...i originally wanted this to be a separate one-shot fic, but somehow, i got lazy...
...writing this was sort of annoying, especially since i couldn't get the feeling i wanted in it, but i hope i was still able to pull it off in the end (i doubt, but anyways _)
...this is slightly influenced by the song Vector by Maaya Sakamoto...
Vector
If you'd rather be somewhere
that's not here
then you just gotta tell me
Cause there's so much more to life, than pretending
It was just another regular afternoon.
And just like any other regular afternoon, he found Rukia sitting there, impassively looking into the sunset. Wordlessly, he sat next to her and if she noticed, she never showed it or acknowledged him. Imitating Rukia, he turned to stare ahead at the sun as well. As it was slowly swallowed by the orange-painted horizon, he wondered what was so mesmerizing with the sight that made her go back here all the time.
He winced at the thought that formed in his head and willed himself not to think about it.
He spared her a sidelong glance and although he didn't want to see it, he saw a sad longing look in her eyes that caused his heart to tighten. It the same look that he only saw when she thought he wasn't looking. The look that was always there since she came back.
"Do you regret returning here? Do you want to go back?"
He was a coward. Many would dispute his self-assertion, but he thought of himself a coward. He may have defeated many hollows and even more than a handful of Soul Society's enemies, but he was still a coward. It's not that he was afraid to ask, but it was the answer that he was afraid to hear. So decided not to ask her and rather assumed he already knew the answer. Instead, he sat quietly beside her, just waiting for her until she decided to leave.
He looked back at the sunset and saw how the colors were slowly being saturated with the darkening of the sky, with the light twinkling of the barely noticeable stars. Silently, he thanked the stars for coming out, for replacing the painful brightness of the sun.
Just before the sun was totally gone, just before the sky was consumed by the darkness of the evening clouds, just as the orange hue was mingled with the subtle fiery red color washing away the color of the sun, he chanced another look at Rukia. Just as he expected, he saw the tiny sparks appear in her eyes along with the small smile that formed on her lips.
He felt jealousy tugged at his heart and forced it down. He had no right to be jealous, because no matter how much his heart wishes it, his mind knew the fact of their relationship. He's nothing more than just a friend to her.
She stayed there until the sun was no longer visible, still not sparing him a look. He wanted to say something, anything to kill the silence that was gradually eating at him. He wanted to ask, he wanted to know.
"Do you want to leave?"
He watched as she gently turned her head to finally look at him; the smile no longer there, the spark gone from her eyes. He stared at her and waited for her to answer but nothing came. He was about to open his mouth again to tell her she didn't need to answer when a loud buzzing sound came from within her pocket. He disinterestedly observed her pull out the device and flip it open to reveal three blinking dots on the screen.
"Three hollows, all at the same area. They're not that powerful so we can finish this before dinner." With sense of emergency, Rukia stood and prepared to pop a Chappy pill, ready to jump off the rooftop any second. After separating her soul from her faux body, she looked back and frowned when he was not moving.
"Come on, Ichigo. Let's go!"
Groaning, he followed suit. There was no point in dwelling.
"I don't get why we should take care of it. Where's that Soul Reaper in charge of Karakura anyway?" He muttered while lazily pulling his weight from the rough surface of the roof of their clinic.
"Stop complaining and move already." Rukia replied, raising her foot, ready to kick him into action.
"Alright, already." He moved before the kick landed on his face. He changed to his Soul Reaper form and quickly jumped off to their neighbor's roof, leaving Rukia alone. He didn't look back to see if she would follow, for he knew she would. He simply looked ahead as the sky was now fully dark and there were no evidence of either the orange or the red of the sunset.