A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys. :) They encourage me to write more.
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8. Distances
"What?! You're leaving?" Ichigo fought to keep his voice under control.
"Yes..." Rukia was sighing sadly, like autumn leaves drifting away...
"How long?"
"...Perhaps a month. It can't be said." She was staring at her fingers - tying knots within themselves in her edginess.
"Why can't - I want to go with - y-y-Rukia-"
"You have your own assignment. We must follow our duties, Ichigo." She sighed again and held his arm gently. "I'm sorry," she whispered, and pressed her forehead into the crook of his elbow. Instinctively he held her shoulders.
Ichigo tried to understand the situation. Yes, he had his own assignment - he had received it today, as she had. Fate had been fickle and they had been sent to areas distant from each other. Funny how he had always assumed he would be able to stick by her all the time... Shinigami life wasn't like that. They weren't in the same division. He didn't even have a division.
The buts kept on flying through his head.
"But you can't-"
"I can, Ichigo."
And she raised her head, in a moment as glorious as a rising moon revealing its beauty through the clouds, and her ocean-violet eyes sparked a thrill as they dove into his own.
"Because I can come back."
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