Chapter 2: Secret Love
She quickly spun around and hid her body from sight. Her heart pounded in her ears as she debated facing him now or walking away, potentially never seeing him again. She clenched her hands and gritted her teeth. Hearing about Shinigamis from her uncle and Uryu made her wary of them and she had doubts of seeing her knight. What if he finds out that she is a Quincy and wants to kill her? She was afraid of seeing her idolised mind-set of him broken before her eyes. She didn't believe he was the same as the Shinigamis that slaughtered her race. He was different…surely? She sighed and turned back towards her school. She didn't have the courage to face him.
As Ichigo walked away, her mind replayed the short view of the Shinigami captain. Based on what little memories of him she had, he didn't change much throughout the years she haven't seen him. Then again she knew Shinigamis weren't alive and therefore didn't age as fast as she did. His hair was still shoulder length and a stark white brighter than his haori, though she could argue it had a blue tincture. His eyes were the same emeralds that comfort her and her chest felt warm thinking of him.
Ichigo shook her head to bring herself to reality and realised she wasn't going to reach back to school at her leisurely pace and started running back to school. She reached the compound and boosted herself up the wall to jump over it and land behind some bushes, sneaking back into the school building. Ichigo opened the door to her class and saw another subject teacher halting in his work. Ichigo gave an apology for returning late before excusing herself to sit. The teacher nonchalantly accepted her apology and continued writing on the board. Uryu poked her to get her attention and she turned around and gave a small smile with a thumbs up. Uryu nodded.
Ichigo withdrew into her mind again, unable to stop thinking about the Shinigami.
'Why did I leave? I could've gotten to know him better. I could've gotten to understand Shinigamis on a whole better if I wasn't such a coward!' Ichigo berated herself as she stared out the window.
'Now I might never see him again…' Ichigo mulled and sighed. Uryu drawn his attention from taking notes to observe Ichigo's contemplating eyes and sigh from what little he saw from her sideways facial expression. Maybe he should question her after class.
Two hours of English class passed and the bell rung signalling the school-day's end. The class slowly trickled out with Tatsuki and Orihime waving goodbye to the cousins who remained behind. Ichigo slowly got up, disappointed in herself but resigned to the outcome. Uryu stopped her and he waited until the class emptied before addressing her.
"Ichigo, what's wrong? You've been distant from class since you came back, is something on your mind?" Uryu straightforwardly asked. Ichigo sighed again feeling her disappointment welled in her chest but not wanting to express it.
"It's nothing Uryu, thanks for the concern." Ichigo gave a false smile before picking up her bag.
"Ichigo, I have known you long enough to know when you are lying. Now tell me, what's concerning you? Did something happen during the hollow attack? Are you injured!?" Uryu questioned and observed Ichigo from head to toe looking for any sign of injury. Ichigo smiled at Uryuu's genuine concern and reassured him she wasn't injured. She couldn't tell him about her and the Shinigami, he would react negatively to her meeting him again, even if he did save her before.
"I'm alright, really. Let's just go home." Ichigo insisted and turned to look down at the entrance of the school. Ichigo halted her movements and peered down at the figure leaning by the gates. There was a group of girls there and a tall man with glasses glinting in the sunlight. Short, chestnut hair softly blew in the wind and a pink item was under his arms. Ichigo blinked repeatedly before she dropped her bag and rushed out of her class, knocking into Uryu behind her. Ichigo yelled a sorry before swinging around the class entrance and running through the halls. Several teachers berated her for running through the halls and several students almost were knocked down by Ichigo as she ran to the entrance of the school.
'No, there is no way that it's him! We aren't supposed to meet like this!' Ichigo panicked but her heart warmed thinking of seeing him so soon after their last meeting.
Uryu was in shock of Ichigo's dramatic change in attitude after watching outside and yelled after her to stop. He followed along and ran after her.
Ichigo ran out into the school yard and closed the distance between her and the man by the gates. She saw the group of girls gathered by him but the man paid no attention to them, in fact he looked mildly annoyed by their presence and constant questions. Ichigo was out of breath after running from the second story straight to his location in under 5 minutes and bent down to catch her breath. The man spotted her and pushed through the disgruntled girls to greet the heavily panting Ichigo.
"Ichigo…I missed you, so I thought I'd come and see you personally." The man greeted and Ichigo looked up to see the man tower over her and gave her shade from the sun. Brown eyes twinkled in amusement as he stared down at her and Ichigo felt irritated thinking he was laughing at her internally. Several of the girls complained about him leaving them and others left realising that he was taken.
'Bastard…' she thought but her breathing was becoming less laboured and she stood up to look into the eyes she grew used to staring in.
"I was elated seeing you rush to meet me like this, I feel quite loved indeed." He chuckled and Ichigo scowled.
"It wasn't for you! I mean it was but- never mind that, why are you here!?" Ichigo bellowed as she saw his smile that made her heart melt and it was getting hard to keep her mind focused on the problem at hand. Especially if he suddenly hugs her.
Ichigo tensed in his hold as his strong arms wrapped around her body and his lips grazed her ears. Her ears and cheeks reddened as her face was buried into his upper chest.
"Ichigo…" He whispered huskily into her ears and she shivered.
"So I can't see what is mine's when I want?" he asked innocently and Ichigo blushed deeper as her hands clutched his shirt.
"I...I didn't say that…I-" Ichigo stuttered but was halted from her words when Uryu yelled her name.
"Ichigo!" Uryu yelled and stopped running when he saw Ichigo emerge from the chest of a stranger hugging her tightly with his arms a little too low for Uryuu's comfort.
"Uryu!" Ichigo pulled away from his chest to look behind her. She quickly grew nervous as she saw Uryu was shocked at the man holding Ichigo and then increasingly grew angry. She looked up to her boyfriend's face which was blank but she saw slight irritation in his eyes.
"Ichigo, why don't you introduce us?" he asked calmly as Uryu started striding closer, intending to separate them. Ichigo felt his arms dropped around her and only one arm was wrapped around her waist as she turned around to stop Uryu.
"Wait Uryuu, I can explain!"
"You better start explaining before I handle him myself." Uryuu angrily countered and adjusted his glasses hastily.
"Okay so…this is my boyfriend, Aizen Sousuke. I kept our relationship secret until now…" Ichigo drawled out as Uryu became increasingly annoyed.
"Pleasure to meet you." Sousuke extended his hand out to Uryuu but Uryuu ignored him and glared at Ichigo.
"And you were going to tell me when? How long you were with this man? Isn't he too old for you?" Uryu accused and Ichigo grew irritated.
"Why does my personal life always have to involve you!? I can make my own decisions! I can date whoever I think is right for me! I am not going to wait to let you and Uncle to decide my life!" Ichigo yelled and at this point a few students gathered around them.
"Ichigo, calmed down." Sousuke advised as he glanced around the student that were muttering amongst themselves.
"I have a right to be concerned if you are involving yourself with shady…paedophiles!" Uryu yelled and Ichigo gasped at his accusation. She truly got angry.
"I DON'T NEED YOUR CONCERN AND I DON'T NEED YOU!" Ichigo bellowed and grabbed Sousuke's hand to leave the growing crowd.
"Whoa, whoa what's happening?" Tatsuki asked as she pushed her way to the front of the crowd with Orihime and saw Uryuu's shocked face and Ichigo's heated glare directed at him. She noticed the older man Ichigo was holding onto and called out to her before Ichigo turned and left.
"Hey Ichigo! Wait!" Tatsuki called out as Ichigo pushed her and Sousuke through the crowd that opened up for her and they left the school compound.
Uryu remained in the spot shocked by her words and looked down with his hands clenched. Why couldn't she understand all he wanted to do was protect her? Uryu remembered the days Ichigo stood up to bullies that preyed on him when he was younger and asked himself why he couldn't do the same for her.
'Why are you so difficult Ichigo?'
A teacher came and made the crowd dispersed and Uryu left to walk home before being stopped by Orihime.
"Uryu are you alright?" Orihime asked as she saw Tatsuki went after Ichigo. They both knew the cousins were usually inseparable like siblings and neither of them wanted to see the other cousin in pain. Orihime was close to Uryu through him mentoring Orihime on sewing on occasions and Tatsuki was closer to Ichigo through their shared childhood.
"Yeah…just…" Uryu adjusted his glasses and sighed. "…shocked is all." He continued and Orihime felt sympathy for him. She never heard the two argued like this and it must be hurting him badly.
"Would you like to walk with me Uryu?" Orihime asked and Uryu nodded.
Ichigo stomped down the street pulling Sousuke with her until she reached a park some distance away from the school. She let go of his hand and sighed.
"I'm sorry about my cousin Uryu, he can be…"
"Overprotective?" Sousuke added.
"Yeah…" Ichigo agreed and sighed again.
"He is simply concerned about you." Sousuke commented as he followed Ichigo into the park.
"I know, I know that but he can be overbearing to deal with." Ichigo continued walking until she saw a swing set and sat on one of the swings.
"Maybe you need to talk about it to him." Sousuke offered as he joined her at sitting on the swings.
"True…But since that's over with for now…" Ichigo closed her eyes and leaned back to swing, feeling the wind pass through her hair and revealing her earrings glinting in the sun.
"Ichigo, what are those earrings for?" Sousuke asked and Ichigo stopped swinging.
"Oh these? They are a part of my family's tradition to wear I guess." Ichigo commented and continued swinging. She didn't need to involve him in her supernatural life yet. Sousuke hummed.
"Here you two are!" Tatsuki walked up to the two on the swings and Ichigo stopped.
"Tatsuki! Why are you here?" Ichigo inquired and Tatsuki winked.
"To be introduced to your boyfriend of course!" Ichigo was taken aback and wondered if Uryu has anything to do with this.
"Don't worry, I don't have any bias against you and your relationship. Besides, age is just a number right?" Tatsuki joked as Ichigo relaxed and smiled.
"Aizen Sousuke, and your name….Ms…?" Sousuke asked.
"Arisawa Tatsuki, just call me Tatsuki, nice to meet you Sousuke!" Tatsuki grinned and shook Sousuke's hand. Tatsuki immediately noticed his calloused hand, one who trained with swords would have. She filed that mentally as she continued smiling.
"So what do you two plan to do?" Tatsuki asked and Ichigo trade glances with Sousuke.
"Well I'm not sure yet…" Ichigo said uncertainly and Tatsuki interrupted.
"Well I know a good ice-cream place not far from here, we can talk there for a while." Tatsuki announced before leading the two to the small ice cream parlour.
The three sat together and Tatsuki ordered for her and Ichigo when Sousuke declined and said he would share with Ichigo.
"I know you might not want to talk about it now but, you are going to have to apologise to Uryu the next time you see him. He was only concerned for you ya know?" Tatsuki commented as she ate her ice cream.
"I know, and I will." Ichigo sighed as she watched Sousuke eat some of the ice cream.
"Hey don't worry about it too much, I'm sure he will forgive you for it, he loves you too much anyways." Tatsuki replied and saw Sousuke momentarily tense his hands before continuing eating the ice cream. Ichigo gave a smile and chuckled.
"He can be a pain to deal with but it's true and I love my overbearing cousin too."
Tatsuki watched as Ichigo ate from the same ice cream Sousuke was eating comfortably and made conversations with her and Sousuke, Ichigo genuinely looking happy being with him. Tatsuki was glad for her and hoped Uryuu can realise she was happier being with Sousuke. They ate the ice cream and Tatsuki got up, commenting that she had to go home.
"Alright, I'll see you in school tomorrow Ichigo. And it was nice meeting you Sousuke." Tatsuki said.
"Similarly, it was nice to meet one of Ichigo's friends." Sousuke responded and gave a smile.
"Later Ichigo, remember not to spend too late by him! You got school tomorrow!" Tatsuki laughed and Ichigo blushed heavily.
"Idiot, I'm not going by him!" Ichigo yelled embarrassed by her friend before turning back to Sousuke. She smiled shyly and Sousuke smiled back.
"There's somewhere I want to go with you if you don't mind?" Sousuke asked and Ichigo agreed. They left the parlour and headed up the hillside.
Uryu walked with Orihime in silence before Orihime broke it.
"We all care for her but have some faith in her too." Orihime started and Uryu sighed.
"Is it so bad that I want to protect her, Orihime? Like she protected me? When she learnt I was her cousin and we entered middle school, due to my shy nature back then, I was targeted by bullies. But Ichigo stood up for me, she actually fought them even if she was a girl. She inspired me to try my best so one day I could protect her." Uryu told Orihime as they walked along the river to his home.
"Wow, I didn't know that happened between you two! That's why you love her so much, because she treasures you a lot as well." Orihime contemplated and Uryu blushed.
"Well I mean- Yeah I guess that's true…" Uryu adjusted his glasses and watched the orange sunset.
"That's how she is, she would defend those she loves, even if it kills her." Uryu took a sad tone as he gaze at the orange skies, a memory he longed to forget rising in the forefront of his mind. Orihime held the paper bag in her hand and stopped walking at an intersection.
"Um…my house is that way so…I'll be going but I wanted to give you this!" Orihime offered her paper bag with the stuffed bear inside.
"Orihime…" Uryu asked uncertainly, "Are you sure? You worked on making that for months…"
"Yes, I'm sure. It should be yours, consider it a gift for teaching me to make this!" Orihime cheerfully added and pushed the bag into Uryuu's arms.
"Um, why thank you Orihime. I'll treasure it." Uryu replied and smiled. Orihime blushed slightly and gave her goodbyes before walking away. Uryu held the bag tightly before walking home. As he walked inside he met his father and gave a curt greeting.
"Where is Ichigo?" Ryuuken asked and Uryu frowned, realising she didn't come.
"I don't know father." Uryu answered coldly and went upstairs. Ryuuken observed his son's behaviour and didn't comment on his son's tone.
"It's been a long time since I came up here." Ichigo commented as she stood beside Sousuke who placed his hand around Ichigo's waist and pulled her closer to him.
"When was the last time?"
"When my family went to a picnic up here for the day…I was around 4 at the time." Ichigo replied and leaned into his chest to stare at the setting sun.
The sky was like an artist's canvas, painted with orange, red and pink clouds that looked down on the small town of Karakura. The rays illuminated the river in sparkles of light and glistened from her viewpoint. The buildings seems small against the endless horizon and Ichigo idly wondered what was beyond those horizons, never leaving Karakura before. She looked up into eyes that glowed almost yellow in the sunlight. She felt herself being drawn into eyes that seemed distant and longing for something more than what he was viewing currently. His eyes connected with hers and they stared into similarly coloured eyes, their faces reflected their desire to know the other more and the sadness of the day ending, not knowing when they will see each other again. Sousuke leaned down, inches from Ichigo's soft lips. Their eyes were lidded as time halted and they felt each other's breaths.
"May I?" Sousuke whispered and Ichigo nodded, their noses and hair brushing each other. Ichigo tilted her head to the right and felt Sousuke's lips against hers. Her heart throbbed as she realised after 5 months being together, they shared their first kiss. Sousuke hands caressed her face and Ichigo held his hand as he separated his lips from hers. Ichigo blinked her eyes open and saw his eyes boring into hers once again. Her heart quickened when she saw the intense desire within his eyes.
"I love you Ichigo." Ichigo blushed as she muttered her response.
"I love you too."
A/N: All my apologies for not updating these past few weeks but I will be putting this story on hold as I look for a beta for this and prioritising studies for my medical course. I thank each and every one of you for reading this rather short story but don't worry I will pick this up within the next few months when my life isn't stressed by examinations and practicals. If there is any betareaders that are interested in helping feel free to message me as well. Again thank you so much for the review danielapmatute, and I hope to see you and more persons review and read in the future!