Sunset in Heaven

Chapter 25

The noble knew rejection would come soon but he still felt like he was slapped at Ichigo's answer.

"But Byakuya..." The voice was soft and quiet, and yet nevertheless sincere. "We're... friends..."

Byakuya sighed deeply, trying to overcome the overwhelming pain that threatened to drown his heart and poison his mind. He opened his eyes, sad and hurt, and looked at Ichigo before he did his best to smile. "Of course, we are." He voiced softly, glad that his voice remained cool and composed.

Ichigo looked more hurt than he was. He looked so guilty and confused even though his ears were bright red. "I... I didn't mean it like that, Byakuya. I mean... We're friends so I... I never thought about it... I never thought about us being like that and... and I–"

"Ichigo," Byakuya interrupted his rant. "It's fine. I originally wanted to hide this feeling forever and be a good friend of yours for as long as we're alive. I didn't mean for you to know it, especially not in this kind of situation. That's why you don't have to feel any guilt about not being able to return it." Now Ichigo looked like he was about to cry.

"Byakuya, I... I'm sorry." He voiced quietly. "I never knew I'm hurting you all this time."

The noble could only sigh in return. And after all the things he said about feelings and guilt.

The noble composed himself once again to try and console his friend. He stood up and walked forward to where Ichigo was sitting, stopping only some feet in front of the teen. Ichigo looked up just as Byakuya looked down, cool gray orbs meeting sad and guilty chocolate eyes. The noble sighed again at the sight and knelt in front of the other Taichou. Ichigo couldn't help but gulp and blush at the sudden close proximity. "Ichigo, you don't have to feel sadness or guilt about my feelings. It makes me regret voicing out anything." He initially wanted to cup the teen's cheek with his hand but chose to just pat Ichigo on the head at the last minute. "I'm sorry for frightening you."

"It's not like that, Byakuya...!" Ichigo immediately cleared up. "I was merely... surprised. I wasn't frightened or anything like that..." He averted his gaze to the side by the end of his statement, unable to meet Byakuya's eyes anymore. He could feel his cheeks burning bright and he's becoming more and more self-conscious by the second.

Somehow, Byakuya's presence made him feel quite uncomfortable now. It's as if something great inside him changed when he learned of the noble's feelings towards him. He couldn't help but fidget in his seat. His whole body was tingling and his stomach was churning uncontrollably. Not to mention his heart was beating so fast and so loud that he was afraid Byakuya might hear it. He tried to immediately calm himself down by gripping his hakama with his fists tightly.

He knew it might only be because of the sudden knowledge about Byakuya's true feelings... but he still couldn't help but be afraid of the sudden changes in him because of it...

"I know we can't bring our relationship back to how it was before." Byakuya continued, terribly unaware of the teen's predicament and internal struggle. "But I hope we can still maintain normalcy between us, especially in our actions toward each other."

"Y-Yes, of course." Ichigo immediately answered, glad that his voice was not croaked even though he stuttered a bit. He looked at Byakuya directly when he said that so the noble would see that he was serious. And yet, the moment he met Byakuya's cool gaze once more was the moment his face colored up again.

Byakuya was about to say something more when he finally noticed that Ichigo was blushing up to the tips of his ears. His gray eyes widened slightly and he stopped moving altogether. All the things that immediately came to his mind were things he wouldn't dare act upon if he didn't want Zangetsu pointed at his throat. He cleared his throat in order to clear his mind of all 'bad' things before he immediately stood up.