I had gotten closer to Renji than I expected to. Rukia had let me barrow one of her old soul pagers so that every afternoon he could call me. We talked for hours every night and everything seemed to be going fine. Then he came to Earth and just broke it off. I didn't question him and I told him that I didn't hold it against him. When he walked away from dumping me I smiled and waved goodbye, making him believe I would be okay.
In three months I had forgotten the full sting of being dumped. I continued to hang out with Rukia and Ichigo, getting even closer to the couple. (And yes, by then they were admitting to being a couple.) Everything started to get normal again. I had coped completely with my father's death and I was pretty much over Renji. Or so I thought.
One afternoon while I was walking home from Ichigo's house I decided to take the shortcut that I had taken with Renji over four months ago. I climbed the fence with ease and started toward the apartments. As I turned a corner I stopped dead in my tracks. Standing in front of me was Renji. He was in his gigai, clad in jeans and a T-shirt. His brow was creased and his jaw was clenched tightly. I absentmindedly took a few steps away from him, folding my hands together behind my back. All the pain I had felt for losing him rushed back at just the sight of his tall form.
"Hey Renji," I said quietly, trying to keep my composure. I smiled up at him, faking the gesture. "What brings you here?"
"Mina...," he said, my heart clenching in my chest at his soft voice.
I stared at him, my smile fading, unable to respond to him. He took a step closer to me and lightly grabbed my arm, but I pulled it away. "Don't," I said in a stern tone. I would not allow him to do this to me again.
He nodded and looked away, his brow creasing further.
"What do you need, Renji?" I demanded, being harsher than I should have been, I'm sure.
"I just," he started, shoving his hands in his pocket. "I wanted to tell you I...made a mistake..." His voice was drenched with guilt and self loathing, I couldn't not feel bad for him.
"And what's that?" I asked, knowing, but not willing to admit it.
Before answering he returned my gaze and held it. "Letting you go."
"You didn't 'let me go', Renji, you pushed me away!"
"Okay, okay. My mistake was...breaking up with you," he said, still looking down at me.
"Well, how many times do you plan on making this mistake?" The words were bubbling up in my throat, I had no control over them. "Do you think you can just come back whenever you feel like it!"
"No, that's not-"
"That's what is seems like! I still love you, Renji, but I can't do this!"
"I'm still in love with you too! It's not like I'm d-"
My eyes grew wide as I interrupted him again. "Whoa, whoa...What?"
Renji soon realized what he had said and his face turned red. He backed up a few steps and slightly shook his head. He was going to leave.
I stepped toward him and grabbed his wrist, pulling him closer. "Did you mean that, Renji? You're in love with me?"
He continued to pull away carefully. "I didn't- I wasn't really-" he stammered, unable to make a single coherent sentence.
"Renji," I said sternly, causing him to shut up and look down at me. "Just...explain."
He sighed and looked away again. "I...think...I'm in love with you...," he said, clearing his throat nervously.
"You think...or you know?"
Sighing louder he said, "I know."
I nodded and continued to watch him. Before I could respond he continued. "And I can't do this."
"Do what?"
"I can't...live without you," he said, looking back down at me. I slowly smiled and he smiled too, his face getting redder. "That's so corny," he stated, embarrassment clear in his tone.
"I think it's sweet!" I responded, laughing quietly. I stepped closer to him and hugged onto his waist tightly. "Then don't."
He hugged me back tightly, hurting my ribs, but I didn't care. I pulled away and looked up at him, waiting for an answer. Nodding he said, "Alright."
I smiled at his lame answer, soon growing serious again. "If you only make me get closer to you just so you dump me again...it's over for good. No matter what you do or say."
His expression turned stern, taking what I said into consideration. He nodded curtly and said, "Of course."
I nodded and allowed a smile to reappear on my face. I pulled myself closer to him and kissed him quickly. "You know, I think I'm in love with you too," my smile growing into a full grin.
He slightly cocked his tattooed eyebrow, saying, "You think or you know?"
I rolled my eyes while laughing and said, "I know," before kissing him again.
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Okay so...lame ending? Yay? Nay? :/ I'm sorry it ended like it did, I honestly feel it has much more potential if someone else were writing it, ha ha! :) And I'm sorry it's so...short. I was all like "Oh yeah, next chapter's going to be SO long!" but I've failed you again. Sorry. :/
So, thanks again all of you who have stuck with me during my hard times of not having a plot. Please, watch out for the sequel in the next few days and no worries, this one has a plot! :D Woo!
Thanks again! :P I'll be awaiting my final reviews for this story! (So sad!)