Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Seeds of Destruction ❯ Scarlet Tears ( Chapter 6 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: BDP
Anime/Manga: Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Hentai / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 04.09.2007 | Pages: 7 | Words: 9.6K | Visits: 383 | Status: Completed

6. Innocence Lost -Scarlet Tears
 
Soft knocks sounded against his door.
“Ichi-nii?”
He only turned himself around in his bed, facing away from his room's entrance.
“Ichi-nii, I brought you dinner, please open up?”
He wasn't hungry and he didn't feel like seeing anyone. Better yet, he wished he couldn't feel anything.
He just wished he was dead.
Why was he so ridiculously weak?
The one thing he loved most was gone and he had done nothing to stop it…
A person who had wanted to protect him was taken away from him…
What kind of a man was he for letting that happen?
Again?
 
“Teme! You let them get away!”
Urahara only looked at him with a stern expression on his face, not reacting to the accusation of the orange haired young man in front of him.
“Jinta,” he said, still fixing Ichigo while the little boy shakily stood up from his crouched position behind the door.
“Y-yes, sir?”
“Get Yoruichi-san and have her meet me in the living room. Also, call Ururu and have her bring the first aid kid for Tessai.”
“Hai!” And the boy was gone.
Ichigo still looked at the former captain with an accusing stare. “Doushite? You could've easily done something!”
“It wasn't up to me to do something, Kurosaki-san,” the blond quietly spoke without a visible sign of anger or emotion matching that kind. “I would've saved her and then what? You'd tell her that you were too weak to protect her? Again?”
“You didn't even GIVE me a chance!”
“I think we both know what the result of that would've been, Kurosaki-san,” Urahara whispered, facing away from him now and walking over to the hairpins that lay on the floor.
Ichigo cast his eyes downwards and closed them, trembling with rage from head to toe.
“Kurosaki-san,” Urahara softly said, still crouched next to the hairpins as he now picked them up. “Inoue-san is counting on you to save her.” He stood up and walked to him. “Your feelings for her are what is keeping her strength fuelled so she won't give into the darkness that has taken over her body.” He held his balled right hand up to him with its palm down.
Ichigo lifted his right hand with a frown, watching how Orihime's hairclips fell in his palm.
“Return tomorrow for your training.” And with that Urahara left, leaving Ichigo with his tormented feelings.
 
A star twinkled brightly up in the night's sky and he groaned in deep shame before taking his pillow to cover his face with.
Urahara had wanted to protect the little bit of pride he had left, but Ichigo felt that, now, he couldn't care less about a thing like that…
“Orihime…”
 
“Previous analysis showed us that the child she's carrying appears to be in its sixth month of gestation, Kurosaki-san. The reason why I chose not to tell you was to keep you from worrying even more so you could fully concentrate on your training.”
Urahara watched how Ichigo remained silent while he simply walked passed him to exit the shop.
“Kurosaki-san—”
“Aa…” Ichigo waved the back of his hand at him, not even bothering to look back, “mata ne, Urahara-san.”
Urahara sighed silently and shook his head, before stepping into the shop to close the front door. “This is one hell of a mess…”
 
The hairpins shone brightly in the soft light on his night table next to his bed.
He couldn't help but stare at them while memories came flooding his mind and shooting daggers through his heart.
“I hope you're ready, Ichigo! Because I'm coming for you!”
“We'll make but one, she and I…”
He thought he had awoken from that dream, but apparently the nightmare had followed him into reality and he couldn't seem to find a way of shaking it.
“Hime… I failed you again…”
 
Her small hand was holding his as they ran through the rain that had suddenly decided to fall over the small town.
She was laughing; her cheerful voice was echoing through the streets and he couldn't help but get infected and crack a smile of his own.
“Ne, Ichigo-kun! What is there to be embarrassed about?”
“I'm not,” Ichigo replied with a shake of his head, still running.
“You're the one, who kissed me, so why am I running too?” she giggled.
He turned to look at her with a small smile and bit his lower lip as he watched how her uniform was all wet and her hair stuck to the sides of her face in a most appealing way. He then redirected his face forwards with a smirk. “How long have we been friends, Orihime?”
She pulled the hand that was making her run after him and made them stop underneath the shade of a shop window. “You mean, how long has it been since you've noticed me this way?” She approached him and rested her chin on his chest while her lips grinned up at him.
Ichigo was at loss of words for a moment but then began to smile back and lift his arms to wrap them around her. “Aa…”
“Well, let's see…” she whispered, taking a step back and putting on a pensive face with her right index on her chin. “Does it actually matter?”
He chuckled and shook his head in amusement. “Only this does, right?” He bent over and kissed her on her lips gently.
Orihime giggled and then nodded. “And now, the whole world has seen you kiss me!”
“Eh? What do you mean—“
Ichigo turned to look at the shop window and saw his face displayed on maybe 15 different TV-screens. Each one of them was showing his perplexed face.
“Nande—”he began and turned, but Orihime had already run off into the rain again, laughing her heart out as she did so.
“Chotto matte!” he called after her, setting in the pursuit. “Just wait `till I have my hands on you again!”
 
That day underneath the rain had been their first day as an official couple.
He remembered it like yesterday, because the days that followed were nothing but a pure bliss to him whenever she was around.
He remembered how she had laughed and laughed over the littlest of his antics and how he had taken a liking to kissing her right underneath her left ear and how she would always shiver and place her hand on the nape of his neck in silent encouragement.
He had laughed when she once told him that he was quite the cuddle-type when no one was around. The truth simply was that she made him feel.
That's what it was.
She made him feel.
 
“Stay for dinner, Ichigo-kun!” she offered him on that night they would make love for the first time. “I'll make us something now that we're finished with that speech!”
He watched how she walked out of the room with a small smile and began to put his dictionaries and other books back into his school bag.
A few moments later she bounced back into the living room, wearing a black sleeveless top on her uniform skirt.
“Ne, mite mite, Ichigo-kun!” she happily exclaimed, sitting herself back at the low table while she put her chest forward proudly. “Look at it!”
Ichigo smirked and gave her a questioning look. “You want me to look at your breasts?”
She blinked a few times in confusion and then giggled. “Baka ne! Read what the t-shirt says!”
He had gotten the message the first time, but acting silly around her had become one of his favourite pastimes. He knew for certain that he'd be capable of doing anything to have her smiling all the time.
“Reserved Goodies,” the t-shirt read, “Touch At Your Own Risk.”
He laughed, “Too bad you didn't wear that at school today.”
“I didn't want to make others jealous,” Orihime innocently whispered with a childish grin. “It was already hard enough to keep interested guys and girls away this senior year… more than during any other year actually. And I'm not even counting in Chizuru-chan!”
Ichigo slid down on the floor next to her and took her in his arms. “And you think that a simple t-shirt will ward them off?”
“No,” She replied seductively, leaning into him, “I have my ass kicking boyfriend for that.”
“Oh?” he chuckled, “So what's the t-shirt for?”
She shrugged and then giggled as he planted a playful kiss in her neck. “It's for exposing goods people can look at, but never EVER touch.” She kissed him back on his cheek.
“Not even your most dedicated boyfriend?”
“Hmm…” Orihime thought about it for a few seconds and then giggled with a shrug. “We could make an exception…”
“I thought you didn't want to make any jealous?”
“Oi,” Orihime reprimandingly spoke, now turning herself around in his arms and moving to straddle him, “give a girl a couple of pleasures here!”
Ichigo laughed and pulled her with him on the floor before rolling them over so he was on top. “I'll do better than that.”
Orihime chuckled and raised a sceptic eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Oh yes…” Ichigo now nuzzled her in his throat. “I'll BE the pleasure!”
Her laughing voice had resounded throughout the small apartment room from then on, occasionally altered by soft moans and whispers of intimate delight while they took their relationship to a whole new level.
 
His eyes snapped open as those eerie black and amber eyes doomed up in his mind again, making him realise that he had fallen asleep while reminiscing. He could feel that there was a new Hollow active in town, and his eyes fell on the Shinigami Badge that lay next to the hairpins on his night table.
“Just go protect the innocent. I'll be here.”
He didn't deserve to be called a Shinigami; it was a joke and he was the only one who hadn't noticed.
Ichigo turned around in his bed and buried his face into his pillow, hitting his right fist into the mattress.
“Orihime…!”
___________________________________
 
“Tch… this has become a serious pain in the ass if you ask me, because what you're saying is just unheard of! Never in history has this happened before!”
Urahara silently sighed and picked up his cup of tea from the low table in the living room of his shop. He had called for an urgent meeting with Ichigo's friends to share the news of the recent happenings with them.
“Urahara-san,” Renji continued on. “If what you're saying is true, then—”
“What I still don't understand is how,” Rukia pensively spoke, sitting against a wall. “I thought you said you were to perform the extraction this afternoon?”
“We never got the chance to get that far,” Urahara answered.
“When Urahara-san and I went into the room to how Tessai was doing with the preparations,” Jinta softly spoke, “we found Inoue-san convulsing violently on her futon. That's when Urahara-san told me to go get Ichigo. When he and I came back, the Hollow was carrying Inoue-san in his arms through a rip he created in the room.”
“How did that Hollow manage to escape from Ichigo's unconscious anyway?” Renji asked with a completely confused expression on his face.
“Materialization?” Rukia wondered.
“When I found Ichigo,” the redheaded boy whispered uneasily, “he had fallen asleep in the tub. He must've been very exhausted from the training…”
“And the Hollow took advantage of that,” Rukia concluded.
“Urahara-san,” Uryuu quietly said, “Is she under the influence of the baby or is she under some kind of a spell the Hollow cast on her?”
Urahara shook his head and closed his eyes. “If she was but under a spell, I don't think it would be that powerful that it even changed an aspect of her external appearance.”
“Don't forget we're talking about Ichigo's Hollow here, if Ichigo himself sucks at Kidoh, I don't think his Hollow is any better.” Renji mockingly said.
“Like you're any better…” Rukia rolled her eyes.
“So,” Urahara continued, “I must conclude that it must be the child that she carries within her that has a grip on her. The Hollow will most definitely profit from this.”
“So then, Inoue-san will become a Hollow?” Chad asked; dread sounding through in his low voice.
“We don't know for sure,” the blond man answered, crossing his arms over his chest. “But that Hollow did more than just impregnate her.”
“I never would've thought that it would come back to this again…” Rukia whispered with a quivering smile on her face. “I can't imagine how Ichigo must feel.” She sighed and looked up at Renji as she felt his comforting hand on her thigh.
Renji then smiled at her softly. “These must be tormenting moments for him but, I know that if we are to break into Hueco Mundo once more to save Inoue again, I'm game.”
Rukia smiled back at him and then turned to Urahara. “We'll work Ichigo extra hard starting tomorrow so he can rapidly recover his powers and we can go save Inoue.”
A pensive expression fell over the blond man's features before he sighed in silent disappointment. “I had hoped that that wouldn't have been the case.”
“What do you mean?”
“By keeping him from interfering earlier, I hoped to unlock something within him; something that would give him enough strength to break free from my restraint spell and safe Inoue-san, but—”
Renji frowned. “So then, you let Inoue-san get abducted?”
“Renji!” Rukia whispered.
“Urahara-san…” Uryuu whispered, “You wanted to give Kurosaki a chance at saving her.”
“Another plan that backfired rather badly,” Urahara whispered with a small smirk. “So now we have to find a way to unlock these powers within Kurosaki-san in order to save Inoue-san.”
“Naruhodo…” Chad said, “It's best if we take Ichigo with us so not to break his pride.”
Rukia nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Yoruichi went to the Soul Society this afternoon so she could ask Captain Ukitake if there are any records, of what we are witnessing here, in the Grand Library,” Urahara informed. “That way we could use any information that she comes back with to incorporate in our plan. You mustn't forget that Hollows are much, much stronger in Hueco Mundo than on Earth.”
Everyone nodded in understanding.
“Does Ichigo know about what you've just told us?” Uryuu wondered.
Urahara shook his head. “Considering all the hell he's been through lately, I found it appropriate to tell it to him tomorrow, when I'll be certain that he's had the time to turn the rage he feels for Orihime's disappearance into a new source of determination for his fight against that Hollow.”
“What if he gets depressed instead?” Chad asked him with a quirked eye brow. “It wouldn't be the first time that happened.”
The shop owner cracked a smile. “No, it wouldn't and that is exactly why I'm certain he'll be determined more than ever to fight his Hollow.”
Rukia nodded in agreement. “He knows that wallowing in self pity isn't going to bring her back.”
“Boy,” Renji said, leaning with his right elbow on the table as he eyed her from underneath his eyelids. “You sure are putting a lot of trust in that whiner. I bet you he's moping, right now as we speak.”
“Nonetheless,” Rukia said with confidence, “He'll get over it, because that's the kind of guy he is.”
Urahara nodded silently with a smile.
Renji groaned. “Geez, I wish you had that much faith in me too!”
The black haired Shinigami laughed and took off the hand her friend still had on her thigh. “That's because I know what kind of guy you are!”
Renji turned red at that and slowly turned his eyes in the direction of the others who suddenly all found their interest in their nearly emptied cups of tea.
“It's this gigai! Not me! I can't help it if I can't get it u—”
“You know, Abarai-san, if you're having a hard time controlling you're little -ahem- problem,” Urahara whispered from behind his fan, “I have just the cure for that in the back of my store—”
No one was able of keeping his laughter in after that and it was with a very embarrassed and angered expression on his face that the red haired Shinigami stormed his way out of the Shoten while the sounds of laughter sounded through the night.
___________________________________
 
Without making a single sound, her feet stepped through the narrow rip that had created itself in the darkened room. She briefly looked around herself in silent wonder, not understanding how she managed to find herself here.
Ichigo's room…
There was no doubt about it; she recognised his closet, his desk and his empty bed.
Her eyes fell on something on Ichigo's bedside cabinet that glistened in the pale light of the moon that shone through the opened curtains. She walked over to it and sat herself down on the bed, turning the bedside lamp on.
A small smile grew on her lips as she looked at her hairclips with a mixture of incomprehension and confusion on her face. When did I ever lose them…? Why can't I remember—
The sound of the door opening had her startled and she gasped softly as she saw Ichigo walking into his room, busy rubbing his hair dry and not seeing her sitting there on his bed. He obviously had just taken a shower; his wet, firm body was clad in nothing but a towel that hung loosely around his hips.
Their eyes met not even a second later and she could see the undeniable surprise in his eyes that soon was replaced by a small, uncertain smile. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, she could tell.
Orihime stood silently and smiled reassuringly, “Ichigo…”
The last thing she remembered was that after she had taken the Nishi no Komichi, she ran and ran for what seemed hours before a blinding light hit her and then she suddenly found herself here.
Ichigo closed his eyes and opened them again, he wasn't dreaming, was he? Was she really here? “Douyatte…?”
She scratched the back of her head and grinned, “I don't know…? There was this ultra long road and then a white light fell on me and then—”
“Road…?”
Orihime nodded determinately, “Yeah, and Sora was there too—”
Ichigo shot her a confused look and cocked his head to the side in utter non-understanding, wondering if she perhaps hit her head or something of that kind. “Orihime… Your brother—”
“Is dead, I know!” She said, agreeing completely with him. “But I was in this interior world and he came to me!”
Ichigo couldn't handle the growing confusion now and shook his head to keep her from saying another word. “What about the Hollow?”
“Hollow…?” she echoed with a blank expression, before looking around herself quickly, “Did he attack again?”
He only gave her a wondering look and then approached her to halt right in front of her. “You don't remember?” He placed a hand on her left shoulder and sighed out in silent relief. If she wasn't a ghost then…
Is this really you, Orihime?
“Remember what?” Orihime questioned softly, looking up at him with her big honey brown eyes as he pulled her closer with his left hand on the small of her back. “Ichigo?”
“You're not pregnant anymore, have you noticed?” Ichigo suddenly whispered, making her take a step back to look at herself. “Where have you been, Orihime?”
Orihime placed her hands on her lower abdomen and frowned slightly. “I… I was in my interior world and I had to choose between these three paths. I chose one and I got here… But why—?” She looked up at him again, her eyes reflecting incomprehension,“—did Urahara-san abort my pregnancy? Did we lose the baby?”
“He told me he tried, but that he got interrupted while doing so, Hime…”
At her questioning expression Ichigo began telling her what happened in the outer world and how he had thought to never see her again.
“He took me into Hueco Mundo?” She whispered. They were now both sitting on his bed. “But I'm here and I don't remember seeing him again after— Do you think he has our baby?”
“What would he possibly do with a 6 month old foetus?”
Orihime looked down and sighed out softly; “What is going on?”
Ichigo smiled a little and shook his head. He couldn't care less about what was happening, all he knew now was that she was here with him, apparently alive and well. “We can figure out what happened tomorrow. I don't think he'll be making a move anytime soon.”
She looked into his soft brown eyes and returned his smile with one of her own, realising that he must've been shattered when he witnessed her abduction of earlier that day and that he needed to be comforted and set at ease. “Ichigo…”
“I can't express how glad I am to have you back…” He whispered, closing his eyes at the hand she placed against his left cheek. He couldn't let his insecurities tell him otherwise now; she smelled, talked and looked like the Orihime he knew. The appeasing warmth of her embrace convinced him enough for now.
“I never left… You were always with me…” She whispered, scooting closer to him and bringing her face near to his, rubbing the tip of their noses together. “I'm here now.”
“Hime…”
Their lips met in a gentle kiss, his hands moving to rest on her waist, expressing the need to have her next to him and to feel the warmth of her body.
Her moan vibrated against his lips and she moved herself to straddle him, never breaking the kiss while she hiked the fabric of her white yukata up a little. His tongue tentatively brushed against hers and she gasped, arching her neck at his hands that crept up her thighs and caressed their way up her back and slowly pulled the robe off her shoulders.
Orihime whispered his name and brought her head back; feeling her body shiver at the wet kisses Ichigo caressed underneath her right ear in a sensual pattern towards her chest. She could feel him pressing against her now through the fabric of his towel and she moaned again, biting her lower lip as his exploring lips pushed her yukata further and further off her left breast.
He could see the erected nipple press through the thin fabric of her robe and moved in again, pushing the yukata out of the way.
“Mmm…!” Her fingers were threading through the soft spikes of his hair, needing something to hold on to with the pleasure that coursed through her body with every sultry lick of his warm tongue. “Ichigo…”
Ichigo retreated from her breast and brought his lips up to hers once more, drinking in her heated responses and enjoying the slight movements of her hips against his as she searched for that thing only he could procure to her.
The piece of clothing now completely slid off her shoulders and he reached for the sash that kept it wrapped around her body and untied the knot, unveiling the body of his one and only goddess.
She clung to him as he laid her down onto the bed, moving in to enmesh their lips again in a deep kiss, her body shivering at the overwhelming feeling of his loving embrace. “Hime…” he whispered, marvelled by her responsiveness and loving how her chest heaved up and down as she gasped her pleasure while he kissed his way down her stomach and over the soft rounding of her lower belly and onto the mount of her womanhood.
Orihime bit down hard on her lower lip to prevent herself from screaming it out when he pressed a loving kiss against her most sensitive spot. Her legs were shivering from the anticipation and she brought a trembling hand to rest on his head, silently urging him to continue the heavenly treatment he was giving her.
Ichigo smiled gently and his gaze met with her longing one before he closed his eyes and let his tongue dart out for a taste of her personal honey.
Her thighs drew together reflexively and she arched her back, letting go of the scream she desperately had tried to hold back earlier. “Ichigo-kun!”
He continued to work his lips and tongue against her, making sure that her hips remained firmly on the mattress and that not a single drop of her sweet juices went to waste.
“Oh… Kami-sama…!” she whimpered, throwing her head to the side when a shot of arousal rippled down her spine and straight into that place he was licking up and down and up again…
“So sweet…” Ichigo whispered against her, giving her a last lingering lick before grinning up at her by pleasure taken face. He then pulled away slightly and sat on his knees in front of her, reaching out to her hips so he could coax her to turn over on her stomach.
Orihime tried to look over her shoulder to see where he had gone, feeling a little nervous as to what he was going to do to her now. “Ichigo…?” her small trembling voice sounded in the dim darkness. She couldn't feel him behind her anymore and was just about to turn around when she saw his right hand turn off the bedside lamp, plunging the room in a moonlit darkness. “Ich—?”
The sound of fabric hitting the floor was then heard and a strong hand slid around her waist, exerting gentle pressure on her abdomen so her hips lifted off the bed to grant him better access.
“Aah…!” She cried out, her hands fisting into the fabric of the pillow below her. His tip began to slip into her, making tentative thrusting motions to help her relax and get used to his size.
Ichigo bit his lower lip and concentrated on keeping his movements as painless as possible for her. “Hime…” he whispered with a small wince, the feeling of his manhood sliding into her moist warmth generating an overwhelming pleasurable feeling. “Stay with me…” he then murmured soothingly after she had gasped loudly now that he had sheathed himself deeply within her, sensing her body quivering from the overdose of erotic stimuli that coursed through her.
“Da-Dame…!” Orihime whimpered, resting her left cheek on the pillow as her tears of sexual delight rolled out of her eyes, feeling like her body wouldn't be able to bear the next dose of pleasure. “I-I-Ichigo… oh!”
Ichigo bent over her and pressed open mouth kisses the long her spine. “Shhh… daijoubou… I'm here, Hime…”
“Please…” Orihime murmured with her eyes tightly closed, unable to keep her passionate moans and whimpers from escaping her slightly parted lips, “No m-more…!”
“It's ok…” Ichigo whispered in an assuasive manner, holding himself from plunging in and out of her in a frantic rhythm. She felt so good around him and he briefly wished that they could stay like this forever. Her gasping moans and high pitched breathing only made him want her more, the way she called his name rendering him crazy with burning desire.
With her, he had discovered that he could be himself completely without having to keep himself in or show a tough side that just wasn't him.
He understood now what it meant to love someone without restraint. It was that feeling deep in his guts that made him sick when she wasn't around, the way his heart beat faster when she laughed, touched or simply looked at him. That urge that continuously needed to be satisfied with a kiss, soft words or a meaningful look, a yearning to be with her every single moment of the day, for her to be the first person he saw in the morning and the last in the evening.
It was the realisation that she was the one who would share his joy, his pain and his life no matter what until the dream of their shared passion would be but a treasured memory in the next life.
The words of his father echoed in his mind and he smiled silently at the surprising wisdom his old man had expressed during one of his sober moments.
“When that day will come, in which you'll find the cap that fits on your bottle, you won't realise it at first, but with time, you'll come to know…”
“Ichigo!” Orihime arched her back, one of her lover's hands creeping lower from its position on her abdomen before arriving at the apex of her thighs to play with her sensitive bud.
Ichigo felt her push back now, although shyly, her passionate responses drowning his small room into a heated sensual atmosphere. He grinned in satisfaction as one of her hands joined his between her legs, the pace of their lovemaking quickening now with every stroke of their joined hands.
“My precious Hime…” She was close and he could feel it, her walls were already beginning to contract around his manhood spasmodically. “Issho ni…?”
Orihime had no breath to answer and simply nodded her head, whimpering softly as he removed their hands from her womanhood and slid them up her body until they grabbed onto her right breast.
With his other hand pressed against her lower abdomen, he urged her to kneel upright so she could lean with the back of her head against one of his shoulders and he could add more speed and depth to his strokes while he let his now free left hand roam over her body, knowing that he was nearing the limits of his control but still wanting for her to reach that coveted summit with him.
She felt like she was touching the sky, the pleasurable sensation that flowed through her now reaching its peak. Her body shattered beautifully into her orgasm and she felt him grunt her name against her skin scant seconds before she cried out again at the searing heat that suddenly flooded her insides.
They both collapsed on the bed, breathing heavily in the afterglow of their intimate lovemaking, cuddling their sweaty bodies close to each other while a mood of mutual satisfaction lingered in the air.
Orihime smiled softly when she felt him press a gentle kiss on her right shoulder, lifting her right arm to grab onto the arm that was spooning her against him. “Never in my wildest fantasies did I dream of you doing what you just did to me…”
Ichigo smirked and brushed a lock of her hair behind her right ear, nuzzling her neck lovingly after he had planted another soft kiss there. “I'm a man of many surprises…?”
She chuckled and intertwined their fingers, bringing them up to her lips to kiss them.
“Though I must admit,” Ichigo whispered, “that you're not much of a prude either, eh?”
The young woman blushed a little and smiled, “Yeah well, you started it.”
Ichigo laughed and buried his nose in her damp hair, feeling endlessly grateful to have her back next to him and in his arms. She was the only place in the entire world where he felt truly safe.
Orihime closed her eyes and sighed deeply with a happy grin. Being near him still made her insides all giddy and she found herself oppressing a content giggle.
They laid like that for what seemed hours and soon she felt his regular breathing hit her neck, indicating that he had fallen asleep already. She carefully turned herself to face him and leant onto her left elbow so she could run her right hand fingers over his handsome features.
A single, red tear found its way out of her right eye and she sobbed silently before wiping it away quickly.
This was exactly how I wished to say goodbye to you, Ichigo-kun.
“Arigatou…” she bent over and kissed his lips. A serene smile then formed on her lips and she turned, stood up and picked up the yukata that lay on the floor next to the bed. She clad herself with it and then turned to him a last time.
All of this will be but a dream to you come morning, my love… but it's better for both of us to not give you a too big feeling of ease…
She brought her right hand up to her face and watched how her nails turned black and began to grow. She hugged herself in order to hide them and took a few steps back, her eyes shedding more tears of scarlet.
This is only the beginning, Ichigo, and you still have a long way to go… I'm sorry things went this way…
“Until next time we'll meet, anata…”
And with that she began to fade away until a cloud of black smoke engulfed her and she completely disappeared.
 
___________________________________
 
 
Japanese Vocabulary List
 
-Aa: Yes/ Yeah
-Anata: You (My love)
-Arigatou: Thank you
-Baka: Idiot
-Chotto Matte: Wait a second
-Daijoubou: It's okay
-Dame: Stop
-Doushite: Why?
-Douyatte: How?
-Gigai: Artificial Body
-Hai: Yes
-Issho ni: Together
-Mite: Look
-Nande/Nani: What
-Naruhodo: I see
-Nishi no Komichi: Path of the West
-Ichi-nii: Brother Ichi(go)
-Ne: an Interjection that can be loosely translated in English as `So', `Well', `And?', `Hey' or `No?', depending on its position in the phrase
-Shoten: Shop
-Teme: You (bastard)
-Yukata: A lighter version of a kimono, used as a bathrobe here.
 
Whoa, that was a lot of work! Phew, I hope I did well! Thank you for the wonderful responses everyone! Let's hope this story will continue to catching your attention.
This was kind of a filler chapter, but I do advice you to look out for the next one if you want to see the explosive confrontation that is coming up!
Mata ne!
 
Next Week: 7. Path to Redemption - The Sacrifice
 
To Be Continued…
 
-BDP-