This time it's Ichigo's POV. Most of the things are revealed in this chapter, no cliffy.
Ichigo was laying down on his couch, staring at the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling of his spacious living room. The house that once felt welcoming, now gave a feeling of gloom without Rukia. He searched for her high and low- without any success. He had given-up on work and completely isolated himself from his family and friends. He hadn't left the house for the past month and a half. That was when he ended the search for her. He knew that he deserved to be shunned by Rukia, and even if that was the truth, didn't make it any easier to bear.
He wished she would return and punch him, punish him anyway she liked.
He wanted her to come back to him.
He needed her, as much as he needed oxygen to breathe, to stay alive.
His father and sisters visited daily, with food—which he sometimes ate, sometimes dumped in the trashcan. Uryu, Chad and Inoue came by daily for the first few weeks, they never got any positive response, so they left him be. They called a few times every week to make sure he was okay.
Okay? How can he be okay when he blew off his only chance to happiness? He thought of drowning himself in alcohol to forget the pain, but then he remembered Rukia saying that 'alcohol turned men into fools'. He was already a fool who destroyed his own life and most likely Rukia's as well. He heard the doorbell ring and chose to ignore it. But, whoever it was, was very persistent and just won't leave. He got tired of hearing the annoying ring and decided to see who was trying to get on his nerves. when the door was opened, he found Uryu and Chad standing outside. Uryu was looking visibly shaken, whereas Chad was a bit tense. From the looks of it, the news that they brought was not going to be a good one.
Both, Uryu and Chad entered the living room; contemplating on what to say and how to say it. Uryu started first.
"Ichigo, today we went to the sub-urbs looking for some things on our new project. We were passing by an old park, where some kids wer-"
"Shut-up! If you are here just to tell me about your daily adventures, then you better leave now. I have neither the patience nor the time to entertain to your silly quests." Ichigo said in a cold voice.
"Okay it was wrong of me to-" Uryu was cut short again, this time by Chad.
"We saw Rukia."
"Actually we met her." Uryu corrected.
Never had they seen Ichigo's eyes so alive, as they were now, just by the mention of Rukia's name.
"Actually we met her."
A lot of emotions flickered across Ichigo's face, the one among them was hope. Uryu felt like a jerk to douse his hope, but it had to be done.
"…however it seems to me that she has lost her memory." If there was a sound of a heart breaking, it could be heard now.
"What..do…you mean?" the hope in Ichigo's eyes died down.
(Flashback)
Uryu and Chad were in the outskirts of Karakura for their new project. They were done with their task, and were going back to the city, when suddenly Chad yelled for his friend to stop the car. Uryu who was on the steering wheel, was taken aback by Chad's sudden outburst. Moments later, he was in the same state, when he glanced at the direction Chad was looking at, to see what had caused his quiet friend to get so animated. He saw a petite woman- who had driven their orange-haired friend to the point of insanity with her sudden departure, sitting on a park bench.
Both men approached the tiny women. They were hesitating to talk to her, as she showed no signs of recognizing them. Uryu went to her and said.
"We all are looking for you. What are you doing here?"
She looked confused for a second and then answered.
"Oh…. I don't know what to... This is awkward to say- I recently lost my memory, and haven't remembered a single thing from my past. I'm sorry to say this, but I don't remember you."
With that said, she turned and left the park with a bunch of children. Chad hadn't said a single word, Uryu was left speechless. They both got in the car and came to a decision to do some snooping.
(End flashback)
Ichigo couldn't believe what he was hearing. She lost her memories? It's not possible, right?
Uryu continued with his narration about their encounter with Rukia.
"We thought it would be better to investigate the matter, so we asked about her to the nearby people. One woman told us where Rukia currently works. We went there, only to find out that she lives in an orphanage. The orphanage manager—Ukitake-san is a lecturer in the nearby school-"
"Uryu. Get to the point." Rage was evident in Ichigo's voice. Uryu felt a bit unnerved, but he continued.
"Eh…. We met with the man; he guaranteed that Rukia has in-fact, lost her memory when she got in an accident. He also told us that before she came to the city, Rukia lived with them when she was a teenager." Uryu did not know what to say next, so he kept quiet, waiting for Ichigo to soak-up the torrent of information he had just provided.
"When did she get in an accident? Did she look okay?" Ichigo wanted to make sure about her wellbeing.
"About three months ago, in front of the same orphanage. She looked fine when we met her."
That would mean, leaving him, was her own decision. He had hurt her so badly that she left this city to go to her previous refuge.
What was he going to do now?
Ichigo was considering his options. He wanted to see Rukia, but would he be able to bear the pain? The pain of her not recognizing him. He decided to keep the information about Rukia, away from his family. If they knew where she was, they would certainly go there to meet her. He didn't want to see them in pain, especially when the root of this pain was Ichigo himself.
Aizawa Ayumu, falconrukichi, kejora, Thanks for the reviews.
All the chapters are generally around 1000-1200 words, so they aren't that short. But, I'll try to write bigger chapters.
.pop, kurukurupa keep on reading and reviewing.
A/n :- For the next two months I wont be able to update every week. I have practicals, exams, and whatnot, I'll be too busy studying (and crying because of too much workload). I will update; just not every week. Sorry for the trouble, in advance.
R&R.