Author's Note: Sorry for making this such a short chapter! It was the best I could do, and I'm going to upload new chapters every week(:
While they were still in the shower room, Ichigo has, once again, regained his consciousness and body. He immediately noticed that he had pinned Rukia to the stall, with a running shower head streaming cool water. Then, he instantly detached himself from her, arms slinging down by his waist as if they were dead. His head was cocked down, huge back facing the petite girl all in the midst of the water mixing in with tears. Right now, he was experiencing a deep agony that it was so severe that it was inexplicably indescribable.
"G-GOD DAMMIT, YOU STUPID HOLLOW! Y-YOU COST ME MY FRIENDSHIP WITH RUKIA! WHAT THE HELL?! NOW SHE'LL NEV-"
Rukia continued to weep, but this time it was forcibly because it would ruin the overwhelming mood if she just said something or seemed nonchalant while her lover was in a dejected state. As soon as she heard his last statement, her heart stopped abruptly, more like skipped several beats. Meanwhile, Ichigo repeatedly pummeled his fists against the walls, cracking them as the tiny bits of tile broke off from the wall, sticking to his hand, drawing blood to his knuckles.
'"…NOW SHE"LL NEV-"? What does he mean? Now I'll never what?'
She wanted to run over to him and help comfort him, but it would be the most awkward of all awkward situations. What she wanted more than anything at the moment was to ask Ichigo to complete his sentence. She wanted to hear those words she thought he was going to say and make everything all better. But soon, the awkward silence dominated the room. Ichigo twisted the knob of the shower faucet and picked up a towel lying on the floor. Instead of handing it to her, he wrapped it a bit above his abdomen to protect her eyes from his obscene image, though he thought in his mind that she would be more comfortable with it. This was the last bad thing he swore he was ever going to do to her. He was ready to leave the stall until he hesitated with his back facing Rukia, who stopped weeping already. Ichigo turned his head towards her—preventing himself from eyeing her—while she crossed her arms in defense.
"I'm sorry, Rukia. You probably won't ever want to see me again like you said, and I don't mind it at all. G-goodbye."
Ichigo couldn't get himself to move after he said that last statement. He was suffering from such great anguish and couldn't believe that it would be the last time he was going to see Rukia. He, no; his hollow made bad memories for her, but he also felt guilty that he drowned in pleasure at the thought of it. He had to leave now, but before he did, he had to do one thing to make sure it was real: he ran over to Rukia and embraced her tightly while his sagging orange hair covered his face, dripping over her shoulder while droplets of liquid seeped onto her shoulder. Then, he planted a soft kiss on half of her lips. That was all it took for him to know it was all real. He had fallen in love with her, but showed it the wrong way. Then, he disappeared without another word, leaving Rukia in the empty stall of the girls' locker room, stunned with confused thoughts.
For the first couple of minutes—which turned to an hour and half later on—Rukia just sat in the down on the cold floor of the stall, still unclad of anything. She turned on the shower, icy cold droplets of water pelted her velvety skin. Each drop stung more that next just by thinking of those words and not being able to do anything. Her eyes were dry for not blinking for a long time, so tears would forcibly come out. Rukia crossed her arms against her legs and sat for the rest of the time pondering those thoughts that it plagued her very mind to the point her skin was wrinkled for staying in the stall too long. She finally realized that she should stop moping around, so she got up, rotated the shower knob, and dressed in her clothing, letting the water penetrate through the thin fabric. Rukia ran out of the school as fast as possible, fearing that someone would trail her. If anyone did, that would be their last time.