(8/10/13)
Orihime hummed her favorite songs, her legs swinging in time to its rhythmus. She was sitting on a big tree, but she was not afraid one bit, not when she would have him sat next to her at any moment.
What stories should she tell him next? She was out of fairy stories, and she was afraid that her imaginary stories were too stupid or too boring for him to hear. Yet he had so many things to tell her, things that she was deeply interested in, things that broadened her views of the world, things that gave her dreams and desires to see the world for herself. How could he know so much, when he was just a little boy, at the same age as her? How could he understand the forests and the world of hunters so well? She could tell from his swift movement, his keen observation, his excellent scene of direction, his fast reflexes that he was a natural hunter.
As compared to herself… She just simply didn't have what it took to be a hunter. She couldn't bring herself to harm a single ant. Her reluctance to take action in the face of danger was fatal, to herself and to her clan if she were to go hunting with them.
She should be upset every time she thought about it, yet how could she feel anything but excitement when he was about to come, to play with her, to tell her stories, to show her the ways of becoming a hunter. Today would be their first day to go hunting together. Today would be her first time to become a hunter.
He was late…
Maybe he was busy with his newborn sisters. Recently he had talked nothing but them. It was wonderment that they were twins. The whole village was roused by this new. Some said that the twins were gifts from the heaven, that the village would be blessed from now on, that something wonderful would happen. Some said that twin was always a curse and would bring great misfortune upon the family and the village at a whole. Whatever they said, the twins were beyond adorable, and so many people who saw them couldn't resist the urge to hold them in their arms, to see their smiling faces… and no need to say, their father was beyond proud.
At first, when Ichigso heard the news that he was going to have a sibling, he had been sulking the whole time during his mother's pregnancy. He didn't say it, but Orihime knew that he was afraid that the newborn would take all the love from his mother. He had been complaining how his mother had been neglected him, and how much time she had spent to prepare for the new kid.
To be honest, Orihime thought that Ichigo was too much of a mama's boy. He was strong, but he was too dependent on his mother. To him, his mother was the whole world. He had the vision and the potential to discover the truth of this world beyond anyone else, but he was too fixated on his mother. All he saw was her and nothing else. Everything she said was the absolute truth and those words became the world itself.
Orihime quivered slightly as Ichigo's fingers intertwined with her, and he hugged her more tightly from behind. His lips even touched gently on her head. Was he replacing her for his mother? Five hundred years to find one single friend from childhood? And he lost the sense of time, the sense of himself to complete that self-appointed task. Even his excellent sense of direction had disappeared. It was not her that he was looking for. His mother was gone, and he put her into that emptiness of his heart, and placed his world fix around her.
"What are you doing in this world, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked. "What are you looking for?" His grip loosened. "I am not your mother." The arms left their warmth around her waist and fell to the side, "I am not the one that you love."
However, as soon as the twins were born, he instantly gave them all of his affection. He told her how adorable they were, how they looked so much like his mother, that they would certainly grew up into admirable young ladies just like his mother, that he would be strong to protect them until then. He spent less time with her to take care and play with his twin sisters.
But she didn't mind it since no matter how busy he was; he still found his time for her. He still told her about his family and his life. He still kept her as a part of his life, and to her that was enough.
Orihime swung her legs harder. He was late, way too late. The sun was about to set. She had to go home now or her brother would be worried sick.
XxXxXxXxXx
"Orihime, you're back." His brother greeted her, unusually solemn. "Did you meet Ichigo?"
Orihime shook her head in disappointment, "He didn't come today." She threw herself on bed with a little more force than usual, "He is such liar. He has promised me again and again that he will come, that today we will go hunt together for real."
Her brother sat next to her and rubbed her hair softly with his hand, "Orihime, please be more gentle with Ichigo from now on. Please be nice to him, and always be by his side. From now on, he has one person less in this world, a very important one."
"What do you mean, brother?"
"His mother just passed away"
"What is 'passed away'?"
"It means that person is no longer in this world, that we will never see her again."
"Never, never?"
"Yes, never, never."
Tears filled her eyes and she buried her head in her pillow. She couldn't understand this whole "passed away" business, but she could feel it. Just thinking about never seeing Sora or Ichigo again made her feel incredibly sad, and tears couldn't stop from falling down and gradually soaking her pillow.
XxXxXxXxXx
Ichigo never returned to the way he was before. They couldn't talk or laugh like they had before. He scowled more, and never smiled, and she didn't have the courage to lighten his mood. She didn't have the courage to tell him joke or ask him to play with her. She just knew to follow him like a ghost.
He let her follow him, yet didn't bother to talk to her, which made her incredibly upset. Sometime she just wanted to yell at him, to beat the sense into him, or to leave him alone, yet she kept follow him, submissively and passively, like the way she always was, like the way she always hated.
One day, when he was spacing out for so long at the river bank, that Orihime said to him the first time since his mother's death, "Wouldn't you want to go home?"
He didn't answer, like she didn't exist, and kept spacing out at the river.
She tried to contain her anger and continue speaking to him in a soft voice, "Your father will be worried about you. And you should help your father to take care of your sisters too."
"Don't tell me about the twins." For the first time in a long time, he spoke to her, yet his voice was full of hostility.
"Why not? They are adorable."
He didn't say anything but kept staring at the water in anger.
"Don't you love them?"
His silence began to get on her nerve, and she was fed up of his childish behavior. "You are supposed to love your sisters. You should go home and take care of them." She said in a louder voice.
"Who are you to tell me what to do?"
This was the first time that Ichigo raised his voice at her, and spoke to her with such horrid words. Before she knew it, tears were formed around her eyes.
"Can't you just stop crying? You made me so tired. All you know is to cry."
It hurt so much that she couldn't stand on the same ground with him any longer, so she ran and ran, her tears flew so fast the she couldn't wipe them all off.
When she came to her sense and calmed down, she realized it was dark and she was lost in the forest.
She was frightened and wanted to cry again, but she was so tired, the tears seemed to be dried up from her.
The howls of some strange creatures, the sounds of cracking branches were enough to make her quiver in fear. She curled herself in a ball and rested her body against a tree, praying for some miracle to happen, for Sora or Ichigo to find her.
Tears warmed her dried eyes again. She thought that she was losing her ability to cry, but thinking about him triggered it. She couldn't stop feeling sad, she couldn't stop wanting to cry. She couldn't stop hoping for him to find her.
Her eyes felt heavy and heavier until darkness covered her completely.
"Inoue…Inoue…"
Her shoulders were slightly moved, and she tried to open her heavy lids.
A spark of orange glowed in the moonlight.
"Go away." She pushed him away in anger, trying to ignore the bruises on his arms and legs and the holes torn in his clothes.
"I'm sorry." He said sincerely, his brown eyes were so full of sadness that she couldn't stop herself from hugging him.
"I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun, for being so tactless. I just wanted to cheer you up…" She sobbed, "but I end up just make you more irritated, to make you hate me…"
"I don't hate you." He said quickly. "I…I…" Suddenly he leaned up and kissed her on her forehead. "That's what I feel about you." He said in shaking voices, his face burned and his eyes cast down the ground."It's myself that I hate."
Heat went from her stomach into her face, and it was the first time that she felt something more than friendship to the boy sitting next to her. She had no more desire in this world than to comfort him. She cupped his face with both of her hands and guided his eyes to meet hers, "Now that your mother is no longer here, you should love yourself for her. That's your responsibility."
"How can I love someone who is so weak he couldn't protect his mother nor love his sister; who have to blame others for his own misery?"
"You are strong."
"No, I'm not."
"You are strong."
"No, I'm not."
…...
So they went on and on with their little agreement until both were dead tired and laughed at each other heartily.
"You are always so honest." Ichigo said as they rested their backs against the tree. "That's what I like about you. You are always there for me, you say things that I don't want to hear, but you force me to see the problem myself." He said softly, "Thank you."
"Will you see your sisters again?"
He nodded, reluctantly.
"Will you love them again?"
"They are my sisters. I can't hate them. And I know it's not their fault that mother died."
Orihime smiled brightly, relieved. "I'm glad." She coughed; the cold of the night began to seep into her body.
"Let's go home." He reached his hands for hers.
She blinked. He growled even in the dark, where no light could reach them.
"I can't see anything. How can we go home like this?"
He pointed his thumb at his chest proudly, "Don't forget who I am."
"The best path detector and forest tracker in the world," She giggled.
He blushed. "This dark is nothing. Let's go."
Holding his hand, there was nothing that was worth fearing. The darkness, the beasts, the dangers, all of them swirled like dust around her. In her eyes, there was only one thing, and that was the boy who was walking bravely ahead, his hand holding hers tightly.
After they walked for a while, Orihime saw a flash of light ahead and pointed it to Ichigo. While he climbed into a tree like a monkey to see what was going on, she sat down, clapped her hand together and for the first time in her life, praying for their safety. She had never left home this late before, and though she had Ichigo with her, she couldn't help but feel extremely anxious and unsettling. Misfortune seemed to be hanging around the air and she even had a weird feeling that they might never come back home again.
The light came nearer and nearer, and she could see that it was from several torches. Suddenly, she felt a strong hand pulled her up to the tree, and before she came to her senses, three figures had gathered around the trees. How could they be so fast? She asked herself as she settled down on a strong branch with Ichigo, looking down at the ground.
"Your highness, please take a break. You must be tired, and the Mage stopped to rest too. " A figure bowed to another figure as he spoke.
The other figure raised his hand, "If so, we shouldn't rest. This time we might be able to catch him."
"What is the point, Aizen-sama?" A third figure came to the scene and pulled his hook down, revealing his silver hair which shone brightly and mysteriously under the moon, "we couldn't catch him, no matter how fast we are." He then sat down on a nearby rock, "I'm dead tired. I'm taking a break."
The second man spoke again, and through his silky and smooth voice, she could almost imagine his lips forming into a smirk. She wondered what kind of person he was to provoke such strong impression just by his voice alone. "Then do take a break, Gin, Kaname."
Lighting a small fire, the three sat down in a circle and began to take out their refreshment.
Orihime quietly crept along the branch so that she could see his face better the, one with the smooth voice and seemingly the highest status of the group.
She had never seen someone that handsome, Orihime blushed. He was a young man at the age of twenty three or so, yet there was no single evidence of naivety on his face. His eyes were sharp and deep, highlighting his high nose and broad forehead. His lips were thin but they seemed so full and delicious the way he ate his bread slowly and gracefully. His hair was brown and wavy, and he looked extremely charming with a single strand of hair hanging over his forehead.
A finger poked her forehead, and she surprised to see a scowling and slightly angry Ichigo. How he had crept along the branch to face her, she had no idea. She was too busy staring at the handsome young man to notice him. Like being enchanted, she turned her head toward the young man again. He was just inhumanly handsome, and it felt like a sin not to look at him.
Unexpectedly, Ichigo cupped her cheeks and forced her to look at him. The way his ears burning in anger, his eyes flashing in the firelight, his scowl deepening told her that Ichigo was jealous. Orihime stuck her tongue out at him and tried to turn her head toward the man again but Ichigo's grip was surprisingly strong… and his eyes… They were so deep and intense that it was difficult to not be drawn into them. His eyes told her to look at him and him only, to have only him in her eyes, and her heart jumped at his possessiveness.
She wondered if Ichigo would grow up being as handsome as the man sitting below them. Even if he didn't, she doubted that it would really matter. She doubted that there would be any one who could capture her heart again because his eyes had sucked it in completely.
So they spent a full five minutes just to stare into each other eyes, and each second passed her heart raced a beat faster.
"Aizen-sama, have you come up with any new plans to capture the Mage yet?"
The handsome man whose name was Aizen took a sip of water and smiled, "Just a little bit more, Gin. Please be patient."
"That's what you said three years ago, Aizen-sama." The man who was addressed as Gin said rather playfully, "tch, I don't know how much time we have wasted. Those three years should have helped you to become the crown price already, yet you give up all the glories to pursue a legend."
"A legend, Gin," the other man said slowly, "is what makes a man. The crown is within my reach. Why should I pursue something that is rightfully mine, which will be mine when the time comes?"
"How can you be so sure? You have so many brothers competing for the crown, and instead of making the King and the court notice you, you decide to become a nameless price by wandering around the country, finding a man who might not even exist."
"Say, Gin," the man put his cup down the ground, "What will you do if you become King?"
"I have no desire to become King, so honestly I don't care."
"So why are you following me?"
"You have the ambition to change the world and I think it's interesting enough to see how you do it."
"Changing the world," Aizen knitted his fingers together, "is a process that requires time, and time is a luxury in this world. You cannot change the world in five or ten years. And to maintain the change and promote more changes require more and more time. To create a world I desire, I have to have this luxury named time."
"And so you follow a myth that might cost you even more time than you can afford?"
"Say it's a pre-free. I wouldn't mind paying ten years or so to finally attain an eternal youth."
"I have to be honest that I find the idea of a philosopher's stone is absolutely absurd."
"What is so absurd about a stone that brings wealth and mortality; a stone that can even revive the dead? It's a dream of any mortals. It's the only bridge between humans and Gods. "
A/N: Thank you all, for reading and following this story.
Please let me say special thanks to those who take your time to review. It really makes me happy and encourages me to write more.
Also credit to jylener22 who have been beated this story and supported me a lot.
Since I'm lazy and not good with Gin's speech pattern, I decide to let him speak normally while still try to make his conversation sound playfully and mockingly.