A/N: I'm back. Sorry, I've been really busy lately. Lots of stress. So here is another chap, and the song is by Secondhand Serenade, who I love so very much, "It's Not Over." It is not the Chris Daughtry song. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Je ne posséde pas Bleach.
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Chapter 6: It's Not Over
"Rukia."
She jumped slightly from the abruptness of the voice. After closing the door to her apartment, she proceeded into the kitchen where her brother was sitting at the kitchen table. She pulled out a chair and sat down. "You scared me to death," she said blowing out an air to calm her racing heart.
Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "You don't look de-" Rukia then cut in before he could finish.
"It's only a saying," she said sheepishly. It wasn't even that new of a saying and yet he still didn't understand slang. She tried to change the subject. "So, what is it that you wanted?" She leaned back in her chair with her hands folded on the table.
"You've been gone since before six in the morning. I had no idea where you went and you were taking too long to return. We received some new information. Some very important information. I told the rest already due to your long absence," he said emotionless, like always.
She slouched down and frowned in guilt. "Sorry. I went out to clear my head. That actually back fired…" she said drifting off.
Byakuya leaned forward over the table, placing a hand on her folded ones, and bending his head down slightly to catch the attention of his looking down sister. Both of his eyebrows were raised in concern and his voice carried the smallest bit of care. "Is something wrong?"
Rukia's eyes opened widely. This was one of those rare moments when she felt like he was there, not as an elder or superior, but as her brother. She relaxed her stiffened body. She gave a slight smile, "I'm fine."
He frowned, but still didn't move. She slid her hands out from underneath his hand and put one over his. She shook it slightly, "I'm fine," she said for reassurance. She leaned back into her chair and removed her hand from on top of his. They had come so far in their relationship. Byakuya was now the type to look out for her openly, instead of from the shadows. It is now how Hisana wanted it to be.
"Please. Tell me what I missed."
He then leaned back, displaying his emotionless face once again. "This morning we experienced strangely, powerful pulses of spiritual energy. They were incredibly strong. We believe something is coming. Something that has to do with the sudden reappearances of hollows. I need for you to stay on your toes. I can't have you running around for half of a day, not knowing where you went."
She sighed, "Okay, I'm sorry. I understand." She knew that was his way of telling her that he cared about her safety, not because she was part of team for this mission, but because she was his sister. It was funny how he treated her like she was a little girl, but she rather that than his cold, 'let her die' attitude from so many years ago. She started to get out of her seat and walk out of the kitchen.
"Rukia."
She stopped walking and turned her head to look at her brother.
"I'm allowing everyone one last night to relax and enjoy themselves. Then tomorrow we focus."
She smiled sadly, "Thanks for the offer, but I rather stay in."
He frowned, "Unohana and I were going to go out for dinner, but we can cancel-"
"No, no, no," she cut in holding her hands out in front of her to stop him. "I'm fine. I need some time to catch up on some reading I've been wanting to do anyway. Please, go have fun," she said convincingly.
Orihime looked at Ishida with worry in her eyes, with Tatsuki watching in the background. Then, Chad walked out of the kitchen. He saw the scene in front of him and ran over. "What's going on?"
Ishida put a hand out to Ichigo, "Come on, Kurosaki. Let's go sit down at a table."
Ichigo looked up with shock from Ishida's sudden mood swing. He then grabbed his hand and pulled himself up. The five proceeded to walk to a table in the back. Everyone sat in a chair except Tatsuki, who said she rather stand. So she opted to leaning against the wall next to them.
"What's going on, Ichigo?" Orihime asked softly, after everyone was settled.
Ichigo had his hands folded on the table in front of him and he continued to stare down at them. "For the past month, things have been happening to me that never used to happen. I've been having trouble sleeping at night. Every time I wake up, I'm sweating and dizzy. I find that I have cuts randomly on my body, that I would definitely remember what they were from, but I don't. What's worse is, sometimes I feel like I'm seeing things."
Tatsuki raised an eyebrow, "Seeing things?"
He nodded, still looking down at his hands. "I find myself looking in the mirror sometimes and some part of my face gets disoriented or my eyes look like they are turning black. But, something even more bizarre happened. The other night I stayed at the clinic because I sprained my ankle and I didn't have enough energy to really make it back home. I awoke from another night's dreaming, but wasn't as frightened as I usually am. Since my vision is always hazy when I wake up, I could only make out a smaller figure at the side of my bed. They seemed to be wearing some sort of black robe or something. Then I saw a blue glow, and I immediately felt like any pain I had in my ankle was evaporating. Then, I guess it felt so good, it made me go back to sleep because that's all I remember. But it was definitely not a dream."
Ishida continued to stare at him with complete calm now. Chad then piped up. "Ichigo," he hesitated, "What happened yesterday?"
Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm still trying to figure that out. The last thing I remember was running back to my apartment to get ready for work because I forgot I was working and was three hours late. I took a shower and started to do my hair when I felt dizzy again. I lost balance and fell, and then all I can remember is lying on the floor when everything went black. My head is missing an entire day."
"You can't remember one bit of it?" Ishida asked.
Ichigo pulled his head up, looking him straight into his eyes. "I swear I can't remember a thing."
Tatsuki said calmly, "Maybe you're going crazy and need to be put on some meds."
Orihime raised her voice in surprise from her rudeness, "Tatsuki!"
"What? It's totally a possibility," she said in defense.
"Yeah, it really is," Ichigo responded looking back down at his hands.
"You do act like a totally different person," Chad inputted.
"Maybe you should go get yourself checked out. We need to figure out what's going on with you. You're worrying us," Tatsuki said with concern hidden in her voice.
Orihime started to get agitated, which was rare. "He's not crazy! He's just going through something. All he needs is us to help him through it." Her thoughts were running through her head. 'I know what's going on with you, Ichigo. I don't know the exact detail, but I know it has to do with the shinigami. Who else would be able to heal you like the way you described?'
Ishida then looked at her as if hearing and agreeing with her thoughts.
"It couldn't hurt, Orihime. Thanks for the optimism, but I should probably go do that," Ichigo said with distress in his voice.
Keigo and Chizuru came running over. "Guys, you can't just walk away from working while we have customers! Chad and Orihime, you guys left your meals unattended in the kitchen. Tatsuki your tables are pissed as hell, and Ishida, your complaint box is now full from the customers that left from not getting their meals," Chizuru said with Keigo nodding.
They were all surprised that they had forgotten that they were indeed supposed to be working. They all jumped up.
"Don't worry Ichigo. We'll help ya through this," Tatsuki said with Chad nodding in agreement. They walked off.
Ishida sighed. "Hey, I'm sorry about punching you and all of that. I didn't know-"
Ichigo gave a nod, "Its fine, man. But damn, you gave me a real shiner…" he said chuckling and running his hand over what was definitely going to be a bruise along with a cut, which was lightly bleeding at the moment.
Ishida shook his head back and forth and started to walk away, "It's bleeding you know. You should clean that up and put some ice on it, otherwise you're gonna be hurting like hell during the show tonight."
"Ichigo," Orihime said softly as Ishida was gone.
He turned to look at her, "Yeah?"
"What are you planning to do about Rukia?" she said getting to the point.
He sighed, "I ran into her earlier. She said I had some nerve to come up to her after what I did and when I can explain it, to tell her. But I don't think she'd believe this, Orihime. She'll just think I'm a perverted bastard. And if she does by chance believe me, she'll think I'm a lunatic and why would someone stick around for that?"
"I don't think you should just give up though, Ichigo. I can tell you really care about this girl," she said with an understanding smile. 'You care more than you know…' she thought.
"Yeah, I doubt I'll be able to see her again after this though. I only run into her by chance. I don't know where she's staying or her number," he said losing all hope.
Orihime got extremely perky just then, "Maybe she'll be at the show tonight! You guys have been planning to play this concert for awhile and everyone in town knows about it and is going to be here."
"I don't know. I'm not getting my hopes up."
Orihime just nodded, "I think she will. But I have to get back to work. Stick around, we'll send you out some food." She walked off.
His thoughts starting to run, 'Please come tonight. Please.' He sat down and grabbed a spare waiter's notebook that he saw on an unused tray; he was near the kitchen after all. He immediately started writing.
"Come on girl. You can't stay in here by yourself and sulk," Rangiku said sitting on Rukia's bed, as Rukia looked up from her romance novel.
"I'm not sulking. I just wanted to do some reading. We're going to be busy now and I wanted to try and finish this book. It's really good," she said nonchalantly.
"Yeah, sure. If you want to stay here and 'read a book' go on ahead. But you're missing out," Momo said putting air quotes around "read a book."
Rukia just rolled her eyes and yelled, "I'm not sulking!" after they walked out and closed the door.
"It figures we ended up coming here. I did want to come and see the show, but knowing Renji was driving, yeah, we'd come here," Shuuhei said.
Renji just huffed. "Let's go."
They walked in and were seated by none other than the woman that Renji was head over heels for. "Nice to see you again Renji," she said winking. He was shocked by her flirtation, considering she never did something like that to him since before the 'incident.'
Everyone rolled their eyes. "I guess it's a good thing Rukia didn't come. I don't think she could deal with seeing him," Momo said out loud once they were seated, pointing to the orange head man that was talking to the Quincy. He wasn't working, but the show was starting soon. Plus, his friends all worked there. He was wearing a plain black cotton shirt with khaki shorts.
"Hey Renji. I'm off now. Want to have a drink with me?" Tatsuki asked confidently.
He stuttered, "Uh-uh, y-yeah, sure!"
The two left as the four sat there shaking their heads, but easily showing a smirk.
"Hello everyone," a soft voice was heard and everyone turned to look at who it belonged to.
"Umm, hello miss. What can we help you with?" Rangiku said while it pained her to know her friend didn't know she was a friend at all.
Orihime smiled and threw her arms around her neck. "Don't pretend, Rangiku."
Her eyes went wide by the young woman's actions but then tears filled her eyes. She hugged her back, "I won't Orihime. I won't."
After the embrace was done, Shuuhei spoke. "How is it that you do remember?"
She smiled at him, "When Ichigo introduced Rukia to me the other day, everything flashed in front of me and I felt like I was whole again. Ever since then, I always felt like I was missing something. But now I don't!" she said in accomplishment.
Toushirou was pondering about this information, "That doesn't make any sense. The memory modifications are never that weak…" Momo just shrugged.
"Now that we are reacquainted, I want to tell you Ishida knows too," Orihime stated.
"The Quincy?" Toushirou asked getting more puzzled. Orihime just nodded happily.
"Now that's two people. This is weird," he said.
"Oh just let it go, Shirou," Momo said kissing his cheek.
"I want to ask you guys for help," Orihime said with hope evident in her voice.
"Anything," Rangiku said happily.
"I can see Rukia isn't here tonight. Ichigo needs her to be here. He's not been himself lately," she said drifting off.
"We know. We know what's wrong with him too," Shuuhei said.
"What?!" Orihime shot back with anticipation.
"We took away his spiritual energy, but yet he's never been just a shinigami. The hollow inside him is a different story all together," Toushirou stated.
"He can't control it because he doesn't have his spiritual energy as powerful as it used to be. In fact that portion of him barely exists as of right now," Momo informed.
"But he has to control it! It's messing up his life! Who knows what will happen if this occurs again!" Orihime exclaimed in concern.
"We're trying to figure out a way. We haven't come up with any yet. It's too complicated. We can't just give him back his power. But we would really prefer to talk about this later. The odds of him transforming like yesterday are slim to none. His emotional state right now from what has happened to him should be more than enough to prevent another total take over. This is our last day off. I would love to continue this some other time, but for now. I want to drink!" Shuuhei said in hopes he could escape the stress.
"Oh," Orihime responded. She felt like it was ridiculous to just push something this important to the side and not to mention it's dangerous for both Ichigo and everyone around him. If they only had one last night of fun and freedom, then she was going to let them have it because from what she just learned, it was Ichigo's last night for this opportunity too. "Okay, then I need a favor. Can you somehow get Rukia to come?"
"We asked and she said she rather read. Oh don't worry. She's so not sulking," Momo said sarcastically.
"Oh! I have an idea! Wow! I could call her and tell her I have an emergency!" Rangiku said excitedly.
"What kind of emergency are we talking about here? Knowing you it's probably way over the top," Shuuhei said.
"Hey, it's not that bad, just something she can't deny me of," Rangiku said defensively.
"He ran down the corridor, slamming into a cart that had cut through his tailored pants, but proceeded. Nothing was going to stop him from seeing her. Nothing. He flew around the corner and came to a closed door. His heart was pounding. It wasn't pounding from the running, but from the woman he had grown to love. He looked through the window of the door and saw as the doctors looked down, and a nurse reached up and dragged the sheet over the woman's head. He slammed his hands on the door. Too late to speak his mind. Too late to speak his heart," Rukia read out loud. She put the book down as tears escaped and sobs followed.
"Oh my god! This is supposed to be a romance novel, not a tragedy!" she yelled grabbing tissues from her dresser. Then as she sat there whipping her eyes, she heard her phone go off. She looked at the caller ID and saw it was Rangiku. She took a deep breath and answered. "Yeah, talk to me."
"Rukia! Hey, what are you up to?"
"Umm, reading, like I told you," she sniffed.
"Are you crying?" Rangiku asked incredulously.
"No, I just have a cold coming on."
"Yeah right. You sick? Funny. You are so crying!"
"No! I'm not! Okay, maybe I am, but it's not what you think! This book is seriously sad!"
"Uh-huh. You know you just have to tell us when you're upset and we'll have a girls' night out and help you get drunk and forget. We're your friends Rukia!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. What do you want Rangiku?"
"Oh, well, you see," she laughed, "I kind of need your help."
Rukia sighed, "What is it already?" She was irritated by her assumptions from before and couldn't stop sniffing now.
"I need you to bring some feminine products to me. I'm riding the crimson wave and it's incredibly intense this month!" Rangiku smiled as she spoke. Everyone was watching her and Momo and Orihime laughed, while Toushirou and Shuuhei didn't want to acknowledge what was going on.
"They have dispensers in the bathroom, ya know. Twenty-five cents."
"But Rukia! I need major protection here. It's heavy! Please! We have to stick together when these things happen!" She pleaded.
"Okay, okay. Fine! Take it down a notch. I think everyone around you knows what you need now. I'm coming, just tell me where you are," Rukia said defeated.
"I'm well, let's just say Renji drove."
"Shit, you have to be kidding me. Why did you have to go there of all places?!"
"Sorry! They were having that show tonight! Everyone was coming so why not? Just hurry!"
"Okay, I'm coming." She huffed, "I'll be there in thirty." Rukia hung up the phone and went to get ready. She put on a lavender skirt that went to her knees, with a white button down polyester t-shirt. She then pulled her hair back so it was in a loose ponytail and her usual rogue strands fell around her face perfectly.
She grabbed the appropriate extra absorbent accessories that Rangiku had begged for and stuffed them in a tote bag. She walked to the door. "Just keep it together, Rukia," she told herself grabbing the keys to one of their rentals and locking the door behind her.
Music was now playing. Music that was music to her ears. She knew exactly who was singing too. Every word he sang made her heart beat faster. She came in, and her eyes went straight to him. Her mind was saying to avoid him and not think about him but apparently her heart said otherwise. He was singing and jamming on his electric guitar. She was cursing herself as she began to get intoxicated by his voice.
"Rukia!" Momo yelled, snapping her out of her hypnotism. She waved her over. She saw their table, which was in the front row of the stage. "Figures," she said out loud.
"Here. I hope you didn't create any sort of mess. From the urgency in your voice you made it sound like it was non-stop," Rukia said placing the bag in Rangiku's lap.
She jumped up and hugged her tightly. "You are a true friend! Sadly though, Momo had asked this young woman here about my situation and they had plenty in storage," she said pointing to Orihime, who had joined them at their table. "But thanks so much Rukia! Why don't you just stay while you're here?" Rangiku said convincingly.
Rukia pulled away from her embrace. Her mouth was now ajar and her eyebrows furrowing. "You are such a liar! You didn't need anything! I told you I didn't want to go out and you pushed it anyway. What's worse is, is that it's here of all places!" Rukia said raising her voice, but making sure not to cause a scene. People were enjoying the music, so that was a good distraction.
"I thought you said you weren't sulking," Shuuhei said sarcastically as he took another shot. Toushirou laughed uncontrollably from his remark, as he too had been taking too many shots of Mr. Daniels.
"Shut up!" Rukia and Rangiku yelled at them at the same time. "You're making this worse," Rangiku added. Applause was then heard in the background.
"I'm out of here," Rukia said, turning around. She never felt so emotionally unstable.
"Stop trying to avoid me. You're not giving me a chance to make things better. I heard what you had to say, but now I need for you to listen to me," Ichigo said into the microphone looking straight at her. He was sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar on his lap. He turned to look at the audience, "I wrote this today, so give me a break if it sucks guys." He then looked back at Rukia. Then he moved his fingers along the strings, hitting chords that matched perfectly.
My tears run down like razorblades,
and no, I'm not the one to blame,
It's you... Or is it me?
And all the words we never say
come out, and now we're all ashamed,
And there's no sense in playing games
when you've done all you can do.
But now it's over. It's over...
Why is it over? We had the chance to make it
now it's over. It's over...
It can't be over. I wish that I could take it back.
But it's over...
He strummed getting more and more into the music. Hoping his point was getting across perfectly.
I lose myself in all these fights.
I lose my sense of wrong and right.
I cry, I cry.
It's shaking from the pain that's in my head.
I just want to crawl into my bed
and throw away the life I've led.
But I won't let it die.
But I won't let it die.
But it's over. It's over...
Why is it over? We had the chance to make it.
Now it's over. It's over...
It can't be over. I wish that I could take it back.
But now it's over...
His voice got stronger and he slammed his pick against the strings. Her face was priceless. It was what he was hoping for.
I'm falling apart.
I'm falling apart.
Don't say this won't last forever.
You're breaking my heart.
You're breaking my heart.
Don't tell me that we will never be together.
We could be over. It's over.
We could be forever.
He let all his emotion out for the final part of the song. The crowd was captivated.
It's not over.
It's not over.
It's never over.
Unless you let it take you.
It's not over.
It's not over.
It's not over.
It's not over.
Unless you let it break you.
It's not over.
Rukia stood there not moving, as Ichigo continued to sit there staring back at her. Orihime leaned over to Rangiku as the applause took place. "I think the plan worked."
"Hold on. We don't know what she'll do. She's unpredictable," Rangiku replied.
Rukia broke eye contact first and looked to the ground and then back up, she smiled softly.
He smiled in return. They both felt like this fight would have only taken place between people who were in a relationship, but they had only met a few days ago. Somehow they felt like they had a connection that allowed this sort of misunderstanding to continue to take place. Rukia could have easily dropped him like a rock or Ichigo could have easily let her go.
A break was taken as he asked her to just stay for the rest of the show. They would say what was needed later. "You're lucky that song can hold me over until you're done," she said earning a smirk from him.
Rukia had stayed for the rest of the show with Renji, as Tatsuki played the drums. "Alright, Renji is taking Tatsuki home." And Rangiku and Momo took Shuuhei and Toushirou home earlier because he was way too wasted. "Mind if I take you home?" Ichigo continued smiling hopefully.
"Do I have a choice?" Rukia asked jokingly.
"Yeah, you could go with Renji and Tatsuki, but I think Renji plans on staying until the morning. I swear I saw a sleeping bag and some footy pajamas in the trunk of his car just now," he replied challenging her to her joke.
"Wow, you just made me picture Renji in footy pajamas. That's a funny image. Touché, Ichigo Kurosaki. Touché."
"Hello, Mr. Kurosaki?" a nicely dressed man approached him.
He turned and smiled, "Yes, sir. How can I help you?"
The man smiled, "Joel Goldschmidt from the Plus agency," he said reaching his hand out to be shaken.
Ichigo was stunned and took his hand slowly.
The man continued, "I saw your show tonight that your band put on. I have to say, I'm very interested. I'd like to give you my card. Don't be a stranger." The man handed Ichigo the card and left.
Ichigo was so ecstatic. "Holy shit! I gotta tell the guys!" He flipped open his cell phone and held it to his ear. He took it down once and raised it again. "Damn. I love how no one answers. I'm not trying Tatsuki because who knows what she'll be doing right now when I call. I'll just tell them tomorrow, I guess."
"Congratulations," Rukia said, and in response Ichigo swiftly picked her up and swirled her around. Her eyes went wide by his sudden action, but smiled in his excitement to do it.
He laughed placing her back on the ground. "Okay, let's get you home, shall we?" he said holding his arm out for her to take.
"Ichigo, tell me what exactly happened," Rukia asked before getting in the car.
He sighed, "I wish I could answer that, but I don't understand what happened myself. How could you if I don't? I just want you to know, everything I did, it's not who I am. I have no idea what would possess me to do those things. Can I get back to you on an explanation?" he asked hopefully.
She nodded with a polite smile, "I'll let you off the hook for now, just because you looked sincere when you said that." She then reached up and felt the mark on his cheek. "How'd that happen?"
He chuckled, "Ishida's way of thanking me for my behavior to Orihime. But he gets that I didn't really want to do that, so we're cool now." She frowned at this, but he just went and opened her car door for her and closed it after she had seated.
The car ride was nice. They talked like nothing ever happened. "You live down this road? No way," Ichigo responded to her direction.
"Yeah, it's that one right there with the bright blue door. Why?" she asked curiously.
He laughed. "Because that's mine across the street."
She laughed. "Wow. Small world."
Just then, two people came out of her apartment. "Rukia! Such a fine man you fished out! Good going," Yoruichi said nudging Rukia with her elbow when she passed her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Yoruichi."
"Ichigo. Nice to meet you too," he said. The woman continued her walk to the car and got in. Urahara came out now.
"Ahh! Ichigo! I'm Urahara." He lifted his cane straight at him. It was only an inch away from his face and Ichigo had to lean back so it wouldn't knock him out.
"And you make sure to behave yourself with Rukia there. She's got many male friends and not to mention an emotionless brother. So don't think you'll get any mercy if you do anything to harm her," Urahara managed to say all with a smile as if it wasn't a threat at all.
Ichigo just gulped slightly, "Uhh, yeah. No worries." And with that Ichigo noticed the design on the bottom of his cane. He had seen that before, but was having trouble placing it.
"Urahara! Get out of here already!" Rukia yelled pulling the cane down from Ichigo's face.
"Alright, alright! Just be safe if you plan on doing anything kinky tonight," he said with a wink.
Rukia's eyes widened and she bent down to grab a rock to throw, but in a matter of milliseconds, the car pulled out and was turning the corner. "Lucky bastard…" she muttered between her gritted teeth.
She turned and saw Ichigo in a daze. He was looking straight, where the car had gone with no readable emotion on his face. "Ichigo? You okay? He was only joking you know. Wow, didn't take you for such a prude."
He was snapped out of his thinking by her remark. "Prude? Who said I was bothered by his statement? You were the one who was ready to make the man have a concussion."
She turned her head slightly in surprise and raised an eyebrow. She then raised her hands up to show no offense. "Okay, don't have to get so defensive about it. If you have a problem with those kinds of things then that's your own business. Maybe that whole "incident" yesterday was you letting out some of that "energy" because you can't let it out by yourself. You either are still putting on this whole persona still, or you're a schitzo. Oh, or maybe you were on drugs or something! 'Cause that would explain a lot," she rambled.
He threw his hands up to stop her non-stop assumptions. Incorrect assumptions to be precise. "Woa, woa, woa. Okay, one, I'm not crazy. I may freak out once in awhile, but that's usually due to Keigo or my father. Two, you promised to not ask what exactly happened yesterday because like I said, I can't exactly explain and have you understand."
Rukia was about to speak up, but he held his hand up to stop her, "Ut-uh. Not done, sweetheart," he said smiling. "Three, I don't do drugs. Waste of money and there's a much better way to get a high," he said in a suggestive tone, walking closer. She was slowly being mesmerized by the way he was striding closer to her, so she had no time to prevent him from his destination. He was now close enough for them to feel each other breathing. He continued in a softer and more soothing voice, "And four, I'm not prude. If I decide I'm gonna make a move, I'll make it. You can count on that," he was smirking wildly with mischief.
Snapping back to reality, Rukia closed her now slightly ajar mouth and smiled. "Then, I guess I'm lucky you're not trying to make a move on me, otherwise Urahara's cane would be knocking you unconscious right now, which would then just be the start of the torture you'd receive from Renji, Shuuhei, Toushirou, Momo, Rangiku, and not to mention the fatal blow by my brother," she said swooping out of his close proximity and turning her head with a glare of seduction and amusement.
He smiled at her. "Tease."
"I know, I know. Too much fun to stop though," she said leaning her back against the mailbox.
He then thought of the cane she just had mentioned. That design – he had seen it before. But where? "Rukia, Urahara had a design on the bottom of his cane. A skull with blue flames. Does that mean something? Some kind of company or something?" he asked curiously.
Surprised by the change of subject, and also surprised by the subject, she leaned up on the mailbox. "Umm, why?"
"I swear I've seen it before. I just can't quite put it to where it was. Damn," he said scratching his head.
She was surprised. "Maybe you're just confusing it with something else," she attempted on trying to dismiss it.
"No, I don't think so." He paused then spoke alarming Rukia with his raise of voice. "I remember! I have this glove with the same exact design on it! Man, that would have killed me all night. Thank god I remembered," he said wiping his brow.
She started to walk towards him, she was shocked. "Y-you have a glove with that design on it?" She was stuttering.
"Yeah. I never saw it anywhere else before tonight. Weird," he said not really thinking much of it.
She grabbed his arm, "Ichigo, I have to see this glove." This was urgent. 'How the hell did he get a hold of something that was created and used by shinigami?'
He raised an eyebrow, "Umm, okay? It's in my apartment. Do you have a collection or something?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure. Big collector. Now let's go!" she said pulling him even though she wasn't exactly sure which house.
"Okay, okay. We're going."
Rukia was surprised by the nicely decorated and character of the apartment. It was indeed cozy. She followed him upstairs, leading to his bedroom. She would have been slightly embarrassed to have been with him in his house alone, not to mention in his bedroom, but she was focused on seeing this glove.
"Yeah, this glove actually means a lot to me. I don't even know who it is that gave it to me, but my dad said someone who really cared about me left it for me. Something about it just gives me a feeling inside that I can't explain," Ichigo began to describe as he led her deeper into his room. He approached the dresser drawer that he kept it in, and opened it.
He smiled holding it in his hand and then held it out for Rukia to take. She grabbed the red glove slowly due to her surprise that it indeed was the sort of glove a shinigami would have. In fact, she remembered having one just like it, but she misplaced it some time ago.
"It kinda symbolizes my love for music. This started it all," Ichigo said standing next to Rukia as she continued to stare at the said glove.
She looked up quickly and looked back down at the object, "How did this get you into music?" she asked curiously.
"Well," he rubbed the back of his neck, "When I found it, it came with a note. The note was pretty deep and I don't really know why, but it made me want to make it into a song. Some weird epiphany, I guess. So I picked up my guitar that I hadn't played in years and started strumming."
She then looked up into his eyes, "What did the letter say exactly?" She presumed if she knew what it said, she might be able to figure out where this glove came from. He's a human, there is no way he should even have such an object.
He chuckled. "Yeah, ut-uh," he said shaking his index finger at her. "I've never showed that letter to anyone and I haven't played that song for anyone. When I want to share it, I'll let you know. But for now, it's my secret, and I plan on keeping it that way."
She raised an eyebrow, "I thought girls only kept things like that a secret. You're so emotional," she said trying to get him to crack.
"Hey, insults won't help you see the letter, shorty," he said taking the glove out of her hands gently and putting it away.
"You did not just make fun of my height! What are you in second grade?" she asked infuriated.
"You made fun of my emotional wellbeing, so it's only fair for me to do the same to you. Only this was physical." She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.
He smirked, "Hey don't take it that personally, it's the only thing I could think of to get you pissed off," he laughed slightly shutting the dresser drawer.
She growled and blew out some air. "Fine, I'll let it go. Only because somewhere in that last sentence I think was a compliment. But, why won't you show it to anyone?" she said getting back on track.
He tilted his head to the side as he looked at her, "Well, to support your earlier comment of me being emotional, it kinda represents my heart. Once I tell someone about this song or letter, they have me. All of me. It's something I'm holding onto for the right person," he said as he walked closer to her slowly. He lifted his hand to hold her chin, making her face him directly. "Understand?" he said in a soft and gentle voice.
She just nodded as she felt his rough finger tips under her chin, yet felt the softness of his grip. His amber eyes were burning into her violet. All she wanted at that moment was for him stay as close as he was. To stay and feel his lips against hers, even though she knew she shouldn't. Even though she knew she couldn't. But she didn't have to, he did.
He swiftly moved down and captured her lips. She was brought out of her thoughts, as they soon became a reality. He moved his hand from under her chin and pulled her face closer to his. She placed her hands against his chest as she could feel his muscles through his shirt. He moved his hands even lower now, feeling the curves of her hips, and pulling her even closer to his body as he pushed her up against the wall.
She ran her fingers through his hair as he began to trail down her neck. He began to unbutton her shirt without looking as he continued to work on her neck. In what seemed like milliseconds her shirt was unbuttoned and he pulled his shirt off as well. Her shirt was still on, just unbuttoned as Ichigo ran his hands all over her bare stomach, while she was now feeling the bare muscles she had imagined through the thin shirt.
They were now getting heated as Ichigo began to unbutton the lavender skirt she had on, until she pushed him away with her hands on his chest. Their lips parted and he was displaying a confused look. She breathed trying to catch her breath. "I-I, I can't… do this," she said disappointedly.
He frowned, but kept a soft tone, obviously displaying disappointment, "Why not?"
She sighed, "I just-" her phone then beeped in her purse. 'Shit, hollows really know how to pick their timing.' "I'm sorry, I have to go," she said grabbing her purse and running out of the room.
Rukia ran her hand through her strands of hair that fell back into place around her face, trying to push away stress as she ran down the stairs. She then realized her shirt was still unbuttoned and began to button it again in a hurry. 'God, I've wanted to get this close to him, but I never once thought that I never could! It's not allowed, not to mention my brother would kill him because he's a damn human! I just… didn't want to stop,' she thought closing the door behind her and running across the street to drop her gigai off.
Ichigo was dumbstruck as he heard her running down the stairs and the door slam shut. 'What just happened? She definitely wanted something to happen. She definitely felt something... didn't she? Damn, maybe I shouldn't have made that move. It was too soon,' he thought slamming his hand against his forehead as he slid it down his face. "Shit," he said out loud as he fell backwards on his bed, still tasting her lips on his. Then, darkness came. Not sleep, but the shade that now consumed his eyes.
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Alright, so I think my writing is going down. I don't know. It just doesn't seem very good to me. Well, I hope you review because it would make me quite happy. So until the next update, later