Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Total Eclipse ❯ Cream Rose ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

"It's too friggin' hot!"

The booming volume of the violently sweating man's own voice, only barely caught his own ears as a quiet murmur over the blaring music of his car stereo. His right arm laid draped out over the very tip of his car's window; allowing steamlined air to beat heavily against his palm, it's cool mass pouring into the sleeve of his white, long sleeved lab coat as he sped along the wide open streets of Karakura's outer subburbs. His eyes sat transfixed on the road, a familiar feeling of excitement rattling within the depths of his being as he noticed the mailbox.

"Finally..." The agonized word passing his lips, served only as a terrible lip-sync to the rapidly paced music. With a swift and deft movement he ducked into the curb, prompting a relucant squeal from his tyres as his brakes locked; a thick trail of black rubber imprinted heavily on the road as his car came to a swift and rocky stop.

"Such a graceful arrival, I could hear the music from the end of the street."

Ichigo's eyelids swiftly fell shut as he tugged on the door's lever; the leather-clad mass sprung open, it's mechanical resistance futile to that of his offensive knee.

"Don't start, I'm doing you a favour here." He grunted in reply, wheezing from the exertion of dragging his long legs out from the car; the unrelenting attack of the searing afternoon sun granting him no mercy, none in the slightest. The dark haired woman continued forward, her sneaker clad feet crunching down upon the crisp grass as she extended her right arm out towards the sharp corner of the silver car's door.

"Besides, it ain't exactly the nicest day to be out driving!" Ichigo exclaimed, his eyes peeling open while his body elicted another unwarranted grunt as he lifted himself from the sheening leather seat; making a mental note to it the following day.

Nanao chuckled at his laboured movements. "And that's why I'm fully prepared to compensate you for your troubles!" She replied happily; resting her body against the warm metal of the car door. Ichigo reached back onto the bridge of the car's roof, clamping his fingers around the suede lined support before dropping his weight fowards, stretching out his aching arms.

"Don't worry about it, it's not like I make these kind of visits to other patients." His reponse escaped his lips as an agonized seethe; the burning of his toned forearms quickly indicating their defeat, allowing him to fall back to a firm standing position.

"Did you bring it?" Nanao questioned, her eyes bouncing intently between the man's form and the car's interior. Ichigo's eyes spun quickly to the woman on his left, his brow perking in annoyance before dropping his left hand into the deep pocket of his white jacket.

"You stupid? Of course I brought it, I wouldn't come out all this way without it." His answering tone bordered heavily on the thin line between annoyance and indifference. Nanao physically shrugged his reply off as she eased her weight away from the door.

"Good. Now let's get inside, we don't have all day." She firmly stated, her thin glasses magnifying his stiff steps away from the car. With a quick push, the heavy door fell shut, a high pitched beep permeating through the car's bonnet as Ichigo dropped his keychain to his side.

His right hand reached up to his brow, flicking away a small mass of rogue orange hairs from his eyes. "Where are your parents anyway?" He asked curiously before lifting his left arm to the hem of his white coat, tugging hard against the friction of the warm cotton

"Away. Apparently they're coming home tonight, so we have the house to ourselves for a short while." Nanao replied, her soft tone made short work of the man's original concerns.

They swiftly made their way up the gradual incline of stone steps; hopping along each of the wide slabs that were both too large for a comfortable single step, and too small for a running pace. Ichigo had, to his own volition discovered this upon his first visit to the house, granting him a semi-permanent scar along his right elbow.

"Man... I need a drink, it's too damn hot for June." Ichigo whimpered. His tone was not overlooked by a highly perceptive Nanao as they reached the top of the steps, her lips curling into a leonine smirk as her fingers flicked through a small mass of chiming keys in her left hand.

"If you're over-heated then we'd best not get any practice done!" Nanao taunted as her fingers toyed with the door's brass lock. This time her tone was not overlooked, the physical manifestation of Ichigo's frustration formed as a tightly knitted frown along his brow.

"Just let us in, or we really won't be getting any practice done." His lazy words were followed by a shrill sigh.

Nanao poked at the middle of her glasses, setting the thin metal frame comfortably upon the bridge of her button nose. Ichigo simply took to leaning against the bare white wall adjacent to the large oak door, his eyes carefully following Nanao's movements as she stepped into the large, traditionally styled house.

"I thought you wanted a drink?"

Ichigo blinked, his eyes scanning the area directly before him; confounded as to how she managed to disappear from his view without him noticing, despite his widely opened eyes. With a shrug he put it down to the heat and propelled himself from the wall, lifting his feet onto the raised wooden barrier between the hallway's wooden floor and the outer paved patio.

Just as he opened his lips...

"I'm in the kitchen."

Another sigh rumbled deep within his lungs as he pressed the flat of his left foot gingerly against the varnished wooden door.

Ichigo took yet another mental note of the large, extravagantly decorated hallway as he stepped inside. With the door now tightly shut, he stepped forward and shifted his gaze to the left. A small closet strategically placed just beyond the boundaries of the fully opened door, housed a large amount of hanging coats, shoes and scarves. He eyed the latter with a pained grimace, the sleeves of his white coat slipping along the now dry skin of his arms. With all but the laziest of motions, he lifted his hands and dropped the white coat onto one of the empty hangers.

"I don't have all day, hurry up!" Her irate voice snapped Ichigo back into 'awake' mode.

He liked to think of life in four different states. The first being 'sleep' mode, the second being 'awake' mode, the third being 'work' mode and the fourth 'alone' mode. Despite coming to know Nanao very well over the last few months, he still considered that the time he spent with her fell into the work category.

"Ichigo!"

Yes. Definately work.

He quickly stepped forwards, making his way towards the room that sat opposite, yet still several metres away from the front door. The distinct change in decoration was rather refreshing; shifting from the original cream and darkened oak, traditional look, to a modern stainless steel and navy blue décor. A crouching figure to his left soon grabbed his attention, along with his black belt; drawing forth a yelp from the man as she forcefully dragged him down to her level beside the fridge.

"Beer, sparkling water, orange juice, apple juice, orange squash, ice tea..." Nanao's voice trailed off as she listed items from the mountain of products within the large, steel refridgerator.

"Sparkling water, please."

Nanao released her iron grip on his belt, resulting in a loud thump as Ichigo fell to the black tiled floor. Remaining passive to his grumbles as he clumsily lifted himself to his feet, she grappled the neck of a tall bottle from the door of the monstrously tall construct.

"You know... I said please, the least you could do is help me up for fuck sake." Ichigo seethed, his hands now firmly rubbing the sore flesh of his buttocks as he strode around her crouching form. Nanao allowed the smallest of smirks to creep across her full lips as she brought herself to a stand; the glass bottle in her right hand, while the left pinched at an uncomfortable creasing of her white jeans.

"It's not very lady-like to scratch your ass in front of people." Ichigo taunted, brandishing an evil grin as he leant back against the marbled counter.

A fair pink blush found it's way onto Nanao's soft white cheeks. "It's not very gentlemanly to watch a woman adjust herself." She retorted, whipping her hand away from the back of her thigh as she spun around, knocking the tall door shut with her hip.

"True true." Ichigo replied, sidestepping to his left as Nanao made her way over to the sink.

"What would you like to practice today?" Nanao asked, her lithe fingers wrapping themselves tightly around the bottle's metal cap.

"Depends, what do you fancy singing?" Ichigo replied with a shrug, his brow suddenly perking with interest at the sight of the woman's pathetic attempts to open the large bottle.

"An..y..thing! GAH!" Nanao blurted out, an exasperated breath exploding violently from her lips as she waved her sore hand in the cool air. Ichigo chortled with amusement as she gripped her pained left hand tightly within her right.

"Give it to me, I'll open the damn thing." Ichigo stated between deep, nasal chuckles.

Nanao reached forwards gingerly, her bottom lip held tightly between her teeth in a weak attempt to counteract the throbbing pain in her left hand. Deciding the better of it, she reached forward with her right, gripping the neck loosely and passing it over to Ichigo, who simply wrapped his slim fingers around the cap and spun it open with ease.

"You're a bastard. Did you know that?" She let her now sore lip fall from her teeth as Ichigo placed the bottle down on the counter.

"Nope. Thanks for telling me though." Ichigo retorted triumphantly, his hands snaking their way along the curved edge of the counter, before latching tightly onto the cold surface and lifting his body up onto the marble. Nanao decided to simply brush off his arrogant remark, while reaching both hands over to the bottom of two upturned glasses laid alongside the black, tiled wall.

"Where are your parents anyway?" He asked curiously, his amber orbs inspecting the many framed photo's that plastered the entire far wall.

"They're picking up my sister from University." Nanao replied, drawing an extended nod from the orange haired man as he slid himself off the edge of the counter.

His eyes focused on one picture in particular. With broad steps he made his way over to the large table that sat alongside the wall, the sound of sparkling water pouring into glasses echoed throughout the tall room; thick floor tiles and metal utilities adding a depth of volume to the normally undistracting sound. Ichigo pressed the front of his blue jeans against the edge of the white, ceramic table. His eyes focusing upon the largest picture, placed central upon the wall.

Four people sat around the very table he was leaning against. A tall, long haired man. A shorter, straight haired woman. Nanao herself, and another shorter figure.

His eyes focused upon the petite woman at the front right seat, his neck craning forwards to gain a better view of the woman's smiling face.

"Nanao, is that your sister?" Ichigo quietly asked, his eyes widening slightly as he gazed upon her bright, almost glowing eyes that the photographer had done an incredible job of capturing within the large photo. He felt a sudden, uncommon twinge within his chest upon gazing at the petite woman. Her small, smiling lips. Her thick, raven black hair that feathered at the edges and hung around her cheeks. Her smooth, flawless pale skin.

He jumped slightly upon feeling a hand on his shoulder, followed by a light pressure as Nanao lifted herself to look over his broad frame.

"Yes, that's my sister. Kuchiki Rukia."