Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Momento del Cuore ❯ Momento del Cuore ( Chapter 1 )

Momento del cuore

 

Orihime loves Ichigo but do the others know? A chronicle of thoughts that pass through each member of the group that rescued Orihime from Hueco Mundo when they realize the depth of Orihime's feelings. Takes place in a span of less than a minute ... 1,200 words

 

I own neither Bleach nor the characters.

 

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The three shinigami - Byakuya holding onto Rukia with Renji following close behind - burst into the room assigned to Orihime. They suddenly stopped at the tableau laid out in front of them. Orihime was standing to one side, gazing at Ichigo with love emblazoned on her face, making the air around her seem to shimmer while bathing Orihime in radiant light. Ichigo was standing barely a foot away from her, looking at Orihime with a stunned expression on his features.

Rukia

“She loves him!” The thought jarred Rukia's composure.

“And why not? Ichigo possesses a great soul. And it isn't like I didn't know that he returns her regard” she admonished herself. It was as though there were two Rukias in her head. The shinigami Rukia who held herself aloof from all affairs of the heart and the all-too human Rukia who wanted to cower and turn away from the awareness that was forced upon her now, despair crushing the barely acknowledged tender feelings in her soul.

“And what about you?” jeered the almost-human Rukia. “You had caring, loving feelings once and you still have them now …”

“Stop it, you fool!” shinigami Rukia berated the other. “You have no right to mock me this way! Orihime is gentle, kind and lovely … Realize that you privileged to witness something rare and beautiful between two souls who recognize each other.”

Her eyes almost watered then at the shattering of her fragile hopes but she held herself distant, seemingly disinterested by the overwhelming outpouring of emotion from the taller girl. And even as she tried to force words of gladness and welcome from her lips she was startled by the anxious look sent by …

Renji

“She loves him,” he thought to himself exultantly as he took in the drama unfolding before his eyes. And in the next moment, he felt his heart plummet as he briefly considered how Rukia would be feeling at the moment.

“Damn Ichigo for letting this ridiculous triangle drag on this long!” the thought thundered through his head for the thousandth time. Tingling with jealousy at the thought that even now, at this moment of betrayal, Ichigo could inspire such depth of emotion from Rukia, he clenched his fists helplessly, trying to tamp down his own passionate love for his childhood friend.

“Rukia, Rukia” his mind chanted. “You were never meant for his world!” How many times during the war had he wanted to snatch her up and shield her from experiencing all the raw emotions that humans seem to wallow in all the time?

“We should never have come to Hueco Mundo” he thought desolately. “And yet, how could I deny Ichigo's need for help?”

“Help Rukia to be strong, lend her courage and dignity.” Praying to whatever gods were watching this farce, Renji shifted slightly and exhaled sharply, trying desperately to keep the compassion that he knew Rukia would hate from showing on his face, he steeled himself to meet the eyes of …

Byakuya

“She loves him,” thought Byakuya dispassionately. Nevertheless, his eyes shifted slightly to Rukia, who by now was standing slightly to his right. His eyes darkened imperceptibly as he saw the shock of recognition flare in her deep violet eyes.

“Do not show your feelings, Rukia!” he wanted to warn her urgently. “You will leave yourself open to the machinations of others who may want to hurt you.”

Byakuya silently heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that she had masked her feelings successfully. His normally inscrutable face showed no trace of his inner sorrow for the sister that he had just barely begun to know.

“I have failed miserably, Hisane. I have been unable to keep Rukia from caring for this upstart. She will have to carry this burden of unrequited love for ages. I have not cared for her in the manner that you would have wanted.”

His inner rage at his inability to live up to his promise to his dead wife almost made him turn away but his long years of self-discipline held him firmly in place as he shifted his eyes to Rukia's present source of despair …

Ichigo

“She loves me!”

The realization hit him to the core. Ichigo was suddenly thrown off balance, Hueco Mundo and shinigami temporarily forgotten in the warm tendrils of tenderness coming from Orihime. He had entered this room barely moments before, using Shyunpo and barely avoided hitting Orihime who had turned immediately away from the window she was looking out of.

“I am not prepared for this.” he thought wildly to himself even as he barely registered the slight noise behind him.

Ichigo, of course, had known that Orihime had a crush on him but in the real world, his 15-year old self was awkward in his personal relationships and had an image he wanted to project. “We have nothing in common except our friendship with Tatsuke,” he always thought while shrugging off Keigo's good natured teasing. But now, confronted with this rush of feeling from the trusting girl he had always considered a companion, he panicked, not knowing what to do.

“I must not hurt her, I will not hurt her. She has been through too much and is reaching out to me.” The words became a litany in his head, a mantra to keep him from saying the wrong thing.

“This is neither the time nor place for this.”

He did not realize that he had spoken out loud until he heard Byakuya's velvety deep voice agree with his assessment. The room suddenly came in focus again and Ichigo realized that he had been holding his breath.

The reprieve

“Byakuya! Renji!” Ichigo thought in relief.

Then … “Rukia!” he thought in a frenzy, apprehension flooding his soul at the interpretation she would put coming upon a scene such as this. Ichigo spun around quickly only to meet the seemingly disinterested gaze of the two male shinigami. Rukia was at the periphery of his vision but refused to meet his eyes.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed in suspicion, the three looked too innocent by far but as Byakuya and Renji returned his encompassing look calmly, he mentally shook his head and issued a peremptory order.

“Byakuya and Renji!” he said in the most insolent voice he could muster, “See if both of you could blast a hole in this wall so we could escape this building now. Orihime, gather your hairclips together!”

Renji of course, took exception to the tone he use and fell to quarreling with Ichigo about his impudent order. Orihime started darting around the room looking for her precious belongings while Byakuya took a quick step to the nearest wall to examine it for any structural weakness. In the scuffle, Ichigo dared a quick glance at the surprisingly silent female shinigami who was, even then, walking with a straight back towards Orihime.

“I will survive this” thought Rukia, once again in command of herself as she turned to hug a kneeling Orihime. Rukia's thickly lashed violet eyes, burning with the weight of unshed tears, stared past Ichigo's into a bleak future with a burden she now knew she would carry the rest of her long life.