Chapter 21 -Ichigo-

The Past

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"Are you sure you are okay?"

A pair of grey orbs looked at me. The girl with angelic face blinked her eyes twice before smiled widely and looked away from me. She said nothing but her eyes and her smiled had told me that I shouldn't have to be worried about her. Her eyes assuring me that she was fine and would be fine no matter what. I knew no matter how many times I was going to ask her, she would answer me the same way she did.

I didn't understand how she could be so calm. There had been a big chance that she would met Aizen again soon. After all that had been done by the bastard to her, I expected to be more... Scared.

She rested her head on my shoulder. I could smell a faint aroma of strawberry from her hair. She said nothing but, though I couldn't see her face from our current position, I knew that she wasn't sleeping. She looked so calm. Calmer than the rest of us though I could say that she was the one who had been through the worst episode with the psycho bastard. I didn't understand what she had in her head right now. She wasn't stupid, she should have known that what we would do now was going to be dangerous. I didn't want her to get hurt by Aizen, again.

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"Me?" He chuckled, he looked at me with his brown eyes before he laughed manically. I didn't say anything until he stopped laughing and looked at me with those eyes. The same eyes that had been looking at me years ago. He smiled, "I didn't hurt her. It's you. You hurt her."

"Shut up!" I gritted my teeth, my hand clenched on the wooden sword tightly, "I would never hurt Orihime! I love her!"

The sick bastard narrowed his eyes, smile had been gone from his face, "I am the one torturing her, but you are the one who caused her pain."

"Cut the crap!" I shouted. I lost my patience. I didn't come to this place to talk. I didn't fight his men on my way to get here only to hear him talk shit like this. I came here to get Orihime back.

"Ichigo-kun..."

I gritted my teeth and shifted my eyes to the girl I loved. She was standing not too far behind Aizen, a black haired young man held her hands behind her body not letting her go. The man gave me a weird look, as our eyes met, I saw an expression I couldn't interpret on his face, as if he wanted to say something but he couldn't.. That man, Ulquiorra Schiffer...

"It is all your fault, Ichigo Kurosaki," said Aizen the smile had slowly faded from his lips as he spat my name, "you killed the woman I loved now I would make you feel what I'd felt."

"I wouldn't let you touch her!" I was about to attack him when someone pulled me from behind and throw me easily to the wall across the room.

"Ichigo-kun!"

My head hit the wall and it made me dizzy. I groaned as I tried to stand up to see who was the man who had been attacking me. I could felt that my head was bleeding but I didn't care.

A man, taller than me and Aizen stood in front of me. He had this wide grin on his face. I didn't knew who was the blue haired man but I knew one thing that he was one of Aizen men. Now I had been outnumbered. There were three of them in this room and I wasn't sure how I should fight them all with Orihime in this room. They could hurt her anytime to bring me down and I didn't want it to happen. Renji wasn't here yet, the men downstair must have been slowing him down. Now, I had to face these people alone.

"You are Kurosaki?" The blue haired man grinned at me, I didn't answered him as I believed he already knew who I was, "I heard you are strong."

I stood up, scowling and ignoring the pain I felt on my back. The man looked happy in a sick way when he saw me trying to stand up.

"So, are you strong or not?" Asked the man again, I still didn't answer him so he turned to Aizen and grinned, "this guy's strong, right?"

Aizen chuckled, "why don't you test him out to find out?"

The tall man grinned, "I liked the idea," he cracked his knuckles, and looked at me once again, still grinning excitedly, "I hope you're strong enough or it wouldn't be so fun."

I didn't look at him, but I knew Aizen was smiling when he told the guy, "make sure you didn't kill him."

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I tried to erase those memories from my head. I didn't want to keep them. It would be so much better if only I could pretend as if what had happened that day was actually an illusion. It had never happened. I would like to think that way but no matter what, I couldn't change the past. I knew it, I had to accept it. That day I'd been failed protecting the one I love the most.

My name meant the one who protect but in reality I couldn't protect anyone. I couldn't protect my mom and my girlfriend.

My mom was the reason of Aizen's rage toward me. He hated me because he had always been in love with my mom, his very own sister. That sick bastard hated my family. He hated me for causing my mother's death, for taking her away from him, and I understood that he hated me and would never forgive me for what I'd done. Even I still blamed myself for what had happened that day. For being the cause of my mother's death. I would not mind if he hurt me to get a revenge. I deserved a punishment for killing my mother but it didn't mean that he could hurt Orihime. She hadn't done anything wrong and the only fault she had done was that she made me fall in love with her so hard that she became my weakness.

Aizen thought the best revenge would be by letting me feel the same way he felt, losing a woman I'd always love. Except, unlike him, I had to suffer twice, once for losing my mother and second to have to witness him torturing Orihime because of me.

In a way, he did hurt me. I had never been so scared and angry and upset as much as what I had felt that night. I wanted to lock those memories in a box and throw it away.

I had planned to start over. I had decided to stop loving Orihime because it only brought bad luck for her. Maybe what Aizen had said that night was right, it was me who had actually hurt her. My incapability to protect her had caused her to suffer.

I looked at the empty street outside the window. The car was too slow to me. For a weird reason I wanted to end this as soon as possible. We would find Ulquiorra and stop him from whatever he planned to do. If we should have to see Aizen, I would beat him fast. I would not let him to hurt me or my friends again. I would not let him or anyone to lay a finger on Orihime ever again. I would end all of this mess and start over.

This was the right point to start over everything. To win Orihime's trust back. To pay my debts...

My debts...

I had debts to pay to that bastard Ulquiorra. I didn't like it but he did save us. He saved Orihime. He opened my eyes. I hated him yet I couldn't let him die without paying my debts to him.

I sighed.

I wished Renji could drive faster than this but I knew he had done his best. It was almost like I was going back to two years ago and I wanted to do what I couldn't do before. I wanted a revenge.

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I could hear a gun shoot. My head was hurt and my whole body was beaten, it was almost impossible for me to move a finger. I was tired and beaten but the gunshoot woke me up. I tried to look for Orihime and found her body laying unconscious on the floor not far from me. I let out an inaudible sigh when I realized she wasn't the one getting shot.

My eyelids were so heavy and I could barely opened my eyes. Everything was blurry and it was hard to focus on what had happened in that room.

I saw Aizen knelt on the floor. There was a small pool of blood on the floor under him. He didn't look at me. I shifted my eyes to another man stood not too far from us. I could barely see the man's face, I could only see his feet. The blood was from the wound on his feet.

"Why don't you shoot my heart? Or my head," he sounded too calm for someone who had just gotten shot, "why don't you kill me?"

I closed my eyes, it was impossible to keep it open. What I could do now was just listening to the conversation between Aizen and the mistery man.

I could smell blood, maybe it was my own blood. I couldn't feel my left hand. My whole body was acheing and slowly I lost my consciousness.

"Why?" Aizen started again, his tone was provocating I wondered how the man managed to hold himself not to shoot this psycho man, or how he could have cornered Aizen in the first place, "scared?" A chuckled, "you've changed. That woman changed you, didn't she?"

That woman? Orihime?

The standing man had been about to say something, I had been sure but I couldn't hold it anymore. I lost my consciousness.

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"Here we are."

We stood in front of an old and empty apartment building. I frowned when I saw the building. I knew this place pretty well. All of us, except Tatsuki had been here two years ago and I believed all of them could still remember what had happened here.

I turned to exchange some look with Renji. He had the same expression on his face. The last time we had been here we couldn't have gotten out easily. I understood the fear in Renji'e eyes. What had happened that day had left some permanent invisible scar in our mind.

We didn't know how many people were in this building, we didn't even know whether Aizen was really here or not. We only had one way to find out, by going in.

Rukia looked at me, she didn't look scared but she looked concerned, "are you okay without a sword?"

I smiled, "yeah, no problem, how about you?"

She smirked, "I believe my fists are strong enough."

I nodded. I didn't have to worry about Tatsuki and Renji either, they knew how to fight and I knew it because sometime they managed to beat me during sparring but I couldn't help but to worry about the slender girl stood next to me.

She could read my mind, as usual, so she said something to ease my mind, "you know, Tatsuki has taught me karate. I am strong enough."

That was not the problem. I didn't know how to make her understand the situation. It was not about strong or not. I knew she wasn't weak but I could never stop worrying her. Afterall I didn't want anything happen to her.

I wanted to make her realize the situation. If only she agreed to wait for us in the car, it would be easier, but I knew her. She wouldn't give it up.

I saw determination on her big gray eyes and I had no choice but to let her in. However I would do my best to protect her. I promised, this time it wouldn't be like the last time.

Tatsuki looked at me and nodded, as if telling me that she was ready. I nodded and sighed.

This wouldn't be easy at all.

"Ok," I tried not bit my own tongue, "let's break in!"

What might have happened in the past would remain there. I promised would be the last time. I would end all of this today and to start over from here.

Get ready, Aizen.

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Author's Note:

Awww yeah it took soooo long! But it is hard for me to continue this because I hate the plot from here but I don't wanna be a jerk and abandon this. But before I continue this, I've to see whether you've abandoned this or not.