When the Moon Shines With the Sun

Whispers Part Three

I really hope to end this here because RozuKoneko gave me a few ideas I want to write down but forgot about this piece.

As Ichigo turned a corner, he felt Rukia's reiatsu fading, and he began to panic, picking up the pace despite his protesting limbs. There was no way in hell he was letting her die, not while he was alive. Jumping up to the roof her reiatsu was coming from, he was greeted with a site he would never forget, but forever wish he could.

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      The normally dark gray panels of the roof were now coated in a thick layer of ice, which sparkled in the mid-afternoon sun. Red streaked the pale blue, almost like rose petals kissing the cold surface, instead of blood splattering the remnants of a vicious attempt to survive.  And there, lying on the ice was her. Her raven hair was spread around and across her face, and there was a small pool of blood collecting around her body. A small cough broke Ichigo's horrified trance. His brain finally registering what he was seeing, and chose to completely ignore the body of a man just a few feet away from Rukia, and the shocked woman standing like wide-eyed and stiff near the edge of the building, at least for now. Stumbling forward and running to Rukia, he knelt down next to her, where she was on her forearms, struggling to even maintain that position. Blood was streaked down her chin, and her eyes were wide, the normally emotionless purple orbs streaked with shock and pain. 

   "Rukia?! Just hang on, I-I'll get you to Inoue or something..." He stuttered out, his voice betraying the fear he felt. 

    Ichigo gently turned her over, so she was resting in his arms.Looking up, the Death God smiled weakly, her small frame looking even smaller in the vulnerable state she was in. "Oh, wipe that look...off your face. This'll...ruin your reputation y'know." She rasped out in between breaths. 

   Forcing out a soft laugh Ichigo retorted, "Ah, reputations are overrated anyway." 

   There was a small pause of silence between them, filled with a weight beyond measure.  The only sound to be heard was the loud sound of Rukia's labored breathing. A soft smile touched her features, the warmth of Ichigo's body lightly pressing against her provided a sense of peace she hadn't felt in a long time. 

 "Hey Rukia." His voice was soft, and carried more emotion than she'd ever heard hidden in it's depths.

   "Mmm." Was all she could say in response.

   "Do you remember that first night? When I saw you facing that Hollow, before I really knew what they were, it was actually kind of inspiring." He paused, lightly  tapping her forehead, "Don't let that get to your head Midget." He stopped again, but this time it was different. He looked up, at the horizon, just for a second, as if searching for the right words, "I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you. I've never regretted a moment of it y'know. I'd do it all over again, and I just wanted to thank you for giving me the chance."

   Finishing that speech he was blushing a bit, as he studied her face, how those violet eyes sparkled with all the stars in the night sky, maybe for the last time. As her vision began to blur, she began to speak, "Ichigo...I..I love you." She managed out in a whisper staring into his eyes as she spoke. 

  When he opened his mouth to respond she stopped him with a look, even in death she could still look terrifying, "Don't...I don't want to hear that. I know how...you feel...I just wanted to...tell you how...I felt." There was a tinge of sadness to her voice as she lifted one slightly trembling hand, and Ichigo took it, feeling her slim fingers lightly curl around his own, "Don't...forget to...smile...Strawberry." She mumbled, giving his hand a final squeeze before her hand went limp in his own, and the rasping sound of her breathing faded with the wind.

   He looked down at her face, which looked almost peaceful, as if she were only sleeping, and the way her hair still lightly brushed over her face, like it always did when she was alive, "You idiot...I love you too." He muttered, holding her close.

  The roof void of anyone living besides himself, the woman having disappeared, Ichigo slowly looked up, looking at the sky that had been so calm only moments ago. He could feel her body begin to fade, changing into the Reishi in the air around them. Even so, he could feel his hands sticky with her blood as he belatedly stood up, moving in a daze.

   There would be no funeral, no mourning besides his own and that of his closest friends. Instead, there would some story about her running off for some reason or another, fake smiles, fake laughs, because that's how it had always been for someone who's place in this world was next to him, yet stood as a stranger to everyone else.

   The stars could never shine as bright against the velvet sky as the way her eyes sparkled when she was excited, providing a rare and beautiful contrast into the rare and enigmatic Death God, the one that would forever whisper in the depths of his heart.

  ((I've never written angst on this level before I know it's bad I also couldn't find a picture to use that works on my laptop D:))