Disclaimer!
This book is entirely made up with purpose to not spoil anything to those, who haven't seen Bleach. Please, respect that and do not spoil anything!
! 𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
🍓chapter 4: the real me🍓
For the longest time I just stared at him, not really knowing what to say. He was a soul reaper, Ichigo...the guy that lately has been growing on me, was what my father considered 'our biggest enemy'. I didn't know if I couldn't believe that, or the fact that despite being told to hate them to the core....I didn't.
Ichigo returned back to his human form and looks at me, his eyes softer than ever. Man, how I hated these eyes at this moment. My whole stupid perspective, everything I believed my whole life was turning upside down and he had the audacity to look at me like that? Man....i love it.
"Are you okay?", he quickly rushed to check up on me, placing his hands on my shoulders and moving closer to my face to check for any wounds.
I don't know why, but at that moment I moved away. I didn't want to, but my body just moved away by instinct. I know for a fact I didn't look scared, I wasn't troubled by him, but then why did I move away? Ichigo realised that maybe he overstepped some boundaries, which wasn't the case at all. But why...?
"So", I began speaking trying to hide just how confused I was, "You are a soul reaper".
"Yeah", he smiled, "Well, a substitute one, my friend Rukia transferred her powers to me a while ago and I became a protector ever since".
'A protector?', I thought, 'What are you saying?', it was more than obvious that Ichigo had no idea about the Quincy and the war between the two. It was obvious he was oblivious to the fact that we are supposed to hate each other. He didn't know that we should stay away from each other.
"What you did back there, with the arrow", he began asking, but took a moment to see what my reaction would be, "What was that?".
"These are....my Quincy powers", I sigh deeply.
"Oh, you are a Quincy! Just like my friend Ishida, he has Quincy powers just like that!".
'Ishida? Is he...talking about my brother?', my blood ran cold. Oh, God, no. If Ichigo and Uryu know each other, that means my brother probably knows about Ichigo's powers. And if he finds out I've been getting closer to him, he won't hesitate to expose me to Ryuken.
My brother would do anything to put me in a bad light in front of our father, just so he can be the better one. And if Ryuken finds out I've been getting closer to a soul reaper, I'm doomed.
Man, what should I do? I don't want to avoid Ichigo at any cost, not after how close we got over the past few weeks. Not after all the deep and meaningful conversation we had, not after all the looks we shared. But at the same time I don't want to be punished by my father. I can only imagine what this nuisance can do to me.
"Hey, Stella, are you okay? You look a bit pale", Ichigo tried to place his hand on my shoulder, but I slapped it away. What am I doing? I don't want to slap him away, I don't want to push him away. Why am I doing this?
"I'm fine", I said and I turned my back at him, "I'm just a little shaken by the attack, I think I'll go back home for today".
"A-Are you sure? Do you want me to walk you home?", even after pushing him away, he was still a sweetheart to me. I loved it. But as much as I wanted to tell him 'yes', I couldn't.
"I'll be alright. You stay safe, though".
Without looking back,or even listening to what he has to say next, I ran away. Honestly, that was the most immature decision I've ever taken. I didn't want to run away, I didn't want to cut contact at all, but I guess I was more concerned over what might happen, if Ryuken finds out.
For the next couple of days I allowed the butler to drive me along with my brother to school, then I stood in my classroom all day. Uryu didn't question why I suddenly wanted to ride with him and honestly I'm grateful for that considering he is Ichigo's friend.
I tried my best to stay away from Ichigo's eyes convinced that he'll give up on the idea of talking to me. But I was wrong. He was waiting for me everyday after school to walk me home, he stood there for almost an hour and when he saw that I wasn't coming-he moved.
What got me was the disappointment written all over his face, when I didn't show up. It was breaking my heart to watch it and I felt extremely bad, when I was away from him. It felt like I couldn't smile ever again, nothing was funny or enjoyable, when it wasn't shared with him.
One week went like that. And honestly I felt like shit for ignoring him, for being away from Ichigo. And my mood began to be even more noticeable with each day. Even Uryu noticed at some point.
"You are awfully quiet lately", my brother pointed out one morning, while we were riding to school together yet again.
"Spring tiredness, I guess", I said and a deep sigh followed after that.
"Stella, you sure know a lot of things, but you have to learn how to lie", my brother scoffed and looks away, "So, tell me what's bothering you".
"Listen, Uryu, I...".
But before I could finish whenever I was about to say, the driver suddenly hits the breaks and the car stops. My heart skips a beat as my brother hits his head on the front seat.
"DAMMIT, KID! MOVE!", the driver yelled.
I turn my head so fast that my neck probably could snap at any moment and I saw him. Right in front of the car was standing none other than Ichigo Kurosaki himself. He had a serious look on his face, his hands next to his body and the car was just millimetres away from him.
