No Longer Left Behind
Chapter: 5a Vigniette Forgotten Hero
Author: StarbearerTM
Pairing: IchigoxSenna
Rating: T
Word count: 2560
Spoilers: Memories of Nobody, Lost Shinigami Arc
Warnings: Male/Female innuendo
Summary: Ichigo takes a breather with a once forgotten but now familiar face while Tatsuki and Orihime welcome back the Arisawa family.
Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach, I don’t. I make no money writing this fanfiction.
*
Two teenagers strode from one pool of orange light beamed down from the street lamps to another. Patches of illumination in an otherwise all too dark night. One hand shoved into his jeans pocket, the orange haired teen rushed to keep up with the purple haired girl tugging on his hand. Her brown coat and skirt were painted shades of gray only to transform the hue of his hair or autumn leaves in the park. Senna stepped lightly avoiding touching the lines between the segments of concrete sidewalk. Once Ichigo was in the park under the trees, Senna pushed him to sit down on a bench there. He asked, "How the hell is this different?"
"It just is," Senna whispered, glancing around as if she were sure someone would see them.
Overhead the dark sillouettes of leaves sprouting from the long sinuous branches blocked the orange tint of the city’s hazy light that ordinarily blocked out the stars. Patterns of spiky shadow plunged Ichigo into their blackness hiding his facial expression. He protested, "But..."
"What happened to you?" she asked as she suddenly grabbed his chin with her hand. "I don't feel... anything... are you hurt or sick?"
"I lost my powers," Ichigo mumbled, as Senna stepped into the pool of shadow. "If I tell you how you have to tell me how in the hell you're here..."
"I don't know. All I know is that I was in a dark place. Then something reached out to me in the light, and I found myself alive again. I woke up in a hospital bed, and the people there were very nice. I couldn't remember much. So they helped me start off on a new life sort of..." she said rubbing her head.
"Then you can't remember?" he asked with disbelief.
“Come with me,” she mumbled taking his hand.
“Where are we GOING?” Ichigo griped but Senna dragged him towards a set of apartments. Falling silent he let her lead him up the stairwell. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of keys. Once she unlocked the door, she showed him inside.
Ichigo’s eyes beheld the small studio apartment with a door leading to a bathroom, a tiny kitchen area, and several closets near a desk and chair. Rolled up against the wall was a futon.
“This is your place? How?” Ichigo asked, following her as she opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of soda. She filled two glasses and handed one to him.
As he sipped his soda, he followed Senna into the apartment where they sat down on a set of pillows near the TV. She flipped the small box on with the remote. “Kinda hard, how they swung that but I've got my own apartment. The hospital knows all sorts of friendly and helpful people. I even have a job to pay for my rooms and stuff. So I'm not worried."
"You never were," Ichigo said with a chuckle, watching her giggle as she sipped on hers.
“I guess not. I love the way the bubbles in this soda tickle the inside of my mouth…”
Ichigo sighed and frowned. He set down his glass on the low table and said, “Senna is there something you’re not telling me? Like when you started remembering things?”
"It only started coming all back a few months ago. I made friends and got into high school again,” she said looking down into her glass.
“Yeah, but why didn’t you get in touch?” he asked.
"I remembered your face and your name," she trailed off. "When I tried to find you, you were always busy. I didn't want to interfere. But then... you looked so sad..."
Brown eyes gleamed with a question as Ichigo said sharply, "You have been following me?”
Her amber eyes glistened in response with an identical fire in them. Full of challenge that sparked something inside of him. Granted most of his days were filled with challenge but that one hint of otherworldliness she represented opened a door he thought he’d closed on his life. Ichigo felt his stomach churning at Senna’s frown. "Of course silly. I wanted to know if you still remembered..."
Combing a hand through his hair in frustration Ichigo said, "This doesn't make sense. You were made of memories and vanished before my eyes when you used your powers to stop the worlds from crashing together.”
"I remember most of that. But my own memories were tangled together with so many others. I miss them. But the way I got here… and now finding you I can’t feel your reiatsu."
Downwards Ichigo tipped his head so his bangs hid his gaze. Quietly he said, "I lost my powers. Trying to save the world."
Her fingers twisted in the edge of her pleated skirt. She stared at that same spot on the floor Ichigo seemed so fixated upon. "I was asleep with a whole lot of other people in Karakura town. The shinigami..."
Not looking up Ichigo trailed off, "Are you still...' he trailed off.
If he glanced up a bit he could see a hint of her amber eyes beneath those purple bangs daring to peek up at him. "Yeah. But I have to be careful where and how I use my powers."
Ichigo felt his heart quickening in his chest. He then asked, "Did they know you were here or not?"
Senna whispered, "They said that they needed everyone's abilities. So they gave me this..."
Extending her hand Senna held something in her palm roughly the shape of a pentagon. Immediately Ichigo dug into his pocket and shakily extracted an identical object to hold it alongside hers. Upon both the stylized familiar skull over crossed lines was embossed on it.
Ichigo choked. Time froze at that moment seeing such objects held in hands that faced opposite directions. An instant later Ichigo shuffled back, holding up a hand as if to fend it off. "When... how?"
Senna caught ahold of his wrist, squeezing it. "Six months ago I began to remember everything; I remembered I had the power…”
"You're a shinigami Daiko," Ichigo trailed off, swallowing hard to utter aloud the words that once defined him. He felt a pain in his chest right where his heart thudded so loudly in the silence. Slowly she nodded, eyes meeting his.
“Who the hell gave you that?” Ichigo suddenly shouted, and Senna flinched.
“I knew you’d be mad. Look, Hitsugaya Taicho was the one who made me part of squad 10. He figured it was better if I was the one responsible for the town…”
The next words barely escaped Ichigo’s lips, “What about Rukia?”
Young lips parted to form words but he heard nothing for a second. Her head bobbed downwards. Slipping her hand overtop his she squeezed his strong fingers. In a low tone Senna confessed, “She… she was called to another mission.”
Ichigo frowned, making fists as he pressed them into his thighs. "So soul society didn't send you? To check on me?"
"Nope," she said with a shrug.
“Then Rukia…” Ichigo began but trailed off when he saw Senna shake her head.
"I decided to check on you. Only if you happened to remember me. Others told me to let you alone. But I couldn't... but Hitsugaya Taicho didn’t say I couldn’t check on you.”
"They told you... and yet you still..." He trailed off, seeing Senna’s nod.
Now Senna pressed her other hand overtop the one she held, sandwiching his. She blurted out, “I couldn’t let them leave you behind Ichigo. Not after all you’ve done. But I only thought it’d be fair if you remembered me before I went any further…”
Beneath his orange bangs, his brow furrowed deeply as he growled, “After all that soul society tried to do to you, you STILL want to work for them?”
Now his opposite hand landed atop her uppermost one, seizing hold of it.
Senna nodded. "I guess I should be angry at them for what they almost did…”
“Do you have any idea HOW you got back?” he asked.
Senna closed one eye and stuck out her tongue trying to remember. “Squad 12 said something about something that Aizen’d done. Or had…”
"The hogyokou," Ichigo suggested.
“That’s the thingy,” Senna said quickly, nodding.
“It grants the heart’s desire of everyone near it. But how could YOU be near it?” Ichigo asked.
“I don’t know. And Squad 12 won’t tell me. I simply reappeared in soul society without any memories…” she trailed off. “I’ve been told I was taken in by squad 10, and they tried to give me a normal life… as an apology.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Ichigo mumbled. “Just glad you’re in Toushiro’s squad.”
She nodded, seeing hurt still creasing his face. She bobbed hers in front of his so their noses were only inches apart. Scooting forwards her knees almost touched his. “Ichigo…”
“Why didn’t she even check on me? Why did she just VANISH?” Ichigo cursed looking down. She released one of his hands.
“Rukia? I think it had something to do with her being promoted,” Senna mumbled tapping her chin. “She’s a seated officer in Squad 13 now. Therefore, she isn’t supposed to be on duty for slaying hollows in the living world. That’s my job now.”
“Shit…” Ichigo trailed off, wanting to curl into a ball and sink into a corner. So he was wrong about her feelings? He felt so stupid. Especially when Senna let go of his hands. Slumping down he braced both hands before him and pushed down wanting to rise to his feet. However two arms slid around him from behind as Senna rested her chin in the hollow of his shoulder and neck.
On the back of his neck tiny hairs stood up hearing her whisper, “I’m sorry Ichigo… I really am.”
“When DID she stop here?” he asked.
“Mmm…” Senna mumbled. “About six months ago. There’s a lot of cleaning up they had to do and all. But I thought it was kinda crappy of her to…”
“She didn’t have to,” Ichigo said with a resigned sigh. “I thanked her. That was enough.”
“And you’re just gonna let that go? Are you crazy?” Senna asked as she tightened her hug on him.
“I’m fucking tired,” Ichigo mumbled looking down at his hands. “I just want to live my life…”
Senna annoyed said, “You’re not fooling me, Ichigo. You’re pissed…”
Lips almost curled into a snarl Ichigo bitterly commented, “Nobody asked her to check on me. I’m just a normal human being now. Like hell I’d miss her.”
Senna’s doubtful look peered right through Ichigo’s words. As if knowing the real meaning behind them. Like hell he’d miss Rukia, if it seemed like she had forgotten him. Why else would it hurt so much that he’d deny any desire to spend time with her? Declaring such words before his friends?
“But it’s not enough is it?” Senna asked softly. “If people forgot about me I’d be unhappy. I was so sad thinking you HAD forgotten me, but the fact you DO remember me… it makes ALL the difference.”
With a harsh laugh Ichigo asked, “Isn’t it against the law for you to get tangled up in human lives?”
A long sigh escaped Senna’s lips. Letting go of him she flung up her hands only to let them fall to her knees with a slapping sound that startled him from his funk. “Do you need to clean your ears out?”
“My ears work fine,” Ichigo shot back, only turning his head the slightest bit towards her.
“I said Hitsugaya Taicho didn’t say I couldn’t. In fact he wanted me to keep an eye on you,” she clarified, poking him in the back.
“Watching and talking aren’t the same thing,” Ichigo half panted, feeling a tingle from the tip of her finger that traced down the curve of his spine.
“Well I’m only a shinigami daiko so that means I’ve got a life in this living world. A secret identity thing! Like a superhero,” Senna said. “So that means I can have friends and blend in. Besides, I wanted to see you again. Having a world without you in it Ichigo…”
He turned around to face her and squeezed her hands. His throat choked up as he saw her moving close enough to sit in his lap. Then he wasn’t sure if he was the first to grab her and drag her towards him or if she climbed into his lap. For the first time in a while Ichigo clutched her tightly and buried her face in her shoulder as she held him. She moved to straddle his waist, her legs on either side of his hips.
Softly she rained kisses on his cheeks, and then felt his lips move so they aligned with hers. Very tentatively but sweetly he met her mouth and they shared one or two seconds of intense pleasure. Parting for air Ichigo blushed deeply when he felt Senna’s body weight where it was, and a part of his anatomy responding. Unable to look her in the eyes, he mumbled, “Uh… I uh… I’m not a pervert…”
Senna’s laughter pealed like small bells in his ears, bringing his gaze to her amused smile. “You’re not a pervert stupid.”
“But still…” he protested.
Raising her hand to his cheek she dipped her head close enough to his ear to whisper, “Besides I really like sitting in your lap.”
At that moment Ichigo could feel the hard lump in his throat pounding so certainly he swore it was his heart sticking there. Words became glued together before they tumbled across his tongue. “I… my folks will be worried sick about me… I gotta get back…”
“Just call your father and tell him you’re out with a girl. I’m SURE he’ll understand,” Senna giggled.
He quickly pulled out his cell phone and texted his father that he was with a friend. Immediately the text came through, prompting a growl from the orange haired teen.
“Stupid pain in the ass,” he mumbled.
“What does it say?” Senna asked, as Ichigo twisted the phone in his hand to show her the text. He tapped it with one finger.
“My son is become a man! Have fun Ichigo and remember I put condoms in your wallet.”
“Ghhhh…” Ichigo growled. “He is so fucking DEAD!”
“So it’s fine,” she grinned, bouncing in his lap. Ichigo gasped and grabbed her hips to stop her.
“Senna knock it off! I can’t…” he trailed off, now bright red.
“Why? You gotta agree it feels good so why hold back?” she asked.
“Because I don’t want to do this with just anyone,” Ichigo confessed awkwardly, looking to the side as he rubbed his neck.
“You’re not just anyone. You’re Ichigo,” she said as she kissed his cheek.
“Duh,” Ichigo mumbled and looked at her. “I just don’t wanna… this is so fast…”
“It’s okay,” she said as she leaned forward to kiss him. Gulping great breaths of air Ichigo angled his head to the opposite angle and received it. Knowing that he would probably be here for quite a while.