[fic] Everlasting || Chapter 3
Fandom: Bleach
Pairing: Kurosaki Ichigo and Inoue Orihime
Timeline: Undefined
Warnings: Angst, lots of angst. Sorry
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
Summary: For each time Kurosaki Ichigo's soul was reborn he loved Inoue Orihime.
Author's note: I decided to go for this lifetime to be sort of normal, nothing supernatural to it, just angst. God! Sometimes it feels I can only add angst to this story, sorry, but please, give it a chance! =)
The third, as he who has no eyes…
It was snowing. It felt as if the sky was going to fall down...
A girl with waist length raven hair was walking on the snow. A coat and gloves matching her hair were protecting her from the cold. Even at a considerable distance, she was noticeable amidst all the white covering the grass. When he came closer, he realized she was smiling while trying to catch the snowflakes.
She stopped all of a sudden stating that she had become aware of his presence. Her back was still turned to him when he decided to head back to his car.
"Stop, please" her voice was even gentler than what he had expected. It was warm. He stopped on his tracks and turned around. It took him a minute to take in her beautiful features while she was examining him.
"Your hair is so orange" she said with an innocent smile. His face turned into a deeper scowl, but that didn't make the girl's smile go away.
"Well, thanks a lot for your observation. And no, I don't dye my hair, therefore, I'm not a delinquent" he said bitterly. Being told left and right that he was a delinquent because of his hair since he was on middle school could cause that. He didn't want to be rude, but it was tiring. "Anyway, you're ok, so I guess I better get going"
"What do you mean I'm ok?" she asked making him stop again "did you believe I was in danger or something?" he looked at her. He had never seen a girl on his life wearing that expression.
"Yeah, I'm sorry" he said trying to explain himself "It's snowing… so, you know, no one in their right mind… I'm not trying to say you're not in your right mind… damn! What I mean to say is that… you don't expect someone to be wandering in the snow, by a frozen river. I just thought you might've needed help" his cheeks were bright red, and they got even brighter when she beamed at him.
"I just felt like coming here, that's all. I appreciate that you wanted to help me because you thought I was in some kind of problem, that's very nice of you."
"Do you want me to give you a ride?" he asked pointing to his car.
"Umm… you don't really have to" she said timidly
"I don't mind" besides, if you stay here, you're going to freeze to death. I can't let that happen. "Where do you live?" He asked, she smiled as if she were keeping something from him.
"At the apartment complex, four blocks from here…" His eyes widened at her answer.
"That's where I live" She nodded, her smile never leaving her lips. "Please, I want to do this" he insisted. The scowl on his face much more relaxed. She smiled wider; it was nice to see him like that.
…
It was freaking hot, it felt as if the sun was going to fall down.
He still didn't believe the girl he met back in the winter and it didn't help much that he hadn't seen her since then. It was utterly unbelievable that even when they both had lived in the same building for years, he had never seen her before. And now he found himself wondering if she was ok most of his spare time. She sure seemed like someone who'd get in trouble easily.
The amount of time he had spent thinking about her made him overlooked the girl with waist length raven hair jogging by the river and not exactly dressed to do so. At first, he thought it was a fidget of his imagination, then his protective instinct kicked in.
He pulled over, got out of the car and reached her as fast as he could. Her back was turned to him again, her hair dancing with the wind. She was chasing… red dragonflies?
"You should be careful" he said to make himself noticed "you could trip and fall…" it was the exact opposite of easier said than done. It was as if he had asked for it and it had been granted. He ran to a speed unknown to himself and managed to catch her and get her away of the water; she landed on her back and he, on top of her. She laughed. It was a beautiful laugh. "You should be more careful" he said, a shade of his normal scowl on his face. He was really worried. What if she had really fallen?
"That's not fair!" she said pouting. "You distracted me, that's why I almost fell" he smiled out of nowhere. It was bright. Then he realized he was over her and clearing his throat, removed himself from that position, and sat next to her. She, as well, shifted to a sitting position.
"Were you chasing red dragonflies?" he asked after a moment of silence. She nodded smiling.
"It's something me and my mom used to do" he nodded pointing a finger towards the sky, trying his luck. The next moment, a red dragonfly sat on his finger.
"It's just like magic, isn't it?" she said smiling, he had to agree.
"I've always wanted to do that, but I've never been able to" he looked at her. Somehow, that little thing seemed important to her.
"Here" he said reaching for her hand and placing the animal on her finger, but it flew away.
"I guess it's not for me" she said with a sad smile. She stood up and he followed.
"Do you want me to give you a ride?"
"Thanks a lot, but no. I'm going the other way" with a last smile, she took her leave.
…
It was July; it felt as if tears were coming down.
He hated the rain. He didn't have a particular reason, but he knew that when it rained, there were higher probabilities of any kind of accident: plane crashes, car accidents… people also felt down, which led to depression. That was a scientific fact. Maybe that was too lame of a reason, but… both thoughts put together in her head converged in one single person: the raven haired girl. He was worried about the possibility of her being by the river chasing… something… anything… he would go and check later.
The sound of his cell phone receiving a message made him come back to reality.
"You don't even have the decency of making a phone call" he said putting the cell phone away with a short message from his father and his excuse for missing his birthday. Not that he cared; it had been long ago since he had stopped celebrating his birthday.
A knock on the door was heard. When opened, he found himself with the girl his thoughts had been filled with lately. She was smiling as usual.
"Happy birthday" she said handing him a big cake
"Wh-what?" he asked, having been taken by surprise "how did you even know it was my birthday?"
"The landlord told me" he chuckled. Now, this was unexpected "It has strawberries in it. I hope you like them"
"I love them" he said without hesitating. She smiled "wanna come in?" her gray eyes widened and she stayed silent for a minute. "Come on! I can't eat all this!" he said with something reaching a smile…
"Oh… really?"
"Really"
…
A door opened. A pair of eyes widened. A smile. It had been almost seven years since he had last seen his longtime friend. He had really thought she had forgotten completely about him.
"Hey" the girl said. Her violet eyes shining "it's been a long time." He agreed.
…
She was sitting by the river, her long, raven hair dancing at her back. Waiting. A promise, broken.
"Let's meet every day by the river" he had said
"Every day by the river? Why?"
"It's peaceful and you seem to love it there" had been his answer "I'll be there every day. I promise"
A heavy sigh
"No, you won't"
…
It was September; it felt as if the world had gone and died.
She had sat by the river for the last two months. She had never found him there, neither down the corridors, nor crossing down the streets. Another heavy sigh, it seemed that was all she did every time she went to that place. She pointed a finger towards the sky, but nothing came.
"I'm going crazy"
…
"Heeey…!" she had screamed, waving at him, the last day she saw him. He was helping sweep the leaves from the ground. They had already withered and died. She beamed at him. He waved back.
"Oi, you're not doing it right!" a grave voice had screamed at him. "You're throwing them at me!"
"No, I'm not…!" they had begun to argue. She smiled; gray eyes as well. So that's who she is. She really is something.
…
It was December; the world had gone and died
"You disappeared and didn't say anything" his scowl on place. It had been five years; she looked older, not longer chasing red dragonflies. She smiled nervously.
"I didn't? Well, I did send you a postcard from Sheffield, maybe you don't remember…"
"I remember very well. What I mean is that you didn't say anything personally to me"
"Ah, well… you were busy that day and I didn't want to interrupt you. She seemed lovely"
"She's far from lovely, believe me! But that's not the point! The point is…"
"How is she, anyway?" she interrupted
"Happily married" he answered. Gray eyes widened. She gulped before being able to speak again.
"Congratulations!" she managed to say.
"Why?" he asked thinking she was going too far trying to avoid the topic.
"Because you're married…" she tried to suppress a laugh. Just when she thought his face couldn't get any funnier, his eyes seemed like they were going to pop out and a total sense of cluelessness was plastered all over his face.
"I'm not married! Especially not to her!" he said as if the idea was the most ridiculous thing in the world "But you…"
"I'm in love" she said simply. Brown met gray and it seemed the world ended. "And I would love if you were there for the wedding… you were always nice to me and I really enjoyed the little time we spent together…" she couldn't bring herself to say anything else for a moment "I want you to be there, please" she said in a whisper. He nodded; she smiled and turned her back to him, leading to the opposite direction.
"I'm in love" he said making her stop. "Since you didn't ask… that's what's happened to me in the last five years. I met a girl with beautiful gray eyes and a bright, bright smile" she tried her hardest to hold back the tears; her throat felt funny. He looked sad, she felt guilty. "I'm sorry. That's too unfair." He said realizing what he had just done. "I… made a promise and didn't live up to it. I was so stupid." She didn't know how to respond to that, so she said nothing. He couldn't look her in the eye, so his eyes got stuck to the grass once they had found their way there.
"I never saw you…" he said after remembering the question that had hunted him all those years ago. "In the building, I never saw you." She nodded
"You were blind… just as I was five years ago." He got on one knee.
"Will you marry me?" her eyes widened "not this lifetime, but the next. I don't want to be blind forever." She smiled, her eyes filled with tears and she nodded.
"Of course I will."