Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Until We Meet Again ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: navirae 
After the winter wars, much was in disrepair. Soul Society found itself in a dire need to reform its way and to restructure itself in order to get past the destruction the war had caused. Ichigo was asked to stay in soul society, as his powers were greatly needed to help with the rebuilding of the Gotei 13 division.
Ichigo was hesitant though, his family being his first priority. On seeing this, Soul Society granted Ichigo five years to live his life in the human world, and to decide in that time where his happiness lay. If after the five years, his life was of a shinigami, he would be welcomed to Soul Society. If not, he would be granted his life and remain as a human.
With a farewell that seemed to strike pain in Ichigo’s heart, he said farewell to his friends in Soul Society. But perhaps the greatest pain he felt was leaving the one who had changed his world…Kuchiki Rukia. With a parting smile that showed equal pain, they promised to meet each other again after the five years.
Anime/Manga: Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 06.29.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 493 | Status: Work In Progress
After the winter wars, much was in disrepair. Soul Society found itself in a dire need to reform its way and to restructure itself in order to get past the destruction the war had caused. Ichigo was asked to stay in soul society, as his powers were greatly needed to help with the rebuilding of the Gotei 13 division.
Ichigo was hesitant though, his family being his first priority. On seeing this, Soul Society granted Ichigo five years to live his life in the human world, and to decide in that time where his happiness lay. If after the five years, his life was of a shinigami, he would be welcomed to Soul Society. If not, he would be granted his life and remain as a human.
With a farewell that seemed to strike pain in Ichigo’s heart, he said farewell to his friends in Soul Society. But perhaps the greatest pain he felt was leaving the one who had changed his world…Kuchiki Rukia. With a parting smile that showed equal pain, they promised to meet each other again after the five years.
Anime/Manga: Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 06.29.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 493 | Status: Work In Progress
Until We Meet Again Chapter 1
After the winter wars, much was in disrepair. Soul Society found itself in a dire need to reform its way and to restructure itself in order to get past the destruction the war had caused. Ichigo was asked to stay in soul society, as his powers were greatly needed to help with the rebuilding of the Gotei 13 division.
Ichigo was hesitant though, his family being his first priority. On seeing this, Soul Society granted Ichigo five years to live his life in the human world, and to decide in that time where his happiness lay. If after the five years, his life was of a shinigami, he would be welcomed to Soul Society. If not, he would be granted his life and remain as a human.
With a farewell that seemed to strike pain in Ichigo's heart, he said farewell to his friends in Soul Society. But perhaps the greatest pain he felt was leaving the one who had changed his world…Kuchiki Rukia. With a parting smile that showed equal pain, they promised to meet each other again after the five years.
Five years later…
A slight breeze slipped through the curtains. The room was quiet, except for the few muffled snores of the young man beneath the sheets. He scratched his head slightly before turning to his back. The silence and peace was broken however as a large plushie flew out of nowhere, landing on his chest.
“ICHIGO”, screamed Kon, attempting unsuccessfully to scratch Ichigo with his paws. The young man grunted, before grabbing Kon's head and chucking him across the room.
With a loud thud, Kon hit the closet hard, which infuriated the stuffed animal even more.
He ran for the bed once more, intent on giving more pain to Ichigo, but was instead met with a foot in the face as Ichigo pulled himself out of bed, his leg hitting Kon squarely in the mouth.
Ichigo pulled himself out of bed with a loud yawn, ignoring the angry mumbling of Kon. Scratching his ruffled hair, he looked out the window. Apart from the few clouds, the weather was perfect. He went to the window, and pulled away the curtains, allowing all of the sun rays to brighten the room. Looking down, he watched as a few children ran past the house towards school.
With a heavy sigh, he turned and pulled out his shirt from the closet. He fidgeted with the collar absentmindedly as he turned to look at the calendar. A large red circle was put around today's date. It was the date that he found himself yearning for every day. It had been a week ago that he had heard from Renji for the first time in five years. He could not explain the shock and surprise; even more so, when Renji said he and Rukia were planning on coming to meet Ichigo, and to stay there for a few days before returning to Soul Society.
When they were parting from Soul Society five years ago, it was made clear that they would not have a chance to meet each other. Rukia was going to go through intensive training in her sword fighting skills, while Renji wanted to work up to becoming captain. Perhaps it was knowing that it would be a long time before he saw them that cause Ichigo to feel a deep sense of loss when he returned to the human world.
But time seemed to slip by. Ichigo found himself immersed in his life; he needed to finish his school, and take care of his family. Yet even though with so much priority, he had never once forgotten the other world.
He had already known that his five years were up, and that he had to make the important decision on whether or not he wanted to spend his remaining life here or in Soul Society.
At that point in time, five years ago, he thought it was so simple that he wanted to remain as a shinigami. But everyone agreed that Ichigo needed more time to really make such an important choice. Although it would be a long time before he would be able to return to Soul Society, he in the end was happy he was able to have time to make his decision.
Living his five years here, he was able to protect his family, especially his sisters, and was able to watch them grow into more capable and independent individuals. And those five years gave him even more confident about what he really wanted and what his answer would be.
“Rukia…” the words slipped by barely a whisper, but Ichigo caught himself and cupped his mouth. It had been so long since he had said her name. Never for a moment had he forgotten her. So much time had gone by…but that name seemed to be imbedded into his heart, and for the first time, it was unable to remain silent. He sat down on his bed again, forgetting completely about his courses. Ever since he found out she was going to be coming, everything else seemed completely meaningless.
He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed in frustration. He quickly got up, dodging yet another unsuccessful attack by Kon, and continued to get ready.
Running out of his apartment, he quickly made his way to his classes. He knew he would not be able to concentrate at all, but it was the last day, and he had to complete all of his final exams. And sure enough, he found himself staring blankly at the paper in front of him. The raven haired girl continued to appear in his mind, and he had to hit himself a few times to get himself to concentrate, resulting in odd stares by the students around him. He attempted to rush through the questions, but finally gave up and turned in his work.
`Of all the days to decide and visit' he muttered, sitting with a look of utter defeat outside his class. Students passed by, talking, laughing, and completely oblivious to the world around them. Ichigo sighed and wished for a moment he could be like that. He knew he had done extremely horrible on his exam, but what could he do? He had not seen his friends for nearly five years; and today was the day he would get to meet them at last. He had let Ishida, Inoue, and Chad know of the arrival, and agreed to meet them in the afternoon near a small café so that they could go together. He continued to stare at his watch, and swore under his breath as the time seemed to go by at a snail pace. In the end, he got up in frustration and decided to just go ahead and arrive there early. He found himself walking very fast, even though knowing it would be several hours before he would meet the rest of them, and even longer before he would meet Renji and Rukia. Arriving at the café in less then 15 minutes, he took a seat outside.
He sat there for a moment, welcoming the cool breeze that swept by occasionally. He found himself beginning to relax slightly more. He bit his lip slowly, before putting his hand into his bag and pulling out a folded piece of paper. He opened it, furrowing his eyebrow. It was a picture of Chappy, the rabbit, that Rukia had drawn for Ichigo before he left. The distinguishing features were of course the orange spiky hair on the top and the scowl on the face, to make it look like Ichigo. He shook his head, still looking at it. Although he had always teased her about her drawings, he couldn't help but hold onto this one. It annoyed him to no end, but it was the only thing that he had of hers.
“Is that supposed to be you, Kurosaki-kun?”
Ichigo nearly leapt out of his chair, losing half of his life in that one instant. He turned around quickly to see a smiling Inoue and a bemused Ishida looking over his shoulder.
“Inoue…don't…do…that…”
Inoue watched him in confusion. “Don't do what, Kurosaki-kun?”
Ichigo gasped for breath. “Sneak…up…on…on me like…that…”
Inoue blushed slightly, “Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you.”
Ishida shook his head and looked at the paper Ichigo was holding. “Inoue-san, it is him. The scowl and the furrowed eyebrows, see…there's no way it can't be him.”
Ichigo narrowed his eyes at him before stuffing the paper quickly into the bag, his cheeks flushed furiously as he crossed his arm. Inoue giggled slightly before taking a seat next to him. Ishida followed suit.
“Kuchiki-san...Renji-kun…are coming today…” Inoue said quietly, not looking at either of them. Her eyes lowered slightly, and turned to Ichigo. “It's very exciting isn't it? It's has been so long.”
Ishida turned his eyes slowly at Inoue for a moment, before resuming his indifferent gaze at the people passing by.
Ichigo smiled lightly to Inoue and nodded. “Aye. It has been so long since we have seen them…”
Inoue nodded, lowering her eyes once more. “Kuchiki-san…drew that, didn't she?”
Ichigo looked over to Inoue, who was now looking at where he had stuffed the drawing.
His cheek flushed again, “yeah…”
Inoue smiled, and said no more. She turned to Ishida, who was now looking towards the street. They found Chad walking towards them, his towering figure being easily visible through the large crowd.
“Hey, Sado.” Ichigo grinned, happy to break the awkward silence.
Or so he thought, as Chad's only reply seemed to be, “Hi.”
Ichigo scratched his head, and sat back down. The atmosphere had become slightly uncomfortable. Something was definitely bothering Inoue and Ishida, as both stayed unusually silent throughout the wait. Inoue played with her locks of hair quietly as Ishida resumed staring out at the people passing. Chad…well, Chad was Chad. Ichigo sighed and looked at his clock. Two more hours…
Two hours…or more like an eternity, it seemed. But at last…the moment had arrived. Ichigo nearly leapt from his chair, his face flushing again at the amused expression from his friends. They smiled, causing him to get annoyed even more…but he didn't care. It was a moment he could not deny any longer that he had been waiting for. They made their way to the park, where they said they would meet each other. The park had gone quiet as the sun began to set. There were slight sounds of crickets and the leaves blowing from the wind. The lamp posts flickered on, bringing a light glow to the pathways.
They waited, with Ichigo walking back and forth impatiently. `They said six…its ten past seven…where are they?!'
The other three watched him, and looked at one another with concern. “Kurosaki-kun, please sit down…they will be here soon.”
Ichigo shook his head furiously. “When I see Rukia and Renji…I'm going to…I'm going to…”
“You're going to do what…Baka?”
Ichigo stopped dead in his track. That voice…
He slowly turned his head, unable to take a single breath.
There, within the shadows, stood two figures; one, a tall, muscular figure, who seemed to tower over the petite figure beside him.
The tall figure slipped out first. A grin spread across his face as he walked towards Ichigo.
“Yo…” Renji grinned.
Ichigo could not help but grin back. It had been five years, and yet, it seemed as if they had only seen each other yesterday.
His eyes moved again when the second figure stepped out of the shadows. Ichigo felt his heart stop for a moment. Her raven black hair swept gracefully with the cool summer's breeze, her eyes and ivory skin glowing with the moonlight. A smile was spread across her face as she walked slowly towards him.
Rukia…
To be continued…