Chapter: The Story
Shalan Is A Whore: XDD I am not a whore… although I bet a ton of you are thinking that by leaving you hanging all day huh? TEEHEE!
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"I thought you'd get cold… it is almost November you know…" He smiled softly and she looked over.
"Thank you," she nodded to him… "I think I might tell you the story now…" She smiled softly and he looked over. She took another sip of the chamomile. He stretched and easily, carefully, cautiously placed an arm around the back of the swing behind her. To his surprise she leaned into him, letting him wrap his arm fully around her shoulders. He was surprised, extremely so that he couldn't even move. She had finally begun to warm up to him.
"Tha…that's good…" He stuttered and she looked over at him.
"S--sorry!" She sat up away from Ichigo and he gently tightened his arm, pulling her up against him again.
"It's alright… you just stunned me for a moment…" He smiled, looking out over the acreage that they now lived on.
"Okay… where do I begin?" She looked across the way to the huge oak tree that was only two yards away from the house.
"At the beginning…" Ichigo suggested and she nodded.
"I was… 14… barely even… into puberty…"
"That's the way they usually like them…" Ichigo squeezed her shoulder a little. She smiled slightly.
"My brother and I still lived in a ratty apartment in the Projects… I can't even remember the name now… anyways… I was walking home from getting what I could from the store, my brother and I worked after school whenever we could… I was just finishing middle school and he was about to finish high school…" She paused. "He came up on me… I hadn't seen him… I just heard him… he was breathing hard and… I could feel his breath on my neck…" She stopped again and he waited patiently, he knew this one was going to be a hard story to tell already.
"So you didn't know him…" Ichigo looked down at her, gently rubbing her upper arm.
"No… he just grabbed me and hit me across the face… he called me a whore and pinned me down… I was fairly weak from lack of nourishment and he pulled my underwear down, pushing my dress up and did it… It hurt so badly… I just wanted it to stop…" Tears came to her eyes and Ichigo reached over, wiping them off her face and eyelashes tenderly.
He was shocked at this motion… he had never been this careful with anyone in his life… so why was it that seeing her cry was tearing him apart from the inside out? "I screamed but no one came…" He watched as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Afterwards he stood up and just left me there in the alleyway… in all the filth on the ground, trash, urine, dirt… filth… insects crawled all over me… I hated it! I hated it!" She dug her fingernails into her arms and Ichigo reached over and gently pulled them out.
"STOP!" She shouted at him and shrunk away. He looked over at her and she looked panicked again.
"Kuchiki… it's just me…" Ichigo gently slid a hand across her jaw and neck and she closed her eyes, leaning into the caress. "Can you remember what he looked like?"
"Exactly… I see him every time I have a flashback…" She whispered softly. In that moment she looked so beautiful, her creamy face leaning against his hand, tears sparkling on her eyelashes as they brushed against her face, strands of her black hair curling along her forehead. Her red lips were slightly parted as she rubbed her cheek against his calloused hand. He felt something he had never felt before, a warmth… a caring feeling that he hadn't felt in his blood since his mother's death… a warm and gentle feeling that rushed over him… he cared about her… he knew that much…
"I'll get an artist to talk to you and we'll get a picture out…" Ichigo said as her hand gently rested on his.
"Don't do it now…" She realized what she was doing and she looked away from him, pulling away from him. "It's too nice of a night yet…" She leaned against him again and he tightened his arm around her shoulder. "Thank you for listening…" she whispered and he smiled softly.
"I've been wanting to know anyways…" He instinctively brushed a few pieces of her hair from her face.
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Ichigo took her to the station the next day and they had the sketch artist draw up an image from her memory. Ichigo had told her that she had a very good memory and she had wanted to hit him.
They talked with her secretary then had gone out to spend the day buying supplies. She had shocked him by telling him another few stories about her time in New York. She always talked about a single young man however… and from time to time she would look nostalgic and Ichigo would smile, at least she wasn't having anymore flashbacks.
"So… what should we have for dinner?" He lifted an eyebrow as they put groceries away in the fridge and pantry.
"I haven't even thought about it yet…" She slid her hand along the countertop and he watched, if only she wasn't terrified of men… he could… no! Ichigo shook his head… there was no way that he would ever sleep with her… she wasn't his type… at all…
"Hmm… pasta?" He suggested and looked over at her. She shrugged. "I think I'm going to have a bath before we eat dinner alright?" Ichigo smiled. She nodded and he walked out of the room with a sigh.
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The detective turned on the hot water to the bathtub and let it fill up. He unbuckled his belt, setting it and his gun on the counter. He cracked his neck as he unbuttoned his shirt. The detective had almost had enough of this danger prone Daphne… he pulled off the shirt and threw it in the dirty clothes bin with his wife beater. His suit pants and boxers came next and he threw them in the hamper as well with his socks
"Finally… some time to relax and think…" He sunk into the hot water with a deep sigh. The young man leaned his head on the back of the tub. His body reveling in the hot water. Finally a period of time when she wasn't being shot at, he could relax for a while without worrying about his employee.
'So… she knows him… I wonder if he was actually the rapist or just a man she feared…' He chewed on the inside of his cheek and chuckled to himself. "I could write a book about her life and sell millions…" He laughed as he dunked his head under the water.
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Rukia stood in the kitchen, humming softly to herself as she poured the water into the pot for the pasta. There was a knock at the door and she blinked, looking over. Then she shrieked and ran for the door.
Ichigo jumped when he heard her scream. He immediately pulled a towel around his waist as he jumped out and grabbed his gun. He threw himself down the stairs only to see Rukia in the arms of another man, their lips locked in a kiss that he didn't think even a pair of pliers and paint remover could break up. He felt his heart grow sad, why? Why did it hurt him to see her with another man? 'What did you think she wasn't going to have a boyfriend? An arse that pretty? C'mon Kurosaki!'
He was a redhead with long red hair, he could have sworn that he had seen the young man somewhere before. His muscular arms wrapped tightly around Rukia's much smaller form as their lips met again. 'You just thought that because she didn't warm up to you that she didn't like men period…'
"Rukia… I've missed you so much…" Ichigo frowned as he spoke; the young man had tattoos all over his arms and forehead. The white sweatband he wore was nothing to hide it.
"I know… it's been forever…" She looked up at him lovingly. Ichigo's face even grew sad… why was it that this hurt him so badly… why? "Kurosaki!" She scolded. "Put some clothes on!"
"Sorry… I heard you scream so I came running…" He retorted and waved his gun in the air half heartedly then turned and walked off.
"Who's he?" Renji lifted an eyebrow.
"A detective who's been accused of murder… now I'm helping him clear his name… he's a curse to me though… I mean… I can't go anywhere around him and not get shot at!" She laughed. "Or held at gunpoint…"
"Oh… well anyways… Megumi should be arriving any time… I hope you don't mind if we eat dinner here with you guys… I mean… it was so hard to track you down!" He smiled and her heart fell. So he was still dating Megumi… oh well… it didn't matter to her… he was just her best friend anyways. Ichigo walked back down in a pair of black suit pants and his wife beater, his orange hair still rather flat against his head. Renji walked off and Rukia looked over at Ichigo. He sauntered up to her.
"You didn't tell me… you had a…" He paused.
"He's my best friend… not boyfriend." She didn't know why she had to clarify this to him. She didn't know why she wanted him to know this… he was frustrating her again… and she hated being frustrated.
"Oh… right…" Ichigo looked off to the side and sighed lightly. She watched his stomach muscles rippled beneath the tight wife beater. She felt her stomach twist tightly. Why was she thinking like this about him? Men were horrible… and given the chance he would probably do the same thing to her that the other man had done… there were plenty of men out there who would…
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"RENJIII!" A woman's voice called from the front door as Rukia was cooking a little while later. Renji stood and ran to the door. Ichigo looked over then dropped his head down on the table. "It's been a while…" She laughed as their lips met…
"How many women does this guy have under his fuckin' thumb?" Ichigo covered his head with his hands. He was just a lowly detective… not some basketball played for the Chicago Bulls. 'Yeah… bull is right… bull shit…' Ichigo thought to himself.
"Happy Hallowe'en!" Meg smiled from the doorway. Ichigo nodded to her.
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He waved them goodbye and turned to speak with Rukia. He saw her walk her way up towards her bedroom.
"Could you… clean up the kitchen?" She said softly and he felt stunned, he had never really seen vulnerability like this one in her before… like she would break apart in a second…
"Yeah… yeah I can…" He nodded. "Are you alright?" Why was he asking her that? Why did he care? Why did he CARE?
"Thanks…" She turned and walked up the stairs, leaving him at the bottom, wondering what was wrong with her. He felt his cell phone vibrate and he picked it up, answering it as he walked into the kitchen.
"Hey! How are you doing?" He heard from the other line.
"Kisuke…" He laughed softly.
"You betcha! I was wondering how you were doing scout… are you alright?"
"Yeah…"
"You disappeared off the face of the planet…"
"I did that on purpose and if I can fool you I guess I have done my job well huh?" He smiled into the phone.
"So… can I come find you or have you eloped to a different country?" Ichigo laughed as Kisuke spoke.
"Nah… but I can't talk over this phone…"
"Sure you can… don't tell me where you are… just tell me how you're doing…"
"I'm alright… I've already answered this question Kisuke…"
"Yeah you're right. Anyways I was thinking that you and I should get together again sometime and talk. I heard you killed someone."
"Cheaah…" Ichigo rolled his eyes as he washed the dishes off, putting them away in the dish washer.
"Ah! I see… anyways you should call me sometimes and perhaps I would feel better about leaving you alone…" Kisuke laughed.
"Yeah… thanks for worrying about me man…"
"You're only my best prodigy I have ever had! You should quit being a detective and just write for me." Kisuke laughed again and Ichigo nodded. "Anyways… I have to go so I'll talk to you later sport!"
"Yeah… be careful Urahara…" Ichigo hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket as he turned off the lights in the house.
Later that evening he sat on his bed, typing on his computer in the dark. The door opened and someone that he did not expect entered the room. "Kuchiki?"
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XDDD HOW WAS THAT HUH? GOOD CHAPTER?? READ AND REVIEW DAMN IT! TELL ME IF YOU LIKE IT DON'T JUST READ IT AND LEAVE ME HANGING!
Shalan