Chapter 15: Keep your hands to yourself

I lay awake that night thinking about some things. Shinji slept pressed into my side. I'd been having more dreams about Ichimaru, each one worse than the last. I hadn't told Shinji. I knew I should've. I needed him to-

Wait. I needed him to what? Save me? What the hell?! Was this what love had reduced me to? Depending on my boyfriend to fight my battles? I'd lost it somewhere. The spark to my plug. The itch to my bitch. Now, I was mad, but not at Shinji. I was mad at myself for letting love turn my brain to mush. Okay, that's it. No more hiding. The bitch was back. If Ichimaru wanted me, I'd show him exactly who it was he was trying to get.

I closed my eyes and opened them to find myself in Ichimaru's room. Not just his room, but his bed. I rolled onto my back and saw him sleeping beside me. He looked so peaceful. He gave a pained grunt when my elbow slammed into his eye.

"Good morning, sunshine!" I said.

His eyes snapped open and I jumped off the bed. I started throwing everything I could get my hands on, but when the hands didn't work, the telekinesis did. That's how his desk wound up on the other side of the room. He flash stepped in front of me and back handed me. As I stumbled, he grabbed my hair and dragged me over to the bed, throwing me onto it. As he crawled on top of me, I continued to kick and claw, trying to crawl away. He grabbed my ankle and flipped me onto my stomach, then pulled me under him and pinned my arms and legs.

"That wasn't very nice, Reiko-chan," Ichimaru said.

"Just showing you what you're in for on the non-existent chance Aizen wins," I said.

"Aizen will win. Then, I'll keep you tied up in here all day. You think defiance is going to turn me off? Guess again. It just makes breaking you all the more fun."

"You won't break me."

"Yes, I will. You know why? Because after I kill Hirako-san, what else will you have to live for?"

"He won't lose to you. He's twice the captain, and man, that you'll ever be."

"Ouch. You're starting to hurt my feelings."

"I didn't realize you had any that originated above the waist."

"Oh, sweet talk."

"I'm waking up now and you're never seeing me again."

"Is that a challenge?"

I sat up in bed. Shinji wasn't beside me. I looked at the clock. 4:17 a.m. He was probably downstairs eating. He would do that sometimes. I laid back down and stared at the ceiling.

'Problems?' Emerado asked.

'Problem doesn't even begin to cover it,' I said.

'Look on the bright side. Your boyfriend will probably kill Ichimaru.'

'Good point.'

'Yeah, right,' my hollow hissed.

'Bitch, be gone,' I said.

'Or what?'

'Or I'll blast your boney butt so deep into the earth, you'll liquif!.' With that she slinked off. Ha. Reiko-5. Hollow-0.

Ah, peace again. I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Tomorrow, there'd be a trip to the Urahara Shoten for me. Maybe Urahara-san had something to block out the dreams. He was the scientific extraordinaire from what Shinji had told me. If he didn't have the answer, who did?

A few hours later, I woke up to find Shinji back by my side. I carefully tried to ease out from under him. I shifted to the left a little and his arm tightened around my waist. Hmmm… how to get him to let go? I went for a ticklish spot. With the way he slept, he wouldn't wake up. I lightly ran my finger nail along the dip in his waist. He giggled and twisted onto his back. Too cute. I quietly got out of bed and got dressed. I left a note for Shinji telling him where I was. Though, with or without the note, he was still gonna be pissed that I'd left the warehouse. Hopefully, I could make it back before he woke up.

I crept downstairs and pulled my bike out of a corner, then walked through the barrier. I made it to Urahara's about fifteen minutes later. I walked in and saw Urahara lounging in the back of the store. He gave a goofy smile when he saw me.

"Ohayo, Takahashi-san! I haven't seen you since the hat incident. You haven't destroyed another possession of Shinji's have you?"

"No, no, destructiveness has been avoided as of late, but I was wondering if you could help me with something."

He gave me a curious look. "With what exactly?"

"Do you have anything that can block dreams?"

The curious look turned suspicious. "Yes, but why would you need it?"

"To stop Ichimaru Gin from coming into my dreams."

He nodded and stood. "If you'll follow me to the back."

We went into what I could only assume was his work shop. It was large, dark, and looked like it hadn't been cleaned since… ever. He rummaged through some of the cabinets before pulling out a small glass bottle containing a grey-green liquid. He handed it to me.

"Do not take more than one drop of this every three days. It will be toxic to your system if you take any more than that. I still want you to call me if you experience dizziness, nose bleeds or pretty much anything that isn't normal."

"Okay. Arigato, Urahara-san. How much do I owe you?"

"500 yen."

I pulled a coin from my pocket and handed it to him. He saw me out and as I was walking away he said, "Be careful, Takahashi-san."

"I'll try." Yeah, right. It didn't matter if I tried to be careful because I'd still probably end up in a sticky situation.

I made it back to the warehouse without incident, but I knew Shinji was awake as soon as I walked in. The others were hanging around the far side of the warehouse. Mashiro was hiding behind Hachi. Hiyori was being unusually quiet. Hachi was sweating nervously. And everyone else looked like they were just waiting for the screaming to begin. I slunk over to the stairs. I had my back pressed against the wall and one foot on the step, when I heard snarling coming from the kitchen. Uh-oh.

"If you take one step up that staircase, I'm tying you up and leaving you in the basement until the end of the war. Get your ass in here. Now."

I slowly made my way to the kitchen. Lisa started humming Chopin's Funeral March. I flipped her off and went to face my doom. Shinji was sitting at the drinking a cup of coffee and glaring.

"Come here, Reiko."

"No, I'd prefer to stay on the other side of the room."

"That wasn't a request. Come. Here."

I didn't want to, but it was either go over there or have him come to me. And something told me things would get worse if he came to me. I stood next to the table and waited until he was done with his coffee. He stood up and rinsed his cup out in the sink before turning around and leaning against the counter. He crossed his arms, face unsmiling.

"I said that you weren't to leave the warehouse," he said.

"I know, but I had to get something from Urahara-san," I said.

"Then why didn't you either wake me up, or take one of the others with you?"

"Because I don't need a baby-sitter and besides, I was gone forty-five minutes, not a flippin' week. You're overreacting."

"Will I be overreacting if Ichimaru comes down and carries you off to Hueco Mundo?"

I walked out of the kitchen and started up the stairs. Shinji was hot on my heels.

"If you think you can just outrun this conversation, think again. I put up with a lot from you, but you walking away from an argument is not going to be one of them!" he said

I made it to the bedroom and started shutting the door, knowing it would smack Shinji in the face. I don't know why I was being so bitchy, especially to him. I suppose cabin fever was finally getting to me and I was taking it out on him. I hadn't been out for about two weeks, but he was only looking out for my best interests.

"Why were you at Kisuke's anyway?"

"I needed something to sleep."

"You've been having nightmares."

He'd know I was lying if I tried to deny it so I didn't say anything.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You've got enough on your plate. Not to mention, I can handle some things on my own."

Shinji slowly walked up to me and slid his arms around my waist, pulling me into him. He buried his face in my hair, sighing. "So stubborn."

I relaxed in his arms. "Yeah, but you love me anyway?"

"You know I do."

I wrapped my arms around and jumped up, wrapping my legs around his waist. I gave him a sunny smile. "I love you, too! Now we can have makeup sex!"

He started walking me to the bed. "As my lady commands."

He laid me on my back and bit down on my neck. I gasped. "And I intend to do a lot of commanding," I said.

"We'll see."