Me: Sooo...Ichigo...don't you just LOVE your life?
Ichigo: (stares at duct tape on a nearby table longily) one more word, and i swear I'll jump you with that tape.
Me: RUKIAAAA!
Rukia: I'm staying out of this one.
Me: (sniffles) ...Fine.
Lyrics: When it's time to live and let die/And you can't get another try/Something inside this heart has died, you're in ruins.
Karin opened the door, and Ichigo glanced around spastically. "Where's Dad and Yuzu?"
"...Grocery shopping," Karin said slowly with a fresh sweatdrop.
"At ten o'clock at night?" Rukia asked skeptically, but Ichigo made a loud noise to interrupt her.
"DON'T...jinx it."
Rukia rolled her eyes. "You're so damn paranoid."
"Nooo, I'm AWARE. For example, I'm extremely aware that if Dad and Yuzu saw us like this they'd-"
"THAT'S MY BOY!" Dad whispered as loud as possible, making Ichigo and Rukia yell in surprise. Yuzu had a giddy-slash-sappy look on her face, still holding a pan carelessly.
"You did it! See, I told you it would work out," Yuzu cried out happily.
Ichigo drooped, and Rukia sweatdropped at Karin, who was in a heap on the floor laughing hysterically.
"...They'd do that. Where should I put her?"
"You mean attempt to put her," Rukia corrected.
"She can sleep in my bed this time," Yuzu offered. "She looks kinda sniffly."
Well, she had been sneezing. If she gets sick, she's gonna kill me...! Ichigo sighed. "Lead the way."
It took very little strength to pry her off this time. "Oh, NOW you'll get off me," Ichigo hissed moodily to no one in particular. As carefully as possible, he shifted her into his arms and took her up the stairs.
Before opening her door, Yuzu turned around and let out a happy sigh. "Can I take a picture?"
"What the- HELL no! Open the damn door!"
She pouted, but cooperated. "Always such a downer, big brother."
Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Always the romantic, little sister," he shot back.
Yuzu pulled back her covers ceremoniously, to which Ichigo simply dropped her into the stupid mattress unceremoniously. "ICHIGO!" She hissed. "Women are delicate creatures!"
As if on que, Peyton simply let out a soft snore, sneezed, and rolled over. Ichigo scoffed a laugh. "Ha! Delicate creature. Good one, Yuzu."
When Peyton woke up, she realized three things:
1. She was in Yuzu's bed. (it didn't look too different than it did from the floor)
2. She still had her clothes on from last night (thank God)
3. Her right leg was freezing, along with her left hand being numb under the pillow.
She let out a tired groan and sat up slowly. Peyton stretched, and cringed as she heard her bones pop in a couple spots. As she rubbed her eyes, she wondered where everyone was. Her question was half-answered when Peyton opened her eyes and saw the girls of the household staring at her eagerly from the side of Yuzu's bed. She let out a yell and spazzed, falling off the other end.
They all laughed, and she slowly poked her head from behind the edge. "...Yes? Can I help y'all?"
"I love her accent, it's so different," Rukia chirped happily. Rukia was happy? And complimenting people? Now Peyton was very afraid. Very afraid indeed.
Yuzu flopped onto the bed eagerly, propping up her chin with her hands. "So! How was last night?"
Damn. I should've known. The patterns on Yuzu's bed suddenly became extremely interesting as she traced them with her finger. "Oh, it was fine."
"FINE?" they all yelled together, Karin included.
"...Yeah. It was fine."
"What did you do?"
"Anything illegal?" Karin asked with interest, and Rukia nodded eagerly.
"Ummm...I don't RECALL doing anything illegal..." They both groaned with disappointment.
Peyton shrugged and skipped down the hall, to which everyone shot up and followed her. "Where are you going?"
"TAKING MY MORNING PEE, IS THAT OKAY?" she shouted, eye twitching.
Of COURSE Ichigo happened to come out of his room at that exact moment, and he sweatdropped.
"..."
"..."
"...Well, this is awkward," Rukia stated.
"Hey, Ichigo."
"Hey, Peyton."
"What's up?"
"Oh, nothing much. Just scarred for life."
"What, did you get a mental image?"
"OH GOOD GOD SHUT UP!" he cried out, covering his eyes miserably.
Peyton laughed somewhat maniacally and went into the bathroom. "I got first dibs. Mission accomplished."
It took everybody about three days to stop asking about their "date".
"I think personally it's karma," Ichigo stated as they walked home. Rukia was off in the Soul Society (again?), and she seemed to be in a huge hurry.
Peyton rolled her eyes. "You and your damn karma."
"You believe in it, too!"
She shrugged. "Besides the point. It's not karma, 'cause good stuff came out of it."
They couldn't argue with that one; Jake hadn't walked home with them at all since they ditched him, easing their anger (Peyton) and jealousy (Ichigo).
"That hostess must have shown him a really good time, they're always together now."
Peyton suddenly had a thought. "Hey Ichigo? I just thought of something-"
"Don't hurt yourself."
"Okay, YOU KNOW WHAT?"
"What?"
"...Nevermind. Anyway, I think the fact that I still have your jacket doesn't help the whole We're-Not-Dating-It-Was-Just-A-Spur-Of-The-Moment thing."
Ichigo sweatdropped. "...I never even thought of that." He shrugged. "You can keep it."
Peyton eyed him suspiciously. "...What did you do to it?"
"Nothing! But you've been wearing it, you've contaminated it, you might as well keep it."
"...Honestly, you think I have cooties?"
He laughed. "No, but you never know. Insanity might be contagious."
She pointed a menacing finger at him. "Okay, you know what? I just might-" Peyton cut herself off as her head started pounding alarmingly. She couldn't blame Ichigo for being slightly freaked out since she just froze mid-sentence, not daring to move.
"Whoa, are you alright? You look like you just saw a-"
"Sh."
"Did you just-"
"Yes. Please. Quiet."
Peyton glanced around, but saw nothing. "Which means," she said to herself before looking up at Ichigo, who had huge question marks ding-ding-dinging above his head. "...Something's coming."
Now he was alert, too. What with Rukia being all edgy when she left...
"Do you feel it now?"
He nodded slowly. "Now that you mention it, I do. ...What's coming?"
"Do I look like I know?" she asked back as quietly as possible, looking around curiously. And then, as if on que, a mysterious-looking guy emerged from the trees to their right. He was wearing casual clothes that you might see at, say, American Eagle; cargo pants with a royal blue polo. His face was normal; dark brown hair with darker wisps in it, dark brown eyes, a scar by his cheek that he could've gotten in something as mundane as a bike accident. It was his expression and aura that made him mysterious. His expression screamed cruel intent, and his aura reeked of some sort of spiritual resonance she couldn't quite place. Similar to that of a Soul Reaper, but...
With his approach, her head threatened to explode, and her body twitched with the sudden impulse to attack. Which frankly scared the crap out of her, considering she had never fought in her life. EVER. Not even in the schoolyard!
"So. Kurosaki and Cullen. It's my lucky day."
Like she usually did in scary situations, Peyton said the first thing that popped into her head. "...You mean, like a twofer?"
The guy gave her a strange yet amused look, and Ichigo sweatdropped. "Okay, you, shut up now. Do we know you?"
He chuckled as if that were hilarious. "No, I should think not. But I know you two. Quite well, actually."
"Isn't that the stalker's motto?"
"Peyton, shut up."
"Prove it, Stalker Guy! What do you know?" she challenged, chin jutting out slightly in defiance.
"Shut the hell up, dammit!" Ichigo yelled, temple throbbing in annoyance. Obviously he had much better battle skills, which wasn't saying much when compared to Peyton's, and knew she was just wasting time.
Obviously this guy wasn't an expert, either. "Alright. Kurosaki. Your last real fight- with a human that is- was in the fifth grade, against a girl. And you lost. Horribly."
Peyton tried not to laugh, but a little giggle escaped. Ichigo immediately got angry. "Okay, look, she was huge! I mean, she had been held back twice! And besides, the-"
"The sun was in your eyes," he finished for Ichigo, who was momentarily stunned into silence.
"...Creepy," Peyton whispered at Ichigo's annoyed expression and the man's smug one.
"As for you, Cullen..."
"BRING IT!"
"...The worst thing you've ever done (in your opinion) was when you were nine, and your brother kept teasing you. You got in a fight, and then placed a rock in the middle of a snowball. A perfect one, might I add. Then threw it at his face. He had a black eye for weeks, and he never fully accepted your apology."
Peyton looked at the ground guiltily, the background turning all depressing. "...That's right, he didn't...He must hate me still...I'm so EVIL, I mean, who DOES shit like that?"
Ichigo sweatdropped. "...You have issues, you know that? Sure he forgives you, it was a stupid damn snowball! SIX YEARS AGO, might I add."
The man sighed impatiently. "If you two are done asking idiotic questions..." He suddenly appeared about five feet closer, making Peyton jump. "If you please, my dear. Good to meet you, Kurosaki."
Peyton yanked her arm out of his grip. "Oh, hell no!" she and Ichigo yelled at almost the same time.
Peyton beamed. "We agreed on something!"
The dude's temple throbbed. "This is ridiculous! I was hoping to indulge in your life force privately and without having to spill extra blood in the process, but it appears you wish to make things difficult!"
Peyton could see the veins in his neck and everything. "...Quick question. Why do you want me?"
He seemed to think that was hilarious. "Well, besides the obvious benefits of your young blood...You honestly don't understand your own aura, do you? What you're capable of?"
"I can make a Tower of Twinkies," she offered.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ichigo asked, sweatdropping.
"I don't know," she hissed urgently like a dog whining to go outside and do its business.
Whoever this guy was, he wasn't messing around. Peyton could feel it. Granted, she'd realized right away that seeing ghosts wasn't normal, and she had accepted the fact that she'd better get used to the Hollows that overran Karakura. She knew it also wasn't normal for Ichigo, Rukia, and Renji to wield zanpakutos and be able to exit their bodies and go badass on said Hollows, sure, fine, she was cool with that. But now this guy meant to say her position could get even MORE abnormal? God, wasn't being a high school girl enough pressure?
Ichigo put a hand on her shoulder and could feel her shaking. His grip tightened, and in one swift movement he was all Soul Reaper. She and Kon (in Ichigo's schoolbag, screaming at the top of his lungs like a whimp) practically flew to the opposite side of what was about to be a battlefield.
The man started laughing. "Ah, so the Soul Reaper wishes to pick a fight with me, does he? Hm...This might prove interesting," he murmured to himself, twirling a ring on his middle finger thoughtfully. Finally, he chuckled and nodded. "Very well. Two souls make all the better. Zeige Dich, Streik!" he called out, and the ruby ring glowed before unleashing a huge...scorpion.
It had the segmented outer-body armor of one, complete with a giant stinger on the end of its narrow tail, curving up at a sharp angle.
Now somehow in Ichigo's body, Kon scooted as close to Peyton as possible while they both stared up at the creature with wide eyes. "...This might not end well..."
TEN MINUTES LATER...
The two winced from the sidelines as Ichigo dodged another blow from the giant scorpion. Not only was its stinger powerful enough to leave craters in the ground, but it left an acidic residue behind on impact. Not to mention that it occasionally spat fire. Needless to say, Ichigo was exhausted, Kon was terrified, and Peyton felt so helpless that it hurt.
It had been going on like this for a good while, and she was getting more and more nervous. As the scorpion and Ichigo fought, she couldn't help but notice the occasional stares the guy controlling the scorpion gave her; they were bloodthirsty, almost like some sort of vampire.
Which was ironic since she was in fact Peyton Cullen. Ha ha, Stephanie Meyer. Ha ha. Fuck. You. I had my family name first, goddammit!
A sigh of relief escaped Peyton's lips as Ichigo suddenly sliced the tail off the giant scorpion. It let out a monstrous roar - as if there were any other kind - as it flailed around, its tail and hulking stinger falling limply to the ground as it spurted blood and acid. Ichigo jumped out of the way of the acid, getting grazed by the fire the scorpion spat in the process.
The man had a stricken look on his face as the creature glowed and began to return to the ring. Ichigo turned to look at them, and had just started to smirk at Peyton and Kon's expressions when the scorpion made one last move. It let out another roar as one of its legs elongated, sharpened itself, and plunged into his back. And just like that, it zoomed back into the ring completely.
It was like the world had temporarily stopped moving. They all heard a heart-wrenching scream, and it took Peyton a second to realize it was her own. The man paused, highly amused, savoring her and Kon's reactions. "I am disappointed I couldn't see the expression on your face as you fell, Kurosaki," he commented as he walked towards Ichigo, who had collapsed face-down on the ground.
Peyton hadn't missed it. In fact, his shocked expression as he had locked eyes with her to confirm what had happened before collapsing was like a replay from the Super Bowl lingering in her vision.
The man chuckled sinisterly and raised his foot to kick Ichigo's head with his heavy boot. Her fists clenched as she watched, her fingers starting to tingle the higher he raised his foot, twitching as she heard Ichigo groan.
Finally, she couldn't take the slow dramatic pace he was taking, and Peyton stood up quickly. "Peyton!" Kon exclaimed, voice shaking ever so slightly. The man looked up, foot hovering above Ichigo's head, and she glared at him. "Don't you even fucking think about it."
He looked highly amused by her now. "Oh? What's this?"
"Don't you touch him. If you want me so damn bad, come get me. I'm all yours, just...leave Ichigo alone."
His face fell into a mocking expression in one fluid moment. "Ah, that truly is tempting. But you seem to care about his well-being so much. It's a shame to put those interesting expressions and emotions of yours to waste, don't you agree?"
"Didn't you say I had some sort of power you wanted? Something you found interesting?" she asked, her tone so calm and cold it could cut through steel. Her fingers continued to twitch and tingle, and it almost felt like that time she had touched an open outlet when she was little and been slightly electrocuted.
He cocked his head as she moved to stand less than two feet in front of him. "Eh? You remember that, do you?"
"Just tell me what I have to do. If you know so damn much about it, tell me how I activate it," she offered.
That made him laugh, which just made her more pissed. "You fool! I can't just tell you how to use your own ability! You are not near as formidable as I thought you to be! Ahahahaha! Can't even activate your own ability! That's rich!"
Peyton flushed a little, just now realizing how stupid that had really sounded, and he shook his head. "Ahhh, Cullen, I thank you heartily for the laugh. I shall be drinking your life force in just a moment, but for now, I believe I should finish Kurosaki first. I was taught at a young age to always finish whatever I started."
He raised his boot again, and before Peyton really knew what she was doing, she moved to punch him. Of course, the man caught this with ease, but then some sort of dark purple...sparks began to surround her fist, jumping onto his own hand and causing him to cry out before drawing away quickly. He looked as if he had been...electrocuted slightly.
Peyton glared at him defiantly. "Huh. Lookie there. Would that be the 'ability' you were going on about?"
He smirked with satisfaction, panting slightly as he waved his hand back and forth briefly. "Indeed it is. Though, as I said, I doubt you to be near as formidable as I previously thought. ...I hope you don't mind if some of my friends come play with us." He raised his hands, and a huge swarm of mosquito-like monsters rose up out of nowhere.
Peyton sighed exasperatedly, watching the creatures warily as they began to swarm towards them, drawing in tighter around her and Ichigo. "The fuck are these all about?" she practically whined, much to his amusement.
"Cullen, do you not even comprehend my purpose here? I intend to drain you of your life force - souls such as yours are what've kept me alive all these centuries. And these lovely creatures, the bitto, harness the souls and condense them so that I may drink the energy you contain. They even have wonderful little vials ready to store it in for me! And with energy like yours...I can only assume your soul will provide me with immense power, just the sort of power I need to survive in any world, since I am welcome in neither. Besides...Your and Kurosaki's blood are just too wonderful to pass up. Still beautifully innocent, not to mention that both belong to powerful souls in their own rights. The best kind."
Peyton succesfully hid her disgust behind her You're-So-Dead-You-Bastard look. "Did you really just make me stand here through your Villain Lecture? We all know how this is gonna go. You give me the explanation on what the fuck you're doing, I say some kind of catchphrase, and then I kick your ass. Can we just skip to the ass-kicking now?"
He chuckled. "As you wish, Cullen." And with that, the bitto zoomed in towards her in one fell swoop. Peyton ducked, cursing rather loudly before feeling that tingling surge back into her fingertips tenfold. The energy shot out again, and soon it was doing so involuntarily. It continued to do so even after she had fried almost all of the bitto, which made her scared for a minute there that it would never stop surging out. It...It won't stop! What the fuck? First I don't have any super-special powers or whatever the hell this is, now I can't get them to go away...? Why's this happening?
The man laughed at the fear on her face as she attempted to keep it under control. "You can't just shoot energy out like that without some form of control, Cullen, you might burn Kurosaki to a crisp if you even manage to pull yourself together enough to defeat me," he warned, obviously highly amused as she forced the strange electricity to stop flowing to her fingers altogether.
Panting, she watched warily as he approached her, grabbing her by the throat. "Perhaps the bitto have failed me this time, but I am more than capable of finishing the job myself." His ring glowed, and her eyes widened.
"Ichigo, get up!" Kon shouted, making her jump slightly. He had been quiet through most of the "battle". "ICHIGO!" he called out again as she began to lose her breath, and the man started laughing as the veins around his eyes and temples started to throb with anticipation.
She could see the hand around her throat begin to glow, and she started to feel faint. Ichigo began to stir as her hands frantically tried to grasp the man's own much bigger palm, making him laugh again as he squeezed her throat even tighter. Finally, she clapped her hands onto his and let herself succumb to the electricity dancing against her nerves, lying in wait just below her skin.
She squeezed her eyes shut as the man screamed, and she fell to the ground as he continued to twitch, her odd energy having jumped onto his body and running all over him. After a few moments, she and Kon watched with wide eyes as he fell to the ground, seemingly unconsious.
Peyton, slightly in a daze from the sudden adrenaline rush and still trying to catch her breath, staggered to her feet before trudging over to stare down at him. Half his left arm - especially the left hand, which he had been choking her with - was burnt to a crisp, and there were a couple pieces to the skin on his face that were missing. The rest of him was either bruised from the inside out or burnt to various degrees.
She inwardly cringed, feeling a little sick from the look and smell of burnt flesh, but remained unnerved as she finished him off by pounding her fist into his chest as the energy let out another surge. "I told you I'd...kick your ass," she commented between pants, laughing a little.
Peyton then remembered Ichigo and started panicking, running over to him and kneeling by his side. Could he breathe lying on the ground like that? "Kon, go get help!"
"From who?" he asked, gulping as she desperately attempted to force the electricity back down.
"Whoever helps Soul Reapers when they're hurt! Hurry!"
She carefully turned Ichigo over as fast as possible, and managed to do it before the next surge ran through her. His eyes were shut. Was he breathing? Peyton put her head against his chest, trying to silence her own heavy panting; he was breathing, but they were way too shallow and ragged.
"Ichigo? Can you hear me?" Nothing. Peyton took off his jacket from around her and slid it underneath his back, which was losing blood way too fast than she'd like and already had made a pool on the ground. In fact, she was sitting in it, but she didn't care one bit. She knew the jacket probably wouldn't do any good whatsoever, seeing as he was almost impaled a while ago, but it made her feel a little less helpless. She pressed her elbow against it, too scared to touch him with her hands until she gained control of the energy again.
This got a groan out of him. "Ichigo? No, don't move," she said somewhat frantically. To keep him from moving, she quickly pulled him until she was propping him up with her legs from his head to his torso, the jacket sliding out from under him and seeping up some of the blood she was sitting in.
"So you move me for me? Dammit, Peyton, that hurts like hell," he whined halfheartedly, and she quickly removed her hands from his shoulders as the energy coursed through them once more. "You're lucky you can still talk."
"It takes a lot to do it."
"Well then shut the hell up for once," she snapped, making him smirk just a little.
"Where's the bastard I was fighting?"
"Dead. I told you to shut up," Peyton said simply.
He opened his left eye just a little bit. "Don't cry, Peyton. I'm fine."
"I'm not cryi-" A tear slid down her cheek and landed on her arm defiantly, making her temple throb. "...Okay, I guess I am. You're not fine, you're bleeding to death, you dumbass!"
"Don't make me laugh, it hurts too much. ...Are you okay? I heard Kon...shouting for me..." he muttered, breathing heavy again.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me," she assured him, clenching her fists momentarily and wishing the energy would stop so she could touch him. It was weird to only have her arms against him, hands worked much better.
A few quiet moments passed. All that pent-up energy she never even knew she had was really draining, plus she couldn't think of anything to say. What was she supposed to say after all that? "For the record, Kon ran faster than you ever have for anything," she informed him suddenly. He had to stay awake. Had to.
Ichigo coughed. I thought they only coughed like that in dramas or Western shoot-outs? "Well, if I make it, I'll be sure to run faster."
"If? There's no if, you-you're gonna be fine," she stuttered shakily. "Kon went to get help, you'll...you'll be okay."
"Hey Peyton?"
"What?"
"When I'm...I mean, if I don't make it, can you tell my family they're not so bad after all? Even...Even my dad. Especially my dad," he asked thoughtfully. Peyton nodded tearfully, cursing herself for crying.
"And, uh...I made a will yesterday. Check it out. It's in my desk. You'll have to really look. I didn't want anybody to find it, y'know."
"Why the hell would you make a will when you're 16 years old?" she asked with honest curiosity.
"I dunno. I guess I...was bored," he explained between coughs, and Peyton laughed.
"You better take back all the times you've called me weird, then."
His face turned serious. "Hey. ...Peyton."
"Yo."
"...I'm sorry," he said in a tone so serious that it made her nervous all over again.
"...For what?"
"...Stuff."
"What stuff?"
"I dunno, stuff. I guess for fighting with you all the time. And calling Jake a douche. A lot. And calling you a dumbass...and weird...and freaky...and short-tempered...Oh, and bitchy...and-"
"I get it," Peyton interrupted with a temple throb, eye having been twitching more and more with every new item he added to his list. "Is there a point to bringing up all that?"
"...Well, 'cause you're not any of that stuff. I just kept running out of comebacks with you," he admitted gloomily. "...Well, except for short-tempered. You're definitely that..."
Peyton laughed. "Yeah, I guess I am. And, uh...same here. With the comebacks. Now stop talking all regretful-like. Once you heal up, you're just gonna start fighting with me again."
His breathing was much shallower, if that was possible, and his coughing was more frequent. "Peyton?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm gonna take a nap, okay?"
"Ichigo, you jackass, don't you DARE die all dramatic on me like that!" she fumed, glaring down at him. He managed to roll his eyes a little before searching for her hand, and she hesitantly let him grab it. She used every ounce of energy she could muster to keep that energy from coming to the surface.
"Ow," he muttered suddenly, his hand twitching a little.
She felt color surge up to her cheeks despite herself, trying even harder. "...Sorry about that. ...HEY, JACKASS, I SAID NOT TO CLOSE YOUR EYES!" she shouted suddenly as he attempted to do so, making his temple throb.
"Peyton, just...calm down. I'm fine. See? Would my...Would my temple be throbbing if I...wasn't?" he pointed out, though his breathing and the way his voice was getting further and further off kind of blew his whole theory out of the water.
She stared at him for a moment before reluctantly nodding, blinking quickly to get the tears to stop. "...Okay."
If Kon doesn't hurry up, so help me...