Bleach: Tatsuki X Ichigo

Chapter 3

The night was going well as the three teens all sat around the living room of Tatsuki's apartment, enjoying a nice meal and putting away their finished homework assignments. The three enjoyed a large pizza that Tatsuki had ordered and watched a random television show.

After all of them were finished eating, Tatsuki reached for the plates and began cleaning up.

"Here," Ichigo said, picking up the empty pizza box and the napkins and helping her stack up the three plates. "I'll help."

"Oh stop it Mr. Chivalry," Tatsuki said, playfully shoving him and taking the plates from his hand. "It's my place, I'll take care of cleaning it up."

"Fine," he said, allowing her to take the plates, but still grabbing the pizza box. "Where's your trash can?"

"The garbage can is outside next to everyone else's," she said, looking over her shoulder from the entryway to the kitchen, her short running shorts accentuating her hips as she stood in the doorway.

"Ok," Ichigo said, picking up all the trash and walking out the front door.

From her position on the floor, Orihime watched both of them walk out of the room and she smiled to herself as she felt her mind begin to wander, looking at everything in Tatsuki's home. After a moment, she got bored and walked into the kitchen, seeing Tatsuki running hot water over the dishes. As she was about to say something to her best friend, a sudden clap of thunder caught both of them off guard and they heard rain suddenly rushing down outside.

"Wow," she said, holding a finger up to her chin. "That was out of nowhere, huh?"

"Yeah," Tatsuki said, looking out the window.

The front door opened, and the two heard Ichigo walk in, mumbling curse words and groaning. As Tatsuki turned off the water in the sink, they both walked back into the living room to see a slightly wet Ichigo standing there, pulling off his shoes as he sat on the edge of the floor.

"Damn it," he said, loud enough for them to hear. "Stupid fucking weather."

"Ichigo, if you get my carpet wet, I'll be drying it with your clothes while you walk home nude," Tatsuki said, her expression dead serious.

"Yeah yeah," he said, waving his hand over his shoulder at him. "Look, can I borrow a towel or something? And maybe some slippers so my feet don't get your floor wet?"

"God, you're so fucking needy," she muttered, walking into her bathroom and reaching into the cabinet. As she walked back into the room, she tossed him the towel before walking back into the kitchen and cleaning off all three of their plates.

"By the way, I have soda, tea, or juice, if you guys want something to drink," she said as she rinsed the last plate and set it in the drying rack. As she set the plate in the dish rack, she heard Orihime gasp and, without drying her hands on the hand towel, she ran into the living room to see what was wrong only to feel her cheeks flush and she found her voice lost as she stared at the topless form of Ichigo as he dried himself. She looked over and found Orihime blushing furiously, one hand over her mouth and the other covering her eyes, slightly, but she could see her peaking through her fingers. Ichigo had the towel over his face so he couldn't see either of the girls gawking at him.

As Tatsuki was about to save face, she suddenly saw all of the scars. She felt her chest tighten and a small flame of anger burning deep in her heart.

"Hey, Hime, could you come here for a minute," Tatsuki called to her friend when she walked back into the kitchen.

"Uh.. Coming!" she stuttered and ran out of the living room, her face beet red as she entered the kitchen.

"Get a good view in their?" Tatsuki said, crossing her arms and smiling mischievously at her friend.

"W-w-w-what?!" she stuttered, blushing even deeper. She held her arms out in front of her and waved her hands at her friends as she closed her eyes and then brought her hands to her chest. "N-no! It's not like that! I mean, I wasn't looking!"

"Sure," Tatsuki said, smiling again before she looked away from her friend and Orihime could see the sadness in her face. "Hey, Hime?"

"Uh.. Yes, Tatsuki?" she said, cocking her head curiously.

"I know you already told me a lot about what happened to you guys," she said, slowly. "But... Well... I was wondering... Where did he get all those scars? I mean, all the things you told me, you never told me about the big almost perfectly round hole in his chest right where his collar bones meet..."

"Oh..." Orihime said, sadness flowing into her eyes. "That..."

Tatsuki could feel a her chest tighten even more as she saw the look on Orihime's face darken and she was about to ask again when Ichigo walked into the kitchen topless with the towel over his shoulders.

"What's going on in here?" he asked with a smile. He looked at Orihime and noticed the sad expression before she tried to hide it and smile at him and his smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Orihime shouted almost over-zealously as she turned and smiled at him, clasping her hands behind her back as his trademark scowl took over his face.

"Tell me, Orihime," he said, frowning deeper.

"Well..." she said, holding her finger to her chin as she looked up and away from him.

"I want to know what all has happened to you in the last couple of years, Ichigo," Tatsuki blurted, her fists balled at her sides and her eyes squeezed tightly closed as she nearly yelled at him. "No... I need to know!"

Ichigo's frown faltered for a moment and surprise nearly took over his expression before he frowned again, not as deeply as before but still deeply. He exchanged an uncertain glance with Orihime before he sighed and reached back, scratching the back of his head and groaning while leaning back with his eyes closed.

"Fine..." he said, after a moment. "But I'm warning you, a lot of the details will shock you."

Tatsuki smiled slightly at her victory and she and Orihime followed the topless orangette into the den where they promptly turned off the television and sat around the table in the center of the room. Orihime and Ichigo sat opposite one another with Tatsuki sitting next to Ichigo but between them.

"So which part do you want to know about? I haven't got enough time to tell all of it to you right now, and, besides, I know Orihime told most everything to you that she knew while I was asleep after the battle with Aizen."

"I guess," Tatsuki said, thinking about it for a moment. "I would like to know about what happened when you went to go rescue Orihime."

Ichigo sighed as he looked at Orihime, who avoided looking at him and her averted eyes were cast down in sadness.

"Well, after you saw me leave the shop, I went to Hueco Mundo, where she was being held," he explained. "Once I got there, I met some weird arrancar and they followed me and the others into Las Noches where we battled the fallen Espada in the lower levels. I had to hollowfy in order to even stand my ground against the one I battled."

"I see," Tatsuki said, her mind drifting and trying to imagine Ichigo in his hollow mask.

"Yeah. I was in pretty rough shape and this little former espada named Nel had followed me and she was being super annoying during every battle I got into," he said, a vein popping on his forehead as he remembered how annoying Nel had been. "Anyway, after I got through the whole former Espada's levels, I ran into the guy that took Orihime, named Ulquiorra Cifer. At first, he was pretty annoying but I didn't want to fight him if I didn't have to, so I tried to leave it at that. Then, he told me he was the one that took Orihime, and I just snapped. I knew that I had to get her back and I just kept striking at him. I finally decided to hollowfy, even though I could only do it for about eleven seconds at that time. He drew his blade but I was no match for him."

Tatsuki felt her chest tighten even more, if it were somehow possible.

"I tried to escape, but he figured out my tactic to escape and caught up to me easily. Next thing I knew, I was flying through another building and when I looked up, he was there," he said, his voice drifting away and his hand lazily drifting towards his chest where the hole had been. "Next thing I knew, he'd thrust his hand into my chest. I could feel everything breaking inside of me. He pulled his hand out of my chest and I collapsed to the ground. I don't know for sure what happened after that. Everything went black and I couldn't hear or see or feel anything anymore. I was sure I was dead."

Ichigo looked over at Orihime, who's eyes were puffy and tears streaming down her face.

"Then, I suddenly could feel again and hear. My sight returned and, when I looked up, Orihime was there with Grimmjow, the guy that beat the crap out of me twice in the middle of the city. When Ulquiorra showed up to stop him, he trapped him in a temporary prison and forced her to heal me so that he and I could fight. He wanted one last duel with me to prove he was the strongest."

Tatsuki could feel her hands clenched together so tight she had lost sensation in her fingertips. Her eyes were locked on some point in the distance as her mind projected the battle in her head.

"I agreed to battle him to get Orihime back. He and I battled for a little while with me just using my shinigami powers. I knew I couldn't survive unless I hollowfied but I also knew Orihime didn't know about my hollowfication and I didn't want to scare her. I chose to take the battle far from her so that she wouldn't get hurt. The battle went on and on for what felt like hours, and I was always on the defense for most of it. I started off doing pretty well but then he quickly showed me his resurrecion and, soon, I was getting my ass kicked. I knew I couldn't keep it up, and, before I knew it, he had made an attack that, when I dodged, was headed straight for Nel and Orihime."

Tatsuki's heart was racing as her mind kept running through images of what the battle may have looked like.

"I jumped in front of her just in time to save her from getting struck by three missiles. But, as I looked up at her, I knew she was terrified of me in my hollow form so I just told her to keep her shield up and not to move. I returned to the battle and was soon back into getting my ass kicked."

He laughed lightly at this but was quickly silenced by Tatsuki slamming her fist on the table and looking at him intensely.

"How is this funny?!" she yelled, not sure what was going through her mind.

"I just remember how weak I felt," he said, looking her in the eye and half smiling. "I can't remember ever feeling so weak. But then..."

"Then, Nel yelled at me for being afraid of him," Orihime piped in, her eyes still cast down. "I was afraid of the very man who'd come to save me, and all I could do was cower at the sight of him. After Nel said that, though, I realized that I needed to encourage him. So, I yelled to him... 'Please... Don't die!'"

Tatsuki looked at her best friend surprised and she found Orihime's eyes locked on Ichigo.

"You don't have to win," she said as tears began flowing down her face. "Just don't get hurt anymore."

"Oh, Hime," Tatsuki said, shuffling over to her friend and holding her as she began to cry from her memories.

"I'm sorry for causing everything to get so emotional..." Ichigo said, looking away, ashamed.

Tatsuki continued holding her friend's head to her chest and making soothing noises as the beautiful girl sobbed, not even acknowledging what he'd said. Feeling awkward, Ichigo stood, grabbing his wet shirt from the bathroom where he'd draped it over the edge of the tub. He quickly pulled the shirt over his head again and walked to the shoe shelves.

"Where are you going?!" Tatsuki nearly yelled as she held Orihime, who's sobbing had lessened significantly in the short time he'd gone to get his shirt.

"Home," he said, not looking back at her. "I won't cause any further emotional trouble, just take care of Orihime and I'll stop bringing up the past. Let's just go back to our normal lives, finally. Who cares about the stupid past anymore?"

As he stood and reached out, pulling the door open slightly, he heard feet hitting the ground hard as someone stomped over to the door angrily. He knew it was Tatsuki even before he saw her reach out and push the door closed, trying to trap him inside.

"Just who the hell said you could leave?" she said, putting her hands on her hips as she stood in between him and the door.

"Tatsuki, will you just get the hell out of the way?" he said, his frown returning and trying to step around her.

"No," she said, crossing her arms and leaning against the door.

"God damn it, I have to be home soon anyway," he said, looking angrily at the girl in front of him. "Besides, all I did was bring up sad shit that made Orihime cry remembering, so why bring it up anymore?"

"Because, god damn it! I wasn't there!" she screamed, her fists at her sides again as she met his eyes.

"You wouldn't have wanted to see those things... trust me," he said, averting his eyes.

"I don't fucking care! I wanted to be there with you, but all you said was that it didn't concern me!" she yelled, nearly bringing her hand back to punch him in the face.

"I was trying to protect you," he said, not meeting her eyes.

"I don't want your god damned protection!" she said, finally loading her arm back and clocking him in the jaw. He fell to the floor, his wet clothes messing up a small portion of her carpet but she didn't care.

"I know you didn't!" he yelled back, standing back up, quickly, and meeting her gaze. "I know you, Tatsuki! I know how much you hate being weaker than others! For so many god damned years you protected me and now that I can finally pay you back, I am not going to let you get fucking hurt!"

Tatsuki froze at this for long enough for Ichigo to open the door and walk out into the pouring rain, leaving his wallet and cell phone on her coffee table in his rush. She stood frozen, her expression confused and her heart clenching tighter than she could bear. She felt anger and hurt flowing into her, almost to the same levels she'd felt the last time she'd punched him in the face and she felt the shame at realizing how poorly she'd handled it again.

"Tatsuki...?" Orihime said, sniffling and wiping her tears, causing her to slowly look back at her best friend. "Why are you so mad at Ichigo?"

"I don't know," she answered, honestly. "I can't tell if it's because he's still trying to protect me because he thinks I'm weak, or if it's because he kept it all a secret from me for so long, or because I just couldn't do anything for you when I needed to be there most. I can't even really tell if I'm really mad at him or if it's something else."

"What do you mean?" she asked as the other girl walked over to sit next to her.

"I mean, I don't know if it's anger that I'm feeling or if it's just another emotion that I'm showing as anger," she explained. "I feel more hurt and worried than anything else. I mean, knowing all the danger you were in... and seeing all those scars?... I sometimes can't believe you guys made it out of that alive, you know?.."

"He didn't make it without dying," Orihime said, her eyes cast down as tears flowed down her cheeks again. "He died twice while we were in Hueco Mundo..."

"What?!" Tatsuki gasped, her eyes wide and her mouth agape in horror.

"Yeah..." she said, softly. "That time he was just talking about... He wasn't just close to death... He was actually gone..."

"Oh my god," Tatsuki said softly, her eyes filling with warm tears.

"And then, after he won against Grimmjow and we looked like we were going to be able to move on with our fight, I was suddenly taken again by Ulquiorra... Ichigo came for me, like I knew he would... But their fight was too intense for them to continue withing the castle of Las Noches, so they broke through the ceiling and continued their fight outside the dome. I don't know how bad Ichigo got hurt before I got there, finally, but Uryu managed to take me to him, just in time to see Ulquiorra in his resurrecion... He had his tail wrapped around Ichigo's throat and he was badly hurt... He looked back at me before he put a finger to Ichigo's chest..."

Orihime covered her mouth as she tried not to cry and Tatsuki could feel the tears flowing down her face as the images rushed into her mind.

"As I watched, he blasted a cero through Ichigo's chest..."

Orihime's eyes were wide as she spoke and her hands had drifted to either side of her head where her hairpins rested.

"Ichigo's eyes... They were so... distant... I screamed as his body dropped over a hundred feet to the ground and I put out my shield to catch him and then I tried to heal him..." Orihime's breathing had become ragged and she felt her body begin to shake as he knees nearly collapsed and she curled up into the fetal position. "No matter what I did, I couldn't close the hole in his chest!... I.. I couldn't save him!"

Tatsuki's heart raced and she almost was too lost in the moment to see her friend rapidly going over the edge. She quickly ran over to Orihime and grabbed the girl in her arms, holding her tight and stroking her hair.

"I screamed for him... I begged him to save me... And then... he became a monster..." she whispered, almost too softly for Tatsuki to hear. As she heard this, Tatsuki's blood ran ice cold and she tried to snap her friend out of it as she held her close and made soothing noises.