Chapter 14: Kaleidoscope
He thought that he would be killed, but all the figure did was hold him with her arms, dropping the knife as rain poured upon them, washing as much crimson as it can.
To his shock, the blood-soaked figure was Ichigo, who kept on shaking in fear and horror. There were rain-mixed but real tears on her cheeks and her uniform was nothing but ripped and torn.
Byakuya looked to his left, and he was surprised to see so much blood on the brick walls of the alley corner. There were two men there who looked rugged and thug-like, and their torsos were slashed deeply, most likely leaving them to bleed to death. While he continued looking at the scene, Ichigo sobbed without control, her arms threatening to crush the older man's back as she embraced him so tightly.
She was scared. Her pride had no right to be in the way right now. "I... I was just... then... they... they almost..."
Ichigo was too terrified to speak straight, and Byakuya understood as he hugged her with equal force, burying her face in his chest while the sky along with the orange head kept on crying.
"You don't have to say it. I know what you're trying to tell me." he whispered, and the teen calmed down a little just by the sound of his voice.
"I... I..." she choked, making light hiccups from crying nonstop and when they broke apart, Byakuya saw her half-naked. The sleeves of her school polo are torn off her, baring her bruised arms to him. Her skirt had ragged edges and exposed part of her upper thighs, her midriff was visible, and the shoes along with the socks were taken off her feet.
Something boiled in him, parring with how he'd feel when it'd come to his parents: nothing but pure anger. But they were already dead, yet the fact that Ichigo killed them, even though out of self-defense, didn't change.
"I can't go home... not like this..." she managed to slip out her lips, and it was the truth. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering from the cold drops and he quickly took off his coat, wrapping it around her like back then when he saved her from drowning. Guilt filled up inside him when he thought of her as beautiful, even in her state right now.
Her knees wobbled and she fell down, unable to find the courage to stand up. But she was lifted off the wet cement road, and found herself on her teacher's arms.
She looked so weak, fragile, helpless; but she needed someone. She dealt with death of loved ones, but never had she ever thought of being able to deal with murdering someone by her own hands.
"I'll take you somewhere where we can rest for the night. Does it sound alright?" Byakuya looked so concerned; she could see it in his eyes that looked brighter under the dark sky and the haunting clouds. She nodded while wrapping her arms around his neck and melting in his warmth.
"I'm sorry... that I'm like this..." she whimpered, and Byakuya bit his lower lip. No matter how much strength Ichigo would put up, in the end she was just a girl like everybody else. He brought her closer, feeling her breath under his chin. "Don't be."
No one was there, around them, and he was glad enough to know that at least no one would have to see them or her do something that could traumatize her permanently if he wasn't there.
A frown crossed his lips when the nearest hotel to where he saw Ichigo was a love hotel. But it didn't seemed to be filled with people, and it was better than a grand hotel so he entered. The orange head shifted a little in his arms, and he kissed her forehead as he headed for the reception desk.
A young woman with short blonde hair immediately welcomed them. "Hello! A room for two?" she asked, like it was automatically the first thing she would say for customers. He nodded once, and she immediately gave them a key.
"Have a fun night!" she waved, but he sighed silently while going upstairs. He looked at the number imprinted on the key and walked to the third floor but made sure that Ichigo didn't wake up from her sleep as she started to feel uncomfortable.
Byakuya effortlessly inserted the key in the doorknob of the desired door and entered. Even in a hotel for lovers to dwell in for a night, they were supplied enough. There was a bed made for two, a bathroom, a small wardrobe and two nightstands at both sides of the bed with a lamp on one of them.
He placed Ichigo on the bed with a soft thump sound following and he covered her cold, drenched body with a blanket. He thanked the weather for washing most of the blood off Ichigo and making her look like she's just sleeping in his arms, and he started to prepare the tub for her to bathe on.
It didn't take long for Ichigo to wake up from the sound of water filling up the tub and she entered the bathroom, seeing him watch patiently for the tub to be full. The faint light in the bathroom enhanced her hair. The rain also removed some of her dye, revealing orange at some parts of her hair.
"Unn... where are we?"
Byakuya felt a little relieved that she started to sound calmer unlike a while ago when she can't even articulate all the words.
"A love hotel." he bluntly answered, and Ichigo quickly blushed but relaxed the next second when she realized he was just helping her find a place to rest. "Do you still have some blood on you?" Ichigo nodded slowly, walking closer.
"Go and take a bath. I'll wait outside." he said, and left the bathroom in an instant.
She felt empty when the door closed shut, but she knew that he respected her privacy. Her heart burned, but she let it go away as she undressed herself and stepped into the lukewarm water, feeling every impurity on her skin being washed away as she gently scrubbed her skin.
But when she reached for the half-full shampoo bottle her hands trembled as the memories of her near-rape made her whole body flinch in shock. The container slipped out her hands and clattered loudly at the floor tiles. She then tried to grab the herbal soap but it also fell on the floor after her clumsy attempts in catching it.
Before she could get out of the tub to get them, a worried Byakuya walking in the bathroom instantly after hearing the clattering noises. Ichigo gasped and shied away, moving her body back in the tub and curling up in a ball, her head facing the wall. "Don't bother picking those up." she murmured.
"Weren't you planning to?" he replied, placing the shampoo and the soap back. Ichigo quivered her lips when she could feel him moving closer to her. "I..."
"Don't say it. I know it's still scaring you."
A hand cupped her face and it gently motioned for her to look for the other way. Their eyes glanced deeply at each other, and at that moment Ichgo had never felt so vulnerable against her feelings before. Her chest didn't hurt but it was beating at an abnormal rate, and the longer they gazed into each other's orbs the less the distance became between their faces.
There, when she felt cool lips melt against her warm ones, all her fears were quickly shoved into the back of her mind and they simultaneously raised one of their hands, clasping them together and intertwining the nimble fingers. Ichigo closed her eyes, moving her head forward to deepen the kiss a little bit more. Byakuya's other hand caressed her cheek, softly combing the wet strands of her hair and Ichigo winced at the gentle touch.
They never broke the kiss for a long time, and Byakuya's touches were nothing but soft and comforting.
"Byakuya..." she whispers against his lips, and she felt shocked the next second at what just slipped out her tongue. But her expression softened when Byakuya gave a pleased look and he kissed her forehead, flinching when he felt the rustling of his coat. Ichigo slowly unbuttoned his soaked polo with her free hand and Byakuya felt slight panic in his mind as he grabbed her wrist.
"No..." she chuckled lightly, gazing up at his moonlit eyes. "I'm just worried; you might get a cold because... you're drenched like crazy." He sighed with relief at her answer but he still didn't let go of her wrist. "I don't mind." he said and moved closer to meet her lips again but he stopped at the last moment.
He tried to formulate the words in his head, and he let go of both her hands. Ichigo watched him with a perplexed look on her face. "Why aren't you resisting? I thought that you don't want this."
Ichigo looked at the wall, deep in thought.
"Dad... do you believe in love at first sight?"
The question took her father by surprise, and she tried to break the odd silence by the sound of mincing vegetables. "Yes, I do. Ichigo, are you troubled because you're in love with someone?" Ichigo hardened her lips. She wanted to ask herself the same thing. Was she in love with the man who kissed her at the dance? Or was it just a strange event that she overreacted towards at?
"I don't even know if I'm in love with the man. It might be only a strange infatuation. But it's bugging me nonstop." Her father sighed, patting her shoulder. She felt slightly relaxed by the simple familial gesture of comfort. Her father would always be her shoulder to cry on or at least the one she'd be able to bare her soul to at most moments before.
"You're a teenager, Ichigo. I know that age, being the age where in you're the most vulnerable to love. But... all these years after Masaki and Shiro died, you never acted like this before. You closed yourself to love. The only reason why you'd act so shaken up is love."
"But I can't love this person, Dad." she choked with honesty, her hands stopping. "We have such a huge difference, and if I do get in a relationship with him, we would just be laughed at. He's always persisting at me with what I feel, and I don't even know what I feel for him exactly. Why does one night have to make it all messed up?"
And from there on, she quietly narrated to him, with pain in her voice, about the dance. The only things she left out were the fact that it was Byakuya, who's their neighbor, her teacher and a man older than her by such a gap. Instead, she made her father think that it was a high school boy instead.
"I see... but even if it's painful... it's up to you to decide." he said, the words serving as his reply to all what she said to him.
"Love is not something for others to decide. It's all up to you. But a piece of advice, Ichigo. If you keep on denying it and distract yourself from what you really feel, then you'll always feel the same pain for the rest of your life. I don't care that you're too young to fall in love, but just don't let it get in the way of your studies."
Ichigo smiled genuinely, and continued to chop silently as Isshin let her do so. She needed time to contemplate on it.
"Because there's no point in resisting anymore. Even if I run away from you, I know you'll always be drawn to me as I am to you. One kiss changed everything, right?" The tip of their noses lightly brushed against each other. She was starting to admit the truth. She never thought it would be at a time like now, but she couldn't help it. It was better to say it sooner than later.
"My feelings for you, would never die." She moved her head close, tilting her head to the side and their lips locked deeper than a while ago. One dance made them fall in love, she would accept that. He felt calm by those words and by her affectionate actions as he gently took her face into his hands, his palms softly pressing against her cheeks as they continued to kiss.
She undressed him again, and this time he let her. He felt the wet cloth soaking his skin and making him feel slightly uncomfortable so he was fine with it. He had no intention to do anything to her aside from feeling her lips, her warmth and nothing more.
He removed his hands off her face for a moment to let the polo slip down his arms until it landed on the floor, and they needed air when they were too carried away with the kiss so they pulled their lips apart. She admired how he looked, with his slim and fairly muscular form and how his eyes burned with passion.
"You should continue bathing. I can still smell a bit of blood on you." He nuzzled at her cheek and with a soft peck on her ear, he stood up and looked back once at a blushing Ichigo, giving a completely sated look at her before leaving once more.
She sighed but felt content enough to be able to bathe herself without letting her hands shake and slip out things. As water washed over her hair and face, Ichigo closed her eyes, knowing that everything would be different from now on.
No more resisting, no more fighting. Just acceptance of it all. No matter the consequence, she finally accepted that they fell in love.