Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Safe Sex ❯ Sleep ( Chapter 5 )

Sleep

 

By Tituba

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any Bleach affiliates.

 

(A/N: This is a sentimental piece but I should be doing smut next. I hope everyone enjoys this. I also want to thank everyone who has continued to review, I know for one-shots you'd rather read and go on with life but its fun to read comments. So thank you!

Love Tituba.)

 

 

 

I ran my hand between her shoulder blades. The bumps of her spine rose softly from the ripe bed of her milky skin. Planes of white silkiness covered her shoulders and back. My fingers smoothed down her warm skin, still glistening with sweat, until the blanket covered my path. I traced one finger across her waist and sighed softly. My breath fanned the back of her neck and dislodged a few precarious hairs that had taken refuge on her nape.

 

She mumbled softly in her sleep and I blinked sleepily. It was well into the night and I should have been lying down beside her, my arms wrapped around her body, my face buried in her hair, taken by the sweet escape of sleep but I couldn't seem to close my eyes. I just wanted to look at her. Her skin, her hair, her body… everything about her was so perfect.

 

I flipped my hand around and slowly moved my knuckles against her spine. Her breathing was so even and quiet. Sometimes I had to wake her up just to make sure she was still alive. She'd hit me afterwards of course but I didn't mind, she was alive and well and sleeping beside me, that was all that mattered.

 

My heavy eyes drooped once again and I thought aimlessly about the expedition I would be leading tomorrow. I was to take twenty members of my squad to the mountainous regions of Rukongai District number forty seven to try and wipe out an organized crime group that had been growing in power for the last twenty five years. It was going to take at least a month or two.

 

I sighed and frowned. I didn't especially want to go. Jobs like this always meant that there would be so much blood. People who were innocent would be caught by the edge of our swords while the guilty slipped through the cracks. I also hated leaving Rukia, sure I had gone away for longer periods of time but I had never liked it. She didn't either; I reminded myself sleepily as the memory of what Rukia had said to me earlier washed through my head.

 

“Why do they always have to send you?” She demanded softly, her eyes were averted but her glare was sharp.

 

I pulled Zangetsu from my back and set him on the special rack I had created just for him. I shrugged casually and answered. “I don't know. They just think I can handle it best I guess.”

 

“I don't like it.” She said stubbornly. She was sitting at a table near the edge of my room.

 

As a Captain I was designated my own house in the middle of the Seiretei. It was a relatively nice residence; it had a kitchen, a bathroom, and two bedrooms with all the facilities needed for hygienic living. My room was the largest in the house. It had a king sized bed, a night table, a closet, and two dressers occupying the space. I had only had one bureau initially but I had ordered another to be brought in.

 

The second one was for Rukia. I knew that she and I would be spending more time together here than we would in any other place. Even though she still stubbornly retained her room in the Squad Thirteen Headquarters. Most of her things—copious amounts of Chappy dolls, clothes, and paperwork—were strewn about my house. Not that she had much either, I only surmised that her days in Rukongai must have made her austere.

 

I pulled off my Captain's jacket and set in it the closet to hang loosely. Rukia was scratching lightly at an indentation in the table, her nails grazed the wood gently and I frowned. “Why not? It's not like this is anything new to us.”

 

Rukia shook her head and tightened her jaw slightly. “I just don't like it. You seem to get more orders than any other Captain in the Seiretei.”

 

I blinked at her and raised an eyebrow in annoyance. “So? What, you don't like that I'm not spending more time with you?”

 

Her head shot up, “That's not it!” She snarled hotly as her scratching fingers curled into a fist.

 

My annoyed expression melted away and I turned towards her, my hands hanging limply down by my sides, “Then what is it?”

 

She turned her gaze onto me fleetingly before shifting and staring blandly at the wall. “You always get sent on the dirtiest jobs, always the most dangerous ones… it's never a simple recon or scoping mission. You're always in danger of being hurt… I know that you're strong enough to handle it, Ichigo, I just… I don't like it.” She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. “Sometimes I think about what would happen if you got too cocky and didn't see the guy behind you who was holding a knife to your heart.”

 

She gave me a sheepish and disgruntled look before shaking her head and rolling her eyes a bit. “That's all… idiot.”

 

I swallowed hard and looked away, slightly embarrassed by the amount of concern in her voice. Rukia's way of showing affection usually involved hitting me or screaming at me… not vocalizing her worry for me.

 

Still, her words, they made my heart swell nonetheless. I'm not a very sentimental person but I can pull it off when I need to. My face crinkled into a small smile and I walked slowly over to Rukia. She was sitting so I bent down until my face was level with hers. Her eyes were clouded and her expression was darkly annoyed. I reached out and cupped her soft cheek in my hand. She leaned into me and I pressed a kiss to her nose.

 

“Don't worry so much,” I chided softly. “I'll talk to old man Yamamoto later and ask him to give me some cleaner jobs.” I kissed her lips softly and leaned my forehead against hers. “Alright?”

 

She let out a long sigh and shrugged her shoulders. “Alright… if you must.”

 

I pulled her in for another kiss and soon began tugging her towards the bed. She laughed softly and wrapped her arms around my neck. I brought her to the soft bedding and slowly stripped away the layers of her clothing. I kissing ever part of her imaginable and drove into her as slowly as I could. She moaned and I continued gradually. We came together and when our slow and sweet kisses were finished I collapsed beside her. We held each other tightly and I smiled softly. She fell asleep soon but I stayed awake, determined to watch her as she slept.

 

My hand ghosted over her beautiful back and I sighed softly, allowing my warm breath to sweep over her skin. A few goose-bumps rose softly on her flesh and I frowned. A small moan rose from her throat and my small frowned deepened even more. She whimpered softly and I felt her shudder against me. I rose on my elbow and bent slightly over her body. I could see the side of her face, her eyes were crinkled into a grimace and her lips were pulled tight. I detached my other hand from its place around her waist and slowly brought it up near her face. She whimpered again and grappled for my fingers. I frowned as she held them tight.

 

“Ichigo…” she murmured, her voice was breathy and weak and her eyes were squeezed together so tight I could see small veins throbbing inside of them. Her fingers were gripping mine hard. I frowned down at her and gently nudged my body against hers. She didn't stir. I turned my fingers into hers and gripped harder. She whimpered again and gasped sharply.

 

“Rukia,” I whispered. She moaned softly and it was then that I noticed a small swirl of sweat on her forehead, drops were beginning to slide down her milky skin and drop onto the sheets beneath us. A tiny surge of fear formed in the pit of my stomach. I shook her again, harder this time, almost desperate to do something that would wake her up.

 

Her eyes jerked open and her mouth accompanied them, large gulps of air were being sucked into her lungs and her body began shaking profusely. Her back stiffened but the rest of her was trembling violently.

 

“Rukia?” I whispered and she jerked towards me. Her eyes were large, dilated, and frightened. I swallowed hard when I saw her. The last time I had seen her look anything remotely like that was when she stood up against Aizen, her hands clutched around her brother's head, abject fear inside of her soul.

 

“I-Ichigo,” she sputtered, her voice was wheezing and dry. I reached my hand down to cup her cheek and she gasped lightly on contact. She turned in my arms and wrapped her shaking limbs tightly around my waist. I grunted softly but reciprocated just as strongly. Her naked body was melded to mine. Her face was pressed into my chest and her breathing was erratic. I felt her legs tangle in mine and her fingernails claw into my back. Her sweating forehead was pressed into my breastbone. I didn't say a word as I held her. In truth she was frightening me… more than most any other time I had ever been frightened before—well, except for when she died in Hueco Mundo. That was still the scariest thing I had ever experienced.

 

“Oh God… Ichigo.” She murmured. Her mouth opened and she pressed a kiss to my sternum. I reciprocated by touching my lips to her forehead.

 

“Hey, hey… Rukia,” I whispered, “What is it?” She squeezed tighter and I held fast. “Did you… did you have a nightmare?”

 

Rukia rarely had nightmares, when she slept it was almost always peacefully, curled up against me. I was the one who usually had troubled dreams; they were always about my mother, my family, or Rukia getting hurt. The Rukia getting hurt ones were the most frequent. I would always wake up with a cold sweat covering my face, erratic breathing permeating my mouth, and my body shaking hard. Rukia was always the one who would push my hair away from my face, soothe me, and kiss me gently until I stopped shaking.

 

Now it was her turn. It felt a bit awkward to console her the way I did. Even though we had been together for so long I guess it was just some sort of male compulsion that made me edge away from feminine problems such as these. I shouldn't have complained though. In all honesty I was more of a wuss when it came to nightmares than Rukia.

 

So I pushed her bangs away from her face, kissed her brow, and ran my hands over her body carefully and diligently. It took a while but soon the tremors lessened, her body relaxed against me, and the desperate sounds of fear stopped coming from her throat.

 

Now the only thing she said was my name.

 

Minutes might have passed… or hours… I don't really know. My eyes, already heady from lack of sleep, drooped even more. But I was determined; I needed to stay awake until I knew what the source of her terror had been.

 

“Just a dream,” she murmured and my eyes immediately slid open just a bit more. “It was just a dream.”

 

I looked down at her softly and kissed her head again. She sighed and I felt her body rest limply against mine.

 

“What did you dream about?” I whispered.

 

Her hold on me tightened and she sighed softly. Her nose made little circles onto my chest but her mouth remained closed. For the longest time I didn't think she would answer me. Her breathing was getting slower and her body was warm. I was nearly asleep before she spoke quietly.

 

“Do you ever have those dreams where you can't scream?” She asked.

 

I shook my head. Most of my nightmares involved people dying. Flashbacks of my past and horrors of my future were pressed together into a gritty and ungainly way until all I saw was blood.

 

“Those are the worst kind,” she murmured, “You scream and you scream and you scream but all that ever comes out of your throat is a hoarse whisper.” She shuddered and I tightened my hold. “I've had them before but… but never like this.”

 

“Rukia,” I murmured, brushing my lips against her forehead.

 

She gulped and shook her head against me, “You were tied up, I don't know by whom, but you were bleeding and dying and I was just watching. And I couldn't scream.” She shuddered and swallowed hard. “I kept trying to help you but I could only watch. You were dying and I was trying to scream and… I just couldn't. I couldn't do anything.”

 

She drew in a hot breath and exhaled onto my chest. “I hate being powerless.”

 

I shook my head and kissed her forehead, her nose, and finally, her lips. She pulled me into a sweet, heated, desperate kiss and I sighed when we separated.

 

“You're not powerless.” I murmured softly into her ear. “And if I'm ever in a situation like that… well, if there was ever going to be anyone who would rescue me I know it would be you.”

 

She sighed and nodded against me. I smiled softly and allowed her to snuggle even closer to my body.

 

“Of course,” I added, “You'd kill me as soon as I got better for being so reckless and all.”

 

Rukia let out a tired chuckle and smiled, “Damn straight.”

 

I rubbed my hand across her back and waited until she fell asleep again. I was nearly asleep myself I was so damn tired. But before I slipped into unconsciousness I made a mental note to tell Yamamoto to pull back a few of my missions.

 

Anything to help Rukia sleep at night.