Here I am again!
Dear anon, thank you so, so much for requesting this! I know it is a bit angsty, but there were some lyrics "it's the end of the world in my mind" that made me think of this.
I am warming up to the idea that Uryuu, despite his sorrow, he would find solace with Orihime.
So, a lovely anon requested Jesse McCartney's "Because you live", so there goes some angst.
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Tite Kubo.
It's a hit or miss.
Uryuu Ishida was a quiet man, but this time he was so close to screaming. If he could externalize his own feelings, his howl would echo far and loud into Karakura town and beyond. That day was most certainly bad.
First of all, he had the talk with his father, Ryuuken –don't mind me, what I mean is that they had a heart-to-heart about his family. It did not go well. Everything he had thought he knew, was eventually wrong.
His father was not the monster he thought he was, but that didn't matter, as he realized that he still had lied to him for many years.
And his pride…
Uryuu Ishida chuckled, his voice trembling with irony and rage and desperation and something akin to madness. He always prided himself in his Quincy heritage. That was not a secret; from the first time he met Kurosaki, he was always going on about his Quincy legacy and how he would preserve it, as the last one of his kin.
He certainly wasn't the last one though. And he certainly didn't have any reasons to be proud of his heritage anymore.
Ryuuken had finally come clean about their family. He, for a fact, loved his late wife very much –Uryuu was dumbfounded when he heard that-, but losing her almost drove the poor man to kill himself, too. The only reason he crept back up and kept his rather gloomy existence, was that the reason of her death was their own kin, who took her life away just because she wasn't a pure-blooded Quincy. All half-blooded ones turned into a sacrifice. So, Ryuuken swore that he would have nothing to do with them ever again.
But his son wouldn't listen.
That's why his son led such a lonely, dark life.
Do I even have any reason to keep going with this life?
He was roaming now, the dark having settled hours ago. The day itself was a sign that nothing would go well. It had been dark, threatening to pour a ton of rain on him since morning. Right now, thunder was booming in the distance, but Uryuu didn't seem to notice. He was walking aimlessly on the streets, because he didn't want to go home.
As soon as my door closes behind me, I will go insane.
When you realize that your whole life was based on a false perception of pride, you can't be on your right mind. You can be anything but sensible.
Uryuu's disoriented steps brought him to a dark park close to his neighborhood. No one was outside; everyone was bracing for the storm.
Not he.
This calm before the storm was the last straw. He leaned on a nearby tree and let himself scream.
Scream for his lost pride.
Scream for his lost family.
Scream for all the illusions and the lies and the shame he felt now.
Scream because he was part of something he didn't want to be.
Scream because he was someone he now hated.
Rain started falling. He was too tired of screaming, of fighting, of caring.
He would stay here.
Orihime had a different opinion.
That little ray of sunshine called Orihime was sensing Uryuu's bad feelings. While they had become a couple, she still thought she had to respect his privacy in matters of family. It was too soon to meddle into this mess called Ishida heritage.
She knew that Uryuu would go to see Ryuuken, but she was alarmed when she sensed him close, his aura dark and menacing and torn apart. She would not think another second, she just had to find him.
For someone as skilled as Orihime, it wasn't that difficult to pinpoint Uryuu. There he was, his head hanging low. Had she seen him in such a state before? Definitely not.
If Uryuu wasn't so despaired, he would have sensed Orihime in an instant. But he didn't, not until the rain stopped falling onto him. He opened his eyes, only to find Orihime crouched in front of him, her shield casting a warm orange light all around them. It wasn't enough of course to make him forget, but it was enough to warm him up just a little bit. While everything else was crumbling, Orihime was still there to make it all better. What had he done to deserve her?
He didn't utter a word, as she touched his chest with her hand.
"Does it hurt? I can't reject that kind of wound…"
But by saying so, it was like she already did.
"Let's go home, Uryuu. You're wet…"
He sheepishly let her help him to his feet and hand in hand, she guided him home, and in all his sorrow, he couldn't help but think that yes, there was a reason for him to keep going on with this life.