Disclaimer: Yes. I do NOT own any Bleach characters, weapons, etc.
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Falling Together
Chapter Four - Why It Is
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She glared at him angrily, while he stared at her with a calm expression. The dining table was quite silent at that time, none of them daring to speak to another. The rest of the Kurosaki family was away for some reason. Something about analyzing the new Kurosaki Castle that Ichigo and Rukia would be moving into.
"You bastard…" The queen muttered, giving an intense death glare at her husband. A smile cracked as he found her face too amusing. "What's that SMILE for!" She shouted, taking her half-eaten plate and was about to throw it. Too bad that Yoruichi was there to take it out of her hands.
"Are you done, my queen?" The woman smiled kindly, but looks could be deceiving, she seemed to be in an awful mood based on her depressed riatsu flowing about.
Rukia gulped, while Ichigo laughed at her while pointing fingers. Yoruichi quickly vanished and left the woman in a state of surprise.
"Baka! I can't believe you actually tried to threaten me around her." The king mocked her with a big cocky grin. She turned her face away from him, she hated this life. So why? Why wasn't she leaving? Why wasn't she divorcing him? Was it the fact that it was her brother that concerned her? Was it that Byakuya would scare her if she did that? Of course not.
It was him. That's why she was staying. He is so similar…She grumbled to herself in pain. Life was ironic. Her story of her past, twisted. And here, now she finds her future a little more messed up.
"Something wrong?" Ichigo asked, worried (finally), for some reason. He hated how she was becoming too silent around him. Maybe preparing some trap or something, but he couldn't care less. She knew how powerful he was. So it couldn't have been that she was thinking about. "YO!" The man exclaimed, standing up with impatience. Rukia still unable to hear his screeching voice.
…He looks like him…She murmured in her mind. But he isn't as GOOD as him. She cried silently in her heart. But, the crying soon stopped as she found a tall shadow looming over her. She stared up to find Ichigo looking rather ticked off. "What?" Rukia grumbled lazily, her violet eyes holding no liveliness. Ichigo could tell instantly, she wasn't her normal self.
"Bitch. I asked you if you were alright!" He quickly respond turning deep red. She looked away from him again. "Jeez. If you aren't answering, then fine." The king replied and left the dining room.
When Ichigo left, a door from the west wing silently creaked open. Rukia faced the figure with little surprise. "Oi. Renji? Why are you here?" She asked in a rather pessimistic voice. The knight looked at her with a little surprise.
"Just…y-you know checking on you!" He blushed, and stared at the wall behind her. Rukia let out a small laugh, and ran her hand through her silken ebony hair.
"You got me into a LOT of trouble last night." She hissed, and pointed at him accusingly. She was trying to regain her vivaciousness…but it soon failed, as her voice faded.
"…It's him, isn't it?" Her friend asked, staring outside and finding Ichigo walking through the fields and instructing some peasants to do whatever he wanted. Rukia gazed outside beside him. Her eyes sunk, and she silently withdrew from the scene. "Rukia?"
"…Remember?" The girl asked innocently, sitting down on one of the silken chairs near the main table. Renji rose his left eyebrow, as if questioning her. "Remember three years ago…?" She whispered quietly, her voice croaking with some unknown sadness. Something he didn't know about, that was now being revealed to him.
"What? Tell me.." He commanded in a friendly tone, a curious tone, a somewhat…angry tone as well.
"It was three…years ago…" Rukia closed her eyes, and breathed slowly.
-----------------------Past is in Italics------------------------
"Rukia…" A boy whispered kindly towards me. He was three years my senior, but we were still desperately in love with each other. Or so I thought. "When the time comes, I want you to marry me." He smiled with a little arrogance, but it held some truth and kindness in it. I blushed at him, feeling too much embarrassed. "So, what do you say?" He asked me as they sat on the patio gazing at the fields of Sakura.
"I-I gladly accept." I answered truthfully. I was definitely in love with him. I knew it, I could feel it.
I…I thought that it was a SET future after he said that…
After that meeting, he left. And I waited for him. To take me away. To rescue me from the family I so much hated.
Finally, after ten months. He returned, and I found him a much more…happy man. Too much filled with joy. I couldn't understand what was giving him such happiness…but I soon realized, what happened. I soon realized why my heart was aching so much.
"…Didn't you hear?" He asked me with a little annoyance. He frowned disapprovingly as he finally realized that no one had told me about his special upcoming day. "I'm getting married! TOMORROW!" He announced to me cheerfully, as if it was nothing to me. That day he said that, I remembered how much my love fled away from me. I remembered how much I wanted to curse the world for giving me such a cruel life…Rukia replied calmly, but suddenly a tear drop fell from her left eye, and plenty more came.
Tears slid down her pale cheeks, she bit her lip and began to speak once more. Renji, a little devastated about her unknown past, urged her to keep going on. He wanted to know what went happened to her and him.
But…As much as I wanted to curse this hell, I couldn't. She cried, gripping onto her crimson kimono with hatred and sadness. I was STILL too in love with him, to even HATE him. To EVEN curse him for breaking his promise. She coughed bitterly, and removed an annoying tear with one of her silk sleeves. So I said… "I'm glad that you're happy…"
"YOU IDIOT! Why did you say that?" Ichigo shouted, he was found sitting on the door steps, listening to Rukia's private and personal past. The woman stared at him, turning bright red and scowled. "GO ON! Just ignore me." The orange-haired man frowned angrily, and looked away.
"Baka." Renji replied silently, but received a head wound by getting hit by an expensive new vase that had replaced the last broken one.
"JUST AS I WAS SAYING!" Rukia shouted, clearly annoyed but still obviously sad. He was a little surprised, when I told him that. "A-are you serious?" He asked, staring at me with a little glint of relaxation. I nodded assuring him that I was perfectly fine with his decision. After all I was such a stupid girl to even notice that that promise was obviously dull.
"IT WASN'T DULL!" Renji protested, trying to cheer her up. Rukia whacked him, and continued to go on the storyline. Ichigo let out a soft little chuckle.
So Kaien-dono and Miyako-dono got married. She muttered to herself, staring at Renji who was now trying to whack Ichigo with his sheath, but he soon stopped as he saw Rukia's death glare. And I was left with some…confusion in my heart.
"I think you've been confused ALL your LIFE." Ichigo stated, but received another slap from her. "RULE # ONE!" He shouted, rubbing his cheek.
But…three days later, I found it quite easy. To forget him…She muttered, closing her eyes. It was painful at the start, but it gradually eased in after so many people tried to reassure me. I thought I could live on happily still. If Kaien-dono was happy, then I would be too. She bit her lower lip. Renji and Ichigo stared at her with more intensity.
But one day…the first week of their new lives…Kaien-dono and Miyako-dono died from some natural disaster. She cried, silently. So…I asked myself…was he STILL happy? Because I wasn't….She sobbed, and childishly called out her first loves name. Ichigo got up, and whacked her on the head. "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" Rukia shouted, trying to punch him but he easily dodged.
"Stop reminiscing over the past, idiot! It's the future you need to be worried about!" Ichigo shouted, he looked heated up. "BESIDES! If you're sad, then he MUST be sad too." He answered truthfully. Rukia stared at him, wiping her tears. "What's with that look?" Ichigo asked, a little embarrassed.
"That sentence…it was…good." She smiled. Renji coughed, and stood up. "Where are you going?" She asked him.
"Going to go and train." The swordsman muttered a little tired of their bickering. Ichigo snorted while she grunted.
"So…that Kaien dude." Ichigo whispered, staring at her. "Why were you talking about him?" He asked curious. Rukia closed her mouth for a second and smiled.
"You remind me of him." She smiled, blushing. Ichigo turned red, and walked away..
"WHATEVER!" He stuttered, leaving.