"Are you sure it isn't an issue that we're going to a bar at 15:00? I mean, I'm a bit of an alcoholic and that much can be expected of me, but I wouldn't want you get you in trouble."
"Nonsense, Akinoyo-chan! Trust me, we'll be fine!" Rangiku waved it off with an innocent smile.
A few days had passed by, and my initial uncomfortableness at this new atmosphere has started wearing off finally. I mean, literally dropping everything like that was difficult enough as it was, but now adopting a completely different way of life on top of that was just a lot. Luckily, things have been going at a slow pace rather than a frantic race like it was in the World of the Living. It was nice being able to calm down and relax for the past few days—anymore of running and I think I would've lost my mind.
Rangiku had offered me her spare room to stay in, and to not cause Hitsugaya any more trouble, I reluctantly took her on the offer. Hitsugaya had a reputation to keep here; I had a horrible reputation to begin with that I wouldn't want to drag him down. I mean, I could just imagine how people would react at him housing not only a female, but a whore at that. I wouldn't want to see his good reputation crumble because of me. He didn't beg for me to stay or anything; he gave me the option and left it at that. So from the second night onward, I've stayed with Rangiku.
She was actually pretty hilarious—a ditz from time to time, but ultimately one of the best distractions for me even without the Sake she provided each night. She hooked it up with the three main items I needed by the way; the corset was a bit different from what I was used to, but got the job done ultimately so it was all good. I missed my cigarette brand from the World of the Living, but this small kiseru and tobacco made due since I didn't have an alternative—thank Kami they'd advanced to matches. The only thing that sucked was having to ash it out and clean it all the time; I used it so damn much that it was annoying. Hitsugaya hinted that maybe it was about time I started kicking the habit, and I responded with my usual sarcasm and waved him off.
Speaking of which.
Something was up with him ever since that meeting with the Soutaichou. Ever since he called me Juliet as a matter of fact. He hasn't called me that again since the initial time, but something just felt off about him. We—er, I morever—still joked around and whatnot, but it really seemed like there was something on his mind. He didn't seem like he cared that I'd moved into Rangiku's, but maybe I was wrong? I basically stayed with him throughout the day while he worked; helping with little tasks here and there. It wasn't like I'd stopped seeing him completely, it was just at night or whenever he had other things to attend to that I was with Rangiku. He couldn't be jealous…could he?
"After you, Akinoyo-chan," Rangiku smiled and stood next to the door she slid open.
I broke out of my trance and walked into the establishment; nodding my head at the man who greeted us.
"Ah, Rangiku-chan! Welcome back!" he greeted. "Right this way; your usual spot is open,"
"Thanks, Seji-kun!" she replied in the sweetest of voices.
Well damn. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who frequented the same places.
We took off our waraji—which still took me forever even though it's been a few days—then proceeded to follow the man to Rangiku's 'usual' spot; passing by sectioned off open rooms bustling with men already a good level of drunk. I grinned at the thought of the well-needed drink being so close to mine. We reached the end of the hallway, and he ushered us into the last room. Thank Kami—10 points to Rangiku for her secluded room choice.
"What would you like today? The usual?" he asked her as we sat on the zaisu.
"Yes please!" Rangiku answered.
"And for you, Miss?"
"Do you have any beer?"
"Unfortunately we do not—my apologies,"
Damn. There went that. I'd have to make due again.
"Rangiku, you're getting sake right?" I asked the excited blonde.
"Yep!"
"I'll have what she's having please."
"Hai, hai; coming right up!" he bowed before leaving.
A few seconds past as we settled in, and once we did Rangiku prompted conversation. "So, how ya holding up, Akinoyo-chan?"
"Eh, I'm okay. Still somewhat recouping, but otherwise fine. It's thanks to you and Hitsugaya that I'm starting to feel better; thanks a lot." I leaned back; crossing my arms and taking a breath.
"That's good to hear, Akinoyo-chan; I know you've been through a lot. I'm happy that Taichou found you and helped you get out of there. It must've been horrible," she leaned forward with her elbows on the chabudai. "I can't wait until all this is behind us and you can truly relax—there's so much more to life that you need to experience. Granted, it can be tough from time to time in our line of work, but ultimately it's all worth it so that we can all live in peace." She smiled lightly.
I let a small smile form on my lips as I looked up at the ceiling. Rangiku hadn't really tried to talk about anything relevant to what was going on with me before. I think that maybe she didn't want to freak me out so settled on talking about lighter subjects instead. In a strange way, it was kind of sweet of her to not ask about it until now. I couldn't say she hadn't grown on me—which is honestly weird for me.
"Yeah, I've heard so many stories of what it's like—it'll be nice to actually have the opportunity now,"
"Excuse me,"
A woman with a tray came to our room, placing two sakazuki cups on the chabudai and pouring our first round for us in an elegant fashion.
"Enjoy," she bowed after she finished; taking her empty tray and leaving us.
I sat upright as Rangiku picked up her cup and leaned forward. "Here's to new beginnings!" she gleamed as she outstretched her cup toward me.
I took my cup, and clanked it against hers. "To new beginnings,"
-x-x-
About three sake bottles in, and I was happily hammered. Sake was so much more potent for me than beer it was ridiculous. The bottles were so much smaller than a regular glass of beer, and yet at just half of one I was already buzzin' along.
Rangiku had talked to me this whole time about all the different things to do here in the Soul Society, and I listened in; internally beginning to get excited at the fact that all these things were possible for me now. She offered to take me to a few places—including and onsen, by the way—once everything calmed down more, and I wasn't ashamed in saying that I was ecstatic to take her up on the future offers.
She made me feel human the more she talked; made me feel like I was worthy enough to be in her company for an extended period of time. I didn't see eye to eye on everything about her, but ultimately I was liking more and more of her as the days went by. She seemed like her care for me was genuine, and not for any ulterior motive. My pride in being a lone wolf was deteriorating more and more these days; I guess I could thank Hitsugaya for that ultimately. I hadn't opened up to anyone aside from Miyuki all those years ago; fear of hurt ultimately the motive to stay far away from any type of intricate human interaction.
I wasn't completely an open book however, and I intended to keep it that way until I was sure about the waters. I kept my personal feelings in check, but at the very least began letting little tidbits sneak in and out here and there. Against all of my pessimistic thoughts that everything would crash and burn, it felt nice to let someone be in my company for longer than an hour. I was ashamed, yet at the same time content at letting the two of them reach out to me. For once, something in my life felt good; I wanted to let myself be greedy for once, and these two only encouraged it.
"So, tell me," Rangiku slurred as she poured another cup from the fourth bottle. "How did you do it?"
I pushed my hair out of my hot-from-intoxication face to reach for my own cup. "Do what?" I took another sip.
She gulped hers down; her initial lady-like manners now at a drunken man's level as she held back a burp—if only I had half the elegance and wasn't an unclassy bitch to begin with.
"How did you do it with the Taichou?" She rephrased—I still didn't get it.
"Do what?" I repeated as my light-weighted hands set the cup back on the table with a heavy thud.
"What do you mean? You're going to sit here and tell me you haven't noticed?" She leaned over and narrowed her eyes.
"Rangiku, I don't know Hitsugaya as well as you do—how the Hell am I supposed to know what you're talking about?" I countered with my own glare at 20% intensity.
"Really? So you're telling me that you haven't noticed a change in behavior recently?" She took another swig.
"Not really; when did you notice the change?"
"Ever since the two of you got here," she leaned back and closed her eyes.
I stared blankly trying to think. Well, he had been acting differently the past few days, but as far as when we got here was beyond me. I would've had to have known him longer to accurately answer.
"Well, I don't know how he acted before, so that's something I can't answer," I slurred out as I swirled the cold liquid in the porcelain cup. "I know the past few days have been weird, but I figured maybe that's how he always was?"
She rose back up like a bat out of Hell and practically slammed her palms against the chabudai. "These past few days more than ever!" she half-shouted.
All I could do with that reaction was stare at her wide-eyed and clenching my sake cup to make sure it didn't spill. Freaking Kami.
"Well, Kami, what's so different about him? How did he act before?" I relaxed my tense cat-like reflex to a slightly looser posture. "You make it seem like he was an entirely different person," I sipped.
"That's the thing though; he's starting to come off that way." She took another swig. "He's always been tense ever since I've met him; you would think a kid would be fun-loving and rambunctious, but not him—never."
"Kid? Just how long have you known him?"
"Too long honestly; I'd rather not say how many years—it'll just make me feel older than I already do." She whimpered. "But I've known him since before he became a Shinigami; I've seen him grow in so many ways, and I'm proud to serve as his Fukutaichou. The only thing that makes me sad however, is that he just never cuts loose. He's always so serious and work-orientated that it makes me feel like the younger one. I mean, that's a good thing on my end, but not for him." She sighed as she poured more sake.
"And well, the past few years he's gotten even more tense; he's always had a cold personality to begin with, but he's gotten so distant that even I have trouble brightening up the place."
Hitsugaya? Really? I mean yeah, he was the cold type, but he didn't seem distant at all.
"Did something happen a few years back that you know of?" I asked.
She shrugged. "I have my speculations, but nothing that I can be certain on. Even I wouldn't feel right about judging off my feelings on this one."
"I see."
For this talkative, gossiping Queen to say something like that—especially with alcohol in her—must mean she really doesn't know. Or at least she respects him enough not to say anything. Now I couldn't stop wondering just what happened to him.
"But ever since you two came back," she interrupted my thoughts, "something's changed. I can only assume that maybe it's something you did that caused it." She smiled—my face flushed a darker shade of red than it already was.
"Me? I haven't done anything; if anything I've just been an extra burden for the guy." Dragging out the sip of my sake didn't work—she was right back on me.
"Are you sure there isn't something you're not telling me, Akinoyo-chan?" She smirked.
"N-Nothing, I swear. I've just been my usual self in full asshole-effect; I haven't done anything to him that would've caused an abrupt change in attitude. Trust me, I know how to seduce people—I did it against my own consent for a living. I didn't do anything like that toward him; not even initially like I would with any other male that crossed my path."
The fact that I supposedly stirred up such a change in him just didn't make sense to me. All I've been to him this whole time was trouble more than anything else. When he wasn't in the middle of defending me from something, he was lugging me around with him, dealing with my sass at him, and worst of all dealing with my intense emotional bullshit that wasn't even his problem. Shit, I was more annoying than anything else. The only thing that I could think of was that maybe I was an amusing distraction from whatever it was that's been plaguing him for all these years?
Rangiku smiled, and clanked her cup with my own. "You know, sometimes just being around someone can change things; that person doesn't have to do anything aside from breathing to change someone else's outlook. Cheers to being you," she downed the rest in her glass.
Just being me? What the Hell does that even mean?
"Cheers?" I slowly took a sip—she busted up in a giggle fit at my face.
"You're too cute, Akinoyo-chan! Taichou really lucked out!" she grinned.
Oh Kami, what was she implying?
I gulped down the rest of my drink, and wiped my mouth on my sleeve in the most uncoordinated movement imaginable. I already needed a smoke, but now more than ever with this conversation.
Right on cue, the waitress came back to check on us.
"I'm gonna go have a smoke—I'll be back," I hurried past the waitress.
"Oi! Don't take too long, I'm gonna get some food!"
"Got it!" I replied from down the hall.
The way I stumbled and waddled was absolutely atrocious. I hated any form of walking while intoxicated, but I really needed a smoke, and I really needed to stray away from that conversation.
I arrived at the front doors, and plopped down like a newborn giraffe to put my waraji back on. I missed my boots so much; this fucking sandal thing was the worst. It took me a good five minutes to even get the damn things on yet these people did it in like three seconds flat—bullshit.
As I fiddled with the laces, the door opened lightly rather than in the abrupt manner my fellow excited alcoholics opened it. I didn't look up, but stayed focused on my task with the light footsteps of the person transmuting into a soft patter in the background.
"Ah, you've finally arrived! Busy day today?" the host asked.
"Indeed it has been; we've had lots of new orders recently," the female responded.
I stopped a half-second. Had I…heard that voice before?
"Well thank you for still taking the time for this one; I'm sure he sends his thanks as well!" The host sounded grateful.
"My pleasure. Please take care!"
Damn my curiosity—I looked up.
I saw the female's backside as she rose back up to proper posture from her formal bow; her long, chocolate brown hair swaying before gathering behind her back. She had a healthy frame to her; slightly taller than me and clad in the black shihakushou I'd grown accustomed to seeing. She turned to her left toward the door; her profile now in view momentarily before she exited.
I dropped the tie of my waraji and stared with my mouth agape. Her nose, her cheekbones, her chin…it couldn't be.
Her hazel eyes met mine, and in that moment my heart stuttered as my brain tried to process. She closed her eyes and nodded at me with a small blush warming up her fair skinned cheeks. She slid the door closed behind her, and I just stared into the empty void she previously occupied.
It was her.
I'd know her anywhere.
But it couldn't be her.
She…she…
I took the laces and make-shifted tying them as fast as I could. I hadn't a single moment to lose. I stumbled out the door; sliding it shut behind me with a thud as my head shifted back and forth to try and make out which way she went. I ignored the cat calls from the men smoking along the front wall of the establishment, and focused on the task at hand.
To my right, a shadow from the alleyway that stretched to the right toward the Division Districts made itself known. The shadow receded into the alley, and I knew that the longer I waited, the higher the chance I'd lose her. Rangiku and I had taken that path to get here, and it veered off in several different directions. If I didn't hurry and she took any other path than straight-forward, I'd lose her. I scurried as fast as I could toward the alley—of all the times where I needed to run but couldn't because I was drunk. This was fucking ridiculous.
I stumbled forward; footsteps completely uncoordinated as a damn after effect of the hard liquor I decided to drink. Beer never made me this uncoordinated—no, beer was gracious to me. Sake just wanted to see me fall flat on my face so that it could laugh it up like a fucking hyena. The alleyway wasn't even that far, yet I tripped literally three times—all in which I luckily caught myself—and was already parched from the journey.
But I couldn't give up. No matter how much I wanted to smoke, no matter how much I wanted to go back to eat and drink more—this had to be done. I had to know if it were true; I had to find out if I was hallucinating, or if it really was her. I'd imagined her so many times before; so many times I thought she was within reach to only realize that it was all just the drugs. But this time...this time was different.
She had died after all. This was the place people went after they died.
It had to be her. No on else had those eyes like hers; those hazel hues that reflected shades of grey and gold belonged to no one else in existence. I couldn't let this slide; even on the off chance that it wasn't her, I had to see her. I had so many words that needed to be said; so many tears that needed to be shed—I couldn't miss this only opportunity.
Panting, I finally made it to the alleyway. There was no shadow. She was gone.
"Fucking Kami!" I whimpered. I couldn't give up; I had to find her. She couldn't have gotten that far ahead.
I kept forward as fast as I could without falling. I didn't care how far I had to walk; if it was for her I would…
I reached the first split to the left. Only a dimly lit street lantern met my searching eyes. I kept going.
"Miyuki!" I shouted. If my legs couldn't catch her, maybe my voice could. "Miyuki, it's me!" I shouted.
I reached the next path; nothing again. I reached the next path; a cat scurrying away from one of the alleys to the right was enough for me to try.
"Miyuki!"
My heavy feet kept at it—I couldn't give up. She could be in that alley up ahead. Nothing else mattered anymore. She was so close that I couldn't stand it. I pushed myself past the area the cat hid in, and B-lined it around the corner. Only an empty alleyway. I continued down the dark path as I shouted her name again. Any creak, any movement no matter how small is where I'd turned.
A dead end.
There was no one. Empty crates, cloth and buckets were the only things greeting me now. I'd…I'd made the wrong choice.
My shoulder pressed against the wall, and I slumped into it in defeat. Of all the times for this to happen. She had to pick when I was completely hammered to show herself to me. Kami was a sick, twisted fuck to pull this number on me; he teased me with her, and snatched her away to watch me crumble. I slammed the side of my fist against the wall; tears forming in my eyes from frustration.
"Miyuki," I breathed out; letting my voice crumble down with the rest of my emotions.
Now that I'd come to a complete stop, my head throbbed from the travel. I rose my left hand to rest it against my forehead.
"Finally, you're alone,"
A hand seized my wrist mid-movement; the action catching me completely off guard as he twisted my arm around my back, and shoved me against the wall. He seized my other hand immediately although I struggled, and his towering body pressed into me so I couldn't move. My face scraped against the rough surface as I struggled in his grasp, and he swiftly was able to free one of his own hands in the meantime. I inhaled to scream, but before I could, cold, sharp metal pressed into my cheek; I froze.
"Scream, and I'll cut your fucking tongue out—I promise you that," the man threatened; the amusement that soaked his words setting in a sick panic that made me have to bite back gagging.
"I'm glad to finally meet you, Kiteyama-san; I've been waiting for you." His lips were against my ear as he spoke; his hot, steamy breath engulfing my skin and sending more panicked chills down my spine. "Honestly, I've become impatient waiting around for you to stray away from those disgusting Shinigami; I'm glad the wait is finally over."
I could visualize the grin on his face from the way he spoke; it made me feel like it was more than just sick amusement—the tone had lust laced throughout it. I had to keep calm. I was still drunk, but I needed to remain calm and try to think this situation through. My thoughts were racing as my heart was screaming the fear that wracked through me—I might not be able to make it out of this.
"Who are you?" My tone was low and stern—just how I wanted it to be. I had to remember that I've done this before; I've been in worse situations. I just need to not show fear; I need to quiet that screaming within me before he could utilize it against me.
"They did say you were quite the brave one; no hesitation in getting down to business. I like that in a woman—idle prattle is such a bore," he chuckled. "I'll tell you who I am as soon enough, Dear. Right now however we must be going; your Shinigami friends will be arriving any second now,"
He traced the point of the knife along my cheek; delicately tracing lines back and forth with enough pressure to break the skin. I stared at it through my periphery; the fear at the thought of one wrong move taking out my eye or cutting clean through my cheek making my heart leap.
The metal made me remember the other night. The blood that dripped down the switchblade I used on the bastard that hurt me. Thoughts of what he did to me on that table broke through the memory; causing my breathing to fasten into an attack. Not only was I panicked and already in pain, but now my mental fortitude collapsed, resulting into a full on attack on myself.
"Where is it?"
I didn't respond; my hyperventilating in full effect. The blade pushed and broke through the skin on my cheek with little effort.
"I asked you a fucking question,"
"W-Where is w-what?" My stuttering response only infuriated him more.
He pulled me back and slammed me against the wall. "You know what I'm fucking talking about!"
"I-I don't know what you're fucking talking about!" I managed a bit of bravery in my shout.
"Don't play fucking stupid! It's on you—isn't it?" the blade left my face, and with his now free hand, he felt me hurriedly. "Where are you hiding it?" he growled.
While his hand was free of the knife, I mustered up enough courage to take the golden opportunity. I lurched my head back and hit him square in the face. While he stumbled incrementally, I jerked my leg up in front of myself and pushed it against the wall as much as possible to create distance. He didn't let me get too far; he yanked my hands further up against my back; making my elbows want to snap from the pressure.
"You're not getting out of this," The knife was back out as he tried to pin me against the wall again.
I squirmed under the pressure; my focus so intense that my headache and breathing had my vision blurring—all the better. As I tried to hunch forward to create that distance between myself and the wall, he took the back of my head and slammed it into the wall. Using the back of the hilt, he struck the back of my head with the flat metal; causing shockwaves to shoot through me as my forehead bled from splitting open against the wall.
"Don't get fucking brave!"
If I thought my head hurt before, I was dead wrong. Stars clouded my vision from how mind-boggling that direct hit to the back of my skull was. All resistance from me was nulled from the blow, and I stood there limp and completely breathless under his strength. He started saying something again, but I couldn't hear any of his words anymore. Everything was fading in and out, and all I could do was just accept what was going to happen.
When I felt his hands grip my inner thigh, only one thing was clear to me at that point: I'd been a fool. To allow myself to believe that I was safe in the Seireitei was the biggest mistake ever. Allowing myself to feel comfort these past few days and to begin to believe that I could live normally amongst the others was the worst thing I could've ever convinced myself of. Now here I was; about to get abducted and abused for the second time without even a decent fight.
I thought of Hitsugaya. Those eyes that made me feel so sure; so safe when I was with him. How I melted at the thought of his promise to me; the sweet gesture that had me let hope trickle in.
I..I was such a…
"Vacuous dolt."
My head felt like it erupted.
Without consent, I screamed bloody murder as warm liquid slithered down my nostrils and into my open mouth. The man tried to steady my now convulsing body, only to be pushed back by a force I didn't have the ability—nor mental capacity—to see.
It felt like my body was being torn apart; shredding slowly strand by strand as if ripping a piece of paper in sections. I couldn't see, and I couldn't hear anything above my own screaming. Never in my life had I experienced something like this. It felt like my soul was being sucked out of me, and whipping and swirling around me like hungered tentacles begging to capture prey. Just what the Hell was happening to me?
The man shot back a flash of something in defense, but whatever it was wasn't a match for this aura around me. When the shot collided with the invisible force however, it felt like a huge piece of me was ripped out at once; the blood coming out of my nose flooding out heavily upon the collision. I choked on it; coughing and violently hunching forward in a dry-heave that almost made me pass out.
I was hanging on by a thread now; the world rushing out of control around me. Whatever this was that was happening was eating me alive. Not only didn't I have the slightest hint of how to combat it, but I also was too weak to do anything other than cough and hold my head. The anxiety of this unknown happening possibly taking me rather than my captor only added to my hyperventilating.
"Kiteyama!"
That voice—it broke through. It always broke through me.
I fell to the ground face first, and let my body crumble inward as I continued to cough and pant. The aura dissipated, and I could feel something slowly filling the empty void within me that developed from the defense.
I could hear clashing, and the already cold air rushed at me in an even colder gust. I was thankful for it; my panic caused my body to fever in heat from all the motion. I heard a grunt, and then nothing at all. They were gone—I was alone again.
I knew that Hitsugaya more than likely was chasing after him, but the thought of him gone made my heart pick up again; racing back into a panic. What if the man out ran Hitsugaya? What if he lost him and he comes back to swoop me up? What if he—
"Kiteyama!"
Hitsugaya appeared in front of me and picked me up immediately; inspecting me while holding me up so I could continue coughing up the blood caught in my windpipe.
"Where are you hurt? What did he do to you?" The anger in his voice was more than clear. He pushed my now free-flowing hair out of my face, and let me get a hold of my coughing as he inspected the rest of my curled body.
My head hurt so bad that I couldn't even respond. All I could was hold my head as I turned into him. He wiped some of the blood off my face with some type of cloth as I shivered from the pain; my teeth chattering beyond my own control. He prompted me again and I couldn't answer.
"You really are pathetic," a familiar female voice told me. I knew that voice from somewhere, but I just couldn't think about where I'd heard her before.
"Kiteyama," he called. His hand swept my face gently; tucking my hair behind my ear before resting alongside it. "Breathe, Kiteyama; you need to breathe,"
My blurry eyes looked up at him; my jagged pants not seizing in the least. I was completely light-headed, and the lack of oxygen was now at a life-threatening level. As soon as that realization set in, my eyes widened from the adrenaline rush my stuttering heart caused. I squirmed and my hands rushed to my obi—I needed to get the corset off and I needed it to happen now. I didn't want Hitsugaya to see but…
My hands stopped right after I'd gotten through the knot. Choking ripped through me, and my hands were up at my throat as my fingers staggered and dug into my skin.
"Kiteyama!" he shouted in his own panic.
'I...can't…breathe,' I mouthed out soundlessly.
In a swift motion, he propped me against the wall, completely unraveled the fabric of my shihakushou, and laid his eyes on my corset. He didn't hesitate in ripping it open with both hands, then proceeding to slip both hands against my skin and around my back to unlatch my bra as well. Once it was unlatched, he took out his hands and tilted my head up; taking both my hands and holding them firmly in one of his.
His lips met mine; aiding air into me in one rapid movement. He pulled away, and I coughed immediately; luckily able to gasp and get a small intake. After the gasp, he took my mouth again; another assisted intake to aid my stuttering heartbeat into hopefully a smoother rhythm.
That was it; I was able to take a full breath after the exhale. It was shaky and partially choked, but better than where it was two seconds ago.
"Easy," he cooed as his hand slid to the back of my neck. "Slowly,"
I nodded; my tears falling down onto my now exposed skin. I looked down at myself; the visual too painful to look at for more than a few seconds. I wrapped my arms around myself; trying to cover the most hated part of myself as my once panicked tears now turned into tears of shame.
"I-I-I'm sorry," I squeaked out through my quivering lips.
Without notice, he pulled me in; cradling the back of my head as he held me against him. I felt his chest rise and fall with his breathing, and I took hold of the fabric covering his chest with shaken hands as I buried my face into his chest.
"There's nothing for you to be sorry for," the words—although said lowly—reverberated in his chest as he said them.
I could feel my body easing with the closeness; the warmth of his arms around me, the sound of his deep voice so close to me—it soothed me in the most strangest of ways. I didn't want to leave from this spot; it was so comforting that I just wanted to greedily take it all for my own.
"Please; just breathe for me,"
As soon as he'd said it, the memory of Rangiku's words from earlier replayed in my head. Was what she said…true?
As my breathing calmed, I could feel my consciousness slipping. I was completely worn out from tonight's event, and the prior sleepless nights weren't helping me any.
"H-Hitsugaya,"
He gathered the hair that had fallen over my shoulder and between us; adjusting the strands to settle into the section already gathered at my back as I pulled myself away enough to speak clearly. He didn't say anything; he waited for me to continue as he rested his hand back at the base of my neck.
"C-Can we p-please just go home?" I whimpered. Granted I didn't have an actual place of my own to call 'home,' but I just wanted to get away from here—I needed to get far away from this place.
"Yes, but on one condition,"
He squeezed me tighter to him as he pressed his forehead against the top of my head. "Stay with me tonight; please,"
I don't know how he did it. How in such simple words, made everything okay—made me okay. I nodded my acceptance against him; gripping his shihakushou tightly and pulling myself into him.